Editor’s note: This is the fifth of five stories featuring the winners of the City of Covington’s 2024 Authenti-CITY Awards.
You’re battling a hearty appetite and an unquenchable thirst and you’re looking for one of the best-priced lunches in town, so you make your way to Herb & Thelma’s Tavern – which last year was officially named home of “Cincinnati’s Favorite Burger.”
After feasting upon a cheeseburger and a bowl of Herb & Thelma’s delicious bean soup (washed down with a couple of ice-cold beverages), you open your purse or wallet and find nary a dollar bill.
But then you discover that no one behind the counter of this 84-year-old establishment is interested in your stack of plastic or Venmo app.
What to do?
Why you ask for forgiveness … and duck into the ATM Confessional to get your penance and salvation.
With a bank ATM nestled inside a bona fide Confessional, it will dispense cash and save the day, assuming your bank account is in good standing. (Listen, it doesn’t perform miracles.)
Like the sign at Herb & Thelma’s says, “Cash is King” – and that’s been the case since 1939, when Henry and Marie Boehmker opened a little café at 718 Pike St. in the Lewisburg neighborhood.
In 1966, their son and daughter-in-law, Herb and Thelma Boehmker, purchased the café and named it Herb & Thelma’s. By 1969, their son Herbert “Chip” Boehmker began working at his parents’ café, and he took over in 1982. In 2012, Richard Ritchie bought the café, and three years after that, Joe and Suzanne Fessler bought the business.
But Chip is still behind the counter serving up a mighty fine burger, just like in days of yore.
If you’re seeking a grandparents’ basement vibe, this is the place for you – in the best possible way, because you’ll feel right at home. Herb & Thelma’s serves up nostalgia by way of pinball machines in the back room, a big black telephone with a rotary dial on the wall, a lingering discussion of Cincinnati Reds games, and, almost always, a familiar face to share a beer and a few stories with.
It’s that kind of place.
“Do yourself a favor and check out all the history on the walls of the café,” said Covington Business Retention & Expansion Specialist Patrick Duffy. “And don’t forget your cash.”
City of Covington