Review: The Polo Grille

Before going to see The Hangover Part 2 at the Deerfield Regal Cinemas (which I thought was hilarious, by the way) my friend and I decided to grab a bite to eat at The Polo Grille, which is located very close to the theater. We've been there a couple times before and have never been disappointed, so we were excited to go back.

As an appetizer, I always go with my old faithful choice, which is the oven baked goat cheese with roasted tomato sauce. It's served with crispy flatbread and it is absolutely DELICIOUS! This is one of my favorite appetizers of all time. If you like goat cheese, you've got to try this!!

My friend decided to go with the Polo Citrus Salad. It was topped with golden raisins, oranges, apples, dried cranberries, gorgonzola cheese, peanut brittle (yes, you read that right!) and citrus vinaigrette. I'm not a huge fan of fresh fruit on salads, so this would not be something I'd order, but she really enjoyed it. I did try a bite with the citrus vinaigrette, and it was very light and refreshing. And the peanut brittle was awesome! The only problem was that the lettuce was wilted and a few pieces were soggy. That was disappointing.

I also ordered a salad but without all the fresh fruit. Mine came with spiced pecans, gorgonzola cheese, tomatoes, grilled chicken and balsamic vinaigrette. Luckily my salad was made with a spring mix, which was much better lettuce than the Citrus Salad. It was crisp and fresh.

Polo Grille is an excellent choice, especially if you're in the Deerfield/Mason area. They have a lot of different options including seafood entrees, pasta dishes, sandwiches, pizzas (which I've tried before and really enjoyed), salads, etc.

~Kris

Food: 3.5
Service: 4
Overall: 4

Review: Green Dog Café

On a recent Sunday morning, my good friend Peppy (no, that's not her "real" name) and I decided to go out to brunch. We had a few too many drinks at Stanley's (in Columbia Tusculum area) the night before and decided to take a cab home and leave her car there. When we went to pick her car up the next morning, we noticed the umbrella tables sitting outside at Green Dog Cafe right around the corner and decided to give it a try.

When you first enter the restaurant, you go to the counter and place your order, and you're given a number to put on your table so they can bring your food to you. If you've ever been to a Noodles & Co., it reminded me a little of that set up. Although the decor is way more interesting and fun. It's contemporary and very colorful with bright abstract artwork throughout.

Green Dog Café has a wonderful menu focused primarily on using quality, local, sustainable and organic ingredients. They have plenty of vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options, which Peppy- who is a vegetarian - definitely appreciated. Although the restaurant itself is pretty casual, the menu is creative and the food is delicious. The dining experience is far nicer than you'd expect with a walk-up ordering system and casual seating. 

Peppy decided to try the "Rossz Kutya" burrito. This was quite a burrito! It was filled with organic eggs, black beans, fried poblano and red peppers, green and red salsa, white cheddar cheese, potatoes and sour cream. Peppy said it tasted just as good as it looks. The ingredients look and taste very fresh, and even their salsas are homemade. Yum! Peppy even had half leftover to take home and share with her family.

I chose to order the Bacon and Roasted Tomato Omelet - ordered with egg whites only. I started ordering egg white omelets to save on fat and calories when I did Weight Watchers a few years ago, and I decided I actually liked it better than regular omelets! It's one of the few healthy things that I don't consider a sacrifice, so I'm going to stick with it! This omelet was absolutely wonderful. It was filled with chevre cheese (which tasted very similar to goat cheese), rocket (arugula), roasted tomatoes, and pieces of crispy bacon. All the elements combined to make a a wonderful flavor and texture combination! I'd highly recommend it!

The side of potatoes was my one and only complaint. They had the potential to be very good; however they were cold and you could tell they had been sitting a while. They had a good flavor to them and were clearly freshly cut, homemade potatoes. I wish we'd had them fresh out of the oven.

Peppy happened to know one of the guys working in the kitchen, so he sent us out an order of their signature, fresh "cathead" biscuits with jam and honey butter. This was soooo good. It was nice and warm and flaky, and I love that they serve it with honey butter. Such a simple upgrade to add honey, but it's so much better than regular, old butter.

Peppy and I absolutely loved this place. I have nothing but good things to say about the food, the service, the decor and the overall concept of the restaurant. I would highly recommend giving them a try...I know I'll be going back to try their dinner menu in the near future! Oh, and I almost forgot one of the best parts....you can bring your dog with you if you're sitting outside! Oh yeah...and they have Jeni's homemade ice cream shipped in from Columbus! I'll be trying the Salty Caramel next time I go back!

