WhereToEat: Cincinnati and N.Ky (open chat)

I noticed in Jungle Jim's Eastgate yesterday that there is a small freezer case of Jeni's Ice Cream in the frozen section.
 

jmckee

 I noticed in Jungle Jim's Eastgate yesterday that there is a small freezer case of Jeni's Ice Cream in the frozen section.
 

 
 
The original Fairfield store has had a small freezer case of it for a while now, too. We usually get ours from Picnic & Pantry in Northside, however (for $1 more than what Jungle charges).

Boston Butz in Ross, which had textbook Roadfood food, but with service that bordered on non-existent, has closed. The sign out front now reads: Coming soon, Overtime Bar and Grill (or something like that, without the comma).
 
Boston Butz had great food but the service was always painfully slow and I wrote about the worst service experience I've ever endured in my life a couple of years ago. We thought about going back in the past year or so but never did.

Hothead Burritos has become our go-to joint for Friday Miami hockey games, since our time is limited those nights.

jmckee


I noticed in Jungle Jim's Eastgate yesterday that there is a small freezer case of Jeni's Ice Cream in the frozen section.

In their specialy cheese section they also have reasonably priced jellied pork tongue which is very good.

Bonk

Hothead Burritos has become our go-to joint for Friday Miami hockey games, since our time is limited those nights.

 
I've eaten at a Hothead location in Centerville and the food was dreadful. Sort of a cafeteria style version of fast Mexican. IMO, Taco Bell tastes better. I just don't like Hothead.

donw9876

I've eaten at a Hothead location in Centerville and the food was dreadful. Sort of a cafeteria style version of fast Mexican.

 
I have to agree. We have tried the Oakley and Florence locations and found everything to be completely flavorless unless you add one or more of their sauces. The quality of the employees at both locations (Oakley in particular) left something to be desired as well, to the point where my wife e-mailed the Oakley manager about the amount of cursing behind the counter that we could hear halfway across the restaurant. We were offered a free return meal as a result, but there is no reason to go back, so we haven't.

Hot Head is a Dayton based business so it has an awful lot of "mind share" in this area as a local success story. I think people around here like it because it's local and because they have a Pavlovian response to taco like stuff (IE, they have no taste buds or judgement), not because it tastes good. The founders of Hot Head were Subway franchisers in Dayton, which may explain the philosophy behind their "recipe" selections.  HH is just incredibly overrated.
 
Plain nachos we got with cheese were soggy eating right in the restaurant (not takeout) because the idiots put everything in a serving bowl and ladled cheese over it. Chicken tasted like precooked salad chicken from the supermarket.
 
I just saw a blog review of one Hot Head and the photo of a cross section of the guy's burrito looked like a tiny lump of chicken surrounded  by a mass of white rice. And the guy liked it.
 
Hot Head is the Idiocracy version of Chipotle, IMO.

A few misc items
 
It appears that Caribe Carryout (formerly in Westwood a stone throw from Price Hill Chili) is about to reopen March 5th on Short Vine in Clifton next to the Steak and Lemonade joint, see: http://www.caribeonvine.com/Menu.html.  I loved this place when it was in Westwood for their empanadas and their solidly good stews on rice plus their very low prices.  It looks like he has upped the prices a bit at the new location but they remain a bargain.
 
I have been to the new Pizzelii's on Wooster Pike about a half dozen times now, and I am fairly impressed with the product there.  They do a 10' woodfired pizza, closest comparison in Cincinnati is A Tavola, but the prices are much lower than A Tavola's - 6 dollars for a plain cheese pie, a buck a topping with a fairly good list of addons, and 8 dollar specialty pies.  The use a fresh (uncooked)  sauce - just crushed tomatoes and salt.  Best topping is the roasted garlic cloves - you get chunks the size of grapes.  Toppings are far more generously applied than at A Tavola.   There is a real committment to quality here and it shows.  Highly recommended.
 
No word on when Iron Skillet in Newtown will re-open after a kitchen fire a few days ago.  I drove by and could barely tell there had been a fire at all, so hopefully they will reopen soon.
 
Sonny's Three Meat Burger moved out of the spot in Anderson and into Skytop Plaza in Mt Washington.
 
