Quatman Cafe turns 40!

This article is from ChannelCincinnati.com:

They normally don't bother with fancy, but for this occasion -- Quatman Cafe hitting the big 4-0 --arrival by limo seemed well-suited for Kenny and "Albo."

Since the mid-1960s, Albert Imm and Ken Talmage's place -- as unpretentious as a paper plate -- has been a gathering point for everyone from the president's brother to anybody's brother.

Drop a name, and that person's probably been here.

"Marge Schott, maybe. Yeah, she was here and the dog. We had to keep the dog outside," Albert Imm said.

It is common here to find three generations at any one table.

No frills and no bills -- you order, eat and tell them what you had at the register.

"When we first took over, you could get a cheeseburger, a chili and a beer for a buck. No tax. Tax was included," Ken Talmage said.

In an age dominated by big chains that serve up everything from mocha latte to sushi, Quatman survives on simplicity.

"The chili, vegetable soup, turtle soup, the beef soup is awesome. It's all homemade," Jimmy Belmont said

The service is swift; the selection is pretty standard. Imm and Talmage just plain like it that way.

They got a mayoral proclamation, a party and a limo ride. But at 40, Quatman doesn't really require such fuss.

Part of how a community identifies itself is where it chooses to eat and meet.There's no identity crisis in Norwood, not with Quatman still around.

"It's a big change when you say I want a cheeseburger and I want it on rye. That's living on the edge, brother. That's living on the edge," Tom Williams said.

Personally, I always enjoyed going to Quatman for hamburgers and using the squeezy bottles to make condimentary artwork on the burger before squishing on the top bun and eating it.