Recipe: Marilyn's Mac and Cheese

I should begin by saying two things:  1. I absolutely love mac and cheese, and 2.  I have no idea who Marilyn is from this recipe, but that’s the name of it! I recently was craving a homemade mac n’ cheese, so I decided to search the internet for a good recipe.  I have made various kinds in the past, but I wanted to try something that was a bit different than what I have already made.  I really love almost any kind of mac n’ cheese: Velveeta, Kraft, dishes with veggies, dishes with various cheeses, meats…you name it.  I really love the mac n’ cheese at Keystone Bar & Grill in Covington too but haven’t gotten the chance to blog about that place yet. 

I stumbled upon this recipe for Marilyn’s Mac and Cheese on http://www.delish.com/  It sounded like a “casserole” type dish, so I thought I’d give it a try.  Here ya go:

2 cups shell macaroni

¼ cup grated sharp Cheddar cheese

¼ cup grated Monterey Jack cheese

¼ cup grated provolone cheese

½ cup sour cream

1 can (15 oz) diced-stewed tomatoes, drained

1 tbsp unsalted butter

2 tsp fresh oregano

(This is prior to being baked)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Cook the pasta according to package, drain, and transfer to a 4 cup casserole dish. Stir in the rest of the ingredients and bake for about 30 minutes. 

(and here it is after.....my husband began to take some out before I got the picture, but it's still okay!)

This recipe was VERY easy and DELICIOUS!  My husband and I both loved it.  I changed mine up just a tad.  I added diced onion, and I had some mozzarella cheese, so I grated that instead of provolone.  I always like grating my own cheese from blocks; I like the thickness of it is a bit better.  I also couldn’t fine “diced” stewed tomatoes, so I just bought the “whole” stewed tomatoes and chopped them up myself.  I added some crushed red pepper and garlic powder for a bit more seasoning.  Lastly, I didn’t have fresh oregano on hand, so I just used dried oregano.  With all these changes, it still tasted fantastic! This dish could serve many uses as well.  We just had this as our dinner, and there was plenty left over to have later in the week as a side. You could take it to a pot luck or serve as a side with any other meal.  It serves 6. 

~Katy

Review: Maribelle's Tavern

I recently had a dinner date at Maribelle’s Tavern. I’ve been there a few times before, and thought it would be a great spot for a second date with Dan, the new guy I’ve been seeing. Maribelle’s is located in a quaint house in the East End on Riverside Drive. The ambience is warm and cozy and the menu is very diverse – which is great, except it makes it really hard to choose what to order!

Dan and I arrived about 7:30 on a Saturday evening, and the place was absolutely packed. We were told there would be a 45 minute wait to be seated. There were a lot of people already waiting at the bar, which was surrounded by several TV’s playing March Madness college basketball games. Lucky for us, there were two spots open at the bar, so we decided to just eat there and skip the wait.

After much deliberation over the menu, I decided on the caesar salad to start. I was debating on a few appetizers (I hear the lamb sliders with goat cheese are delicious!) but ultimately decided on the salad. It was pretty good, but nothing exceptional; however, the creamy parmesan dressing did stand out.



Dan ordered the small salmon salad, which came with tomato, red onion, egg, fried capers, and creamy parmesan dressing, which was the same dressing that came with my caesar salad. He really liked his salad. I didn’t try it, but it definitely looked more interesting and flavorful than my standard, somewhat-boring caesar salad. He mentioned the fried capers were a great addition.

For my entrée, I ordered the baked cheese sandwich. I thought this was going to be more like a grilled cheese or cheese panini, but it came out on a baguette that was slightly toasted. While it wasn’t exactly what I thought I was getting, it was excellent. I don’t think you can go wrong with goat and muenster cheese melted between two pieces of crusty bread. It was topped with tomato and arugula and a wonderful truffle mustard. All the flavors together were excellent! I could probably put that truffle mustard on everything, it was so good! My sandwich came with a choice of coleslaw, chips or napa slaw; however, I decided to spend the extra $2 to upgrade to one of the other side dishes on the menu. Surprisingly, the brussel sprouts were what jumped out at me. They were prepared perfectly – not too soggy, not too crunchy. They were cooked in balsamic vinegar and topped with capers, walnuts and fennel. Sooooo good! If you like brussel sprouts, I would highly recommend these! On a side note, Kate – who is a huge fan of Maribelle’s – loves their sweet potatoes with goat cheese and candied pecans, so I’d say those are another good side dish option. 



