Out to eat: Andy's Mediterranean Grille

Aside from the popular kabobs, the menu at Andy's Mediterranean Grille in Walnut Hills also features dishes like lamb shank with hummus. (Credit: Jeff Swinger | Metromix)

Andy’s Mediterranean Grille sits on the corner of Nassau Street and Gilbert Avenue just a few blocks from Eden Park. It’s grown from its original iteration—Andy’s Deli, a corner store that’s turned into Cincinnati’s cornerstone for Mediterranean cuisine. Erica and I stopped by on a Monday for dinner to warm up on a rainy December night.

The mood: You can smell Andy’s scrumptiousness before you set foot in its doors. We found a parking spot on the street a block away from the restaurant and the mesmerizing aroma of grilled meat and vegetables is potent several hundred feet away. Copper hues, earth tones and a huge built-in wine rack welcome you when you step inside the restaurant. The bar seats 10 and we took a seat there since there was going to be a wait. The place seemed especially busy, even though it was Monday, so the host and service staff were working double-time to get everyone seated and orders taken.

There are several levels to the space; the lower bar area, and steps leading to an upper dining room. On nice days they have a patio area which would make for a great spot to spend some time smoking a hookah over homemade tea or a Lebanese beer, both of which Andy’s offers in abundance. The bar serves drinks until 2 a.m. Monday through Saturday and until 10 p.m. on Sundays.

The food: Andy’s has a pretty full menu, but their grill items take a place of prominence on the menu. It’s in the name of the restaurant after all. There’s a wide array of meat and vegetable kabobs: lamb, chicken, steak and various combinations of all three. All are prepared slightly differently with various marinades, seasonings and spices. It all looked impressive, so to buy some more time, we split an order of cabbage rolls ($7), filled with ground steak and rice and served in a tomato sauce with “Andy’s special spices.” They were smaller than the cabbage rolls I’ve had before, but they were delicious. It took the edge off of a damp night and definitely made me want to explore more of Andy’s special spices.

When faced with lots of kabob options, it’s sometimes best just to try them all. Or as close to all as possible, so Erica and I decided on the Jumbo Combo for Two ($33): one shish kabob—a pretty basic beef tenderloin with onion, pepper and tomato; one shish kafta—a skewer of chopped steak, parsley and onion akin to a moist and flavorful Lebanese burger served on a stick; one shish kharouf—charbroiled lamb with onion; and three skewers of Andy’s famous chicken shish tawook. Shish tawook is arguably Andy’s best dish. It actually has won that award several times at Taste of Cincinnati, and the flavors are exciting. It’s like a lemony-peppery-garlicky piece of tender and moist heaven.

The Jumbo Sampler also comes with a salad for two and the kabobs are served on a bed of rice. Andy’s serves baskets of small, hot, fresh pita bread with each meal. Make sure you ask for seconds of these little pillows of deliciousness. They were wonderful, and eating three of them made a lot of sense at the time.

I washed everything down with a Almaza ($4), Lebanon’s most famous beer. It was a good sharp pilsner and Erica’s mint tea ($2) made fresh each day was simple and adorable, served in a small tea kettle and a tiny glass. We couldn’t come close to finishing the Jumbo Sampler, and the leftovers were enough to feed us for dinner the next night.

The verdict: Andy’s offers more than meat on sticks: seafood, hummus, baba ghannouj, falafel. It’s a broad menu for any palate, and the place was filled with just as many families with kids as there were couples. It’s a great place to try Mediterranean food for the first time, or if you ever have need for some bold flavor.