Best of Metromix Cincinnati 2012New restaurant
A wide range of places have opened their doors in the last year. Here are our favorites.
And the winner is…
Jimmy G's
435 Elm St.
Cincinnati, OH 45202Neighborhood: Downtown
Jimmy G's features the unique culinary styling of Cincinnati veteran Executive Chef Jimmy Gibson. The menu includes charcoal/wood fire-cooked steaks, salads, chicken, fish, burgers and appetizers from shrimp cocktail to octopus. Specific items: smoked chicken under a brick with truffle-date honey. Pistachio-Almond Salad and Sea Scallops a la placha with mashed kabocha squash and a sour orange-ginger sauce. Braised Moroccan-style lamb shank with pink lentil-scallion griddle cakes.
Nominees
A Tavola
1220 Vine St.
Cincinnati, OH 45202Neighborhood: Downtown
A Tavola, a bar, trattoria and pizzeria, is now open a few doors away from Senate Restaurant. The offer pizza and bruschetta cooked in a wood-fired oven, and a drink menu of craft cocktails, micro brews, local beers and quality wines. They got their start doing pizza nights at Northside’s Take the Cake cafe.
Abigail Street
1214 Vine St.
Cincinnati, OH 45202Neighborhood: Downtown
Abigail Street’s menu takes inspiration from all over, but it fits easily into the new Vine Street scene. The wine bar takes one half of the room and the tables nestle up to a long bench on the opposite wall, with room enough for one plaid-clad waiter to fit between each one. It isn’t quite a cheap night out but as long as you go with people who don’t mind your fork in their plate every few minutes, you will have plenty of delicious things to try. The wine on tap came from closer to home, but still an adventure and international wine loyalists still have an extensive list of bottles to choose from.
Enoteca Emilia
2038 Madison Road
Cincinnati, OH 45208Neighborhood: Evanston
The new Italian wine bar and restaurant taking over the space that was the Brickyard, and most recently Balboas in OBryonville is now open. They're open for lunch, dinner, Sunday brunch and private parties in the wine room. The menu features the cuisine of Emilia-Romagna, one of the best-known food areas of Italy. Includes house-made pasta, spiedini (skewered meat and seafood), flatbread sandwiches called piadina and meats and cheeses from Parma and Bologna.
Copper Blue
900 Main St.
Milford, OH 45150Neighborhood: Miami Township/Miamiville
The casual dining restaurant is subtitled "A Grub Shack" by its owners Tim Bettinson and Margo Schwarberg to emphasize the come-as-you-are feel they hope to project. They began work remodeling the former Friendly's building in February of 2010. It now seats about 140, with a bar area. The menu includes burgers, big salads, small steaks, grilled chicken, a blackened meatloaf, and a fish of the day. The highest item on the menu is a 14-ounce ribeye at $19.99, with some burgers and sandwiches in the $6.50-$8 range.
Lime Taqueria
522 Main St.
Covington, KY 41011Neighborhood: Riverfront
Keeping things simple, clean and organic is the mantra of this gourmet burrito shop in Main Strasse. Gina Puopolo and her husband have remodeled the former La Cherie bakery and will be using grass-fed beef and natural meat. Mr. Puopolo has created a hydroponic garden in the basement to grow tomatoes, cucumbers and the peppers for the homemade salsas. Catering is also available.
Meritage Restaurant
1140 Congress Ave.
Cincinnati, OH 45246Neighborhood: Glendale
New restaurant now open in the former location of Glendale Gaslight Cafe. Features a menu the owner and chef describes as contemporary American food with a fresh twist. Steak, seafood and specialty sandwiches are served, as well as salads, dessert and appetizers such as stuffed mushrooms and steamed mussels.
Taste of Belgium Bistro
1135 Vine St.
Cincinnati, OH 45202Neighborhood: Over-the-Rhine & Pendleton
Taste of Belgium, known for its waffles, has opened up a new Belgian bistro. The Vine Street caf serves sweet and savory crepes, salads, baguette sandwiches, and Belgian-style entrees. And of course waffles, in the dessert and entree sections of the menu, as well as pastries and espresso drinks. The bistro now offers dinner as well, with moules-frites and carbonnade and other Belgian classics. You can also now grab a drink from the full bar, including a selection of Belgian beers on tap.
Zab Thai Kitchen
10667 Loveland-Madeira Road
Loveland, OH 45140Neighborhood: Loveland
Zab means spicy and hot. The menu includes some traditional Thai dishes that don’t usually make it on to American-Thai menus, along with some modern takes on Thai. It’s casual and family-oriented. There are many of the traditional stir-fries and curry dishes, but also salads and specialties: tum som hua pak kard and moo yang, or rutabaga salad and grilled pork with a chili-garlic-lime dressing.
Last year's winner
Senate
1212 Vine St.
Cincinnati, OH 45202Neighborhood: Downtown
Senate is junk food nirvana. It’s a place where they put fried eggs on the hot dogs and sizzle the french fries in duck fat, and you just sit there with your big glass of Belgian beer and scarf it all down.
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What other people are saying...
kaminskil - January 20, 2012 at 7:40 PM
Zab's Thai Restaurant in Loveland would be my vote!
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