WhereToEat: Cincinnati and N.Ky (open chat)

Oh, no big deal - thanks.
 
I went off like that because I have read all manner of favorable reviews of Taqueria Mercado and it just wasn't that special ... I get tired of reading great things about a place that really wasn't worth the trip.
 
Taqueria Maya's food is more like it makes me want to beat my head against a nearby wall or something, because it's so crazy good. Fresh hand made tortillas (I think), and even the beans and rice have flavor.

Hey TJ congratulations on reaching 100 pages.  I don't think any topic ( except maybe, the infamous "Salad Dressing vs mayonnaise) has reached as many pages.  I hope you'll start posting again.

donw9876


Taqueria Maya's food is more like it makes me want to beat my head against a nearby wall or something, because it's so crazy good. Fresh hand made tortillas (I think), and even the beans and rice have flavor.

I looked up Taqueria Maya and Urbanspoon gives the location as Kings Auto Mall Drive, but the photo of the menu lists a Mason address.  Are there 2 locations or did the restaurant move?  Either is close enough to Lebanon for me to pencil in a visit for Friday, July 12.

Just one location. It's in the Kings Auto Mall and that is either considered Mason or it's close enough that it really doesn't matter. They moved just once, off of Mason Montgomery, but have been at the current location for at least 2-3 years.
 
Here's the specific driving directions. Enter the Fields-Ertel Road drive for the Auto Mall. Turn right almost immediately into the plaza opposite Toyota, where Lenscrafters and Play it Again sports is located. They're right between Play It Again and Lenscrafters.

I really didn't want to make a pedestrian post to start a 100th page, but here's my pent-up thoughts over the past few weeks, for anyone who cares.
 
We moved from Anderson Township to Union Township (in Clermont County), so we'll obviously be looking at that area's local fare a little more in the years to come.
 
We did Country Inn last weekend, on Ohio 125, about 1 1/2 miles east of I-275, and it was amazing. Their were numerous specials on their board, and everything was around $9. I got the chicken, and it came with a salad, two sides and bread.
 
The chicken was very good, and I got a sweet potato, which was exceptional. The mac and cheese was pretty good as well.
 
The three other people we ate with (my wife included) all loved their meals. Portions are enormous, quality was excellent and the prices were very fair. Service was excellent.
 
Went back to Campbell's Barn in Amelia, and I'm happy to report the chicken is still exceptional. A four-piece meal with two sides and a roll were $9.25. I got the mac and cheese and the jalepeno potato, and both were very good. The breading on the chicken is amazing, and the breast -- which can be dry at some places -- was incredibly juicy. Service, again, was excellent.
 
Finally, had a gift certificate to Indigo and tried that on Saturday. They have two locations -- Fort Wright and Hyde Park -- we chose the Fort Wright location. Unfortunately it will be leased out to a sports bar after April 30. But the food was very good.
 
We got a stuffed foccocia bread for an appetizer, which has mozz, tomatoes and pesto inside and was unbelievable, and I got the bacon bake, which is a pasta dish with penne smothered in mozz and bacon. I loved it. 
 
Cathy got the cajun pasta and thought it excellent as well. It's too bad that location is closing, as I cover CovCath football in the fall and that would've been a great place to eat dinner afterwards. But as good as it ways, we'll likely end up going to the Hyde Park location even though it's a pain in the anal opening to park there.

donw9876


Here's the specific driving directions. Enter the Fields-Ertel Road drive for the Auto Mall. Turn right almost immediately into the plaza opposite Toyota, where Lenscrafters and Play it Again sports is located. They're right between Play It Again and Lenscrafters.

Thanks, Don.  I looked it up on Google Maps and it appears to be an independent oasis in a desert of chain restaurants!

ScreamingChicken

I looked it up on Google Maps and it appears to be an independent oasis in a desert of chain restaurants! 

 
Kyoto isn't bad as far as sushi goes, but...yes, that particular stretch is otherwise terrible. Hi Bombay! was great until they started cutting corners before finally going under, and I heard good things about the now-closed Oleg's Tavern, but I never did make it there despite frequenting the area for over 7 years.

About that general area:
 
We went to Oleg's a couple of years ago and had lunch there. The owner (who kept getting mentioned in negative online reviews as being like the Soup Nazi) really made us uncomfortable, and I didn't think the food was that great.
 
