MTWA Featured
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Lisa Meyers McClintick
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CINCINNATI USA CVB PHOTO
The Ohio River is all that separates Cincinnati from Northern Kentucky, and the two areas are marketed as one great location for tourists.
MTWA members travel the world but are proud to call the Midwest their home.
Why?
This month's observations come from travel writer Becky Linhardt about her hometown.
Top reasons to visit Greater Cincinnati restaurants
Cincinnati’s dining options have been influenced by early German settlers, immigrant entrepreneurs from Greece and Italy, as well as our proximity to Southern cooking styles to provide foods with unique regional flavors. As Ohio’s largest metropolitan area, we also support restaurants that offer fine gourmet dining with international flair.
Regional specialties worth a try:
1.
Cincinnati chili
. Almost every local diner has its own version of this unique chili, a meat sauce that is served over spaghetti! Closely guarded family recipes may include (as rumored) cinnamon, nutmeg, and/or chocolate as their “secret” spice.
Flavorful but not “hot” like Southwestern chilies, you order it “original” over spaghetti or one of the “ways.” 3-Way Chili adds mounds of shredded cheddar cheese, 4-way adds diced onions or red beans to the cheese, and 5-way gives you cheese, onions and beans. Best-known chili parlors are:
Skyline Chili
, 254 East Fourth St. (513-241-4848 for Downtown at Fourth and Sycamore) plus numerous locations on both sides of the Ohio River. www.skylinechili.com
Gold Star Chili
, 28 West Fourth St., (513-369-0210). Downtown and numerous suburban locations. www.goldstarchili.com
Empress Chili
, 7934 Alexandria Pike (859-635-5900) in Northern Kentucky, plus two locations on the Ohio side. www.empresschilialexandria.com
2.
Goetta
. This primarily breakfast food was created by immigrant Germans in the 1800s by blending pork, beef and whole-grain, steel-cut oats. It is prepared like sausage, sliced thick and fried.
How popular is it? Goetta is celebrated annually each summer with a Goettafest – www.goettafest.com. You can regularly find it on the menus at:
Price Hill Chili
, 4920 Glenway Ave., Cincinnati’s west wide (513-471-9507)
Colonial Cottage
, 3140 Dixie Hwy., less than a mile from I-71-75 in Northern Kentucky (859-341-4498). Breakfast is served all day, every day. Or try the Goetta Reuben, then indulge in a slice of 6-inch tall cream pies, made fresh daily.
Frisch’s Restaurants
, Breakfast Bar on Saturday and Sunday.
Hometown family favorites for dining include:
3.
Frisch’s Restaurants
, Big Boy No. 1 at 3226 Central Pkwy. is the unit closest to University of Cincinnati and downtown (513-559-0555). Early Frisch’s Restaurants were the place to cruise – drive-in dining, car hops, Big Boy Burgers. Times have changed, and now we have drive-thrus and dining rooms, but the menus still have the burgers and Frisch’s tasty fish sandwiches. The special twist on the fish is the choice of white or rye buns, with two thick pieces of cod placed on a bed of shredded lettuce and topped with Frisch’s tarter sauce. Rye buns also are a part of the Swiss Miss, a beef burger topped with Swiss cheese. Www.frischs.com
4. During Lent, local churches have fund-raiser
Friday Night Fish Fry
dinners. Fish sandwiches may be assembled with Cincinnati Rye. Condiments may include cocktail/chili sauce. So during Lent, go to www.cincinnati.com and use “fish” as your search word to find listings for church dinner locations. Yes, it is really that big of a deal – often there is voting for the “best,” for bragging rights!
5.
LaRosa’s
, multiple locations, (downtown delivery only, 513-347-1111). Still providing Cincy favorites and developing new family recipes - for pizza and hoagys. You can get thick crust or thin, even a stuffed pizza pie. Try the Chicken Ranch, Meat Topper (5 meats), the vegetarian Florentine Focaccia or create your own combo. www.larosas.com
6.
Original Montgomery Inn
, 9440 Montgomery Rd. (513-791-3482);
Montgomery Inn at the Boathouse
, 925 Riverside Drive (513-721-7427, downtown with Ohio River view); and
Montgomery Inn Fort Mitchell (Kentucky)
, 400 Buttermilk Pike (859-344-5333)
Since the 1950s, Ted “The Ribs King” Gregory and his family have closely guarded the secret-recipe barbeque sauce that has made their ribs and chicken famous from coast to coast.
The “Boathouse” on the riverfront is a favorite place to meet before sports events, and the view is great. All three restaurants offer the same great foods, including crab cakes, Greek meatballs, Greek salads, seafood entrees and steaks. www.montgomeryinn.com
7.
Izzy’s
: 800 Elm St. (513-721-4241), 612 Main St. (513-241-6246) and suburban locations. For more than 100 years, Izzy’s has been the deli of choice downtown. The menu includes matzo ball or sweet-n-sour cabbage soups, potato pancakes, sauerkraut, salads, wraps and sandwiches.
Signature items include Izzy’s Famous Rueben Sandwich piled high with corned beef. Save room for cheesecake! www.izzys.com
8.
Graeter’s
, 511 Walnut St. (513-381-4191 on Fountain Square, downtown) and suburban locations. Cincinnatians have a sweet challenge. How do they handle those huge chunks of chocolate in hometown favorite Graeters’ chip ice creams?
The ice cream is made using the French Pot method that mixes and freezes a secret recipe of egg custard and fresh cream in small batches, producing an ice cream so dense that a pint can weigh almost a full pound.
Liquid chocolate is added as the ice cream is spun in the French Pot and, once frozen, a paddle is used to break the frozen layer of chocolate into randomly sized pieces – some of which are VERY large.
In addition to basic vanilla chocolate chip, Graeter’s regularly offers double chocolate, black raspberry, Buckeye Blitz, coconut, cookie dough, mint, mocha, peanut butter, and toffee flavor “chip” ice creams. Cherry and strawberry are seasonal flavors. www.graeters.com
Romantic/gourmet dining:
9.
Jean-Robert at Pigall’s
, 127 West Fourth St. (513-721-1345) The Relais & Chateaux restaurant is the region’s only four-star Mobil and four-diamond AAA restaurant. Innovative three- and five-course fixed price dinners are among menus created by chef/owner Jean-Robert de Cavel.
He also oversees more casual gourmet options at JeanRo Bistro, Greenup Café, Chalk Food + Wine and the recently opened Lavomatic Wine Bar. www.jeanrobertgroup.com
10.
Orchids at the Palm Court
, 35 West Fifth St. (513-421-9100). Ah, gourmet dining in what has to be one of the most romantic spots in Cincinnati. The Orchids is in the elegant Palm Court of the Netherland Hilton Hotel.
French Art Deco décor of the early 1930’s has been resorted to lustrous beauty - a bit of Egyptian influence, soaring ceilings, soft lighting.
This is one of only two hotel restaurants to be given the American Culinary Federation Award of Excellence in 2007. www.orchidsatpalmcourt.com
11.
The Palace
at the Cincinnatian Hotel, 601 Vine St. (513-381-3000) You may need to order dessert first. The romantic Dessert Souffle for Two (either chocolate or Grand Marnier) requires 30 minutes of prep time. The restaurant’s a la carte menu includes Lobster Pastilla, squab and rack of lamb. www.palaceincincinnati.com
12. Some of Cincinnati’s regional food specialties can be ordered through www.cincyfavorites.com.
For additional tourist information: www.cincinnatiusa.com
View more travel tips here.
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