With so many new restaurants and bars throughout the city, it’s easy for a few to fall through the cracks. While OTR’s Vine Street may steal the show when it comes to hip and hot dining spots, these lesser-known gems are where some real culinary magic happens. You won’t want to miss these.
Ando Japanese Restaurant and Sushi Bar 5889 Pfeiffer Road, Blue Ash Chef Ken Ando and his wife Keiko have been welcoming guests to Ando Japanese Restaurant and Sushi Bar in Blue Ash since 1998, where Ando prepares traditional Japanese cuisine accompanied by the couple’s daughter, Chiaki. The dining room includes an intimate sushi bar, which is the perfect place to watch Ando work his magic on the freshest of fish, sourced directly from Japan and Taiwan. Photo: Hailey Bollinger
Wunderbar! 1132 Lee St., Covington Wunderbar! is one of those restaurants that’s considered a “hidden gem.” The authentic German-inspired menu features housemade wursts with locally sourced meats, like the restaurant’s super popular currywurst — a peculiar invention of post-World War II Germany. It’s a spiced sausage served with a ketchup-Worcestershire-curry sauce. The rotating sausage menu is written on a blackboard behind the bar, but a must-try is the giant pretzel, a gigantic, plate-sized pretzel that easily complements any of the bar’s refreshing beers. Photo: Wunderbar Facebook Photo: facebook.com/wunderbar.covington.3
The Wheel 3805 Brotherton Road, Oakley The Wheel is an Italian takeaway restaurant housed on a well-hidden residential block in Oakley. The food provides evidence that cooking is an act of love and creativity for Chrissy Antenucci, who named The Wheel after a Grateful Dead song. A former personal chef with stints in restaurants in Manhattan and San Francisco, Antenucci transforms simple ingredients into an artform. The menu includes sandwiches on foccacia, entrees like spinach cannelloni or lasagna and pizza — all homemade. Photo: Hailey Bollinger
Joe’s Pizza Napoli 507 Chamber Drive, Milford When you walk into Joe’s Pizza Napoli, your eyes are immediately drawn to the massive tiled pizza oven, which owner Joe Nunner chose to have built in the semblance of Mount Vesuvius. The characteristics of Neapolitan pizza include hand-crushed San Marzano tomatoes; mozzarella cheese; a dough comprised of water, fresh yeast, flour (Caputo, a very fine 00 grit in this case); and salt. Along with his masterful pizzas (both red and white varieties), there are green salads, calzones, meatballs and cannelloni. Everything is made fresh every day and Nunner is proud not to have a freezer or a microwave anywhere in the kitchen. Photo: Hailey Bollinger
BrewRiver Creole Kitchen 4632 Eastern Ave., Linwood The atmosphere and cuisine at BrewRiver Creole Kitchen brings the spirit of the New Orleans to Cincinnati in a stately 150-year-old building on Eastern Avenue (the former home of Bella Luna). Chef Michael Shields, who earned his chops under Emeril Lagasse, has maintained the favorites from the restaurant’s former iteration as BrewRiver GastroPub and added new items to the menu — broiled oysters, fried green tomatoes with a pecan cornmeal crust and bananas foster bread pudding for dessert. Photo: Hailey Bollinger Photo: Hailey Bollinger
The Birch in Terrace Park 702 Indian Hill Road, Terrace Park When you come to The Birch, you’ll be greeted with great food, hip decor, music and bocce ball on their outdoor patio. The menu consists of light and fresh options complemented by a wide selection of wine and local brews (the amount of wines by the glass and bottle possibly outnumber the food options). Most dishes are easily shareable, like the charcuterie & cheese board and bacon-wrapped grilled brie on a baguette — a perfect place to hangout with friends. Photo: Facebook.com/TheBirchTP
