The Root Beer Stand, Sharonville

When The Root Beer Stand opened, Cincinnati was located just far enough away that municipal water wasn’t an option. So, the Sharonville stand’s owner dug a well, and over 50 years later, the water used to make the root beer here each day still comes from it. 

“It’s got a unique mineral makeup that adds to the flavor of the root beer, which means you can’t really get it anywhere else,” says owner Eric Burroughs, who owns the business with his wife, Abby. “It’s not bottled. It’s not under pressure. It has a completely different flavor.”

That attention to quality runs deep at this roadside stand that has been serving Cincinnati-area diners since 1957. The chili, a recipe from the first owner, is still on the menu, and the cheese is grated fresh daily from 40-pound blocks. 

“We change when we need to change, but we never change the spirit and the soul of what makes us who we are,” Eric says. “We don’t take shortcuts when it comes to the things that were done the old-school way.” 

Abby’s parents, Scott and Jackie Donley, bought the stand from its original owners in 1990, and in 2013, Eric began working with his father-in-law to learn the business and fully took over the operation six years later. Diners pull in and order at a walk-up window, with the option to grab a seat in the covered dining area. The menu spans old-school favorites like burgers and footlong coneys, as well as the Timmy Dog, an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink coney topped with chili, cheese, mustard, ketchup, onion, relish, kraut, slaw and hot sauce and named in honor of the customer who first requested it. 

“We have many menu items that are named after customers or created by customers,” Eric says. “There’s a story behind each one.” 11566 Reading Rd. 45241, Sharonville, 513/769-4349, therootbeerstand.com 

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