(Sorry for the photo quality - these were taken from a cell phone)

Dan chose the lamb entrée with cheesy jalapeno grits for his side. I didn’t try the lamb, but he seemed to really enjoy it and mentioned a few times how good it was. I did try the grits, and these were excellent! They were a really nice consistency and had a great flavor – just the right amount of spice from the jalapenos.

Maribelle’s is such a hidden gem, and I’d highly recommend trying it if you haven’t been there already. The prices range from $15-20 for entrees, $9-12 for sandwiches and $3-14 for appetizers. The food is fresh, simple and tasty, and the servers are friendly and attentive. My favorite part is their outdoor patio in the summer. We didn’t get to enjoy it this time, but I plan to go back when the weather warms up (hopefully any day now!).

Food:  4

Service: 3.5

Overall: 4

~ Kris

Review: 20 Brix

20 Brix is located in the business district of Milford.  I had been here once before, but I wanted to try it again for Restaurant Week, so my sister and I headed there one night after work.  On a weeknight, there are plenty of spots on the street for parking.  We had a reservation, but it wasn’t too busy by the time we got there.  I was greeted by the hostess who took me to my table and brought me a glass of water.  The server greeted me quickly and pointed out some special items on the menu.  She was very knowledgeable about the wine as well as the menu items. 

One thing I noticed about the wine menu was how big it was! There are tons of different wines to choose from, but the menu was not intimidating at all.  I loved how they made it very simple to navigate through, and you don’t have to be a wine connoisseur to figure out what you want.  It is categorized with titles like “You like merlot but want something different”.  Their glasses of wine and bottles of wine have a wide range of prices for whatever mood you are in and whatever budget you’re on.  I contemplated doing a flight of wine, but settled on a glass of Tempranillo.  Once my sister got there, she ordered a dirty martini.  Both drinks were quickly brought out and were great selections.

We both knew we were going to choose items off the Restaurant Week menu.  For my first course, I went with the carrot and ginger soup.  It sounded different, so I thought I’d try something new.  My sister went with the Julius salad.  The carrot and ginger soup was different but it was really good! Very creamy and had a nice little spice to it.  I wish it would have been a little bit warmer, but overall, I thought it was great.  It was pretty filling, so I wasn’t able to finish all of it.  My sister’s salad was a version of a Caesar salad.  It was topped with a parmesan cheese and an anchovy-infused dressing.  This salad was great as well; it had just enough dressing and was a bit different from the traditional Caesar salad with that dressing. 

The second course I chose was the lamb meatballs, and my sister chose the duck popper.  I thought both of these were delicious. The meatballs were served with a side of grilled country bread and a romesco sauce. The sauce with the meatballs was delicious. They were great on top of the provided bread.  I can’t remember a lot about the duck popper except that it was delicious!  I don’t think this is on their traditional menu, however. The lamb meatballs are though.

So far, we were very pleased with out meals!  My entrée came out, which was shrimp and grits; Kelley ordered the scallops. I LOVED these shrimp and grits.  They were so flavorful with pieces of chorizo and lots of toppings.  The shrimp were good sized and cooked well.  I’ve only had shrimp and grits one other time, and I liked these even better.  I was just disappointed that I was so full! I couldn’t eat all of it.  The scallops were good but not the best that I have had.  I think they could have had a little more flavor to them.  They were a little bland. 

All in all, I loved 20 Brix!  The service was fantastic.  Our server was attentive without being annoying.  She was very helpful with menu items, friendly, and had a smile on her face the whole time.  I’d like to also point out that the manager had stopped by and was very friendly as well.  He initiated conversation and was very welcoming. 

