Tour El Camino, now open on Mount Lookout Square

 

 

El Camino - Latin Street Food opened in the former Annabel's space on Mount Lookout Square, and so far business has been booming.

 

Co-owner Sean Morgan said the neighborhood and surrounding businesses have been very supportive since El Camino opened on Jan. 12. The Latin-inspired restaurant focuses on street food and is designed for people to grab their food and go.

 

More below:

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/blog/2016/01/look-inside-el-camino-now-open-on-mount-lookout.html

Polly Campbell on Daveed's return to Mt Adams: http://www.cincinnati.com/story/entertainment/dining/2016/01/21/daveeds-classic-returns-mount-adams/78742830/

 

A lot has happened since 1999 when David and Liz Cook opened Daveed’s in Mount Adams. Y2K, 9/11, the ransacking of the economy, its partial comeback, riots in OTR, the transformation of OTR, Google, restaurants websites and online reviews.

 

A lot has happened to Daveed’s, too. It started as a cutting-edge fine-dining restaurant, introduced a lot of people to foie gras and caviar and duck with pasta, black truffle cream sauce, white cheddar and roasted mushrooms. But many of the developments mentioned above made it hard to keep that up. But even when the caviar came off the menu, and the rest became more casual, people still thought of it as a special occasion restaurant. In 2012, the Cooks moved it to Loveland, called it Daveed’s Next and offered the menu in small plates. But the building in Mount Adams, which they own, was not reliably tenanted, so they’ve moved back to the Hill and a few months ago opened to the public three nights a week.

...

 

Service was great. I’ve really noticed lately that even good places have a hard time finding polished servers who exude a confidence in themselves and the restaurant. Our server did.

 

I can’t say the same of the website. Its haphazard, ugly design does not do a good job of announcing the kind of restaurant that Daveed’s is: a place with an ever-changing offer of food from a seasoned chef that can bring back old memories and create new ones.

 

She's absolutely right. In the long history of bad restaurant websites, this is one for the ages: http://www.daveeds.com/

 

 

 

No article, but I went to Paulie Gee's last night in Columbus and the owner (yes, the actual Paulie Gee) stated that the Findlay Market deal isn't going to happen due to lack of late-night traffic and is looking into opening up his Cincinnati restaurant in Northside near Collective Espresso.

Deep India has changed its name to Adeep India:

http://deepindiacincinnati.com

 

So it appears that they had no idea that their original name was totally scandalous. 

Also, they added a blue neon "A" to their sign that doesn't quite match the rest of the text.  It's hilarious. 

Deep is a fairly common last name in India.

Deep India has changed its name to Adeep India:

http://deepindiacincinnati.com

 

So it appears that they had no idea that their original name was totally scandalous. 

 

What, exactly, was scandalous about it?  Deep is a common name, as was mentioned above.

Deep India has changed its name to Adeep India:

http://deepindiacincinnati.com

 

So it appears that they had no idea that their original name was totally scandalous.

 

The rumor I've heard is that they wanted to be the first Indian restaurant in listings. Everyone around here has been making fun of the off-color "A" and we all refuse to call it anything other than Deep.

 

^ and ^^ it's just a terrible double-entendre. Every kid at UC makes a joke about it at some point.

What, exactly, was scandalous about it?  Deep is a common name, as was mentioned above.

 

Oh I don't know maybe ask Mike Hawk or Phil McCracken or anyone else from Pen Island. 

What, exactly, was scandalous about it?  Deep is a common name, as was mentioned above.

 

Oh I don't know maybe ask Mike Hawk or Phil McCracken or anyone else from Pen Island. 

 

... and Mike Hunt too.

A second Jimmy John's will open downtown in the space formerly occupied by Tazza Mia:

 

Jimmy John's outlines plans for downtown Cincinnati growth

 

 

Not that I'd eat there... but how is there still no McDonald's downtown?!

Hyde Park chef's new OTR restaurant opens

 

 

Over-the-Rhine's newest restaurant, created by the chef and owner of Alfio's Buon Cibo in Hyde Park, is now open and serving up empanadas and pizza at 1342 Walnut St.

 

Che is the newest restaurant from Chef Alfio Gulisano and restaurateur Juan Imeroni. It opened its doors on Jan. 15.

 

More below:

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/morning_call/2016/02/hyde-park-chefs-new-otr-restaurant-opens-photos.html

I went to Che on Friday. The food was really good. I'll definitely go back.