Delwood 3204 Linwood Ave., Mount Lookout Nestled at the intersection of Delta and Linwood avenues in Mount Lookout Square, Delwood is a family and dog-friendly neighborhood eatery. Inspired by Latin American cuisine, the small space turns out dishes with flair like the El Jefe Double Burger with salsa criolla, avocado and Peruvian huancaina sauce. There are also fries, tostones and chicken nuggets with spicy aji amarillo Peruvian pepper sauce. Keep an eye on the drink menu for an equally transportive experience with options running the gamut from a caipirinha and pisco sour to a paloma. Photo: Brittany Thornton
Gordo’s Pub & Grill 4328 Montgomery Road, Norwood What’s not to love about a pub with more than 100 microbrews and incredible gourmet burgers? Their two standbys are the Jean-Robert, with grape compote and goat and blue cheese, and the Korean, with a fried egg, kimchi, pork belly, Pepper Jack cheese and Sriracha mayo. A Xavier hangout. Photo: Hailey Bollinger Photo: Hailey Bollinger
La Torta Loca 7101 Dixie Highway, Florence La Torta Loca is a charming little Mexican eatery tucked in a Florence strip mall that packs in as much flavor as it does passion for its craft. The restaurant melds together the flavors from Cruz’s and Presti’s native countries, Mexico and Venezuela. The street-food-style menu ranges from tacos to empanadas and quesadillas to patacones, arepas and more. But the real star of the menu is their generous offering of tortas. Photo: facebook.com/saigonnoodlebarcincinnati
Saigon Subs & Rolls 151 W. Fourth St., Downtown The refreshingly minimal Saigon Subs & Rolls is an underrated and often overlooked Vietnamese destination that serves some of the best tofu in town. Their banh mi sandwiches are a true work of art; between slices of baguette smeared in creamy homemade butter sit pickled carrots and daikon and your choice of seasoned grilled beef or chicken. Photo: Facebook.com/SaigonSubsandRolls Photo: facebook.com/SaigonSubsandRolls
Ché 1342 Walnut St., Over-the-Rhine Located just a hair off the beaten path in Over-the-Rhine, Ché is nestled on Walnut Street. And like most urban eateries, Ché’s space is tall and narrow. But unlike most of its contemporaries, the decor is Latin, rich in color and wood. Ché’s menu offers Argentinian cuisine like the popular De Espinaca baked empanada which includes baby spinach, mozzarella and provolone, or the Milanesa Classica with pounded, breaded and fried chicken or steak with house fries. Photo: Facebook.com/CheCincinnati
Shaan Indian 3880 Paxton Ave., Oakley Shaan Indian offers Northern Indian cuisine specializing in saag dishes, like the chicken saag and the saag paneer. Don’t miss the spicy lamb vindaloo or the ginger lamb. The daily lunch buffet is also excellent and varied and once you visit. The incredibly friendly owners never forget a face or an order. Photo: shaanindianohio.com Photo: shaanindianohio.com
Siam Orchid Thai Restaurant 511 Fairfield Ave., Bellevue The Thai restaurant located in Bellevue is tiny but inviting and in a great location. The food is affordable and has large portions. The salads are fresh are jam-packed with veggies. The Orchid Salad includes shredded cabbage, carrots and ground peanuts tossed in the chef’s secret dressing. Also offers favorites like pad Thai and chicken satay. Photo: Siam Orchid’s Facebook Photo: facebook.com/Siam Orchid
B&A Street Kitchen 1500 Race St., Over-the-Rhine B&A Street Kitchen’s menu consists of Mexican-influenced and Southern-style urban comfort food. Do you want tacos? Tortas? A pimento grilled cheese? The diner also serves breakfast, with options including biscuits and gravy, huevos rancheros and pancakes. Photo: Brittany Thornton
Betta’s Italian Oven 3764 Montgomery Road, Norwood Plenty o’ choices here to give any local Italian chain a serious run for its money. Familiar favorites include antipasto, soups, salads and Italian and NYC-style sandwiches, but pizza is the real word. The wood-fired oven produces tasty, thin-crust pies like the Quattro Stagioni with kalamata olives, prosciutto, tomatoes and fresh mozzarella, and breadsticks including the spicy pepperoni sticks. Photo: Facebook.com/BettasItalianOven
