Before leaving Columbus and returning home to Cincinnati this past weekend, we made one last stop for breakfast at a little place called Tommy’s Diner. From the outside I wasn’t expecting much from Tommy’s. After parking the car beneath the large sign out front, we weren’t sure which direction the restaurant actually was. Fortunately a line of people were leaving the restaurant as we had arrived, so we just followed the crowd into this rather plain-looking building.

Outside

Once inside, however, it was clear that this truly was a diner. It isn’t a dingy diner though, as the booths and tables all seemed to have been updated at least sometime in the last ten years. There are neon lights everywhere and a checkered floor as you would expect from a diner. Autographed photos cover the walls from famous visitors of the past. There was a pretty large crowd in the rather small space, but enough open tables for us to find a seat immediately.

Inside

After being sat at a booth by who I would assume was Tommy, our server was at our side within minutes to take our drink order.

Coffee Mug

Breakfast is served all day, and most of our group went that route. Though when my twelve-year-old brother-in-law heard that lunch was also available he went straight for the old fashioned burger with American cheese ($4.75). He also ordered a side of fries ($1.95). At this point in our trip he was really into providing ratings to me for my reviews. He rated the burger an 8 out of 10, and the fries just a 5. It seemed that the fries weren’t salty enough for his tastes, so once we added a little more salt, he was good to go.

Old Fashioned Burger

My wife ordered a breakfast combo with an omelet and home fries. I didn’t have any of the omelet, but I had a big share of the home fries and these were a nice mix of crunchy and soft potatoes. I couldn’t find a price online, but the omelets are in the $6 – $7 range and a side of home fries are $1.75.

Omelet & Home Fries

We ordered a short stack of hotcakes for our two-year-old son ($3.50). These were pretty typical pancakes, but with a huge mound of butter.

Short Stack Hotcakes

And now for the star of our meal, I ordered the stuffed French toast with fruit topping. This was a large stack of sourdough French toast with a cream cheese filling, topped with a mound of strawberries and a healthy amount of whipped cream. I was in heaven!

Stuffed French Toast

Our food varied from average to amazing. Our service couldn’t have been any nicer and the food was out to us in adequate time. Forget what the outside of Tommy’s Diner looks like, there is plenty of good stuff inside.

Another family fun activity we did while in Columbus over the weekend was to visit COSI, the Center of Science and Industry. We arrived just after their 10 A.M. opening to find that we weren’t the only ones with the idea of getting there early. Fortunately the ticket line for non-members wasn’t bad and we were on our way in minutes.

We were split into two groups for the majority of our visit. My wife took our two-year-old through the Little Kidspace, where he could have easily spent the entire day, while I took my twelve-year-old brother-in-law through the rest of the exhibits. He really seemed to enjoy the Progess exhibit, where we traveled through time and interacted with technology from 1898 and 1962. He was especially amazed at how big the TV’s were. We also spent a good amount of time in the Life exhibit as well as the latest traveling exhibit, Mindbender Mansion & Amazing Mazes, where we had to solve puzzles and got lost in a giant maze.

We stayed through lunch at the Atomic Café, which was better than I expected it to be, before we all moved on to see the Ocean exhibit together. At this point our little one was getting crabby and was ready for his afternoon nap. We could have easily stayed until the 5 P.M. closing but I thought that we saw most of the exhibits during our roughly four-hour stay.

While in Columbus over the weekend I had one request and that was to have dinner at Barley’s Brewing Company. It never hurts to mix in a little beer with dinner on a family trip. Plus the restaurant appeared family friendly.

Outside

Fortunately one of my roommates from college, who now lives in the Columbus area, was able to join us for dinner. I asked him to meet us at 5pm for an early dinner and I’m glad I did. We actually didn’t arrive until after 5:15, but he was able to secure a table in the crowded restaurant for our group of 5. It seems there was a Columbus Blue Jackets game that night at the nearby Nationwide Arena and a good chunk of the crowd was obviously headed that way.

Inside

The inside of Barley’s is not very large, but they have managed to pack in a bunch of tables along the front and right sides, along with the back corridor.  There is also a large bar with plenty of beers on tap. I started with their Centennial IPA, which I thought was a pretty darn good beer. I also later sampled one of their Russian Imperial Stouts, which was also good. I didn’t enjoy the RIS as much as the IPA, but both are worthy of ordering again.

