My family & I ate at Union Station Video Cafe in mid January before we caught a flight to Florida out of CVG.  The setting is very bar like and the videos displayed on the screens & TV's were pretty low quality but the service and food were excellent.  They were very accommodating to my 7 year old daughter with finger foods and a Styrofoam cup for her milk.  I just had a wrap (bacon ranch) and it was as good as any other wrap I had.  Very tasty... I got the vibe that it catered to the "gay" crowd.

Ko-sho Japanese Restaurant

215 E 9TH St

Cincinnati, OH 45202

(513) 665-4950

 

Doing some research around the Internet for good "sushi" joints in Cincinnati, I came across another sushi place that was downtown.  I have eaten at Benihana on 6th street before but never had their sushi but wanted to give this place on 9th a try so on Friday night we took a drive downtown and ate at Ko-sho Japanese Restaurant.  The place is hidden off 9th street near the Broadway Commons area. It was decently lit but in a part of downtown that gets little foot traffic at night.  Poking around at google searches showed that this place has been open since 1996.  - Wow, and I never heard of it.

 

The atmosphere was casual, nothing fancy.  The staff was very friendly.  The restaurant had all the typical Japanese beers like Sapporo, Kirin, Asashi.  The sushi menu was quite standard and didn't offer anything unique.  I was hoping to discover a new sushi place downtown to serve those sushi cravings when I am in the city but unfortunately I can't say that I did.  You hear some sushi critics comment on sushi places that aren't fresh or flavorful and I think I might finally see what they are talking about.  I have usually had good luck at the places I have eaten at but the sushi wasn't good IMO. 

 

On a positive note the rest of my family enjoyed their dishes.  The Chicken Teriyaki was delicious and I would probably go back and eat there again but I would stay away from the sushi.

 

Has anyone else eaten here?  Was it an off night?  What were your experiences?

 

Here is a City Beat review I found if you want to read another opinion about the place.

http://www.citybeat.com/2004-12-22/diner.shtml

 

http://www.citybeat.com/gyrobase/Restaurant/RestaurantListing?restaurant=Ko-Sho%20Japanese%20Restaurant

 

 

Wow, aren't we just Mr. Polly Campbell lately?  Thanks for all your restaurant reviews - I always enjoy reading them and finding new places to try out!

 

Regarding sushi, I haven't been many places - mostly to Beluga...though I've heard Aoi is top notch from my sushi-eating friends...

I have wanted to go to Beluga since I have moved here.  Everyone says it is the best sushi in town.  Problem is the rest of my family doesn't like sushi so usually we compromise and go to a Japanese Restaurant that serves a larger menu.

They have other dishes there, non-sushi...I've had a lamb chop a few years ago...can't find a menu with a quick search, but there are other things...maybe not extensive enough for a family, though...

There's a good sushi joint in Mt. Lookout Sqaure. I forget what its called at the moment but it is pretty good.

There's a good sushi joint in Mt. Lookout Sqaure. I forget what its called at the moment but it is pretty good.

 

you're probably thinking of Sushi Ray which is excellent.  There is also Ruthai's Thai Kitchen, which I've tried to go to on numerous occasions but they've either not been open or not serving sushi, so I gave up on them.  There was also Bistro 1020 that closed a few months ago, but their sushi wasn't memorable.

As for recommendations, Charlie's Sake Bomb in East Hyde Park, Wild Ginger in Hyde Park, Asiana in Oakley, and Matsuya way out in Erlanger (I think) are all excellent.  Overall, the east side of the city definitely has the corner on the sushi market.

Sushi Ray! that's what I was thinking of.

Mt. Adams Fish House was the best sushi I have had in Cincinnati so far.  Teak Thai is great too... both in Mt. Adams.

 

There is a sushi place out in one of those business parks by the airport. I hear all the Toyota execs go there when they're in from Japan so I'd assume it must be pretty good. I think it might be called Jo Ann or something

^Yeah, my sushi-loving friend thought that was the best sushi in the area until he went to Aoi...

Jo An's is the place for sushi in the japanese community. I support Kosho because the food is good,  it's downtown and I can walk over to the Blue Wisp Jazz club after dinner. There is also a really good Japanese restaraunt in florence that just opened called Miyoshi, in my opinion they are the best. Go to lunch there you will not be disapointed!!

Do you have an address to Jo Ann?

Do you have an address to Jo Ann?

 

Jo An Japanese Restaurant. 3940 Olympic Blvd. Erlanger, KY 41018

 

Get off at mineola pike near the airport it's in the suburban looking office tower.

 

My husband and I ate dinner there last weekend with another couple.  The food was good and reasonably priced.  They were playing music videos on the screens, which I think was cool. 

Here is a rendering I found on 3CDC.org :

 

 

Nice find Cincy-Rise...  I will be disappointed if they don't incorporate outdoor seating into it but it does look like and improvement over the current look of the building.

 

When will the 5th & Vine bar be closed to start construction and is the Albee closing? 