La Mexicana 642 Monmouth St., Newport Home of some of the city’s best tacos: tacos al pastor with delicious marinated pork shoulder, barbacoa, carne asada, lengua (tongue) and sesos (brains; they wash down perfectly with a cerveza). For vegetarians, wide-ranging fillings include seasoned pumpkin flower, corn truffle, hongos, beans and queso fresco. This inexpensive and authentic menu has been known to incite cravings after as little as one visit. Photo: Hailey Bollinger
Happy Chicks Bakery 4035 Hamilton Ave., Northside The café and bakery offers cakes, cookies, cupcakes, pies and more all with fresh, seasonal flavors, plus light lunch or brunch options, including waffles, sandwiches, salads and soups. All menu items are all freshly prepared from non-processed foods and are free from preservatives and animal products. Photo: Facebook.com/HappyChicksBakery
The Butcher and Barrel 700 Race St., Downtown The Latin American and Italian-inspired cuisine is fresh and authentic. Butcher and Barrel has an entire menu section dedicated to traditional Argentinian Parrilla grilling, plus options like empanadas, grilled, chorizo and a bolognese. Check out the “La Cocina Argentina” for some home cooking and sample dishes like Milanesa Napolitana: chicken pounded thin, breaded and fried and topped with prosciutto, marinara, and melted mozzarella. Photo: Facebook.com/ButcherandBarrel
Montoya’s Mexican Restaurant 2507 Chelsea Lane, Fort Mitchell Friendly service and fresh, affordable food have kept Montoya’s a neighborhood staple for more than 20 years. Patrons rave about their authentic Mexican dishes like chilaquiles, their signature spicy Pirata Plate, which includes pork, chicken or steak, sauteed with grilled onions and jalapenos and topped with melted Jack cheese, or anything with mole. Great margaritas are the cherry on top. Photo: Facebook.com/MontoyasRestaurant
Saigon Noodle Bar 9220 Allen Road, West Chester Opened in August 2019, family-owned and -operated Saigon Noodle Bar serves up a variety of traditional Vietnamese fare. Pho options include delicate vermicelli noodles with cilantro, green and white onion and well-done flank beef, rare beef, chicken or fried tofu and vegan ham. Venture into new territory with their Bún Bò Hu? — rice noodles and beef in a spicy lemongrass broth — or H? Ti?u Nam Vang — rice noodles with pork, shrimp, quail eggs, squid, green onion and cilantro. Photo: facebook.com/saigonnoodlebarcincinnati
Kiki College Hill 5932 Hamilton Ave., College Hill Former chef of OTR’s Kaze, Harada announced his plans to open a Japanese gastropub in College Hill with his wife in 2017. After several years of preparation, Kiki opened their brick and mortar inside a former bank in 2019. The restaurant offers a variety of Japanese dishes, ranging from ramen to curry pan with appetizers like gyoza and shishito, with sushi night once a week. Photo: Hailey Bollinger Hailey Bollinger
The Governor 231 Main St., Milford Brothers Paul and Neil Barraco had been working in fine dining for years when they returned to their East Coast roots to open a classic diner with a modern twist in downtown Milford. The mission of the Governor is to offer the perks of fine dining — locally procured meat and produce, a menu made from scratch, a carefully designed cocktail list — at a medium price point in a laid-back environment. Photo: Savana Willhoite Savana Willhoite
Good Plates Eatery 235 West McMillan St., Clifton Good Plates focuses on simple foods and bold flavors, offering a variety of sandwiches and bowls (of the quinoa and salad variety) for both meat-eaters and vegetarians. In addition to eats, they have a smattering of atypical alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages to choose from, including Yoo-hoo and grape soda, and crazy canned cocktails like the Cutwater spicy bloody Mary. Photo: Hailey Bollinger