Jamaican Me Chicken

For dinner I went with the Jamaican Me Chicken sandwich which combines jerk seasoned grilled chicken breast with Jamaican relish and pepper-jack cheese ($9.99). The chicken was a double breast and was well cooked. I was hoping for a little more spice from the jerk seasoning, but overall the sandwich was good. For my side dish I chose their cheddar and potato pierogies. I think this was my first experience with pierogies. Unfortunately it might be my last experience with them though, as these didn’t really do much for me. Overall they were fairly bland and uninteresting.

The Wedge

My old friend had The Wedge salad – crisp iceberg lettuce wedge with diced tomatoes, smokey bacon bits, balsamic marinated cherry tomatoes, red onion and crumbled gorgonzola bleu, then drenched with our bleu cheese dressing and a drizzle of balsamic reduction ($6.29). This salad looked really good and from what I’m told it tasted great too. I’m intrigued by the balsamic reduction that is added to the other somewhat typical wedge salad toppings.

Turkey Nut

My wife had the Turkey Nut burger - ground turkey seasoned with parmesan and herbs, topped with pecans, and served with spicy mayo - Barley’s classic for nearly two decades ($9.79). She chose to have a side salad for $1.29 extra, but it was a pretty large and fresh salad. I didn’t try any of the burger, but again I’m told that it was a good sandwich. We also had orders of kid’s cheeseburger and grilled cheese (both $4.99).

Our service was actually much quicker than I was expecting from the crowded restaurant and bar. Overall the food was good and I enjoyed the two beers that I sampled. I would easily go back for more when in the area.

My family and I hadn’t traveled together for an overnight stay since our trip to San Francisco in September and we needed a quick getaway. So we made plans to spend a full day this past weekend in Columbus with an overnight stay at the Westin downtown (booked on Priceline.com). Among the stops on our trip was the Fort Rapids Indoor Waterpark. Sure they have a onsite hotel that we could have stayed in, but after reading some nasty reviews of their accommodations, we decided to stay elsewhere. Besides, even after paying the $21.95 per person for waterpark entry after 4pm and just under $80 for the Westin, we were still saving money compared to the cheapest package I could find on the Fort Rapids website.

Due to our busy day, we didn’t actually get to Fort Rapids until around 7pm and with a 9pm closing time we didn’t have a ton of time. However, I felt that our two hours there was enough for our group. My wife took our two-year-old to the kiddie korral children’s activity area and the rascal roundup 40-foot interactive play structure. I took my twelve-year-old brother-in-law through the cowboy creek lazy river and onto all four of their water slides two times each. It seemed that most of the crowd really thinned out during the duration of our visit.

This was my first visit to one of these large scale indoor waterparks, so I don’t have much to compare it to in that regard. The water was definitely highly chlorinated and therefore seemed extremely clean. We did encounter one of the water slides in the rascal roundup was closed, but other than that all the attractions seemed to be well maintained. The air temperature is warm and the water is a nice cool temperature. We had a good time and wouldn’t hesitate to go back again when in the area on a cold winter day.

I recently became a BzzAgent and was invited to my first campaign. As part of the campaign I received a coupon for a free package of MorningStar Farms veggie burgers that I would in turn evaluate. I took my coupon to my local Kroger store and searched high and low for the MorningStar Farms products. I could not find them in the meat alternative section of the store. Fortunately a kind employee showed me to their location hidden next to the waffles in the normal freezer section of the store. I found the spicy black bean burgers that I wanted and was on my way.

Packaging

Last night I decided to give the burgers a try. Try to check this out by buying the same one day to experience what I said about it. The box comes with 4 burgers inside with 2 in each of the plastic wrappers. Even though it was much too cold to fire up the grill outside, we are fortunate to have an inside grill to use to prepare the burgers. I also had some wheat buns that I added to the grill as well. And I finished each patty with a slice of cheddar cheese for the last couple minutes of grilling.

Grilling

Once everything was done cooking I assembled the burgers and added a fresh piece of green leaf lettuce as well as some ketchup and mustard.