 

But they seriously need to spell check their menu. There were typos and words that were just a jumbled mess all over the place. "breackfast" "ignavinagrette" "tomatos" etc. I know it's superficial, but a really questionable looking menu doesn't spell confidence for the food but thankfully it turned out really well. Hopefully they reprint them and have someone who knows how to spell review it before doing so.

 

Their empanadas are perfect for a takeout window too. One or two as a snack before moving on to a new bar is the right amount of food. When their window opens I think it will be a huge hit.

^ Yeah we did too, on Saturday. I very much liked the interior design. It's dark, woody, full or repurposed stuff, tree trunks connecting the bar to the ceiling, tree limbs crawling over the flat screens behind the bar, cow hide covered bar stools. It sounds over the top, but it works, and is unique.

 

I liked the empanadas and the soups. We had the plain cheese pizza (in my opinion, the only way to really evaluate pizza quality), and it was a disappointment. That wouldn't be a huge deal given everything else, but then again pizza is a pretty big part of their menu, so... maybe they should work on it.

 

I'll go back, probably sit at the bar and have a couple of the empanadas.

 

I'll have to try the pizza next time I'm there.

 

I liked the interior as well. One weird thing though. We sat at the large table in the back area right as you pass the men's room. It's a live edge wood tabletop which was cool. Except it was extremely torqued. The ends were significantly sloped in opposite directions. One of the people at our group almost spilled their drink when it slid down the table when they put it down. Not really sure how a table winds up so warped, but I can foresee quite a few people spilling food and drinks into their lap in that spot.

I went to Che on Friday. The food was really good. I'll definitely go back.

 

But they seriously need to spell check their menu. There were typos and words that were just a jumbled mess all over the place. "breackfast" "ignavinagrette" "tomatos" etc. I know it's superficial, but a really questionable looking menu doesn't spell confidence for the food but thankfully it turned out really well. Hopefully they reprint them and have someone who knows how to spell review it before doing so.

 

Their empanadas are perfect for a takeout window too. One or two as a snack before moving on to a new bar is the right amount of food. When their window opens I think it will be a huge hit.

 

I saw those typos too, but I actually like what it says about them as a restaurant. I'm weird this way, but I like a restaurant that has typos in their menu. For me it's a bit like a when restaurants go through the phase of using Papyrus as the font on their menu. It's endearing in its own strange way. I recognize most people don't see it this way, so for Che's sake I hope (and expect) they'll clean up their menu.

I can see that. To me, and it seems most people, typos are a sign of a lack of attention to detail. Which isn't always the case, some people are just bad at spelling. But with food attention to details is important.

 

Which, thankfully, I tried all 8 empanadas and they were all very good. So they obviously know what they're doing with those.

Agreed. I lived for some time in Argentina and I found Che's empanadas to be excellent. I liked seeing several tables of Latinos, including several Argentines.

 

I was disappointed that Che's indoor kitchen doesn't include an open-fire grill, since that's a staple of the Argentine asado. But I was pleased to learn from our server that the back patio will feature a grill where they'll prepare the meat over a fire in the traditional Argentine style.

 

I'm also excited for the opening of the basement space which they'll use for music and dancing. Overall I'm just pleased that Che is bringing something genuinely new to OTR. It doesn't feel derivative at all. So, for that, I'm willing to give it a lot of leeway as it works out what exactly it's good at.

 

One of my absolute favorite Argentine traditions is called a "peña folklórica"... which is a raucous events with folk music, lots of wine, some dancing, and everybody singing along at the top of their lungs. I don't know how/if you could bring that tradition to Cincinnati,  but I have a fantasy of Che doing an American mash-up with a peña, playing old time rock and country with everybody singing along. I have no reason to think this will actually happen... but a boy can dream.

You're definitely right in that it feels very different from most of the establishments in OTR. I don't mind something being derivative since that place can still be quite good, but you need to offset that with some authenticity. And this place felt authentic and it's good to hear that wasn't just my outsider feeling. It felt somewhat like it had always been there and established itself. Which is very different from how most places feel when they first open.

 

It's also a type of food that just isn't found much here. I always like to try new foods but there are just some ethnicities that are not easy to come by in Cincinnati. Argentinian is one of them. I'd love for more places of this nature to open up around the neighborhood.

I went to Che on Friday. The food was really good. I'll definitely go back.