~Kris

Food: 4 (because of the potatoes)
Service: 5
Overall: 4.5

Review: The Firehouse Grill

On a recent Friday evening, I met Kate and her husband Ross for happy hour at The Firehouse Grill in Blue Ash (the old location of Watson Bros. and Apsara). It was in the midst of the ridiculous amount of April rain we had here in Cincinnati, so we were ecstatic that it was a sunny day and we could sit outside. They have a beautiful patio that overlooks a pond with a fountain. Despite the traffic on the nearby busy streets, it really is peaceful and serene back there.

We met at 5:15 immediately after work and the place was already filling up. Kate and her hubby each had a beer and I started with a glass of wine. Then it was on to the food menu…they have a pretty standard menu consisting of some typical appetizers, salads, burgers, sandwiches, pizzas, entrees and pasta dishes. There were a lot of items that jumped out at me, but Kate and I decided to split the buffalo chicken rolls and the barbeque chicken pizza – I told you we like to split everything! J Ross went with the Back Draft burger and fries.

Our server – who was very nice but a little ditzy – brought out our buffalo chicken rolls first. These are a play on traditional egg rolls – instead of the standard ingredients, they have bits of fried chicken, pepperoni, Monterey jack cheese and buffalo sauce and they’re served with blue cheese dressing. Kate and I both prefer Ranch dressing so we asked the server to substitute that instead. These were pretty good – although I don’t know if I’d order them again. I am obsessed with Teller’s (in Hyde Park) version of this appetizer, and these just didn’t quite compare. If I had never had Teller’s buffalo chicken rolls before, I probably would have loved these (which was the case for Kate). They do have a nice crunch and a great buffalo flavor. I’m just biased towards Teller’s.

Next the server brought out our pizza and Ross’ burger and fries. The barbeque chicken pizza comes with bacon, pulled chicken, onion, mixed shredded cheese and cilantro. They use a homemade barbeque sauce that is pretty good and pretty sweet. Of course, we ordered onions on only half since I despise onions and Kate loves them. Overall, Kate and I both enjoyed the pizza. I pretty much like anything with bacon, although I think it could have used a little more cilantro (but I’m very partial to cilantro), and when I make this pizza at home I add roasted red peppers, which I think would have been a nice addition.

I didn’t try Ross’ Back Draft Burger, but it looked pretty darn good!! It was topped with jalapenos, chilies, Monterey jack cheese, bacon and guacamole and came with a side of fries. Ross really liked it! And the fries were pretty good as well – nice and hot and crunchy and not too salty!

Overall, I think the food at Firehouse is pretty standard – nothing extraordinary, but the atmosphere is really nice, it’s close to home and work, and the service was decent, so I’m sure I’ll be back!

~Kris

Food: 3.5                                                                                                                                           Service: 3                                                                                                                                        Overall: 3.5 

Review: Dee Felice

I recently went to dinner with my 2 brothers and their significant others to Dee Felice in Main Strasse Village. Dee Felice is known for their Cajun style food, which they’ve been serving for about 25 years. I love, love, love spicy food, so this place is right up my alley!  

The ambiance at Dee Felice is very fun - but very loud. They have a 5 piece jazz band playing there most nights. They are very good; however, I really wanted to chat and catch up with everyone and I could barely hear anything.  The waiter had to yell for all of us to hear him, and he had to repeat things multiple times. We were sitting at the very front of the restaurant – incredibly close to the band. If I go back, I would definitely request a table towards the back of the restaurant. That way the music would be more in the background.  

My favorite thing at Dee Felice is by far the Ricardo’s Ravioli. I’ve had it once before and couldn’t wait to have it again! We asked for 2 orders for the table because I knew everyone was going to love it.  The ravioli is filled with ricotta cheese and jalapeños and deep fried. It’s topped with the most delicious crawfish- jalapeño cream sauce. Absolutely divine!! And I was right – everyone else loved it too!  

We also started with an order of the Cajun-style Calamari for the table. This was pretty good as well; however it could have been crispier. The calamari itself was good – not too rubbery, which is always my biggest issue with calamari – and the Cajun spices added a nice flavor and “kick” to the dish. (Sorry - no photo of this)

My older brother ordered the Crawfish Etouffée, which was easily the best entrée at the table. It was absolutely delicious! I’ve never had etouffée before, but I will definitely be trying it again. It’s a mixture of crawfish, vegetables and seasonings served over rice. It’s very rich, very spicy and very good!  The side of red beans and rice was also great!