Yes, both are supposedly closing. I am pretty sure 5th & Vine is supposed to close this month? This month is almost over so ... we will see.

 

Like I said before, one of my customers is the security manager of the Westin and from what he said, they acquired 9ft.(?) of street space, so I would assume this is for outdoor sitting.

It looks like on the left side of the rendering, there are some green umbrellas for outdoor seating.

I was also under the impression that there would be two restaurants moving in there and they would both be 2 stories.  I think the fact that Albee wasn't accessible from the exterior hurt it with tourists.  I never went there myself.

I am sad they are leaving that ugly 1980's glass above the restaurant.

Redfish closes downtown site

Owner cites less revenue from conventions

BY JOHN ECKBERG | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER

 

DOWNTOWN - Fans of Louisiana cuisine will have to find a new eatery for Cajun sandwiches and gumbo after Redfish restaurant at Seventh and Race streets closed Sunday.

 

Rest of article:

E-mail [email protected]

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060808/BIZ01/608080323/1076

This idea is fine, but the story has nothing to do with the topic section.  (That is, it's not about restaurants, entertainment, travel or relocation assistance.)

Maybe a tighter topic: Random Cincinnati Restaurant Openings, Closing & Relocations - and if you rustled up the topics you had in mind, it would probably make Grasscat's life easier!  I can think of Simone's, Redfish, and then a couple other downtown places whose names escape me...you'd probably remember better...

This idea is fine, but the story has nothing to do with the topic section.  (That is, it's not about restaurants, entertainment, travel or relocation assistance.)

 

Huh...very true.  That thought totally escaped me....I'll make some changes.

 

LATE TAX PAYMENT TURNS OFF TAP AT BELLA

 

The Bella restaurant at Sixth and Walnut streets downtown was closed Thursday and was not serving alcohol Friday afternoon after the Ohio Liquor Control Commission suspended its liquor license effective July 24 for delinquent tax payments.

 

rest removed

 

From: The Enquirer, Business Digest

man, that guy is running every single restaurant he owns into the ground.

WTF is that guy's problem!? Just pay your frickin taxes!! Downtown can't afford to loose Bella...

 

 

LATE TAX PAYMENT TURNS OFF TAP AT BELLA

 

The Bella restaurant at Sixth and Walnut streets downtown was closed Thursday and was not serving alcohol Friday afternoon after the Ohio Liquor Control Commission suspended its liquor license effective July 24 for delinquent tax payments.

From: The Enquirer, Business Digest

 

They must have resolved it, because I drank two beers at Bella's bar on Friday evening.  Either that, or they were selling illegally.

Maybe I'm stating the obvious, but late tax payments implies no money / cash flow problems.  It's not something businesses "forget" to do.

You know, the Redfish squandered an opportunity with at least 7 good sized apartment buildings surrounding it. They chased anyone who would be a regular away with bad service. I don't know how many towne property residents I heard complain about it. We went in when we first moved to Cincinnati and in an hour and a half only saw a server once. Hopefully someone who understands this wwill locate there.

I get sick of how the media says that the poor climate downtown is responsible for many of the restaurants closing. It is such a disservice to the city and makes downtown worse than it actually is.

 

The thing is, there are a number of successful restaurant's downtown that are thriving, and more that are opening in the near future. If downtown were that bad of a market, why would McCormick and Scmicks, Mortons, and the new Brazilian place want to open up down there. People can say, "well that is because they get tax breaks" but tax breaks mean nothing if no one goes to eat there and you cant make a profit.

 

Looking at the restaurants that have closed in the past the main reason why they closed is not because of downtown or location but there service was lacking. Redfish was horrible for the value, the Masonette needed to reinvent itself. Bella (if it closes) has a lousy owner who is a horrible businessman (He gets sued by his partners and does not pay payroll or liquor taxes). The downtown Barleycorns was lousy, and the restuarant in the Grammercy did not move because it was not profitable but rather she wanted to try a different concept closer to where she lived in Mt. Lookout.

 

Anyway I could go on but my point is, if the owner of a restuarant is smart and knows what they are doing, and provides good service and a good value, they will be successful. I really cant think of a place that has actually closed downtown becuase the downtown market was poor, there are always other underlying reasons.

Sadly, Bella is no longer offering Sunday brunch. When it was first offered, Bella provided the best brunch downtown. It has since fallen off considerably. (Inconsistent service, food presentation and quality) Even so, I am sorry to see it go. 

Yeah, it kills me when people are like "just pay the bills." Well, they're probably not paying them because they don't have it. In the case of Bella at least, that likely has to do with lack of consistent business. People always think these businesses run surpluses, when most of them never make a dime and burn through their investments then close.