I also like Skip's Deli's actual food, but the service attitude there pretty well sucks. One time I was getting a fountain drink and some stupid dumbass that worked in the back ran past me toward the back and shoved me and the drink went all over the counter. Kyoto, in front of the same shopping center, had decent food but I found the service and vibe very sterile and unwelcoming. " Hot Doggin' It" in the same building is now closed, but they had a very good product and good service IMO.  
 
"Iron Chef Grill" always looks intriguing at night with its lighted sign on, but everyone we know says it's way too expensive for what it is.
 
Grand Oriental gets praised for its Dim Sum but we went there a while back to buy an a la carte dinner, and the place was completely disorganized and we left. We talked to the owner when we were there to express our concerns and he was clueless. We like Johnny Chan 2's in Harper's Point, but that place gets trashed in online reviews, and I have never experienced the bad service or dirtiness that other reviewers claim.
 
The middle eastern place in the plaza across from Harper's Point was pretty good the last time I tried it, with really, really tasty freshly baked pita bread.

Fairly recently, Bonk reported a good experience at Great Scott in Oakley
 
Sadly, Polly reports today that this particular location has now closed for good: http://cincinnati.com/blo...t-in-oakley-is-closed/

Finally made it over to the new downtown casino for lunch today.  Our lunch crew was interested in trying out Bobby Flay's Burger Palace.  The casino is very nice and very new and was moderately busy for Friday afternoon.  BBP, as it is called, has a very simple menu of burgers, fries (reg and sweet potato), onion rings and shakes.  They also sell alcohol.  I had heard from some other friends that other BBP outlets were pretty good, so we had high expectations.  Verdict: Very Good, bordering on Excellent.  The burger was cooked to a perfect medium.  I had the Miami, which was supposed to evoke a Cuban sandwich.  My other dining partners had the Buffalo and the Classic and each one said their burger was terrific.  The burger definitely was made with fresh meat.  You can also get a grilled chicken or turkey burger instead of beef.
 
We all ended up getting the sweet potato fries, which were fabulous.  They were Hot and crispy with a delicious taste and texture.  The fries $3 for an order; I would have been happy had I paid $5 for them.  Burgers were $6.50 - 7.75, so a burger and the very large serving of fries with a water was a little over $11. 
 
The only complaint I had was that the place is not very large and was extremely busy.  We were able to grab a seat without a wait, but the line got long and the seats ran out.  The servers were very polite but it was painfully obvious that they wanted us to leave as soon as the last bite hit our mouths.  I could have done without that but the food was good enough for me to overlook that somewhat.  Highly recommend.

Interesting. So is BBP accessable from outside the casino or do you have to physically go inside the casino to get to it? I don't have any desire to visit the casino but I would like to check out Flay's place.
 
TJ - I just moved to within two miles of the Withamsville Great Scott and when I went in for a beverage last Saturday they were still talking the Oakley location up. That sucks, but at least the diner and the original location are still close.

A new Mexican/Central American market/5 table diner has taken the spot of Caribe over on the west side right off of Glenway and Cleves Warsaw Ave across from the UDF (and within eyesight of Price Hill Chili).
 
They took the old Caribe spot and also took the spot next door for the kitchen and meat market.
 
Mercado Maratada (or Maratana as best as I remember) is the name.
Woman running the grille spoke little english but who I did speak to said they are doing a variety of Mexican and Central American goodies as he showed me.

They are doing tacos and burritos of course, but also had tongue in a nice sauce ,  home made chicken tamales, pork ribs, beef ribs,  mole chicken, guatamalan stew, colorado style green chili, arroz con pollo, along with the std. white or yellow rice and refried black beans. They had 9 or more 1/3 hotel steam pans full of goodies plus a flat top grill for carne asada and anything grilled. Plus a deep fryer.
 
He said he does a modified version of emepanadas that he is working on but they have only been open less than a month so things are still growing.
 