The menu has a wide variety of appetizers, flatbreads, and entrees.  I think it would be a great place to stop in for a glass of wine with an appetizer or two or even a flatbread if you don’t want to spend as much money.  Last time I had gone here, I got a flatbread and it was awesome!  They have tasting events various times throughout the months, but if you're intersted, make reservations early because they sell out! 

~Kate

Food: 4

Service: 5

Overall Experience: 4
    

Recipe: Greek Stuffed Peppers

I’m always looking for good vegetarian or seafood dishes to prepare, especially during Fridays in Lent. I just came across a good one and thought I’d share. I found this on Eating Well online. The ingredients are pretty simple and there’s nothing complicated about the preparation.  

4 servings 

Ingredients:

-          4 yellow orange, yellow, and/or red bell peppers

-          ½ cup whole wheat orzo

-          1 15-oz. can chickpeas, rinsed

-          1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

-          1 medium onion, chopped

-          6 oz. baby spinach, chopped

-          1 tbsp chopped fresh oregano, or 1 tsp dried

-          ¾ cup crumbled feta cheese

-          ¼ cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped

-          1 tbsp sherry vinegar, or red-wine vinegar

-          ¼ tsp salt

Start by cutting the peppers in half – lengthwise through the stem. Remove all the seeds and membrane so the inside is completely clear. 

Arrange them cut-side down in a microwave-safe dish with about ½ inch of water in the bottom. Microwave until the peppers are soft, about 7-9 minutes. Let them cool slightly, drain them and set aside. (Of note, I cut the recipe in half, so I only did two peppers.)   

While you’re waiting for those in the microwave, bring a large saucepan of water to a boil and add your orzo. Let it cook for about 8-10 minutes. Drain and rinse in cold water.

When the orzo and peppers are underway, mash the chickpeas until they make a chunky paste, making sure to leave some of the chickpeas whole.

Next, heat your oil in a skillet over medium heat and add your onions. Of course, I omitted this step since I hate onions; however, I did add minced garlic and crushed red pepper at this point. The recipe didn’t call for either of these, but I would highly recommend adding both of them – especially the garlic. I put garlic in just about everything I cook, and it definitely makes sense in this dish. After a couple minutes, add the chopped spinach and oregano and let it cook until the spinach wilts. Stir in the cooked orzo, chickpeas, ½ cup feta (save the rest for the end), sundried tomatoes, vinegar and salt. Cook for about 1 minute until it’s all heated through. Your mixture should look like this:

Grab your peppers and spoon the mixture into each one. Sprinkle the rest of the feta over the top of each pepper and serve!

There are a lot of possibilities with this dish, depending on the ingredients you have on hand. If you have artichokes, you could chop those up and add them to the dish. Also, if you want to add meat, you could finely chop chicken and mix that in. Fresh herbs like basil would be a nice addition. Experiment!  

This was delicious, easy, versatile and healthy! Enjoy!

~ Kris 

Review: Quatman Cafe

If you are from Cincinnati, you have likely heard about Quatman Cafe in Norwood.  It is a small pub and grill that is known for its burgers.  When I first walked into Quatman’s on a Friday night, I noticed that it was full of regulars and packed!  There isn’t a hostess, so you just sit where you can find a seat.  We took the last table in the back and looked up at the menu on the wall.  Quatman’s menu is simple.  Burgers, fries, sandwiches, and they are known for their mock turtle soup.  I have yet to try this soup, but my dad has mentioned how good it is many times. 

Our waitress promptly came over, took our drink order, and was ready to put our food order in as well.  It didn’t take my husband and me long to order—we had gone for the burgers.   We each ordered a burger and fries and my husband had some chili as well. 

As we waited, I took in the atmosphere.  There were sports on all the T.V.s, families, college students, couples, and Cincinnati memorabilia around the walls.  Very simple red and white checkered table cloths covered each table. 