Complete

Overall I was fairly happy with the results. I don’t think the burgers are as tasty as some I’ve had in area restaurants, or the ones we’ve made before from scratch, but they weren’t bad in any way. I was actually hoping for a little more spiciness than what I tasted. The patties are full of beans and corn, so you know they are healthier than a meat burger. I received a few additional coupons as part of the campaign and I do think I will buy a few more boxes to see if there is something else that we might like better.

Outside Sugar n’ Spice

Over the weekend I wanted to try somewhere new for breakfast and immediately thought of Sugar n’ Spice, the bright pink diner on Reading Road just up the street from Xavier. We arrived just after 9am Saturday to find a completely full restaurant and a few people waiting in line for a table. Fortunately the turnover was really quick and we had a seat in one of the booths directly across from the bar counter seating within ten minutes.

Inside Sugar n’ Spice

The inside of Sugar n’ Spice is not very large, but the seating is really packed in. There is even a half booth with seating on just one side of the half sized table. The walls are painted bright and feature cartoon characters and breakfast items. There is a huge collection of rubber ducks too. Needless to say, my son was easily amused throughout our brief stay.

Biscuits n’ Chunky Sausage Gravy

For breakfast I ordered the biscuits n’ chunky sausage gravy, which is only available on Saturday and Sunday ($4.50). The biscuits didn’t appear to be homemade, but the sausage gravy definitely was. There were plenty of large chunks of sausage in the creamy and peppery gravy. It wasn’t the best biscuits and gravy I’ve had, but not the worst either. I also ordered a side of goetta ($2.50) that was cooked perfectly.

BYO Omelette

My wife built her own omelette (starting at $5.25, vegetables and cheeses are $.50 each, meats are $2.25 and up). This was the largest omelette I have ever seen! She really loved her creation and said it was one of the better omelets she has had. It comes served with a toasted English muffin as well.

Blueberry Wispy Thin Pancakes

We ordered a half stack of blueberry wispy thin pancakes for our son ($3.50). He must have really loved these thin pancakes as he easily ate half of his plate, quite an accomplishment for our just turned two-year old. I stole a couple of bites of these famous cakes and really enjoyed their light and thin texture and was surprised to find them even a little crisp around the edges. Normally I prefer thicker pancakes, but the flavor in these was very nice.

Our service was very quick and efficient. The way most of the seating is around a central service area really allows for the servers to do their jobs without fear of running into customers. The food was good and I think we will definitely return again sometime in the future.

Awhile back I posted that our Jetta had finally crossed the 100,000 mile mark. It was at that time that I was alerted to a piece of maintenance that we had neglected to have done, replacing the timing belt. I believe it is recommended to be replaced at 60-100k, so we were well overdue.

After talking it over with my dad, it was decided that replacing the belt was more work than we wanted to take on ourselves (with him doing the work and me mostly supervising). So I made a few calls to area service shops and even a dealership to get quotes. A couple of places, the dealership included, gave me a roughly $750 to $800 quote for the work (replacing belt and tensioner along with water pump, serpentine belt, and replacing the coolant). The last place I called, Dubwerx, wanted to see the car before providing a quote.

So I drove the car down to them a couple of Fridays ago for them to take a look at it. After an hour or so inspection I was given their price for the same replacement service the other guys offered, but their price was only $670. Since they work only on Volkswagen and Audi cars, I guess they are able to perform the job quicker than others and do it at a lower cost. My decision was made immediately and I scheduled an appointment to have the replacement done.

We dropped the car off to them last Wednesday evening so they would have it first thing Thursday morning. About 4pm on Thursday I got a call from the service director telling me that it would be done and ready for pickup before their 5:30 closing. I asked if I could leave it again overnight and pick it up on Friday morning, which was not an issue. The car was running great (just as it was) after picking it up the next day. I experienced wonderful service at Dubwerx and I will not hesitate to take my car back to them in the future.

My mother’s birthday was just a few days ago and we decided to get a group together for dinner this past Friday. A reservation for 13 was made at smoQ, a barbecue restaurant out in Springdale near my brother’s house.

Outside smoQ

The second I stepped out of the car I was greeted by wonderful smoky smells. The parking lot is very large but was still nearly full upon our 6:30 arrival time. The inside of smoQ is also quite large with a few open rooms, a separated bar along one side of the building, and even one private room that could seat around a dozen people.

Inside smoQ

Our server greeted our table within minutes of our arrival. Later she came by with complimentary cornbread muffins. These are very light and fluffy and resemble cake more than the traditional southern cornbread. With that said, I still enjoyed one of the muffins while looking over the menu.