I'll stop by this week to grab a bite.They didn't even have a paper menu for me to grab and go.
It's a neat idea. I hope the neighborhood takes to it.  It's such a "hole in the wall" that I'm not quite sure ANYONE in that area is aware of it. :)
 
It may give TJ a reason to do a Saturday roadtrip to the west-side once again though. LOL.
:)
 
 
 
 

I work in Queensgate at the moment and at lunchtime I tend to run westwards into Price Hill area when I am not heading to Findlay or Covington Mainstrasse, so I will be sure to check out this new place soon
 
I'm hoping this new joint will do an arepa, but the other stuff sounds good too
 
Aside: The gas at the UDF on that corner often has some of the cheapest gasoline in the city, giving me another reason to be in that area.  And of course Price Hill Chili is a half block away.

There is no outside entrance to BBP; you can just walk along the fringe of the casino floor to get there.  You don't have to walk through all of the gambling, but you will have to walk past it.
 

Bonk


Interesting. So is BBP accessable from outside the casino or do you have to physically go inside the casino to get to it? I don't have any desire to visit the casino but I would like to check out Flay's place.

TJ - I just moved to within two miles of the Withamsville Great Scott and when I went in for a beverage last Saturday they were still talking the Oakley location up. That sucks, but at least the diner and the original location are still close.

For quite some time now, those with a layover at Cincinnati's airport (CVG) have been able to get a taste of Cincinnati-style chili without leaving the airport
 
Now, you can also get our famous Graeter's ice cream without leaving the airport
 
http://news.cincinnati.co...er-s-now-available-CVG

Too bad. I'd like to try Bobby's food, but I will never set foot in that monstrosity.

jmckee


Too bad. I'd like to try Bobby's food, but I will never set foot in that monstrosity.

 
That's sort of what I'm thinking...
 
Thanks for the info westsider!!

I am sure many of you recall Oleg's Tavern (http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:EPfoifD1dsYJ:cincinnati.com/blogs/dining/2010/09/17/ukrainian-has-german-touch-with-oleg-taverns-cuisine/+olegs+tavern+campbell&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us) up in the Field's-Ertel area in Northeastern Cincinnati, and of course this tavern closed some time back
 
Well, I found out today that Oleg is now operating a food truck - well, more like a food trailer pulled behind a truck - called Berliner Doner Kebab.  I spotted this on Mt Carmel Tabasco Road just barely north of Beechmont in the parking lot next to Butterbees.  I had unfortunately already eaten when I spotted the truck, so I just stopped to chat with him for a few minutes.  From what he told me, it looks like the truck will mainly be doing specials rather than a regular menu .  For example, he had a meatball sandwich today. The card he gave me reads "Oleg's International Cusine" so it may be that he is transitioning from one name to another, although I forgot to ask that question. 
 
He said he'd be at that same location Monday Tuesday next week and after that he might move back to Mason for a while
 
website as listed on the card: www.olegsfood.com

Good info as always, TJ...I'll try to get up there Monday for lunch.

I was in Great Scott Withamsville, and the bartender said the ownership is not changing in the Oakley location, but it's going to re-open as an antiques place-slash-bar-slash-wine store-slash-specialty sandwich shop.
 
Their initial food concept didn't work in that area and I'm not sure if this idea is any better of a fit for that location.
 
But the food at the Withamsville location is still very good. :)

Several years ago, while I was still working downtown, one of my very favorite lunch spots was a place called Tom's Pot Pies.   He had a sensational traditional chicken pot pie and an even better broccoli alfredo pot pie, and I would generally get over there at least once a week
 
Unfortunately, he had to close up shop, and I have not seen or heard from him since
 
However, there was a blog post on Cincinnati Nomerati this week that indicated he is still in business and you can still get these pies, which is great news
 
The blog post: http://cincinnatinomerati.../05/toms-pot-pies.html

Key snippet from the post:

I found out that Tom would deliver potpies downtown if you called and asked nicely, and gave him a day's notice.

Potpies are $7 and worth every penny. You can reach Tom at 513-235-2400 for potpie orders. I'd recommend avoiding home games, as rumor has it that the Cincinnati Reds devour Tom's pies before each home game.

He's a little different, but I did make it to Tom's downtown location and it was very good.
 
Did the Oleg's food "truck" Monday (thanks for the heads-up, TJ), and I thought his meatball sub was awesome. Five huge meatballs with homemade marinera and parmesan, with fries that he re-dropped when I ordered and a can of pop for $5. I wish that was his permanent spot.