Lime Tacqueria in Covington's Mainstrasse has closed for good
 
Blue Smoke BBQ, which had occasionally (usually on Fridays) set up an outside stand at Findlay Market selling pulled pork sandwiches, now has an inside (permanent?) stall at Findlay Market next to the cookie guy, kinda in the middle.  Have to get in there and try their stuff soon
 
I would like to hear from downtowners (Westsider? come in, Westsider?) about how the new Tom + Chee location seems to be doing at the old Tavola Calda location next to Subway on Walnut between 4th and 5th, and about Silver Ladle.

TJ - I've been on a healthy living challenge with some friends so my eating out has been limited as of late.  Some thoughts on downtown: Still loving Currito - way better than Chipotle with a lot more selection and flavor.  I've had a few sandwiches and soups at the Silver Ladle.  Overall, I would give it a 6-7 out of 10 - good but not great.  The burgers are very very good, the pulled pork is not.  The Gumbo soup is excellent, the black bean leaves something to be desired.  Have not been to Tom + Chee and don't plan to - just not up my alley.  In direct opposition to my healthy living challenge, we plan on hitting some of the new places in the casino in the very near future.

donw9876


Hot Head is a Dayton based business so it has an awful lot of "mind share" in this area as a local success story. I think people around here like it because it's local and because they have a Pavlovian response to taco like stuff (IE, they have no taste buds or judgement), not because it tastes good. The founders of Hot Head were Subway franchisers in Dayton, which may explain the philosophy behind their "recipe" selections.  HH is just incredibly overrated.

Plain nachos we got with cheese were soggy eating right in the restaurant (not takeout) because the idiots put everything in a serving bowl and ladled cheese over it. Chicken tasted like precooked salad chicken from the supermarket.

I just saw a blog review of one Hot Head and the photo of a cross section of the guy's burrito looked like a tiny lump of chicken surrounded  by a mass of white rice. And the guy liked it.

Hot Head is the Idiocracy version of Chipotle, IMO.

 
I think it varies by location, because the one in Ross has always been pretty solid. The employees there are always very polite and efficient.
 
I do admittedly like most foods in that genre so maybe I'm not being discriminating enough. ;)

In the "meh, who cares" department, The Polo Grille at Deerfield Towne Center is closing.
 
http://www.todayspulse.co...lose-this-month/nWsjN/
 
We felt that it was pretentious and not as good as the prices would indicate.

That Overtime Bar and Grill now has an "open" sign on the front. It replaces Boston Butz in Ross, although it's weird that there is still a big Boston Butz smoker -- or maybe a trailer -- in the back.
 
There's a Facebook page but little else:
 
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Overtime-Bar-Grill/273716506093575
 
I'd be interested to try it but don't know if that'll happen since our wintertime tradition of commuting from Anderson Twp. to Oxford for Miami hockey games has nearly run its course for the season.
 
Eli's is very close, and while I wasn't wowwed by Eli's, it's still very popular locally so the food had better be good or they won't stay in business long.

I don't know TJ but I remembered when you started this thread some years ago and I'm guessing it has more pages than any other.  I hope the honor of first post on page 100 goes to you.

nah, i want it to be someone else, because this thread is a group effort.
 
heck, if this post were to appear on page 100, I'll delete it :-)

Just saw that Putz's near Mt. Airy forest is opening for the season on March 25th - fantastic ice cream!!

Ena's Jerkmania is open on West Kemper Road in Springdale. http://www.thatsjerk.com/Home.html
It's an offshoot of Ena's restaurant in Columbus.
Anybody tried it?

Got a wild hair and tried Overtime in Ross where Boston Butz used to be.
 
Overall, I'd say the prices were pretty good and the food was average, and as I mentioned above, Ross Pizza is across the street and popular Eli's is a few hundred feet away, so I'm not sure how well this is going to work out.
 
It's a small place anyway, and the dining area is even smaller since they put a five-seat bar in the back.
 
I got a steak hoagie which was pretty good despite being frozen at some point. They offer mushroom or pizza gravy, and I was impressed when the mushroom gravy had actual chunks of mushrooms in it. It also came slightly soggy fries.
 
My wife got a personal pizza with ham and pineapple, which actually means it changes status from pizza to flatbread, and it was OK ( I did try a bite).
 
Our bill for that and two pops was around $18, which I thought was pretty good. Not a place I'd recommend going out of your way for, but you could do worse.
 