 

Downtown is a very tough environment for a bar or restaurant right now, like it or not. The foot traffic just isn't there, and the residential base isn't big enough yet. The area needs a big time shot in the arm, something that changes perceptions of the area, and draws people back down. Louisville did that with Fourth Street Live, at least sort of. Obviously, the stadiums are in the wrong place, not even having a chance at a casino hurts... there's just not enough reasons to make the trip down there right now. And safety obviously, while real crime isn't that high down in the CBD, there are a lot of people hanging out down there who seem to not know how to act in public. Most people don't want to spend their free time around that nonsense.

I think the main point is that the places that have closed lately have had atrocious service and lackluster food at too-high prices.  I agree, "just pay the bills" is pretty non-helpful advice; and downtown could certainly be a better environment (as we all wish it were) - but when you drive your customers away, you can't act surprised that you don't have customers.

 

Simone's, while not downtown, is a great example.  I went there once, and paid way too much for so-so food served by surly, unhelpful and inattentive waiters.  I wanted to spend money on a second cocktail, but never got the chance.  A friend who lives nearby really wanted to love the place, wants to support her neighborhood, but it was crazy to spend that kind of money on poor food and off-putting service.

 

It sounds like the same story with Redfish.  And the point here is that Redfish or Simone's failing doesn't mean the neighborhood's bad for business.  It's not saying the neighborhood's good either - it just means a shitty restaurant going under doesn't speak to the issue.

 

All I am saying is that every time a restaurant closes downtown, it is not always the fact that downtown is dead or has a crime problem which is the preception the news gives you. In many cases, it often has to do with poor food or service.

Simones probably would have went out of business sooner had there been a bunch of competition nearby to drive them out.

See, I never had a negative experience at any of the three. I really liked Bella, I'm not really in Simone's part of town much, and Redfish had some good happy hour stuff. But, to each their own, I guess...

I agree with the Redfish comments, as a restaurant that sat directly across the street from me, I had my share of bad experiences. Although like Nick said, the happy hour was good ... until they took it away (shortly before closing).

 

Hell, I even have a "$5.00 Off" coupon still hanging on my refrigerator from a previous bad experience. LOL!

Some restauranteurs and bar owners need to fine tune their business chops.

Has anybody tried the Green Papaya on the corner of Wasson and Paxton (and Drakewood) yet?  I think it just opened this weekend.

PHOTO: Gracies Grille in Burlington, Ky., is among the restaurants new to the Greater Cincinnati dining scene.  TERRY DUENNES/The Post

 

PHOTO: This is the exterior of the new Legends Sports Bar that’s going up on Decoursey Avenue in Covington.  TERRY DUENNES/The Post

 

Restaurateurs: Region cookin'

Chains, local entrepreneurs see more room at the table

By Greg Paeth

Post staff reporter

 

Based on the number of new restaurants that have either opened recently or are on the drawing boards, people in the food service business seem to be convinced that Greater Cincinnati is starving.

 

From multi-billion-dollar national restaurant chains that haven't ventured into the region before to a couple of buddies who are convinced that Latonia needs a family-friendly sports bar, well-entrenched food service professionals and restaurant industry rookies are all trying to carve off a thick slice of the Greater Cincinnati dining market.

 

 

 

Rest of article:

http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060822/NEWS01/608220352

 

Westin to close Albee restaurant

BY JON NEWBERRY | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER

August 30, 2006

 

CINCINNATI - The downtown Westin Cincinnati hotel said Tuesday it's shutting down the Albee restaurant at Fifth and Vine streets after this weekend and replacing it with a banquet room overlooking Fountain Square.

 

The Westin also announces that Ingredients and McCormick & Schmick's, will be opening.

 

E-mail [email protected]

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060830/BIZ01/608300342/1076/BIZ

Man the Dubliner sure changed their name to something really lame. Or was it bought out again? They should just call it DUbliner 2.0 :]

1.  banquet space in prime real estate = horrible idea.

2.  generally, anything named "o'something" or "___'s" keeps me at a distance.

Man the Dubliner sure changed their name to something really lame. Or was it bought out again? They should just call it DUbliner 2.0 :]

 

The Dubliner is now called Molly Malone's.  After it changed hands they had a sign up that said "THE NEW DUBLINER" and the former owner threatened to sue, so then they removed some letters and it was "THE NEW ........ER".  Finally they let patrons buy a chance (for charity) to name it and Molly Malone's was the winner.

So how is the place?

So how is the place?

 

I don't think it's quite the same, but it's still good.  The beer prices have decreased.  :)

So how is the place?

 

I don't think it's quite the same, but it's still good.  The beer prices have decreased.  :)

 

Cheaper beer?!  I would say that alone qualifies "still good" as a gross understatement!

 

:-o

So how is the place?

I don't think it's quite the same, but it's still good.  The beer prices have decreased.  :)

 

I haven't been in there in a while, but I would agree it was not the same.

The old owner took a chainsaw to the old wooden bar (now gone) so it lacks some of the charm, but the new manager is from Dublin and they had an Irish bartender the last time I was there so I guess there are tradeoffs.  It's more fun to be served Guinness by someone with an Irish brogue and witty pub sayings.  Their food seems to have fallen off though.