WhereToEat: Cincinnati and N.Ky (open chat)

TJ Jackson

First up: Roy Rogers.  Err Roney's. 

 
http://communitypress.cin...menu?odyssey=obnetwork

I finally made it to Taco Casa in Forest Park, at the corner of Northland and Southland in an old, somewhat-remodeled Burger King. They spent much more time on the inside, which feels quite open thanks to the walls of windows, and booths only lining the walls. (There are several tables down the center, however...I estimate the place could comfortably seat 80.) Paint colors are bright but not too garish, and the walls are sparsely populated, a welcome change from the sensory overload of most Mexican restaurants. The exterior still needs some serious attention, however. It has been repainted, but still looks quite drab, and the amount of weeds in the landscaping and parking lot makes it look like the spot is still vacant.
 
I was brought a basket of tortilla chips and two squirt bottles of salsa (a reddish-orange hotter one, and a pretty mild salsa verde) after I sat down. I was also expecting a bowl of salsa, as squirting salsa on each chip is a bit inconvenient, and squirting salsa over all of the chips is a bit of a mess, but one never arrived. I stuck with the regular tacos for my first visit, which include a meat, onions, and cilantro on a "double" corn tortilla, with a lime wedge (one for each taco) on the side. Meat options are largely the same as Taqueria Mercado, with things like suadero, tripe, and tongue among them. I went with chorizo on all three that I ordered, and I regretted not getting three different ones since the chorizo was more than a little bland. Three tacos and chips for $6 was quite filling, however. I did not see mention of any lunch specials on the menu, but at that price, I suppose you don't really need any.
 
Overall first impression...good, not great. I would go back out of convenience more than anything else, since it is the closest Mexican restaurant to my office (with Mi Ranchito and Mi Familia not much further), but I am curious to taste several of the other meats. The review that TJ linked earlier raves about the carne asada in particular.

Went back to Eli's on Friday and took the Mrs. to dine in.
 
I got the pulled pork earlier in the week so I went with the two beef hot dogs for some reason. Yeah, I know, it's a BBQ place, but the pork crispins as a topping intrigued me.
 
We wanted to try the beans and the mac & cheese, so the Mrs. got the pulled pork solo and I got the hot dogs with the sides. The hot dogs were good, and the crispins -- which I'd never even heard of before on a hot dog or on anything else -- were amazing.
 
They taste like pulled pork pieces that are deep fried for a few seconds.
 
Cathy absolutely loved the pulled pork sandwich.
 
The beans were outstanding, and had sort of that Cincinnati chili flavor that made me wonder how they would've tasted on the hot dogs.
 
But the mac & cheese was amazing. Cathy said it's one of, if not the best, she's ever had. It's super cheesy, and it tastes like Velveeta is mixed in.
 
For $16 we were stuffed and very satisfied. We're going to be regulars there.
 
Between Eli's and Just Q In, I'm very pleased to have two very good Q options on the east side, even with Woe Is Me closing.

So, curiosity got the better of me, and I went back to Taco Loco today to sample some of the other meats. I got three tacos again, one carne asada, one pork, and one suadero (beef shoulder).
 
Let me first say that I agree with the linked reviewer...the carne asada is really quite good, and is the only one of the four meats I have tried that I can wholeheartedly recommend. The pork, while a generous serving for a single taco, was bland and dry, and the suadero was awful. They must use a considerably cheaper/worse cut of meat than Taqueria Mercado does, or a different cut altogether, as the chunks were quite fatty and tasteless...and, frankly, looked more like pork than beef.
 
At least I now know what my "standby" will be in case I'm not feeling all that adventurous.

We did Roney's over the weekend and can verify that the food is as good as always. I went with my staple -- the roast beef with cheese -- and we split some nuggets, and it was excellent stuff.

Metromix review on Eli's.
 
http://cincinnati.metromix.com/restaurants/restaurant_review/first-look-elis-bbq/3051326/content
 
Very positive, and he didn't even try the pulled pork sandwich.

Any east-siders checked out this place yet?
 
http://www.themeatpitllc.com/

TJ Jackson


Any east-siders checked out this place yet?

http://www.themeatpitllc.com/

Interesting. Not much real menu information, but I'm intrigued.

Same here. It's 2012, post a menu online.
 