 

But they seriously need to spell check their menu. There were typos and words that were just a jumbled mess all over the place. "breackfast" "ignavinagrette" "tomatos" etc. I know it's superficial, but a really questionable looking menu doesn't spell confidence for the food but thankfully it turned out really well. Hopefully they reprint them and have someone who knows how to spell review it before doing so.

 

Their empanadas are perfect for a takeout window too. One or two as a snack before moving on to a new bar is the right amount of food. When their window opens I think it will be a huge hit.

 

The also used like seven different fonts on their menu including bleeding cowboys.

 

$2 empanada happy hour

That was also nice. During happy hour their empanadas were $1 off. Four of them are normally $3, the other four are normally $4. You can go at happy hour and get a meat and cheese plate and 3 empanadas and be full for less than $10 before tax and tip. Quite a good deal.

There is a mild battle smoldering at the moment over The Enquirer's Polly Campbell showing her face.  There's simply no question that restaurants behave differently when a known restaurant reviewer is there (or a local celebrity, or a national celebrity*).  That said, the phenomenon of restaurant reviews has always been a total mess, the anonymity of old-media reviewers gave it at least some modicum of objectivity.  The current age of yelp reviews and celebrity(?) food bloggers is the wild west.  Why does anyone give a flip what a self-appointed food reviewer has to say about a place?  What are their credentials?  Have they even ever worked in a restaurant?  Going to a restaurant once for one of these people is like seeing a band whose records they haven't listened to at one random tour stop.  There are all sorts of random things that can happen on one visit to a restaurant versus another the very next day.  If professional food reviewers were hitting restaurants five times at different times in the day and night on different days of the week ordering completely different things THEN they could possibly write a useful report on a restaurant.  But they don't do that. 

 

 

*I waited tables at a place on the east coast that had famous people visit fairly often, but the owner was never around so we made a game out of screwing up orders and being obnoxious with famous people.  The most hilarious thing was when Natalie Portman was in there and the other waiter I was working with, in a high screechy voice, said the following just loud enough to be heard over the murmer: "Save me Jar-Jar!" 

 

 

Though the last part of your comment is immensely childish and downright pathetic, the first part I agree with.

 

Do people even listen to Polly? I had never heard of her until I dated a chef who met with her. But when talking about "Polly" nobody had any clue who he was referring to.

Crowd sourced reviews are useful in certain contexts, like figuring out the best place to get tacos in some California beach town or what menu item is a must-order. The michelin system, which is on the other end of the spectrum (fully anonymous) has only recently evolved from its rigid evaluation criteria. The worst part about yelp is the tendency for a review to be either a rave or a slam. At least with a known critic, like Polly, there is some consistency in the ratings. The good news is that Cincinnati is a small enough town that if a place is worth your time, someone will probably let you know.

Am I in the minority here in that I don't bother with rating sites at all? I can't say I've ever used Yelp due to exactly what you just said. It's purely rave reviews or "this was the worst meal I've ever eaten in my entire life" reviews. It gets you nowhere. I just try places and form an opinion.

 

I think just about the only thing I use social rating sites for are hotels and that's because cleanliness when staying somewhere is a big concern of mine and people are generally pretty open about whether or not a hotel was clean or not so it's useful in that regard. But every other aspect I just ignore and form my own opinion on after staying somewhere.

I use Yelp but it's more for discovering places I might not have known about and/or looking at pictures of the place. I wouldn't really trust the star review from Yelp though.

Cock & Bull opening 4th location, see why soccer fans will cheer

 

 

Cock & Bull Public House plans to open its fourth Greater Cincinnati location near the University of Cincinnati.

 

The pub that’s famous for its fish and chips and craft beers on tap signed a lease to take the last remaining space at Uptown Rental Properties’ and North American Properties’ Views on Vine development located at 2825-2875 Vine St. in Corryville. Cock & Bull will open a pub at the southern end of the building.

 

More below:

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2016/02/02/exclusive-cock-bull-opening-4th-location-see-why.html

Cincinnatian wants to bring top-rated NYC pizza to OTR

 

 

A Cincinnati transplant who hails from the East Coast wants to bring a slice of New York City to Over-the-Rhine in the form of one of Brooklyn's highest-rated pizzerias.

 

Ryan Vaughan plans on opening Paulie Gee's near Findlay Market, hopefully by late summer. He didn't always want to open a pizzeria. But he does have a wood-fired pizza oven in his back yard.

