Pressing your fork down the middle of a Pepp & Dolores meatball is like cutting through an airy sponge cake. The impossibly tender meatball is softened to perfection by the veal-pork blend and the piping-hot red sauce. While the meatballs can be found on the Sunday Sauce entree, they’re best appreciated on their own in the form of the meatball appetizer. peppanddolores.com.

Here are the 2023 Best Of Cincinnati® Reader and Staff Pick winners for Eats.

1. Ichiban Japanese Restaurant


2. Cloud 9 Sushi


3. Kanji OTR


4. E+O Kitchen


5. Wabi Sabi


6. Izen’s Drunken Bento


7. Wild Ginger


8. Teak OTR


9. Green Papaya


10. Kyoto Japanese Cuisine

1. Mazunte


2. Agave & Rye


3. Condado Tacos


4. Tortilleria Garcia


5. Bakersfield


6. OLLA Taqueria Gutierrez


7. Texas Joe Tex-Mex


8. Gomez Salsa


9. La Mexicana Restaurant


10. Frida 602

1. Dewey's Pizza


2. Eli's BBQ


3. City Barbeque


4. Gomez Salsa


5. Mazunte


6. Pig Candy BBQ


7. Lucius Q


8. Currito


9. Good Plates Eatery


10. Revolution Rotisserie

1. Churchill's Fine Teas


2. Jungle Jim's International Market


3. Mom 'n 'em Coffee & Wine

1. Teak OTR


2. Thai Express


3. Green Papaya


4. Wild Ginger


5. Thai Taste


6. Bangkok Bistro


7. Lemon Grass Thai Cuisine


8. Thai Namtip


9. Mai Thai Restaurant TIE


10. Siam Orchid TIE


11. Asiana Thai & Sushi

1. Aladdin’s Eatery


2. Melt Revival


3. Loving Hut


4. Rooted Juicery + Kitchen


5. Harmony Plant Fare


6. W Bar + Bistro


7. Tuba Baking Co.


8. Condado Tacos


9. Café Alma


10. Good Plates Eatery

1. Tickle Pickle


2. Krueger's Tavern


3. Nine Giant


4. Nation Kitchen & Bar


5. Arthur's


6. Dead Low Brewing


7. Goose & Elder


8. Taste of Belgium


9. W Bar + Bistro


10. Maplewood Kitchen and Bar

1. Pho Lang Thang


2. Wild Ginger


3. DOPE! Asian Street Fare


4. Saigon Noodle Bar


5. Pho Kimmy


6. Saigon Subs and Rolls


7. Pho96


8. Pho Viet


9. iPho Vietnamese Cuisine


10. Pholicious

1. Incline Public House


2. Primavista


3. Montgomery Inn Boathouse


4. Moerlein Lager House


5. City View Tavern


6. The Chart House


7. The View at Shires' Garden


8. Eighteen at the Radisson


9. Le Bar a Boeuf


10. Via Vite