Dan ordered the jambalaya, which was my second favorite dish of the evening. The protein in the dish included chicken, shrimp and andouille sausage with creole vegetables and rice. I’m not a jambalaya expert, but I thought it tasted great and was a good consistency.

Based on a recommendation from our waiter, Jen and I both decided to try the Tournedos of Beef. We each got the half order, which was 4 ounces of beef tenderloin topped with béarnaise (my favorite sauce!!) and red wine sauce with mushrooms. It’s served over deep fried linguine. My beef tenderloin came out well done the first time around, even though I’d ordered it medium. I hate complaining when I go to restaurants, but this was unacceptable so I flagged down our server. He sent it back to the kitchen and brought out a new one fairly quickly (and a free glass of wine- bonus!). The second time around, it was perfectly cooked and worth the wait. And the sauce itself was amazing. But the linguine was a huge disappointment. Not sure what I was thinking ordering deep fried pasta? It was almost like eating uncooked pasta….very crunchy and hard. I usually like all things fried but this is definitely an exception!

My younger brother Robbie ordered the Blackened Halibut, which was excellent! He let me try a bite and I loved it….this comes by no surprise since it is served with béarnaise sauce (which I mentioned earlier is my favorite!).

Robbie’s girlfriend ordered the Halibut Forté, which is sautéed in lobster butter with shrimp.  This was just okay, but probably my least favorite dish of the night. Compared to the richness and flavors of all the other dishes, it was a little bland.

Overall, we had a good time at Dee Felice. The service and the food were pretty good – although I think slightly over priced (entrees range from $17 - $37). I wish I would have ordered one of their Cajun specialties like the jambalaya, etouffée or Dee’s Filet…but I'm glad we went and I would be willing to go back.

~Kris

Food: 3.5

Service: 3.5

Overall: 3.5

Guest Blog: forkheartknife

As part of our Friday Guest Blogger Series, Kris' sister-in-law Jen will be telling us all about her awesome experience at forkheartknife! I've never been there, but after reading this I definitely want to try it! Thanks, Jen!!
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I am very excited to be a part of the famous “Girls who Grub” food blog.  As a long time food lover myself, I truly enjoy reading about new restaurants and different types of foods that I may want to try.  That is the main reason that I was so excited to try a small restaurant in Over the Rhine called forkheartknife.  This restaurant has an amazing back story-I encourage you to read it here .  Basically, one of the owners decided to start cooking for her sister when she became ill with cancer.  Her sister ended up passing away, and she then decided that she didn’t want to waste any more time of her life doing anything she didn’t love; so she decided with a friend to open this small, 4 table restaurant in Over the Rhine.  When I say small, I mean walk-through the kitchen to use the restroom small! (Which was also surprisingly small).  A good friend of mine, Jess, has been several times so she was the perfect person to ask for my first time, and we also invited our good friend Katie along.

We planned to meet at 10 which is when they are supposed to open.  Jess got there 5 minutes early, which was a good thing because the tables were already full and we were put on the list.  When you are put on the list, they take your cell phone number and encourage you to hit up some of the local shops and bars in OTR and will call you when they have a table ready for you.  Since we were in for a wait we decided to walk down the street to a bar called MOTR to have a drink.  They also serve brunch so if you are in the area and don’t feel like waiting, this is another place that you could try. 

After a round of drinks we got the call that our table was ready!  We were seated with another couple which made things kind of intimate.  Like I said, the place only has 4 tables so you take what you can get.  The menu changes each week and is displayed on a big sheet of butcher paper on the wall.  There were so many delicious and enticing items on the menu that we had trouble deciding.  We easily decided that we were not allowed to order the same things and that we would share everything that we had.  Katie decided on the blueberry almond coffee cake and the honey greek yogurt with nuts and berries.  These were both fabulous options.  I tend to shy away from coffee cake because it tends to be dry and overly sugary.  This was neither-the cake was dense and moist and the tartness of the blueberries helped to balance out the sweet almond topping.  The yogurt was one of my favorite things.  It had strawberries and a mixture of about ten different types of nuts on top of the sweet and smooth yogurt.  Katie was very pleased with her selections, as were well!