Hey, we got our food in under 90 minutes, so it's already a big step ahead of Butz.

jmckee

Ena's Jerkmania is open on West Kemper Road in Springdale. http://www.thatsjerk.com/Home.html
It's an offshoot of Ena's restaurant in Columbus.
Anybody tried it?

 
It has been open for a while now. I reviewed it back on page 90 in September 2011:
 

dlawson

There is a new Jamaican place named Ena's Jerkmania! now open in Springdale, an extension of the (famed?) Ena's Caribbean Kitchen in Columbus. I noticed it for the first time yesterday while driving along Kemper near Route 4, and grabbed a quick lunch there today. I'm not sure what most recently occupied that restaurant space, but it has previously been a Taco Bell and a soul seafood kitchen whose name escapes me. The restaurant can seat about 16 people comfortably, and maybe 20 uncomfortably. (The booths are too large for 2 people, but a bit too small for 4.) 
  
Lunch consisted of a jerk chicken sandwich with onions, mixed peppers, and mustard, fries with a side of spicy ketchup, and a bottle of Ting. The sandwich was excellent, with just the right amount of kick to the "original" jerk sauce (they also offer a "sweet" and a "spicy"). It was served on what appeared to be either a wheat or multigrain hoagie roll, which is a curious but not unwelcome choice, but the meat and peppers are the real stars. Ting (a great grapefruit soda, unlike Squirt) is also excellent as always, but the fries fell a bit short. They were a bit soggier than I expected (considering that they are thin cut) and not all that flavorful. The "kickin' ketchup" helped a bit, and they do offer rosemary-garlic and spicy parmesan fries as well, but at $2+ for a small order, I'm not sure they are worth it. I will opt for a pattie or plantains as a side item next time. 
  
I searched for them on Google yesterday and came up with nothing, but a search today reveals that they do in fact have a Web site with menu: 
  
http://thatsjerk.com/ 
  
I hope they offer lunch combo pricing at some point, since $11ish (including dine-in tax) is a bit steep for a sandwich, fries, and a bottled drink. I'll be back to sample a few of their other offerings just the same. 

 

 
Funny thing...I never did go back. I guess the prices put me off more than I initially thought they would.

Has anyone stopped by Bobby's Burger Palace in Horseshoe Casino? It's by Bobby Flay of Food Network fame. Is it worth a stop?

Got a very good report on BBP from a coworker, and was very surprised on how low the prices are relative to other "celebrity chef" type places - 7 to 8 dollars for most burgers
 
I dont know that I'd make a trip from Lexington for it, even if I was the leading urbanspoon'er for Cincinnati :-), but I will get over there for lunch sometime soon

dlawson

jmckee

Ena's Jerkmania is open on West Kemper Road in Springdale. http://www.thatsjerk.com/Home.html
It's an offshoot of Ena's restaurant in Columbus.
Anybody tried it?

It has been open for a while now. I reviewed it back on page 90 in September 2011:

dlawson

There is a new Jamaican place named Ena's Jerkmania! now open in Springdale, an extension of the (famed?) Ena's Caribbean Kitchen in Columbus. I noticed it for the first time yesterday while driving along Kemper near Route 4, and grabbed a quick lunch there today. I'm not sure what most recently occupied that restaurant space, but it has previously been a Taco Bell and a soul seafood kitchen whose name escapes me. The restaurant can seat about 16 people comfortably, and maybe 20 uncomfortably. (The booths are too large for 2 people, but a bit too small for 4.) 
 
Lunch consisted of a jerk chicken sandwich with onions, mixed peppers, and mustard, fries with a side of spicy ketchup, and a bottle of Ting. The sandwich was excellent, with just the right amount of kick to the "original" jerk sauce (they also offer a "sweet" and a "spicy"). It was served on what appeared to be either a wheat or multigrain hoagie roll, which is a curious but not unwelcome choice, but the meat and peppers are the real stars. Ting (a great grapefruit soda, unlike Squirt) is also excellent as always, but the fries fell a bit short. They were a bit soggier than I expected (considering that they are thin cut) and not all that flavorful. The "kickin' ketchup" helped a bit, and they do offer rosemary-garlic and spicy parmesan fries as well, but at $2+ for a small order, I'm not sure they are worth it. I will opt for a pattie or plantains as a side item next time. 
 