A couple of weeks ago, on our "small business Saturday", my wife and I went to the Riverside Antique Mall on Kellogg and ate at "Say Cheese", the restaurant attached to the former Ferguson's Antique Mall. http://mysaycheesecincinnati.com/
 
Nice clean place. Limited but interesting menu. Breakfast buffet was still up and running; encouraging sign that a staffer was taking something "over the hill" out of the steam tray and adding fresh.
 
My wife had the Goetta grilled cheese. Goetta had a nice crisp crust, and the cheese was generous. Bread had that nice crisp perfectly toasted texture and taste. I had the grilled cheese with red and green bell peppers and caramelized onions. Both sandwiches were very good. Fries were done to order; oil could have been a touch hotter, so they weren't as crisp as they could have been, but they had nice, fresh potato flavor.
 
We'll be back.

I saw that place on my way back from Eli's and was wondering what the deal was. It's unclear while whizzing by at 40 mph if it's a cheese shop or its own entity.
 
I'll have to give that a shot, although being two blocks from Eli's and not going there might be difficult.

Bonk


I saw that place on my way back from Eli's and was wondering what the deal was. It's unclear while whizzing by at 40 mph if it's a cheese shop or its own entity.

I'll have to give that a shot, although being two blocks from Eli's and not going there might be difficult.

I lobbied slightly for Eli's, but it was raining pretty heaviliy and more than one trip back and forth to the car might have been out of the question. Also, we'd just had Just Q'in the weekend before.

 
Goetta grilled cheese does sound really good. Actually the whole menu does.

So we did Say Cheese last week.
 
The hours listed online said they closed at 5, so we got there at 4. When we got there we were the only ones there, and the lady that waited on us said they were actually staying up significantly later.
 
They have a lot of old pictures of the area around the inside, which is pretty cool.
 
We split the "Today's Mac and Cheese" as an appetizer. It was very cheesy and tasted great. It was a great value for $4.50.
 
I got the Porkopolis, and Cathy got the Not the Old Standard.
 
I was very impressed with the Porkopolis. The pork was juicy and the Texas toast was a nice touch. Cathy's grilled cheese was awesome. In addition to it having four cheeses, they fry cheese on the bread.
 
My only complaint is the same thing Jmckee said - the fries weren't cooked at a high enough temperature and/or weren't double fried. I really don't understand how that can happen at a restaurant if an idiot like me can figure out how to cook fries right, but they still weren't bad.
 
Overall we were really happy and will definitely go back.
 
So we would definitely consider that a good experience, but...

...we tried The Meat Pit this weekend, and I'm sad to report our experience was much less favorable.
 
I preface this by saying that I don't think I'm nearly as selective or harsh or picky or whatever word you want to use as a lot of people on these boards. Nine times out of 10 when I eat out I'm happy with what I get. Some meals are obviously better than others, but I rarely complain about food and/or a dining experience.
 
We arrived at 12:45 and there were only a few cars there. The Meat Pit is in the former Miguel's.
 
We were optimistic when we smelled real barbecue as we walked in the front door, but the enthusiasm wouldn't last.
 
The interior's still basically the same as Miguel's -- there's a bar up front and it basically looks like a former Mexican restaurant.
 
The menu has about seven appetizers, a handful of burger options, steaks and a few other items.
 
We decided to order the smoked wings as an appetizer to split, I got the brisket sandwich and Cathy got the BBQ burger which was called something to that effect -- sauce, onion rings, you get the idea.
 
I don't like onions, and my only question was if I could get a different bun than the onion bun that was listed. Some sandwiches listed an onion bun, some didn't, so I figured it wouldn't be a big deal to get a regular bun. Big mistake.
 
First, our server came back and asked if I was OK with doing rye bread. Keep in mind, I'm really not picky other than I really, really don't like onions. I balked and asked if I could just get one of the burgers that didn't have that bun. She said they all used onion buns, even though it wasn't listed in about half of the descriptions.
 
Then I asked if I could see the menu again, and she came right back and I decided to just go with the brisket mac and cheese.
 
She came back a few minutes later and said they had run out of wings the night before. Very disappointed, we decided we'd just go without an appetizer.
 
I guess my mind wasn't working very quickly because it took about five minutes for me to realize all I had coming was a meal-sized version of mac and cheese.
 
