While other centennial businesses tout innovation as the secret to long-term success, Zip’s Café has embraced the opposite. For generations, the cozy burger cove on Mt. Lookout Square has offered little variation to its tried-and-true staples: burgers, beer, and a friendly “third space” atmosphere for casual connection. “What we do best is consistency and simplicity,” says Mike Burke, Zip’s sixth owner and a Mt. Lookout native.
Burke began working at Zip’s at 15 years old—peeling onions, cleaning bathrooms—working his way up to management and eventually ownership in 2015. Though he ventured off to the University of Dayton for a fine arts degree, he returned to his Zip’s roots to tend bar and serve tables for beer money during summers and holidays. “There’s not a piece in here I haven’t touched at some point,” he says. When the previous owner was ready to sell, Burke was in the right place at the right time—and with the right ethos to carry the Zip’s legacy forward.
Ironically, the beer-and-burger joint was founded at the height of prohibition in 1926. It opened as a covert horse-betting spot, serving simple burgers as somewhat of an afterthought. As culture skewed toward diner-style experiences in the 1930s and 1940s, Zip’s broadened its menu a bit to gradually include more burger toppings (from pickles and onions to later lettuce, mayo, and eventually tomato) and a few sides.
What changes have been made over the decades since have been subtle. A better blend for burger meat, now sourced locally by Avril Bleh. Th e addition of a kid’s menu, which is just smaller portions of adult offerings. The now-iconic model train that chugs around the perimeter of the ceiling, a whimsical addition made in the 1980s. “As much as I love it, it can be a huge pain,” Burke says of the train, laughing.
Above all, the restaurant’s approachability and predictability keep people coming back. Patrons can walk through the doors and anticipate the same experience they had when they visited as children with their parents and grandparents. It’s a place where the phrase “comfort food” is as much about the hospitality as it is the meal. “I’ve met some people on their worst days and also people on their best days,” says Burke, whose most treasured memories have been behind the bar.
To celebrate its 100th birthday, Zip’s is selling $5 raffle tickets until July for a chance to win a free burger each month for 50 years. All proceeds will be funneled to the company’s long-time nonprofit partners, including La Soupe, Freestore Foodbank, and Talbert House. The fundraiser is a nod to the people and communities that have contributed to the fabric of its century-long success.
“If not for the community to support us, we would have never made it this long,” says Burke. “I love Mt. Lookout. I’m not going anywhere.”
[Illustration by Jessica Dunham]