It didn’t take long for our food to come out at all.  Quatman’s is known for their simplicity of their burgers, which is a good thing.  The burger was cooked medium well , and wasn’t too thick or too thin.  I don’t like too thick of burgers (if you’ve been to Gordo's, I thought their burgers were too thick), so this was just right.  There really isn’t a whole lot to say except that the burgers are great!  They are definitely one of my favorite burgers in the area.  I like how simple and flavorful they are without a lot of toppings needed.  The fries are pretty good.  Not my favorite, but pretty standard shoestring fries. 

Quatman’s is well-priced as well.  I can’t remember exactly what our bill came to, but a cheeseburger and fries was around $7.  Beers were about $3 or so a piece. 

Quatman’s is a no-fuss great local place.  There are always sports on too, so you could even go to check out a game.  So if you’re looking for a place with good food and prices, I definitely recommend checking it out! 

Food: 4

Service: 3

Overall Experience: 4

~Kate

Review: Brown Dog Cafe

As Kate mentioned in our last post, we love to get out as much as possible during Restaurant Week. On Monday, Jennifer and Beth – my two girlfriends from work – and I decided to try Brown Dog Cafe. We thought their Restaurant Week menu looked pretty diverse, and it's very close to where we work.

There were a lot of dishes to choose from on the menu, including a few vegetarian options, a couple Gluten Free, and even a few that meet the American Heart Association's dietary requirements (as part of the Christ Hospital Healthy Heart Restaurant Program).  There's definitely something for everyone!

Jennifer and I each started with the Artichoke Lollipop for an appetizer. This was an artichoke stuffed with manchego and goat cheese and breaded and fried in panko – of course I chose an option that was not on the AHA list! J Jennifer and I were both disappointed by these. We were both expecting it to be stuffed and oozing with manchego and goat cheese, and they both had little to no cheese in them. They were still good but not as good as we were expecting.

Beth decided on the Venison Ravioli for her first course. These were covered in a juniper-berry port reduction. Beth said these were delicious! They certainly looked interesting...

All three of us chose to get the house salad for our second course. This was a salad of mixed greens, gorgonzola cheese, dried cherries, candied pecans, marinated tomatoes and balsamic vinaigrette. As you can see by the picture, they did not short us on the cheese this time. The salad was really good…however it bordered on being a little too sweet due to the cherries and the candied pecans.

Last but not least – our entrees! We all three order filets and chose to pay the extra $5 to get it Oscar style… topped with béarnaise sauce, crab meat and asparagus. The best way to eat a filet in my opinion! We were all very pleased with our steaks. My only complaint was that I ordered mine medium and it came out medium rare. Not a huge complaint though because it was still delicious! I’d much rather have it undercooked than overcooked any day. The filet also came with sliced Yukon gold potatoes. These were pretty good – nothing special – but dipping them in the extra béarnaise sauce really helped. I’m pretty sure everything is good in béarnaise sauce!

That takes care of the food end of the review, but I wanted to briefly mention the service. I have to say…it was not the greatest. We went straight to Brown Dog from work, so we were there by 5:20. As you can imagine, the place was pretty empty at this point. One would think that would result in better service, since there were only a few other diners in there. Not the case! Our server seemed a little annoyed by the fact that she had to wait on us. When we asked for her opinion about different items on the menu, she was no help at all and gave short one-word answers. She didn’t elaborate on anything and didn’t crack a smile. I wouldn’t say the service was terrible. We got refills when needed, we all got the right food and we didn’t have to wait long in between courses, but it was certainly not exceptional. I often wonder if it’s because it’s Restaurant Week, and the server knows your bill is only going to be around $30 (unless you have a few drinks). Anyone else noticed this during Restaurant Week?

~Kris

Review: Behle Street Cafe

Since it is restaurant week, I have really been trying to take advantage of trying some new restaurants.  My husband has never partaken in this week before, so we decided on Saturday that we would pick one and try it out.  We looked at our choices on http://www.eatlocalcincy.com/ .  We didn’t decide until 5:00 that we were going to go, so we wanted to make sure we picked somewhere that might not be so crowded.  Behle Street Cafe looked good and the menu online looked pretty interesting too.  I called at 5:00 and the woman who answered was very friendly and told me that we could make a reservation for 6:30…perfect!  Behle Street Café is in Covington, KY and is located in the Embassy Suites hotel.  We were able to park in the garage directly behind the restaurant for free, which was a plus!