Corn Muffin

Our table ordered three appetizers to share, buffa-q wings ($6.99), fried green tomatoes ($6.99), and fried ribs ($7.99). Their wings are smoked, covered in sauce, and then grilled. The sauce isn’t overly spicy and compliments the smokey grilled flavor very well. I really enjoyed these. The fried green tomatoes are a seasonal item, and are flash fried in a cornmeal batter.  I also enjoyed these very much. I didn’t sample the fried ribs, but from what others are the table said they are also worth ordering. These are dry rubbed ribs, lightly breaded, and flash fried.

Buffa-Q Wings

For dinner I decided on the fried chicken ($14.99 with 2 sides). This is no ordinary fried chicken though. It’s half a chicken, molasses brined and smoked just like their barbecued chicken, but then it is lightly dusted in seasoned flour and fried. The results are really good with a crisp fried outside but with plenty of smoke flavor in the meat. I choose cheddar and bacon grits as well as Memphis mustard slaw for my sides. Both were really good.

Fried Chicken

My wife ordered the pulled pork plate ($14.99 with 2 sides). The serving of pulled pork is massive and could easily be shared. We ended up taking at least half of it home. The meat itself was good, not my favorite in the city, but still a solid choice. It was overall very moist and full of a nice smoke flavor. There wasn’t much crisp on the ends though, which I missed. There are three sauces on the table, Kansas City sweet, Memphis mild, and Carolina hot. I thought all the sauces lacked a little something, but was pleasantly surprised by the secret “Burnin Peter” sauce that our server brought from the back and suggested we try. My wife had macaroni and cheese along with sweet potato and pecan brûlée. Again these were very good sides and keeping with the theme they were served in really large portions.

Pulled Pork Plate

Overall I was very happy with the food and service from smoQ. I didn’t hear any complaints from our large group who ordered everything from salads to chicken and dumplings and even buffalo meatloaf. I would definitely go back for more food and likely would try the chicken and waffle next.

I moved to Kansas City immediately after college and one of the first things I had to eat out there was a sub from Mr. Goodcents. I ate there fairly regularly during my three years in that city, and always enjoyed their fresh sliced meat and crisp toppings. Think of it as a similar concept to Jersey Mike’s, but with a wider variety of options.

A couple of weekends ago I found myself out in the neighborhood of IKEA and needed to find a place for lunch. My wife searched on her phone for something nearby and the second she said Goodcents Deli Fresh Subs, I knew we had to go there. It seems that they are going through a little re-branding, and the Mr. at the front of the name is no more. However once I stepped inside the restaurant it was just as I remembered from back in KC.

Goodcents Deli Fresh Subs offers a variety of cold and toasted subs, as well as a couple of soups and even pastas. I don’t think I’ve ever had the pasta, but it is nice that there are options to be had. On this visit I went with the California turkey club on wheat with sliced turkey, bacon, cheddar, lettuce, tomato, guacamole, and ranch dressing. Everything tasted very fresh and I really enjoyed the sandwich.

California Turkey Club

The franchise owner stopped by a couple of times to see how we liked our lunch. I asked him about the re-branding and he said it was done to emphasize the freshness of their food and to help put them in a better place to compete with places such as Subway. He asked how I knew about the old name and said that I must be from Kansas City. Turns out a relative of his owned the franchise that we visited most often while living in KC. Small world!

If you recall I attended last year’s inaugural 5B: Believers in Better Beer, Bites and Blogging Conference and came back with essentially nothing but positive things to say. I concluded that if it were held again that I would definitely attend again. I’m happy to report that they are holding the conference again this year and as of today I am officially registered to be there!

For only a $60 registration fee I will receive admission to all sessions of the conference, plus a Regular Admission ticket for the Friday night session of the 2013 Cincy Winter Beerfest ($45 Value) and a Connoisseur ticket ($75 Value) for the Saturday night session. The Connoisseur ticket grants early entry into the Beerfest, access into the Connoisseur Reception Area (which will include appetizer bites from twelve local chef driven restaurants, rare beer list, private restrooms) and a special Connoisseurs only entrance area.

If you are a Cincinnati area blogger of any sort, I encourage you the join in the fun and register now.