Southwest Ohio and Environs (Open Chat)

Rumor mill time: in this article in the Western-Star (Lebanon), someone claims this in a comment in the article:

The signs aren't up just yet, but give them a couple of weeks. There is a BBQ in the works to open in the Wild Bills location. The plan is good food at good prices. They plan to open this summer, so when you smell it, follow your nose. I know I can't wait

"Wild Bill's" was a restaurant on East Silver Street in Lebanon just north of downtown that closed a couple of years ago.

http://www.western-star.c...&showComments=true

Anyone know anything about:

Woody's BBQ.  Just opened in Feb.  3321 Dayton-Xenia Road just west of North Fairfield in Beavercreek.

I did not realize that Woody's is part of a chain of BBQ restaurants similar to City BBQ.

We ate at Woody's in Beavercreek yesterday - not much good to say about them - their meat was dry and pretty much tasteless - further comments etc to follow.

Thank you for the being the regional guinea pig?

Another chain BBQ location to avoid is City BBQ in West Chester/VOA Park. Not well managed and not a good experience.

donw9876


Thank you for the being the regional guinea pig?

Another chain BBQ location to avoid is City BBQ in West Chester/VOA Park. Not well managed and not a good experience.

The City BBQ at Eastgate is far above Woody's in every respect..

NYPIzzaNut

The City BBQ at Eastgate is far above Woody's in every respect..

We don't get up to Dayton much but I'll remember your review if it's ever suggested that we go there.

Your comparison here gives me a good calibration. The Centerville City BBQ is also pretty good for a chain.

Anyone been to the Cock and Bull English Pub in Glendale?

I haven't been to City BBQ for a few months.  But I am a fan.  When they opened in Centerville several years ago we'd occasionally make the trek from YS to eat there.  Was very pleased when they opened the Beavercreek location.   I had one subpar experience there; got a half slab one day and it was way overdone.  I made a comment on the comment card and received a call from Columbus a week or two later!   They City Sampler used to be an awesome deal at $19.99.  Half slab, 1/4 chicken, pulled pork, brisket, toast, corn bread and 2 sides.  It would feed my entire family of four and we'd have leftovers (not huge eaters).  They've cut down the portions of the pork and brisket (no more leftovers) but it's still not a bad deal.  Smokin' downtown ain't bad but I actually prefer city.  I've yet to hit Shields or Huffies but I did have a chopped pork sandwich at Hooks a few years ago that wasn't bad.  What's your favorite Q in DAY?

I posted this a week or two ago, meant to put it in this forum but it ended up on the main page. . .

Anyone been to Dayton Fish Company on 3939 N Main?  Looks interesting but I did not see 1 review online.   I just happened to drive by it this winter while looking for something else (Boston's Bistro) and it caught my eye.  

NYPIzzaNut


Anyone been to the Cock and Bull English Pub in Glendale?

I was there for the first time on St. Patrick's Day of this year, but drive past it often (depending upon which route I take home from work). The menu is more or less the same as the Mainstrasse location in Covington, where I have dined on a few occasions. To be quite honest, their draught beer selection is of most importance to me, with their standard pub fare being almost an afterthought. I don't find the burgers or Saratoga chips (called "pub chips", I think) any better or worse than other "pub"-style places, and I didn't find the "award-winning" fish and chips to be anything special, either (although I am not very fond of beer-battered fish in the first place, and much prefer cornmeal breading).

One other thing to note, since you have mentioned it before concerning your lunchbunch...my impression was that handicap accessibility at the Glendale location is very limited, with several tight corners and walkways. The St. Patrick's crowd may have contributed to that impression, but it wasn't THAT crowded; most tables/booths/stools on the first floor were accounted for, but it wasn't "standing room only" by any stretch.

In short: average food, above-average draught selection. I much prefer snacking on the appetizers (especially the curry chips) at the various Pub locations around town. (Rookwood Mews, in Norwood, is the closest one to us.)

dlawson


 
In short: average food, above-average draught selection.

Any particular beers that make it above average?  I'm a bit of a beer nut and it can be rough in this area to find a good combination of food and beer.