When we walked into the restaurant we immediately noticed that it was a very tiny place.  We were immediately seated.  The décor in the Behle Street is charming and there is a long wooden bar located in the back.  I noticed that a lot of people kept coming in to be seated, but it is a pretty small restaurant so there was definitely a wait.  Our waitress arrived a bit later, and we ordered our drinks.

My husband and I both planned to order off the restaurant week menu, but we did look at their regular menu as well.  They have a variety of items, including meatloaf, steaks, salads, and sandwiches.  From their restaurant week menu, you get to choose from an appetizer, a salad, and an entrée.  I went with the crab cake appetizer, wedge salad, and petite filet.  My husband ordered the bruschetta, Caesar salad, and shrimp and scallops fettucine with a white wine butter sauce.

We pretty much didn’t like ANYTHING.  Our appetizers, crab cake and bruschetta, literally came out two minutes after we ordered, which we didn’t find as a good sign.  It appeared that both items were pre-made.  The crab cake was just okay.  It tasted like imitation crab.  The bruschetta was not a typical bruschetta.  The topping for it, a tomato mixture, was served on the side of crostinis with melted cheese.  These weren’t that great either. 

Next came our salads.  My salad, the wedge, was a pretty typical wedge.  It is topped with bacon, tomoato, onion straws and blue cheese crumbles.  It is traditionally served with blue cheese dressing, but I had asked for ranch instead.  It came with ranch; however, they didn’t put the blue cheese crumbles on it.  All in all, the salad was fine.  I cannot say the same for the Caesar salad. The lettuce looked and tasted wilted.  Not good.  The dressing was okay, but the lettuce was awful so it ruined the whole thing.  Both salads were served with a side of bread which was good, especially since my husband didn’t end up eating much of his entrée….

On to the entrees:  Both were VERY disappointing.  First of all, I had asked for my filet medium.  I even asked the waitress how she would describe their medium (I find that some restaurants have a different definition) and she answered “pink”.  I went ahead and ordered it medium, and it came out well.  There was no pink anywhere in the steak.  Our waitress hadn’t come back to check on our meals, so I had asked a different waitress to take my steak back.  After about 12 minutes, a new steak was brought out that was more medium.  It was served with a side of asparagus and mashed potatoes. The best thing on the plate was the mashed potatoes.  I am by no means a snob when it comes to steak, but this filet was not that great at all.  It didn’t have much flavor or seasoning, so it was very bland.  It had a gorgonzola cheese melted on top, which was really the only thing that gave the steak any flavor.

(This is a picture of the first steak that was brought out, this is asparagus looks awful! I didn't try this one though.  The next one that was brought out was better).

My husband’s meal was even worse! The fettuccine was rubbery and pretty much inedible.  The scallops and shrimp weren’t any better either.  They had no flavor and the shrimp was overcooked.  The whole meal pretty much had no flavor….my husband gave it a 0 out of 4 stars! AWFUL.

Our waitress eventually came back to check to see if my steak was better, and I noted that it was.  After that we didn’t see much of her again.  She did arrive at the end of our meal to see if we wanted dessert, which we said no.  Five minutes later, the manager came over and asked if we wanted a dessert on the house since my steak was not prepared correctly.  At this point, I said “no”.  When the waitress had originally asked, she did not make it sound that it was “on the house”.   We paid our bill and left.  One of the biggest disappointments in a restaurant I have EVER had.  Especially when it was $26.11 per meal!  I would NEVER go back here and never recommend anyone else go here either.  This was definitely one of the worst dining experiences we have ever had.  The service was not that great, food was awful, and obviously over-priced!  Two thumbs wayyyy down!

