16. Geoffrey’s Bar and Grille
City: Cincinnati, OH
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (513) 385-9999
Address: 5880 Cheviot Road
Description: Yet another West Side institution, this is much more than the name implies. Geoffrey’s serves grilled food, yes, but daily specials include entrees that remind you of home, such as beef stew, potato soup, steaks, pork chops, hamburgers, and salads. Very popular with those people who live in the area, Geoffrey’s is even crowded on a weeknight. Closed Monday.
17. Grand Finale
City: Cincinnati, OH
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (513) 771-5925
Address: 3 East Sharon Avenue
Description: Set in a century-old Victorian tavern, this is the perfect place to bring your visiting parents or that hard-to-please maiden aunt. The house specialty is Chicken Ginger marinated in soy, sherry, and honey, then grilled with ginger and walnuts. You also can’t go wrong with the crabmeat crepes in butter cream sauce at Grand Finale. There are a half-dozen crepe options on the menu, including Crêpes Champignon (mushrooms laced with a blend of melted cheeses) and spinach crepes. Not exactly finger food. At meal’s end, try one of the four flaming desserts. The Sunday brunch here is awesome, with fascinating items such as poached eggs on artichoke hearts. This restaurant is closed on Monday.
18. Ingredients (Some AssemblyRequired)
City: Cincinnati, OH
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (513) 852-2741
Address: 21 East Fifth Street
Description: This is the downtown hot spot if you’re in the mood for salads. Simply walk up, and preparers will customize your mix of fresh greens, various veggies, steak or chicken or shrimp, and many more options.
19. The Iron Horse
City: Cincinnati, OH
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (513) 771-4787
Address: 40 Village Square
Description: This restaurant has garnered wide attention chiefly due to chef Ron Wise’s daring menu. Begin with duck sausage in a cabernet demi-glace, then proceed to the sea bass with garlic mayo or filet mignon topped with smoked duck breast and Gorgonzola. No lunch Saturday, closed Sunday.
20. LeBoxx Cafe
City: Cincinnati, OH
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (513) 721-5638
Address: 819 Vine Street
Description: This downtown cafe’s peculiar name is a reminder that it delivers boxed lunches to hardworking, chained-to-the-desk types downtown, but it’s a cut above your usual delivery deli. LeBoxx seems to be thriving in a spot where others have failed by offering creative touches on old favorites. Some of the best dishes include the Jack and Coke burger and the buffalo chicken wrap. LeBoxx serves lunch only, Monday through Friday.
21. The Melting Pot
City: Cincinnati, OH
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (513) 530-5501
Address: 11023 Montgomery Road
Description: If you didn’t get enough fondue during the ’70s, this is the place for you. We’ll break the chain rule here because this Florida-based chain has sites mainly in the Southeast and some people may not be familiar with it. It has fondue everything, from filet mignon to dessert. It’s open for dinner only.
22. Palomino
City: Cincinnati, OH
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (513) 381-1300
Address: 505 Vine Street
Description: With its wood-fired Mediterranean cuisine, this visually impressive restaurant—with lots of Matisse reproductions and a salmon-burgundy color scheme—overlooks Fountain Square and is a destination dining spot for downtowners and tourists alike. With neighbors such as Tiffany’s and Brooks Brothers, this is not the place to go to slug down a couple of brewskies after a Reds game. Specialties include apricot cilantro chicken and lobster ravioli. Even the desserts come out of the wood-fired ovens, including the roasted pear bread pudding with bourbon sauce. Brunch is served on Saturday and Sunday.
23. The Quarter Bistro
City: Cincinnati, OH
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (513) 271-5400
Address: 6904 Wooster Pike
Description: Restaurateur Elliot Jablonsky brings a little bit of Havana to Mariemont Square with this Cuban eatery. Specials of the house include the Cuban sandwich (thin-sliced pork, Chihuahua cheese, and pickles on focaccia), shrimp scallop tamales, grilled pork chops, and Caribbean barbecue wings (served with plantain chips and lemon cream). Dinner only.
24. Shadowbox Cabaret
City: Cincinnati, OH
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (859) 957-7625
Address: 1 Levee Way, Newport on the LeveeNewport
Description: A combination theater/comedy club and eatery, this nightclub boasts a full-service bar as well as an appetizing menu. Your waiter, as it happens, is a member of the theatrical troupe. Shows, which lean toward skits reminiscent of the Capitol Steps or Saturday Night Live, are Wednesday through Saturday. Raucous rock music is also on the agenda. Bring earplugs.
25. Sky Galley
City: Cincinnati, OH
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (513) 871-7400
Address: 262 Wilmer Avenue
Description: The unpretentious bar and grill is more notable for its locale than its food. Located inside Lunken Airport, the city’s original air terminal, Sky Galley is a terrific place for bringing the kids to watch the Cessnas take off and land. Order up a sandwich by the window and enjoy the show. Next door is a gift shop with model jets and those old-time balsa wood airplanes we all flew as children. It all makes for a fun, educational outing. (When the Goodyear blimp is in town for a Bengals game, by the way, it docks right here at Lunken—yet another kid pleaser.)
City: Cincinnati, OH
Category: Restaurants
Address: 14 Pete Rose Pier, Covington
27. Sturkey’s
City: Cincinnati, OH
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (513) 821-9200
Address: 400 Wyoming Avenue
Description: The menu here ranges from seared artic char to roasted duck breast. For dessert, try fried chocolate truffles (crunchy balls with molten bittersweet chocolate inside). Only dinner is served Saturday and Sunday.
28. Through the Garden
City: Cincinnati, OH
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (513) 791-2199
Address: 10738 Kenwood Road
Description: Through the Garden is a thoroughly American bistro that offers one of the most delectable stir-fries in town. Loaded with fresh vegetables and your pick of chicken, beef, or shrimp, plus three tangy sauces to choose from. We recommend the Jamaican spicy oriental glaze or the fruity olive oil. Take a wok on the wild side.
29. Tinks
City: Cincinnati, OH
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (513) 961-6500
Address: 3410 Telford Avenue
Description: Located inside a converted Clifton Gaslight District establishment, just off busy Ludlow Avenue, Tinks boasts a varied and eclectic menu that includes grilled eggplant brochettes, crab cakes with remoulade, grilled lemon chicken over spinach, and lamb with tabbouleh. Its signature chocolate fondue was named Best Dessert by the urban weekly CityBeat, and indeed, it’s an evil temptation to which we happily succumb. Chunks of kiwi, pineapple, strawberry, and starfruit are provided for dipping. Hey, that makes it health food, doesn’t it? No lunch Sunday.
City: Cincinnati, OH
Category: Restaurants
Address: 7565 Kenwood Road