Cathy's BBQ burger came without the onion ring or barbecue sauce, which blew my mind. Those would seem to be two essential items for that order. So they brought her out a side of sauce and two onion rings.
 
My order was penne with a slight hint of cheddar and even less of a hint of some kind of ground meat that may or may not have been a cow part at one time. And it was all topped with a glorified ketchup that was some kind of cheap store-bought barbecue sauce.
 
And guess what? It had red onions mixed in, which were not on the menu. The onions were hard to pick out because they were so small, the penne was very bland and I only ate about half before my taste buds refused any more.
 
As it turned out, the onion bun Cathy got didn't smell like or taste like onions, nor did it have onions anywhere in it (right or wrong I was expecting something like Arby's buns with onions embedded in them).
 
Her burger was actually really good and decent sized, and at $9 was $3 cheaper than my $12 order of noodles and ketchup. The fries that came with the burger were sort of the Penn Station type -- a little soggy but still pretty decent.
 
I realize the place is pretty new, but I can't see this place lasting if this is a typical experience. The server was very nice, but not knowing your menu (the wings and the unannounced onions that came on my order after I was clear I didn't like them) is a major flaw. It was pretty obvious she had little serving experience (she asked if we needed more pop when our glasses were almost full).
 
We weren't charged for our pops, possibly because of the wings fiasco, and our bill was $22. And I left hungry.
 
I realize new places sometimes need a while to work efficiently, but especially with Just Q'In and Eli's in the area now, I can't see any reason to go back. If Miguel's went under in that location -- a place I actually liked -- I can't see this place sustaining business.
 

One more post, and sorry for the filibuster, but Eli's has a stand at Findlay Market on the weekends now. They were just serving pulled pork sandwiches, but when your pulled pork is that good, that's all you need to cook.
 
And we tried a place called The Firehouse in Blue Ash recently, located in the former microbrewery or whatever it was on Lake Forest.
 
Definitely more of a franchise feel, but we really liked everything we got. We had the Buffalo chicken rolls for an appetizer (deep fried egg roll wrappers stuffed with pepperoni and cheese, topped with a drizzle of Buffalo sauce -- I give them an 'A' for sure), I got the Batallion Italian pizza (meat and banana peppers -- also very good) and Cathy got the Proscuitto and Fontina stuffed chicken with mashed potatoes, which she loved. I tried bites of both and was very impressed.
 
She got two girly drinks and the bill was in the low 60s. We'll be back.
 
[/diarrhea of the word processor]

I am not sure the stand at Findlay that serves BBQ is Eli's, although they did indeed serve BBQ there on the weekends at one time.
 
I think (not absolutely sure) that the weekend BBQ operation at Findlay is a different outfit called Velvet Smoke: http://www.findlaymarket....g/index.php?newsId=310
 
More BBQ News - I almost lost it when I drove by Just Q'in in Newtown and the place is empty and all the signage and other signs of life (including the smoker) were (are) gone.   When I got home, first thing I checked was their website in the hopes of learning what happened, and - whew- they've moved to a new location at Burger Farm, just a mile or so away 
 
UPDATE 6/2/2012: Stopped at Burger Farm last night, and Just Q'in is not yet open there.
 
UPDATE 6/3/2012: Found this entry I had previously missed on their Facebook page:

BREAKING: June 12th we re-open at Burger Farms on 32! New hours are Tues-Sat 11-9

 

I'm relieved about Just Q'in. Almost had a heart attack when I read the start of your statement. Burger is not quite as convenient to me, but I'll go!

jmckee


I'm relieved about Just Q'in. Almost had a heart attack when I read the start of your statement. Burger is not quite as convenient to me, but I'll go!

 
Wow, exactly! That's really not very nice TJ!
 
On Findlay, yeah, it's definitely Eli's. That's why we got the sandwich there -- they had a big-ass sign out there that said "Eli's", and the pulled pork and slaw were nearly identical to the restaurant versions.
 
This was on a Saturday, granted, but they were outside on the south side of the main building about halfway down.
 
By pure coincidence, I just happened to look at my "joined" date and realized today is my five-year anniversary on this board. Thanks everyone for putting up with me!