~Kate

Recipe: Chicken Broccoli Toss

Trying to come up with easy and new recipes can be harder than one would think.  When looking through magazines and websites, I always try to fine ones that don’t have too many ingredients or weird ingredients, something that seems simple to do, and something that is somewhat healthy.  I recently came across an old issue of Taste of Home and found this recipe for Chicken Broccoli Toss.  Well, the ingredients all seemed easy and not too many of them:

4 cups fresh broccoli florets

3 cups torn romaine

2 cups cooked chicken breast sliced

1 medium apple, chopped

½ cup fat-free Italian dressing

¼ cup pecan halves, toasted

2 tbsp. golden raisins

I have heard of all those ingredients and it sounds good!  So I decided to give it a try.  Here’s what you do:

Place broccoli in a steamer basket, place in a large saucepan over 1 inch of water. Bring to a boil, cover and steam for 5-8 minutes.  Drain and rinse in cold water; pat dry with paper towels.  I have to tell you that I didn’t read all of this correctly didn’t rinse it or pat it dry, but it still tasted fine!  Next, divide the romaine among four plates (we only had two, so I had some left over for lunch the next day).  In a bowl, combine chicken, apple and broccoli.  Drizzle with dressing and toss to coat.  Spoon onto romaine, sprinkle with pecans and raisins. 

Couple tips I used:  I had actually marinated the chicken in 2 tbsp of Italian dressing for about an hour before cooking it.  This gave it a nice extra kick, and I don’t think as much dressing on the salad is needed then.  Be careful to watch the pecans when toasting.  I am notorious for burning nuts in the oven, so you only need to toast them for about 5 minutes or so.  If you are planning to take some for lunch the next day, do not dress the salad ahead of time!

All in all, I really liked this salad!  My husband seemed to like it well enough too, for a salad.  He thought the broccoli in the salad was "weird" at first, but he ended up really liking it.  I particularly liked the toasted pecans and apple in the salad too.  It was a nice mix of sweetness, crunch, and nutty flavor.  This was so easy, and great the next day for lunch too!

~Kate

Reminder: Spring Restaurant Week

Don't forget to make your reservations for Cincinnati's Spring Restaurant Week!  Starts Friday March 11-20th.  It's a great chance to try some new restaurants at a discounted rate and support local Cincinnati restaurants.  Most places have special menus that offer three course meals for $26.11.  Start making reservations now, they will fill up quick!  Check out restaurants and menus here!

Review: Knotty Pine on the Bayou

For awhile now, my sister has been raving about how much she loves crawfish, and specifically crawfish at Knotty Pine on the Bayou in Cold Spring/Alexandria, Kentucky.  (The restaurant does not have a website, but that is a link to urban spoon's information).  She has been telling me how good it is for awhile now and suggested that we try it out.  Apparently, it is flown in weekly but I’m not sure where from, and they only have it on Tuesdays.  So, I thought it was time I tried this highly acclaimed crawfish.  My sister, dad, and I headed down last Tuesday.  They both knew where they were going, but it was new to me.  It only takes about 15 minutes from downtown Cincinnati . 

The building is a little old wooden building on the Licking River.  As we walked in, the hostess asked if we had a reservation, which we did, and she seated us right away. We went fairly early so there weren’t many other people in there yet.  I immediately was intrigued by all the décor and ambiance of the restaurant.  It has fun Mardi Gras masks, pictures, and other unique pieces on the walls.  The other thing that my sister pointed out was the slant in the floor.  Part of the floor is an incline, which was interesting! I also noticed they have a great patio looking over the river for when it is a bit warmer.  The view looked pretty as well.

Our server was friendly and greeted us promptly.  My sister ordered an Abita Purple Haze, I ordered the Abita Amber, and my dad got his usual Miller High Life.  Both the Abita beers were good!  The server told us the specials for the day as we looked over the menu.  The menu has a range of Cajun items, including fried frog legs, peel n’ eat shrimp, surf & turf, and lobster tail. I considered getting the Cajun sampler but decided to get the crawfish since that was what my sister had raved about. My dad ordered the special, which was Grouper.  He was able to choose from three different ways of it being cooked, and it came with two sides.  He also had a cup of the Cajun gumbo.  I ordered the appetizer portion of the crawfish, rice and gravy, and green beans with a side salad.  My sister ordered the dinner portion of crawfish with red potatoes, cottage cheese, and a side salad. 