 

More below:

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2015/12/04/exclusive-cincinnatian-wants-to-bring-top-rated.html

 

Hearing rumors that Paulie Gee's is not going to locate near Findlay Market but is looking at other locations in Cincinnati to open a store.

On Friday night I saw a frat/bro fight that started inside Mr. Sushi on McMillan spill out onto the sidewalk.  Sushi is so over!

Yelp is useless due to its "pay for play" tendencies.

There is a little, very plain, Mexican restaurant in Covington in the 700 block of Madison Ave called Taqueria San Miguel. I've been there a few times for lunch - assume they are also open for dinner. it is very good. Limited menu - I suggest you try whatever specials they are having. They always have one or two Mexican soups or caldos, which is a nice departure from the standard places. Don't order tacos or burritos if you insist on the overstuffed variety, as you'll be very disappointed. Friday for lunch I had the chili relleno special which was just fantastic. Nice big chile, very lightly battered and fried, with a rational amount of cheese and chicken (you could get whatever meat you want). Add rice and beans and this was pretty much just perfect! You can get a beer out of the cold case, which fits this place.

Glad to see more authentic taquerias slowly creep into the Cincinnati area.  Order Horchata on a warm day, its one of the most refreshing drinks period.  For beer if they have victoria its really good for the low price - kind of a classic lager like yeungling.

+1 on the horchata, love that stuff! Mazunte in madisonville has it.

Here's where Raising Cane's will go near UC

 

 

Fast-casual chicken finger chain Raising Cane's, whose loyal fans call themselves Cainiacs, has signed a deal to locate near the campus of the University of Cincinnati.

 

Raising Cane's has signed a lease to locate its first urban restaurant in the former Lime Fresh space in U Square at the Loop at 237 Calhoun St.

 

More below:

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2016/02/12/exclusive-heres-where-raising-canes-will-go-near.html

It will probably do really well. There aren't really any fast food restaurants in the area except sub shops.

Cane's is basically the only fast food that anyone around UC talks about, and there had been rumors flying around for so long that it seemed inevitable for one to eventually open. It'll make a killing, judging by the endless throngs at the OSU one.

It will probably do really well. There aren't really any fast food restaurants in the area except sub shops.

 

Agree that Cane's will do well, but baffled by the second comment.  At least 80% of the restaurants in the area are fast food. 

I don't know why people think that this or that restaurant will "do well" in an area.  The apparent popularity or emptiness of a restaurant is no window into into its finances.  Do the owners own the building?  Are the owners in town or is this an abstract enterprise for someone from elsewhere?  Did the owners borrow to start or buy the business? Do they have other debt or enterprises that could force them to sell for a loss?  Is current ownership in for the long-term or are they looking to improve the value of the business and sell?

And when a business shuts down, you don't really know why unless you really know why.

I don't know why people think that this or that restaurant will "do well" in an area.  The apparent popularity or emptiness of a restaurant is no window into into its finances.  Do the owners own the building?  Are the owners in town or is this an abstract enterprise for someone from elsewhere?  Did the owners borrow to start or buy the business? Do they have other debt or enterprises that could force them to sell for a loss?  Is current ownership in for the long-term or are they looking to improve the value of the business and sell?

 

Your comments read as insightful until you remember that we're discussing a restaurant that will be directly owned and operated by a highly-regarded international chain with revenue approaching a quarter of a billion dollars and several hundred locations, including multiple high-profile, heavily trafficked locations in an area of the Columbus market that is a near-direct comparison to the area of the Cincinnati market where this location has been announced.  Once you remember that, your comments read as a combative lecture on how much you know about the restaurant business.

Did they borrow money from banks to finance this expansion, did they pool investors, or did they pay cash?  It's a private company so it's unlikely that any member of the public would be familiar with how expansion was financed, and it's very unlikely that they paid cash to build each new store.  We have recently see Penn Station and Five Guys retreat after expansions that were marked with blaring trumpets. 

 

One of the only well-known restaurant chains that probably has all of its buildings paid-for is White Castle.  They hang around like a roach because there are no mortgages and probably no outside investors. 

I went to Raising Canes in West Chester and I don't get the hype. The food was just OK. The dining area was dirty and I didn't get the decor which was a mix of tributes to the founder's dog, some pictures of West Chester, and college dorm room/Spencer's Gifts posters.