They were the only place I found locally that had Bell's Batch 9000 on draught, for one. Their selection appears to rotate frequently, except for the usual "pub" constants like Guinness, Harp, Smithwick's, Boddington's...

You might also consider a trip to The Comet in Northside, if you've never been.

Anyone been to the Country Inn Restaurant on Ohio Pike in Withamsville lately?

NYPIzzaNut


Anyone been to the Country Inn Restaurant on Ohio Pike in Withamsville lately?

Yes.  It sucks.

Kind of shocked to hear that since the Mt Orab one has been one of our favorites for many years now.

We will be checking it out.

Anyone been to Miss Molly's Bakery and Cafe in Farmersville?

Anyone checked out the Iron Horse Inn in Glendale?

Had a really good pizza at Giovanni's in Fairborn on Sunday. Lots of garlic in the sauce, and the garlic bread was excellent. Good use of basil without going overboard.

They had a location right off I-675 at the Yellow Springs Road exit, but it closed a couple of years ago. I really miss that restaurant -- had the best saltimbocca I've ever had.

dlawson


They were the only place I found locally that had Bell's Batch 9000 on draught, for one. Their selection appears to rotate frequently, except for the usual "pub" constants like Guinness, Harp, Smithwick's, Boddington's...

You might also consider a trip to The Comet in Northside, if you've never been.

 
Batch 9000 on draft?   My, my, that's totally illegal!!  Not that retailers and distributors don't occasionally ignore the rules.  Batch 9K at 12.2%abv was not generally available in Ohio.  Love the Comet but haven't been there for a couple of years.  Sorry for the delayed response.  Been having a number of workstation issues of late.

Anyone been to Thai 9 in Dayton??

Anyone been to the Black Sheep Pub and Restaurant in Cheviot on North Bend Rd or Nick and Tom's Restaurant on Bridgetown Rd, and have anything to say about the establishments?

dlawson

NYPIzzaNut


Anyone been to the Cock and Bull English Pub in Glendale?

I was there for the first time on St. Patrick's Day of this year, but drive past it often (depending upon which route I take home from work). The menu is more or less the same as the Mainstrasse location in Covington, where I have dined on a few occasions. To be quite honest, their draught beer selection is of most importance to me, with their standard pub fare being almost an afterthought. I don't find the burgers or Saratoga chips (called "pub chips", I think) any better or worse than other "pub"-style places, and I didn't find the "award-winning" fish and chips to be anything special, either (although I am not very fond of beer-battered fish in the first place, and much prefer cornmeal breading).

One other thing to note, since you have mentioned it before concerning your lunchbunch...my impression was that handicap accessibility at the Glendale location is very limited, with several tight corners and walkways. The St. Patrick's crowd may have contributed to that impression, but it wasn't THAT crowded; most tables/booths/stools on the first floor were accounted for, but it wasn't "standing room only" by any stretch.

In short: average food, above-average draught selection. I much prefer snacking on the appetizers (especially the curry chips) at the various Pub locations around town. (Rookwood Mews, in Norwood, is the closest one to us.)

We did go there a few weeks ago and it was tight but managable - went in thru side door.  Food was OK only in our collective opinion.

Two mini-reviews:

#1: Lovely's Farm Market, 330 E Central Ave Springboro, OH 45066: lovelysfarmmarket.com

Known for their fried chicken recommended by a friend. I have eaten there two times this summer. The fried chicken is excellent. A caveat: eating in the cafe (as opposed to carry-out) is quite expensive for this kind of place. I was told at the ordering counter that you cannot order either the family chicken packs (starting with 8 pieces) nor can you get containers of their salads or sides to eat in. If you eat in the cafe, you "must" pay the individual (quite expensive) prices per side and you "must" order the individual meals. No family deals permitted.  Everything is a la carte. Today three of us each ordered their 2 piece chicken dinners,  and we got a total of 4 sides between us and three fountain drinks. $29! Almost $10 apiece. I will add that my two piece meal, a wing and a breast, were both microscopic. Quite small. I left still hungry.