Our salads came out first.  We both ordered the onion mustard dressing with salads.  The salad was pretty fresh with an average amount of toppings and both spinach and icerberg lettuce. We both really liked the dressing.  It was similar to a honey mustard, and was unique and flavorful.  We both agreed that we would order that dressing again.  My sister thought her salad had too much cabbage but mine was just fine.

As our waiter brought out our food on the tray, I spotted the crawfish from afar and was SHOCKED!  There was SOO much of it! It was unbelievable.  I saw a bucket full of crawfish and thought it was the dinner portion.  I couldn’t believe it when the server put that bucket in front of me.  There was a ton.  I think two people could have easily shared the appetizer portion.  Needless to say, my sister’s was even bigger!  She said she could finish it, but she barely put a dent in it.

This was my first time eating crawfish, so my sister had to show me how it’s done. I didn’t realize all the work that goes into eating them.  Pull of the head….pull off the tail…and then you eat.  After a couple tries, I was getting the hang of it.  The crawfish was excellent!  The Cajun seasoning and flavor was awesome.   You could tell that it had been seasoned all day.  I cannot say the same about my side items though.  The rice and gravy was really bland as well as the green beans.  I didn’t end up eating much of either.  My sister’s sides were pretty much the same. Her red potatoes were bland and under cooked.  Her cottage cheese was just any ordinary cottage cheese.   My dad’s grouper was excellent as well!  He had ordered it blackened though, and it didn’t come out blackened.  It was prepared with one of the other choices, which was with a lemon seasoning.  My dad still liked it very much though too.  His Cajun gumbo was good, but not very spicy.  I thought it was just okay.

My verdict: I loved the ambiance of Knotty Pine and it started to get really crowded in there.  You could tell that there were many people there who had been there before.  I liked the patio and would definitely go back to sit out there and enjoy the scenery.  The crawfish was awesome and there was plenty left-over to take home.  Our server was a great help by explaining how to cook it easily at home, you just boil some water and put them in for a minute or two to heat them up.  The grouper was great as well.  It was cooked perfectly and was a big piece of fish.  The sides were disappointing and the salad was fine.  I thought the prices were a bit high.  My dad’s meal was around $25, the appetizer crawfish was $18.99 which did not include the salad. 

I thought my experience was great overall.  I loved how this place was off a back road and had great atmosphere. The service was excellent and the crawfish was really good.  I would possibly go back to sit outside, but it’s not a place I’d go regularly because of the distance and the price.  However, I recommend trying it out for something new and fun! 
~Katy

Review: Gabby's Cafe

I recently read a review in Metromix about Gabby's Cafe in Wyoming.  I have only been to Wyoming once or twice before, and it’s really pretty close (10 minutes or so) to where I live, so I thought it sounded like a good place to check out on a Saturday night.  Gabby’s is located on Wyoming Avenue in the little business district of Wyoming, which was a really cute area. 

We walked in to Gabby’s and put our name in at the hostess stand. It looked busy, but she said it wouldn’t be a long wait.  The waiting area was kind of tight, but we only had to wait about five minutes.  The hostess led us to the back of the restaurant toward the bar area which had a live band playing.  They were pretty good! They played some classic rock favorites and weren’t too loud to which you couldn’t hear people talking at your table.  Gabby’s clientele had a variety of older couples, families, teens, and twenty-somethings, so very welcoming.

We went hungry, so as we sat down, my husband immediately noticed the Saratoga chips as an appetizer and decided to order those with our beers.  The Saratoga chips were pretty average.  Nothing that special.  We all thought the barbecue sauce was a little sweet.  As we looked over the menu, we noticed that Gabby’s has a majority of Italian menu items, along with some bar & grill classics, like burgers, sandwiches and salads.  They have a pretty wide selection of beers and cocktails to choose from as well. 

