One of Cincinnati’s newest craft breweries, Nine Giant, has been open for a couple of months now. My family and I finally got a chance to give it a try a couple of Sunday’s ago. We had actually tried to go a couple of Friday’s earlier for dinner and found it too crowded and loud for a our preschool aged children. On our second attempt we chose early on a Sunday evening and found the crowd to be much more manageable and it not quite as loud. It was still a little on the louder side, but there were signs posted that around the room stating that sound insulation was soon coming.

Beer Glass

I sampled both their Gold Soundz, a fruity IPA, and SRV, a hoppy brown ($6 per full pour). I enjoyed both beers and would rate them above average with no real preference toward either one. I would recommend ordering the one that traditionally falls in line with your flavor preferences. My wife also thoroughly enjoyed the Django Belgian Single, so don’t be afraid to give that a try if you are more into Belgians.

Inside

The food menu is quite small but we found plenty on the menu that suited our tastes. We started with an order of house made deep-fried pickle chips with a side of  horseradish aioli ($4). I almost didn’t order these but threw them in at the last second and I am so glad that I did. The pickles were thick sliced and fried to perfection. The aioli  wasn’t necessary in our eyes, but just a slight dip in the sauce added a nice kick to each bite.

Fried Pickles

Each week they have a new special item on the menu. During our visit it was the local heirloom tomato BLT topped with arugula pesto on  Sixteen Bricks Artisan Bakehouse Challah bread. I’m a sucker for a good BLT, so I knew right away that I would be ordering  this. I’m not normally a huge fan or arugula, although  my exposure has mostly been in salads, but the pesto was awesome. The tomatoes were ripe and perfect and their bacon was outstanding. Overall an excellent BLT.

BLT

The kids menu is simple but effective, a cheese burger and a grilled  cheese. The burger features local, grass-fed beef in a  smashed-style patty with sharp cheddar cheese on Sixteen Bricks Challah bread with the crust cut off ($5). My five-year-old loved this and ate nearly the entire thing.

Kid’s Cheeseburger

My wife went with the falafel wrap served in a naan wrap with lettuce, tomato, house-made pickles and tzatziki sauce ($7). She  didn’t seem as impressed as I was with the BLT, but I took a bite of the wrap and really enjoyed it. The pickles added a nice touch and the falafel was above average. I would have maybe liked a bit more tzatziki sauce. Overall I felt it was a great vegetarian option.

Falafel Wrap

Free wi-fi is offered  as well as  a handful of low top tables for those with families. Though most of the space is reserved for the bar and larger sized high tops. The space is not nearly as large as some of the dominant craft breweries that opened years ago in the area, but falls more inline with what is opening up more and more these days, smaller tap rooms with an emphasis on their immediate neighborhoods. With that said I think the popularity of their beers and food will allow them to cater towards those from around the entire city.

Gordo’s Pub & Grill is an often overlooked spot in the heart of Norwood, at least it has been by yours truly. Located less than 10 minutes from our house, my family finally stopped in for dinner after living in the area for the last five years.

Inside

Don’t let the small street-front building deter you from stopping in, there is plenty of room in the long and shotgun style building. A large bar is the first thing you seen when entering the front door, but Gordo’s is truly family friendly and has a handful of items on a kids menu.

Pear and Blue Cheese Salad

I started with a generous and tasty pear and blue cheese salad with spring mix, walnuts, and a tangy raspberry vinaigrette ($2 upgrade substitution for fries with sandwich or $8 alone). This salad was well worth the up-charge to replace the standard fries and is a must when visiting Gordo’s.

Kid’s Mac & Cheese with Broccoli

One of our kids enjoyed the macaroni and cheese with broccoli ($5). Truthfully an older kid might like more than the four florets of broccoli provided, but this was plenty for our three-year-old. I stole a bite or two and this is above average macaroni and cheese.

Kid’s Cheeseburger

Our five-year-old went with the cheeseburger and fries ($5). The burger was plenty big enough and the side of fries was more than an adult could tackle. Word of warning, the burger comes topped with lettuce and tomato, so be sure to request without if you have a picky eater.

Black Bean Gordo Burger

Burgers are what has made Gordo’s somewhat famous. My wife was happy to see that any of their signature burgers can be made vegetarian by substituting a black bean patty. She chose the Gordo with roasted poblanos, mushrooms, onions, bacon, Boursin cheese, and mayonnaise. Wow, was this a great burger! It put my chicken salad sandwich to shame, though that was still a good sandwich. Take it from me (and every other table) you must get a burger when dining at Gordo’s. Prices are good and servings are plentiful. We will be back!

Recently a soup, salad, and sandwich shop called Ladles opened near the new Kroger  Marketplace at Oakley  Station. Ladles started out of Charleston, SC and they operate nearly a dozen restaurants in that area. The Oakley location is first franchise located out of the Carolina’s.

Outside

Ladles has over 400 soup recipes that rotate daily but there are roughly nine that are always available. The also offer a dozen daily sandwiches along with a few salads, seasonal options available for each.  The menu is pretty big and spans both a large chalkboard and TV monitors above the counter ordering space.

Inside

On this visit I was ordering carry out to feed my family back at home, so I ordered a variety of things to share. The seasonal pear and walnut salad was an easy choice, filled with pears, candied walnuts, red onions, blue cheese, and champagne vinaigrette ($9.95 full size). I also am a sucker for pretzel buns, so the Baron Von Ladles sandwich was an easy choice stuffed with ham, Swiss, lettuce, tomatoes, and whole grain mustard ($7.95 includes bag of chips). I also wanted to sample some soups so I ordered an 8oz cup of their turkey chili ($3.75) and the same size broccoli cheddar ($3.25). Both soups included a bread roll.

Our Choices

The salad and sandwich tasted just as good as expected, with the salad actually being my favorite of the two. As far as the soups go I though their turkey chili was really good and enjoyed the addition of corn and jalapeno to the mix. The broccoli cheddar was definitely a cream styled soup. I prefer to have larger chunks of broccoli, and therefore would likely skip this soup in the future. With that said the food was definitely above average in quality and the price was right. We will definitely be back.