Hehe, imagine the shock if you had seen the emptied site while driving by (as I did) rather than reading about it....see, I prevented two potential vehicular accidents :-)   See, I am a nice, caring fellow that helps keep you two out of trouble :-)
 
It's odd that Findlay has two 'que joints both operating there on the weekend. Not a bad thing for a customer, but I suppose each gets less business as a result, so if I was the owner I wouldn't be happy with such an arrangement.
 
Have either of you two (or anyone, for that matter) been to Tortilleria Villanueva on Old SR 74 yet?  So far, I have had two tacos (al pastor and carne asada, 2 bucks apiece) and was not impressed with the tortillas or the filllin's

Eli's BBq started on Fountain Square Mon-Fri, and Findlay Market on the weekends.
 
When they were forced to move from Fountain Square (as all food vendors were), is when they opened the Riverside Ave. location. At that time, they gave up their Findlay Market location, as well.
 
That is when Velvet Smoke opened at Findlay.
 
Just recently, Eli's has come back to the market on the weekends. There have been rumors as to why Eli's went back (competition worries?).
 
A friend of mine went to Eli's on Riverside Ave. a couple of Saturdays ago at @ 1pm, and they were out of everything except hotdogs. That was fine with her, but they refuse to serve the hotdogs anyway except with the BBQ sauce, coleslaw and cracklins. She was picking up food for a number of people (some who had ordered the pulled pork and ribs), and asked if they could put the toppings on the side. They said no. She got a little upset, not knowing if the others would want their hotdogs prepared this way, and said to the owner, since he had no other food, could he make the exception. He went on a rant to her about how hard it is to keep up smoking all the meats, and keeping up with the demands of two locations. He finally relented, and let her get the toppings on the side, "because they were out of everything else".
 
Still makes me go "Hmmm...?"
 
Love their food, though.

A fellow member at Coney Island Sunlite Pool heartily recommends Mad Mike's Burgers and Fries in Florence (http://www.madmikesburgers.com/Home.php#). Outstanding burgers; reviewers have said it's rather like a local and really, really good Five Guys.
 
My Coney friend chatted with the owner, and they plan on opening a branch on SR 125 in Amelia, in the old VanLeunen's plaza location near Chipolte, within the next three months or so.

In the not too distant past, the partners who owned the 3 or 4 locations of Noce's Pizza had a falling out and went their seperate ways.  One result of this falling out is that the Noce's on Montgomery Road in Montgomery was renamed Brooklyn Pizza and Pasta: http://www.urbanspoon.com...Pizza-Pasta-Cincinnati
 
The Jackson clan ended up in that neck of the woods the other day at around dinnertime, so I decided to have us re-try the place to see if the quality had improved.  The last couple of times I had been there when it was Noce's, it was rather underwhelming
 
Bottom line - the whole family loves the pizza here.  Were this in our neighborhood, this would be our go-to pizza joint every single time.  I did not notice any improvement on the toppings side, but the three pillars of any pizza - the crust, the sauce, and the cheese - were all MUCH better this time around. I would put this pie in the top 3 in Cincinnati along with Dewey's and Cosmic in Hartwell
 
If you have not been to Noce's on Montgomery recently, I urge you to give it another try.
 
Strongly recommended 

I don't recall ever having a "bad" pie at the Montgomery location, but there was a noticeable drop in quality between their garlic knots and the ones at the Cheviot location (now called Five Boroughs). We have been dining at the latter more often lately, and I asked the proprietor why that was. He suggested that the Montgomery location tended to make things like knots in much larger batches because their customer volume was higher, and that they would just gradually work through that batch over the course of several days, whereas the Cheviot store always made the knots fresh daily. I was also happy to hear that customer volume was up about 20% since the switch from Noce's to Five Boroughs, but I hope the quality of the knots doesn't suffer as a result.
 
TJ, I am sorry to say that I did have a bad pie at Cosmic Pizza last week. The sauce had been rich and excellent the first few times I went, but something about it was considerably off on my most recent visit. I picked it up near closing time, so perhaps he was scraping out the bottom of the jar/pot/whatever. It's not enough to put me off the place, but it's never a priority for me, either. I find myself going to The Don's in Northside more often lately as well, due in part to their $7.77 14" cheese special on Mondays and Tuesdays. I should note, however, that they have suspended their lunch hours indefinitely while they "retool their lunch service" (per their Facebook page), and now open at 5:00 P.M. instead.