Anybody have suggestions for a decent place to eat in or around Mariemont?  Wifey and I are planning on spending the day there this coming Saturday, and believe it or not, I've never visited there.  I mean, what with urbanspoon, yelp, etc., I know what restaurants are actually there (Dilly's Café, Flipdaddy's, Pizzelii, etc.); I was more interested in my fellow Roadfooders' take on what's really good, and what isn't so really good.  Thanks.

Rabkin

 Anybody have suggestions for a decent place to eat in or around Mariemont?  Wifey and I are planning on spending the day there this coming Saturday, and believe it or not, I've never visited there.  I mean, what with urbanspoon, yelp, etc., I know what restaurants are actually there (Dilly's Café, Flipdaddy's, Pizzelii, etc.); I was more interested in my fellow Roadfooders' take on what's really good, and what isn't so really good.  Thanks.

 
There have been some grumblings about the pricing here, but I don't find Flipdaddy's to be all that unreasonable (although it does add up if you enjoy craft brews, and I do). I have been several times, and I keep going back to the Gaucho.
 
I would also highly recommend a stop at 50 West if you are beer drinkers, or even if you aren't. The place is absolutely gorgeous, and you could easily make a lunch out of their (limited) menu offerings.

Gotta disagree on 50West. Beers are just OK at best, and the food (a "small plates" menu) is also nothing special. I like Flipdaddy's, and the breakfasts at the National Exemplar in the Mariemont Inn. Also not far away is Just Q'in', for BBQ, in Newtown (mostly takeout, but they have a few tables).

Rabkin, how was your Mariemont trip? Did I talk you into 50 West, or did johnbycz talk you out of it? 

Looking forward to the possibility of some new Orleans-type grub on the east side sometime in the next month or so - tho this location has seen the death of many an eatery in recent years
 
From: http://cincinnati.com/blo...2013/05/15/swampwater/
 

On the menu: oysters on the half-shell,  chargrilled and fried, gumbo, jambalaya, crawfish etouffee, crawfish pies, fried catfish and po-boys. Then there’s the smoker side of the menu, with ribs, pulled pork, chicken and sometimes turkey. The restaurant  will be open for lunch and dinner, and will offer a  breakfast buffet on the weekend for about $12. Tentative hours are 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday; 9 a.m.-2 p.m. and  3 p. m. to midnight on Saturday; 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. and 3-10 p.m. Sunday

TJ Jackson


Looking forward to the possibility of some new Orleans-type grub on the east side sometime in the next month or so - tho this location has seen the death of many an eatery in recent years

From: http://cincinnati.com/blo...2013/05/15/swampwater/

On the menu: oysters on the half-shell,  chargrilled and fried, gumbo, jambalaya, crawfish etouffee, crawfish pies, fried catfish and po-boys. Then there’s the smoker side of the menu, with ribs, pulled pork, chicken and sometimes turkey. The restaurant  will be open for lunch and dinner, and will offer a  breakfast buffet on the weekend for about $12. Tentative hours are 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday; 9 a.m.-2 p.m. and  3 p. m. to midnight on Saturday; 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. and 3-10 p.m. Sunday

 
Good Lord, that Wyatt's is gone already? The grilled cheese place before that was actually really good.
 
Sounds promising, but obviously that location hasn't worked out for others.
 
Speaking of places that have replaced other Roadfood places in tough locations, I visited Becknell's Bakery and Cafe today, which is in the spot of the former BBQ joint whose name escapes me right now that was in a strip mall on Glen Este-Withamsville just south of Ohio 32.
 
I went in for a quick sandwich and to pick up a menu. For $3.99 I got a turkey and swiss on ciabatta. There was plenty of meat on it and it was very tasty. You can also get a sandwich on a croissant or on a pretzel bread, and you get your choice of swiss, American or cheddar and turkey, ham or roast beef. The ladies working there were very friendly. You can also get a sandwich with kettle chips and mini cookies for $6.49.
 
I didn't get any bakery items but they looked delicious and what struck me about them was how inexpensive they were. Cake balls were $.65, canolis were $1.09, chocolate covered Oreos were $.75. It's tough to get in and out of there, which I hope doesn't affect their business.
 
I want to go back soon and try more sandwich combinations and some of the confectionaries.
 
The Web site is all for specialty cakes, but maybe it'll get updated. It's www.becknellsbakery.com.