It took us awhile to decide.  We were really enjoying our drinks and listening to the music!  There were a lot of items to choose from.  There are lots of original pizzas you can try that sounded interesting, classic Italian dishes, and their meatloaf sounded really good too.  I typically ask the server what their favorites are, and ours said the lasagna, pizza, and burgers are all good…..didn’t really narrow my choices down!  After long consideration, I decided to go with the lasagna and a side salad.  My friend ordered the spaghetti and meatballs and my husband went with a bacon and cheese burger. 

The salad came out first with Italian dressing. It was a nice fresh salad and good-sized for a side. 

When the dishes came out, my first reaction to the lasagna was, “oh my gosh, that is huge!”  It was a pretty big portion of pasta and was served with garlic bread.  I thought the lasagna was really good!  The noodles weren’t overcooked, there was just the right amount of cheeses and meat, and the sauce was great as well! 

My friend who ordered the spaghetti and meatballs loved hers as well.  She really liked the meatballs and couldn’t put her fork down.

My husband liked his burger too.  He said the more he ate it, the more he liked it.  He wasn’t a big fan of the fries, but I tried the fries and liked them a lot.  They weren’t too greasy and had just enough crunch to them. 

We stayed for another round of drinks because a new singer slash guitar player came on who we thought was great! 

We all really enjoyed Gabby’s.  We thought the environment, service, and menu was great.  The items are reasonably priced $8-$16.  It’s a nice place to check out, especially on a Saturday when they have live music.  They also have Barbeque & Blues on Tuesday and Italian Night on Monday. I know we will visit again to check out some of the items we didn’t get to taste!

~Katy 

Review: El Pueblo

Who doesn’t love Mexican food??  There seems to be more and more Mexican restaurants popping up around the area, but my go-to is El Pueblo in Blue Ash.   First of all, always check the Reach magazine.  There is almost always a coupon in there for El Pueblo that you might as well take with you.  We went up here on a recent Friday night when it was kind of warm but not warm enough to sit outside.  The restaurant was PACKED and therefore, pretty loud.  This didn’t bother us though.  We put our name in and headed to the bar.  I started with a frozen strawberry margarita and my husband got a Dos Equis Ambar. Both drinks kept us busy while we waited for the rest of our party to arrive.  While we waited, a server gladly brought us a basket of chips and salsa to snack on.

For it being a Friday evening, and for how crowded it was, we were seated pretty quickly considering we had a party of 9.  I would guess we waited no more than 20 minutes. 

The menu can be a little intimidating at first, but I would say it’s pretty similar to most Mexican restaurants I’ve been to.  I have been to El Pueblo multiple times, but I still like to try different things.  I decided on this night to go with the Quesadilla Dinner.  This is a basic quesadilla: chicken and cheese with a side of lettuce, sour cream, guacamole and tomatoes.  It was just the right size for me since I had some chips and salsa as well.  This quesadilla was pretty good, but my friend Anna got the Super Quesadilla, which I have had before, and I would say that is better.  It is a little bit bigger and has a cheese sauce on top of the quesadilla as well. 

Our other friend got the El Zacatecano. This was grilled chicken with chorizo, pineapple and melted cheese served over a flour tortillia with rice, lettuce, sour cream, tomato and cheese.  I didn’t try this, but she said it was very good.  I just never think to get dishes like this when I’m at Mexican restaurants. I always get the standards: tacos, quesadillas, fajitas, or nachos.  However, I thought this looked really good and opened my eyes to other types of food on the menu!  I may end up trying this in the future.

I couldn’t get pictures of what everyone else got, but some items that were ordered was a burrito, a chimichanga, and enchiladas. Everyone seemed pleased and full when finished with their orders. 

So, to wrap it up, here are some positives and negatives about El Pueblo:

Negatives:  It gets REALLY loud in here.  It can be hard to hear people sitting right next to you. It also gets pretty crowded; there was a wait the whole time we were there. 

Positives: The food is good and reasonably priced.  A 12oz margarita is about $4.50, domestic beers are $2.79 bottle and domestics are $3.29 a bottle.  Drafts are cheaper.   Most meals are around $10.  I don’t drink margaritas very often, but I think these are pretty good.  They have a nice patio for when it gets warm and parking is easy. 

~Kate