I've had a couple of opportunities to eat at the new Moerlein Lager House on the river now and I must say that it is a very worthy destination for food.  The restaurant itself is in a great location with a fantastic view of the river and the new riverfront park.  The inside is open and very attractive; best of all, it seats a lot of people, so even during "busy" times there has not been a wait.  On top of that, the service is very quick and friendly. 
 
I have tried the Mett (sourced by Avril-Bleh) and the Beer can chicken sandwich, and both were very very good.  The Mett comes with sauerkraut and sweet potato chips.  The sauerkraut is delicious and a nice complement to the mett, which is great.  Avril-Bleh meats are top quality.  The beer can chicken sandwich was also delicious - it comes on a toasted hoagy bun with grilled onions and peppers and cheddar cheese.  Everything just works really well on that sandwich.  I upgraded to the fries (+$2) and they were worth it - fresh and hot.  I also ordered the pretzel appetizer, which was really good.  It came with a spicy mustard and cheese dip that was fantastic when coupled with the hot pretzel.
 
Additionally, some of my eating companions have ordered the reuben, the turkey sandwich, and the prime rib sandwich and all have been given effusive praise. 
 
The only knock I have are the relatively steep prices ($11-$14 for a sandwich with a +$2 for fries), but considering the size and location, I think they are justified.  Plus the beer selection is tremendous. 
 
Strong recommendation for lunch, dinner, or before or after downtown events.
 
http://www.moerleinlagerhouse.com/

So I tried Great Scott Diner a little while back. I'm a big fan of the original restaurant and figured the diner would be a perfect location to grab lunch. And it was.
 
The interior is done up in a 1950s style. They have an HD TV in the corner and they have oldies playing in the background.
 
I got a double cheeseburger and fries for $5.99 and the fries were so numerous I couldn't finish them. The burger was better than Five Guys -- a place I definitely like -- and the fries were very crispy and tasty.
 
The bill was $8.50 and I walked away stuffed. Over the next few days I wanted to go back and get another burger, so I took Cathy for a late dinner.
 
I got the double cheeseburger again and she got some variation of that and we both loved our food.
 
We also got macaroni and cheese balls, and for $5 you get three that are -- I kid you not -- the size of softballs. We ate one and took the other two home, and they reheated very well.
 
Also, this time I got the curly fries instead of regular, and they were amazing. There's no reason to ever get them at Arby's after trying these.
 
Our bill was $22. Very strongly recommended for the food and value.
 
Also, Great Scott is opening a second version of its original restaurant in Oakley on Madison Ave. soon.

Django Western Taco in Northside (in the old Slims spot) is officially open as of this past Friday evening. I haven't yet found anything that indicates their regular business hours, but we will do our best to get there at some point this week.

(deleted SPAM Message quoted) AL
Best.  Post.  EVER.  That shizz is like performance art, yo!

So the Good Fellows that was in Corryville closed because that area sucks a giant bunghole and relocated to whatever they're calling the former Cherry Grove mall at Five Mile and Beechmont.
 
It's definitely more bar than restaurant, but the food there has been excellent each time I've stopped in.
 
The capicola sticks are my personal favorite. They come in an oval pizza-shaped form, and the cheese, crust and meat mesh very well.
 
The owner ran pizza places in the Pittsburgh area years ago and clearly knows what he's doing. Highly recommended for late-night chow.

from: http://cincinnati.com/blo...o-go-to-open-new-spot/
 

New Orleans To Go to Open New Spot

• 06/28/12 at 7:28pm
• Written by pcampbell

The folks behind the food truck New Orleans to Go are going to open a small deli/carryout in an office building in Blue Ash and call it New Orleans to Go on the Geaux.
 
LaToya Foster-Filson, who owns the festive Louisiana-themed truck with her husband Randy Filson, said they’ll open at the CMC office building on Reed-Hartman Highway in Blue Ash, on the day after Labor Day. They’ll be open from 10 a.m.-3 p.m., serving New Orleans food like red beans, gumbo, etouffe, cochon po-boys, grits and grillades.
 
They won’t have a fryer for oysters or shrimp, but the truck will make an appearance once a week or so.   She said there’s room to expand, if the concept is popular and people want to eat in.