Did they borrow money from banks to finance this expansion, did they pool investors, or did they pay cash?  It's a private company so it's unlikely that any member of the public would be familiar with how expansion was financed, and it's very unlikely that they paid cash to build each new store.  We have recently see Penn Station and Five Guys retreat after expansions that were marked with blaring trumpets. 

 

One of the only well-known restaurant chains that probably has all of its buildings paid-for is White Castle.  They hang around like a roach because there are no mortgages and probably no outside investors.

 

Nobody is suggesting we have a crystal ball or that the company is fail-proof, but when this particular restaurant has staked it's brand on operating in near-campus markets across the nation, and has done so successfully for a couple of decades at hundreds of similar locations, it seems to me you are crying wolf for the sake of crying wolf to suggest that anyone who doesn't know how this individual location was financed is naive for thinking it will likely perform well. 

 

There is a pretty solid precedent set by several hundred near-campus Raisin' Cane's locations that indicate this restaurant has a strong chance of doing well in the proposed location.  You're free to argue that the trend doesn't continue here, and you may even be right, but you're going to have to provide a little more evidence than 'you people don't understand how restaurants are financed'.

The popularity of chicken wings makes no sense, especially since they've gotten exponentially more expensive.  I don't think I've ever paid more than $3, and usually less than $2 or $1 for something I'd term a "snack".  Chicken wings were like 20 cents a piece in the 90s (I remember BW3's having 10-cent wing night on Tuesdays) but they're often priced at or more than $1 each now. 

 

But couch potato college students regularly order 12 or 18 wings for delivery at 11pm at a cost of $9.99 or $14.99.  Add some bread sticks or a $2.99 2-liter or something else +$3 for the driver and they're dropping about $20 for a snack.  Pay with the Bearcash Card and it's daddy's money so it doesn't matter. 

 

I haven't been to Cane's since 2007 and barely remember it.  Chicken fingers are just long chicken nuggets (aka "boneless" wings) and as such are about as unhealthy as food gets.  There is probably filler in there that isn't even chicken. 

It will probably do really well. There aren't really any fast food restaurants in the area except sub shops.

 

Agree that Cane's will do well, but baffled by the second comment.  At least 80% of the restaurants in the area are fast food.

 

I'm looking more at the traditional sense of fast food. Almost all of the classic fast food places have vanished (McDonald's, Arby's, Long John Silvers, etc). Obviously that area has a lot of cheap, greasy food, but not many places that are traditional fast food. The closest things to this are Chipotle and Currito. Everything else is either more of a sit down place (Keystone, Hwy 55, BW3), drunk food (Gilpins, Tiger Dumplings), or a sub shop or Indian restaurant. There aren't any true fast food restaurants in that area right now.

The popularity of chicken wings makes no sense, especially since they've gotten exponentially more expensive.  I don't think I've ever paid more than $3, and usually less than $2 or $1 for something I'd term a "snack".  Chicken wings were like 20 cents a piece in the 90s (I remember BW3's having 10-cent wing night on Tuesdays) but they're often priced at or more than $1 each now. 

 

But couch potato college students regularly order 12 or 18 wings for delivery at 11pm at a cost of $9.99 or $14.99.  Add some bread sticks or a $2.99 2-liter or something else +$3 for the driver and they're dropping about $20 for a snack.  Pay with the Bearcash Card and it's daddy's money so it doesn't matter. 

 

I haven't been to Cane's since 2007 and barely remember it.  Chicken fingers are just long chicken nuggets (aka "boneless" wings) and as such are about as unhealthy as food gets.  There is probably filler in there that isn't even chicken. 

 

It must be exhausting having this mentality for everything in life. We were doing so well without these "kids these days are all spoiled and I was the last age group to have to work for things" posts from you. Being a grumpy old man has nothing to do with any of the topics you infuse it into.

 

As for fast food restaurants in the traditional sense they definitely don't exist much around UC except along MLK by the medical campus. The Arby's/Wendy's/McDonald's/etc. type restaurants just don't exist within walking distance of main campus.

Don't forget there's lots of fast food in TUC.

Oh yeah...what's even in there these days? I never really stepped foot in the food court area of TUC in 6 of the 7 years I was in college and all I remember was a seemingly revolving door of crappy food going in and closing shortly after.

Don't forget there's lots of fast food in TUC.

 

I did forget about those. Chick-fil-a, Taco Bell, and Burger King I think?

Looks like even Gold Star is gone from there.