#2: Trails Tavern, Yellow Springs on Rt. 68 in the center of town.

I do not recommend it.  The place has very slow service and expensive food with narrow selections, and indifferently made. The food was OK to insipid. A $5.75 "Jerk Burger" is a very dry 1/4 lb patty on a plain bun, absolutely no toppings (even a stupid slice of tomato is $0.50) but uber hot jalepenos and jack cheese, and a sprinkling of rosemary herb that I guess is the "jerk" seasoning. And no side included except chips and a pickle spear. A relatively narrow range of appetizers - no jalapeno poppers, for instance. We paid $19 for about $12 worth of food.

Not great reviews, but provided in the spirit of informing.

I mentioned last year here also during my one visit to Lovely's at almost season's end last year that their prices on things like jams and preserves etc from Amish country are higher by a significant amount than can be found at stores like The Home Place in Georgetown, OH in Brown County:

http://www.thehomeplacefurniture.com/

The local family that operates this place are Mennonites, and were formerly Amish.  They offer baby back ribs with sides for takeout on Fridays  and have BBQ chicken lunches with all the fixings on Saturdays during the summer.

NYPIzzaNut


Anyone been to Thai 9 in Dayton??

 

We  went last year on our anniversary.  I really enjoyed my green curry dish, can't recall if I had seafood, tofu or chicken.  My wife had the Beef Salad and it was excellent.  Very nice beer selection, I recommend the Saison Dupont, a Belgian Farmhouse Ale.  It's a tad pricey but it's a nice restaurant so it's far from unreasonable.  The spicing is on a scale from 1-10 and the word is that it is inconsistent.  I think I ordered an 8 and the waiter talked me down to a 7.  I should have went with the 8.

RantoulDavis

NYPIzzaNut


Anyone been to Thai 9 in Dayton??

 

We  went last year on our anniversary.  I really enjoyed my green curry dish, can't recall if I had seafood, tofu or chicken.  My wife had the Beef Salad and it was excellent.  Very nice beer selection, I recommend the Saison Dupont, a Belgian Farmhouse Ale.  It's a tad pricey but it's a nice restaurant so it's far from unreasonable.  The spicing is on a scale from 1-10 and the word is that it is inconsistent.  I think I ordered an 8 and the waiter talked me down to a 7.  I should have went with the 8.

Our group went there for lunch on June 22d.  It was extremely noisy - very poor acoustics --  I will post a few photos shortly - the food was OK - spice levels seemed consistent with what was ordered.  I did not order Pad Thai (a personal favorite) as we were told it was fairly sweet. For a group of 6 our check was $100.

A new restaurant has opened in Yellow Springs.  Today was the first day I'd noticed it being open.  It's called CJ's Southern Cooking and it's on Xenia Ave (US-68), south of the village in the old KFC/Taco Bell location.  Went there today and enjoyed a pulled pork sandwich, chips, fried cod basket, slaw, fries, and beans & rice (shared).  All were very good.  Order at the counter and they'll bring it to your table.   Prices are reasonable as are the portions.   Here's an article that appeared in the local paper about 3 weeks ago.  I have no affiliation.

ysnews.com/news/2010/06/cj%E2%80%99s-to-cook-up-%E2%80%98bama-food

RantoulDavis


A new restaurant has opened in Yellow Springs.  Today was the first day I'd noticed it being open.  It's called CJ's Southern Cooking and it's on Xenia Ave (US-68), south of the village in the old KFC/Taco Bell location.  Went there today and enjoyed a pulled pork sandwich, chips, fried cod basket, slaw, fries, and beans & rice (shared).  All were very good.  Order at the counter and they'll bring it to your table.   Prices are reasonable as are the portions.   Here's an article that appeared in the local paper about 3 weeks ago.  I have no affiliation.

ysnews.com/news/2010/06/cj%E2%80%99s-to-cook-up-%E2%80%98bama-food

I am familiar with the old KFC/Taco Bell combo restaurant, Rantoul.  I don't eat either of those brands.  I'm amazed (not to mention happy!) that it closed.  Chalk one up for the mom and pop eateries!