Jessica chose the cornbread and chicken chorizo.  Katie was not overly enthusiastic about getting this dish because she doesn’t like cornbread-she changed her mind.  This thick piece of cornbread was mixed with peppers, cheese and chicken chorizo which gave it just the slightest kick.  It literally melted in your mouth.  It came with a simple salad on the side with a homemade dressing.  To be honest, I was least interested in the salad so most of the salad went in the to-go box.

I had a lot of trouble deciding between the pizza strata which was something I had never had before, and the breakfast burrito.  Both sounded great but I asked Sierra (who is the waitress, hostess, cashier, and sometimes bus girl) and she said that I had to get the strata.  I was glad that I did!  It is made mostly from egg but you would never know because it took on an almost doughy consistency.  It was filled with cheese and tomatoes and if I closed my eyes I could have sworn I was eating a piece of pizza.  I really enjoyed it and the strata also came with a salad but I didn’t touch much of it! 

As a side we also got a plate of red potatoes.  I honestly don’t remember what all went into these potatoes but they were really good, and half of them went into the to-go box as well.  All in all we got 2 entrees, the yogurt, coffee cake, potatoes and two coffees and our bill was $32.  I did not think that was bad for stuffing three girls for brunch! 

Overall, I enjoyed my experience at forkheartknife.  It was a cozy, intimate atmosphere that was different from most of the places that I eat.  They served interesting and heart felt food and you can taste the love they put in everything they do.  I like their story-having been affected by cancer in my life I appreciate their willingness to take a risk and do what they love.  Now for the bad news-they’re closing up shop.  They have decided not to renew their lease because they have gotten too big for their little space!  So, if you want to try it out you better act fast.  They are open for Thursday dinner and Saturday and Sunday brunch.  They will have more seating outside when it is warm and they also do carryout.  If you do decide to go, take your own beer and take cash! 

Food: 4
Service:4
Overall:4

Guest Blog: Senate

So today we are introducing a new feature we’re going to try out….Friday Guest Blogger Series! When possible, on Fridays we’re going to have our friends and family (let us know if you’re interested!) post about their dining experiences and/or recipes.

Today, my co-worker Beth will be blogging about her recent experience at Senate, which Kate and I absolutely LOOOOVE! Thanks, Beth...

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First off I want to thank Kris and Kate for allowing me to guest blog about my dining experience. What a privilege to write for the Girls Who Grub!

The other night I had the fortunate experience of eating dinner with my good friend Alison at the Senate in Over-the-Rhine. I am a huge fan of this restaurant and have been many times! My favoritism comes from the niche of food they serve (gourmet street food) and the unique restaurant space where you dine (a narrow, cozy space with exposed brick and an open kitchen).

Every day at work, Kris and I read and talk about Senate’s “dog of the day” that they post on their Facebook page. It’s always named after a celebrity, and it always sounds AMAZING! So before meeting Alison at the restaurant, I had already found out that the dog of the day was the William Shatner – spicy falafel dog, chipotle hummus & roasted veggie chips. I knew I wasn’t going to order it (I always get my usual), but thought it sounded good.

Already knowing what I wanted, since I get the same thing every time, I ended up ordering the Poutine for the appetizer. This is by far the most disgustingly delicious mess of French fries, cheese curds, braised short ribs and gravy. Once you have tried this you will crave it for your next visit! Secretly, I think this is why I want to go back all the time.

Special thanks to Alison for the pictures!

After the appetizer, my friend Alison ordered a side of truffle fries and My Wife’s Salad, which consists of arugula, avocado, mozzarella, tomato, basil and balsamic. I didn’t try the salad, but Alison said she loves it because it’s light and fresh, but the mozzarella and avocado are just enough to make it filling as a light dinner. She joked that she always cancels out its healthiness by getting it with truffle fries, even though it’s only the top layer that is good (the ones further down in the glass are always soggy and disappointing).

I decided on my usual, the croque madame, which consist of a beef hot dog, béchamel and black forest ham on a brioche bun with a poached egg. My favorite part of the hot dog is the poached egg. I think anything that has an egg on it is delicious. There is something about the mixture of flavors that makes me want to go back for more.

Overall our dining experience was fantastic, which is no surprise to me. Our server Nathan was very prompt and courteous. I would definitely recommend the Senate if you're looking for a fun downtown experience with a different flair and unique cuisine!

Food: 5                                                                                                                                            

Service: 4                                                                                                                                       

Overall: 4.5

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: 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: 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