I searched for them on Google yesterday and came up with nothing, but a search today reveals that they do in fact have a Web site with menu: 
 
http://thatsjerk.com/ 
 
I hope they offer lunch combo pricing at some point, since $11ish (including dine-in tax) is a bit steep for a sandwich, fries, and a bottled drink. I'll be back to sample a few of their other offerings just the same. 

Funny thing...I never did go back. I guess the prices put me off more than I initially thought they would.

I remember now. So long ago for one so aged as myself.
 

I was hoping to get to the casino this week but the end of the first quarter is preventing me from getting there.  I hopefully will get there in April as my lunch crew is dying to try the burger place.

While I love the TJ Jackson(and have actually met him briefly to which he can attest knowingly-LOL) he also dents my pocket book with his suggestions and this week was no different.
 
Snow day this week so did the trilogy of Clifton.
 
Late lunch at Caribe per his advice.
 
Two spicey carribean jerk empanadas and two curry chicken empanadas. Talked to the owner while he fried them to order.
 
I need to get back to try the rice stews (especialy the cocount chicken)  but the empanadas were worth the wait. Totally yummy.
 
A quick pop in to see owner Dwan at Alabama 'Que a block down to discuss smoked turkey tips and pick up a new menu. Looks like a stop is needed next week again. Even showed the remaining  carry out Caribe empanada's to Dwan and his staff and all looked and went' damn, where do you get those?"
I said just 100 yards down the road. Ha.  Total LOL moment.

Final stop for coneys and 3 way chili to go at Camp Washington and a brief chat with owner Johnny Johnson.
 
Weather sucked. Food was beyond wonderful.  Three mom and pop one off's and 3 owners working  the floor. Can't beat that. It says a lot these days.

 
Thanks for the Caribe' heads up TJ.
 

I tried Dinastia Latina in Sharonville last week, and I have to say that it was excellent!  I chatted up the wait staff in my (becoming more & more) limited Spanish, and they were very welcoming & efficient.
 
It wasn't the FASTEST Mexican food experience I've had in Cincinnati, but it is right up there with Taqueria Maya as one of the TASTIEST!
 
EDIT: This originally read "Taqueria Mercado" in the line above.  I have never eaten at Mercado, but have many times at Maya.  Not sure how I typed the wrong thing.

^ I have been to both Dinastia and Mercado in the recent past.
 
I thought the food at Dinastia was excellent and the service was charming. It's a tiny place but very good food.
 
Frankly, Taqueria Mercado REALLY underwhelmed us, and unless the place was having an off night, it's just hugely overrated (one other highly rated local place that really underwhelmed us was El Picante in Maineville.) It was, to my taste, extremely corporate mini chain Mexican. The food was not the best. I got shredded beef that had a significant amount of untrimmed fat and our food was bland. The salsa and the table sauces were forgettable.
 
For my money the *best* (in red letters) local hole in the wall Mexican is Taqueria Maya at Kings Automall. I expected the same kind of food and experience at Taqueria Mercado (Fairfield) and I did not get it.

I visited the Yard House downtown on Wednesday night for after-dinner drinks and the place was PACKED - hardly any table open and the bar seats were all taken at 8:30pm.  For the Reds not being in town, I was really surprised.  It was a gorgeous weather night, though.  The beer selection was vast, and the food at least looked good.  Will have to get back to try the food at some point.

^ I have been to both Dinastia and Mercado in the recent past.
 
I thought the food at Dinastia was excellent and the service was charming. It's a tiny place but very good food.
 
Frankly, Taqueria Mercado REALLY underwhelmed us, and unless the place was having an off night, it's just hugely overrated (one other highly rated local place that really underwhelmed us was El Picante in Maineville.) It was, to my taste, extremely corporate mini chain Mexican. The food was not the best. I got shredded beef that had a significant amount of untrimmed fat and our food was bland. The salsa and the table sauces were forgettable.
 
For my money the *best* (in red letters) local hole in the wall Mexican is Taqueria Maya at Kings Automall. I expected the same kind of food and experience at Taqueria Mercado (Fairfield) and I did not get it.

Hey look, TJ's Thread is about to turn 100(pages)!
 
Good job covering your area TJ.

Are we there yet?

Frankly, Taqueria Mercado REALLY underwhelmed us,

 
My complete and utter mistake.  I was speaking of Taqueria Maya, not Mercado.  I've eaten at T. Maya many times, and it's always excellent.  I've never eaten at Mercado.  Sorry!