Cincinnati

Ann M. wrote:

>Will be attending a
>conference in Cincinnati in March. I'm looking for
>good/ethnic/reasonable restaurants, preferably not too far away from the
>downtown area. Thanks.
>.

Cincinnati has several excellent restaurants, and there are more if you are willing to travel across the river into Kentucky.

The 5 star restaurant in Cincy is The Maisonette. French cuisine and very pricey. OR you could go next door to LaNormandie (which shares a kitchen with the Maisonette) and get the same food for half the price.

An Italian restaurant in Newport, KY (10 minutes from the heart of downtown Cincy) called El Greco has excellent Italian food.

If you want to eat on the river, there are several floating restaurants on both the Ohio and Kentucky sides of the river. A lot of these are new (within the last year) so I'm not too certain of the quality of some of these.

For more specific info, you can e-mail me.

Beth

Two of my favorites in Cincinnati are Arnold's on 8th (I think) near Walnut, and the Dee Felice Cafe across the river in Covington.  Arnold's has a mix of food from sandwiches and salads to more complete meals, is reasonably priced, and has an interesting ambience.  Dee Felice features some New Orleans style entrees along with more usual offerings, but their preparation & presentation have always been excellent the times we've been there.

Both Arnold's and Dee Felice offer live music.  Arnold's is apt to be folkier (bluegrass, Irish, old time), while Dee Felice features jazz (Dee F. is a drummer)-- usually small combos, but once a month they have a "big" band crowded onto the stage behind the bar.

There are also several places on Mount Adams, near down town, that you might find appealing, but names escape me right now. The Rookwood Pottery is one, located in the former art pottery kilns.  The food is OK-- burgers, etc.  Price is reasonable. Interesting displays of Rookwood are in showcases throughout the place. ______________________________________________________________________ Frank Godbey                       INTERNET: [email removed]

Near downtown:  I suppose you mean walking distance or a short taxi ride, if you won't have a car at your disposal.  The Boathouse has the Montgomery Inn, famous far and wide for barbecued ribs.  Chinatown has decent Chinese, some Thai on the dinner menu, though not as good as in larger cities.  The big hotels have expensive restaurants, several with good reputations -- Orchids in the Omni Netherland Plaze (go inside and look at it even if you don't eat there!) and the Palace at the Cincinnatian (also very pretty inside).  La Normandie, already mentioned, is a good choice, a city favorite.  Mullane's, a small trendy place at Race and 7th (I think) has some different items.  The Diner, on Walnut, was supposed to be good a few years back but I don't know recently.  A place I never got to try is called Archipelago (if it's still there, I don't live in Cincinnati anymore) and seemed to offer interesting Asian food.  Morton's, the Chicago steakhouse chain, is in the new little shopping galleria in the arcade in back of the Omni. They were also building a Mexican restaurant there, something Cincy needed.  Servatii's is the best bakery downtown.

A little farther away (5 mile cab ride) -- the Precinct, expensive and delicious steaks, a hangout of local sports figures.  As previously mentioned, the river restaurants are entered from the Kentucky side (not a long drive by any means).  The Waterfront is expensive but has the best reputation; Peppercorn's has the best cheap view but the food is typical bar/microwave stuff.  Covington Landing has a few nightclubs with riverview access.  On Gilbert Ave. (not far from downtown) is ZZ's Pizza, pretty good stuff, was THE place to go when it opened a few years ago.  In Clifton, near the university, there's another great pizza place called Pomi's; their individual sized wood fired pizzas with many unusual ingredients are wonderful.

In Kentucky, Dee Felice's offers good Cajun food with live jazz in a nice atmosphere.

Cincinnatians do like to eat out!

You simply must stop by a Skyline Chili parlor at some point in your visit.  But on to resturants, Lendharts on McMillian Avenue in the University of Cincinnati village, about 20 blocks north of downtown on top of the hill (take a cab) is a great family owned German resturant in an old mansion, moderately priced. (Parking available)

Cincinnati has the most Moble Travel Guide rated resturants after San Francisco, and the ONLY one to get five stars in 1990 (the guide I have).  La Maisonette on 6th street (as others mentioned) has been a five star resturant for nearly 30 years running; they take great pride in this (naturally) and do their best to earn the rating.  It's a great place, but you'll pay for it! Notably, the wait staff does not have the usual air of snobbery you often find in French cuisine resturants.

Several of the other rated resturants are downtown as well.  Also, most of the downtown hotels near the convention center have excellent resturants.

BTW, unless you're a rib fanatic, don't bothe treking out to the Montgomery Inn.  It can be difficult to find if you don't know the city, it's 30 minutes from downtown, it's _always_ busy (2 hour waits on weekends not uncommon) and, quite frankly, IMHO, it's not worth the drive and the wait. I often go there when I'm visiting my brother who lives 2 miles away, but we always call first and only go if the wait is < 30 min.

Have fun, Cincy is a great town for dining.

==========Greg Little, 29/06/95==========
I need to know good romantic place to eat in Cincy. My date and I enjoy all types of food. I am going there for the first time and any help would be appreciated.

Greg

Some good places on Mount Adams. Celestial, Rookwood Pottery, Promentory. Downtown: The Palce in the Cincinnatian Hotel, The Phoenix, Pigall's, Morton's Go to the Church in Mount Adams after dinner just for the view. Romantic spot as well as dramatic for the midwest. Enjoy, Richard Moreland

A romantic restaurant can mean different things to different people.  To me a romantic restaurant requires the right combination of atmosphere, lighting and of course food.  My absolute favorite place in Cinti is Arnold's.  It's a bar and grill but don't let that fool you.  In the summer they open up their outdoor cafe where you can sit in the warm summer night surrounded by candlelight.  Or you can sit inside, I prefer upstairs, but it's a preference thing.  The food is excellent and the desserts are out of this world!  I highly recommend this place!

Sarah

There's an Italian restaurant with an incredible view called the Primavista. I also like the Heritage--ask them for a romantic setting and they will do their best. I like Arnold's too but wouldn't call it romantic--just lots of fun.

     I haven't been to Cincinnati lately so I don't know if Fulton's is
still operating, but if it is, it's worth checking out.
     Fulton's is a paddle wheeler located on the Kentucky side of the Ohio
River, directly across from Cincinnati.

Good Luck,

Mike Northway

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