25 Tiny Cincinnati Restaurants You Should've Visited By Now

What they lack in size, they make up for in flavor. These quaint Queen City eateries range from authentic Thai cuisine to tasty taquerias or burger joints — they may have limited seating but it's absolutely worth the lack of elbow room.

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Cincy Steak and Lemonade

2607 Vine St., Clifton
Cincy Steak and Lemonade is the place to get the most bang for your buck. For just $6 you can get a gyro cheeseburger, fries and a drink. Not to mention their super colorful lemonades, with flavors ranging from rainbow to blue raspberry, and pina colada. With only a few booths in the restaurant, it’s a cozy spot for fast, casual bites.
Photo via Facebook.com/Cincys

Maki Express Ramen House

209 W McMillan St., Clifton
Formerly a sushi restaurant, Maki Express opened a new chapter serving up Ramen and other Japanese dishes. The restaurant is small and intimate, and the atmosphere is a great mixture of modern and traditional. Sit down and enjoy a steaming bowl of tonkotsu ramen, or dive into an order of takoyaki.
Photo: Hailey Bollinger

Cheapside Cafe

326 E. Eighth St., Downtown
With a menu featuring kale salads, breakfast sandwiches with pimento cheese and modern espresso drinks (like the bubbly chinotto, with housemade tonic, espresso and soda), along with an interior decked out with a white floor, rustic wood seating and live plants, the ambiance feels decidedly West Coast — especially when you glance at the patio. The focal point of Cheapside’s al fresco seating is a large wooden tepee, constructed out of slatted cedar, in which you can sit at a bright red table (when the weather is warm) while enjoying a cortado and challah French toast.
Photo: Paige Deglow

Please

1405 Clay St., OTR
Tucked away on Clay Street in Over-the-Rhine, Please serves modern and artful small plates. Chef Ryan Santos helmed Please as a gypsy pop-up from 2011 to 2016 and the design of the cozy brick and mortar is note-perfect down to the very instagrammable bathroom. Please offers a multi-course tasting, à la carte and bar menu with options like beef tartare and apple aebleskivers.
Photo: Hailey Bollinger

Le’s Pho and Sandwiches

3 E. Court St., Downtown
This tiny Vietnamese restaurant located on downtown’s Court Street is owned by Hai and Le Bui. The family whips up authentic, addicting and delicious food for dine-in or carry-out.
Photo: Hailey Bollinger

Django Western Taco

4172 Hamilton Ave., Northside
In the heart of Northside is laid-back Django Western Taco. The eatery recently moved to a smaller space further north on Hamilton Ave., and is now BYOB. Menu items are made from scratch.
Photo via DjangoNorthside

The Root Beer Stand

11566 Reading Road, Sharonville
Opened as an A&W Root Beer Stand in 1957, the now family-owned restaurant makes secret-recipe root beer (available by the jug) using water from the property’s 280-foot-deep well and secret-recipe chili for their famous foot-long coney dogs. Open seasonally.
Photo: Sami Stewart

Keystone’s Mac Shack

249 Calhoun St., Clifton
The Mac Shack, a macaroni and cheese-specific outpost of the local Keystone Bar & Grill chain, offers cheesy concoctions with band-inspired names and creative toppings. Pick up a Fleetwood Mac (mozzarella, tomatoes, basil) or Gordon Lightfoot (chicken, ham, swiss). Either way, you don’t have to cook and you can trick your kids into eating their veggies. The eatery is mostly take-out, but offers a few stools for folks who can’t wait until they get home.
Photo: Hailey Bollinger

Thai Express

213 W McMillan St., Clifton
This little gem brings authentic Thai cooking and culture to Cincinnati. Located in Clifton, Thai Express has been fueling students and professionals for over 20 years. Their signature Pad Thai dish is a favorite among many, but do not be fooled; the number of delicious traditional dishes span way beyond that.
Photo: Paige Deglow

Herb and Thelma’s

718 W. Pike St., Covington
Opened in 1939 as Heine’s Cafe, the small drop-ceilinged dining room is what some may call a “hole in the wall,” but the simple and delectable burgers are made to order and served by an incredibly friendly staff.
Photo: Hailey Bollinger