A new craft beer bar has opened up near my house in East Walnut Hills. The Growler House  name makes the location sound like a grab and go place, but the inside is setup well for visitors to leisurely enjoy several rounds. On my visit during Cincinnati Beer Week, more than half of the 30 taps were dedicated to local beer, which I’m hoping is a trend that continues. Beers are served by the pint (or snifter) as well as in a 5 oz “bencher” for easy flight tastings. Obviously growler fills are also available plus wine by the glass  too.

Growler House Bar

The inside is very spacious, though only a dozen or so stools are available. Snacks can be bought at the bar and a TV in the corner will likely have your favorite game on. Packaged beer options are also available for purchase and again a solid lineup of locals was available during my visit. During the week they open at 3 (closed on Mondays) and on the weekend it’s noon. From what the bartender says, the closing time is a little flexible based on the crowd.

Gomez Salsa is a taco window in Over-the-Rhine directly next to Half Cut. The real beauty is that the food can be delivered to your inside Half Cut while  enjoying their sixteen craft beer choices. You can also wait on the sidewalk for your order, but wouldn’t you rather be out of the elements and enjoying a nice beer?

Turtle Shell

The most popular thing to order from Gomez is the “turtle shell”, which they call a hybrid burrito ($8). Think of it similar to the Taco Bell’s crunchwrap, with a hard tostado shell inside a  soft burrito sized tortilla. The inside is stuffed with rice, beans, sour cream, lettuce, salsa, cheese, and your choice of meats  or sautéed veggies. It’s a quick and delicious meal to enjoy on the go or with a few pints.

I recently competed in Frisch’s Big Boy’s Lenten Recipe Competition. Each competitor was tasked with creating a delicious meatless recipe using Frisch’s tartar sauce. The sauce is already featured in many recipes on their website, so coming up with a unique item was a bit of a challenge. Eventually I settled on making fried green tomatoes from scratch and featuring these on a grilled cheese with plenty of Frisch’s tartar sauce.

Finished Product

This was my first time making fried green tomatoes, but the process is actually very simple. And we all know how easy making a grilled cheese sandwich is, so overall this shouldn’t take too much to prepare. And the results were really good!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1 large green tomato, sliced 1/4 inch thick (4 slices)
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 4 slices sourdough bread
• 4 slices pepperjack cheese
• 4 tablespoons Frisch’s tartar sauce

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
2. Place the flour, eggs, and cornmeal in 3 separate bowls.
3. Press both sides of the tomato slices first in the flour, then in the eggs (letting any excess drip off), and finally in the cornmeal.
4. Cook the tomato slices until golden, 1 to 2 minutes per side.
5. Transfer to a paper towel–lined plate.
6. Wipe out the skillet with a paper towel and place it over medium heat.
7. Spread butter onto 1 side of each slice of bread.
8. Place 2 of the slices butter side down in the skillet.
9. Stack 1 slice of pepperjack cheese, 1 tablespoon of Frisch’s tartar sauce, 2 slices of green tomato, another tablespoon of Frisch’s tartar sauce, and finally another slice of pepperjack cheese onto each piece of bread in the skillet.
10. Top with the remaining slices of bread with the butter on the outside.
11. Cook until the bottom is golden.
12. Flip the sandwiches and cook until golden brown on the other side.

Recently my wife and I finally made it to the Incline Public House. I never would have thought it would have taken us two years to visit, especially with my family’s frequent travel to the west side of town. We arrived just after opening (11 AM) on a late Saturday morning.

Inside

A few other tables were occupied but we were able to request a table near the windows overlooking the city. The restaurant continued to fill as our meal progressed and before long half of the tables were occupied before noon. It was a very dreary day, but the view was still nice. The patio has to be amazing on a warm and clear day.

Patio and View

We quickly decided to split the spicy pickle fries as an appetizer ($7).  The pickles are made in-house from a family recipe and are outstanding. Slices of the unfried pickle are served with sandwiches, but the fried variety are worth ordering. They are so soft that they nearly melt in your mouth. Easily some of the best fried pickles I have ever had.

Spicy Pickle Fries

For lunch I had the pulled pork sandwich with fries ($11). The sandwich was massive and the pork was piled high. Served on top of the meat was BBQ sauce, pickled apple slaw, cheddar, and onion straws. Overall the sandwich was good, but I could have used more of the sauce, which was hardly noticeable at first.

Pulled Pork Sandwich

My wife had the BBQ pineapple pizza with prosciutto, pineapple salsa, smoked gouda, cheddar, and BBQ sauce ($11). Their pizzas are made to order and cooked in a wood oven. The pizza was cooked perfectly with just the right amount of char. The toppings were plentiful and the flavor was delicious.

BBQ Pineapple Pizza

Our food was great, the service was excellent. We will definitely be back to the Include Public House and I hope it is during warmer weather so we can enjoy the beautiful patio and view.

The owners of the  New Orléans To Go food truck now have a brick and mortar location to go along with the truck. They recently opened up just after the first of the year in a spot on Madison Road in East Walnut Hills, next door to the Growler House.

Inside

Inside the spacious dining room are more than a dozen tables along with a handful of seats at the bar and some high top tables nearby. The walls are covered in New Orléans memorabilia and there is a small window into the kitchen area.

Bar

For those that have had the pleasure of visiting the truck in the past, you will be happy to find many of those staples along with an expanded menu. The menu is constantly evolving and the daily offerings are often posted on their Facebook page and on chalk boards inside. Also the hours aren’t set in stone so be sure to call ahead or check their social media accounts.

Chicken Po’ Boy

I ordered the chicken po’ boy ($10 with a bag of chips) with a side of fries ($3 up-charge). When asked about the spicy honey sauce, your answer should always be, “Yes!” I had the sauce served on both my sandwich and the fries and it was amazing. There was so much meat on the sandwich that it was extremely difficult to eat, but that is definitely a good thing. My  meal cost more than I usually like to spend for lunch, but everything was prepared fresh to order and I was completely filled at the end. I will definitely be back for more.

I’ve written about Dream Dinners before, and my family continues to enjoy these easy to make meals at least two or three times a week. My wife and I started using Dream Dinners when our oldest child was born, and now that there are two kids in the house these meals have really become a part of our weekly routine.

Ingredients

Recently I was asked by the owners of my local Dream Dinners location if I knew any other bloggers in the area that I could put them in touch with. What eventually happened was a tasting session that I was invited to along with some of my suggestions and some other bloggers that they had found on their own.

Dinner Is Served

During our session we all prepared three meals of our choice  following the standard Dream Dinners process. Basically this means that you  assemble  a variety of pre-cut, fresh ingredients into the provided plastic bags. Take  these bags home and put them in your  own freezers. When it is time to eat, you simply defrost and cook the pre-assembled meals following the provided directions. It couldn’t be any easier.

Pi Pizzeria is a small St. Louis based chain  that recently opened a  restaurant  in downtown Cincinnati’s  AT580 building. They specialize in cornmeal deep dish pizzas, with the sauce on top of the cheese and toppings.

Inside

Our arrival at 7pm on a Friday night was unsurprisingly met with a wait for a table. Fortunately there were enough seats at the spacious bar for our group to get a couple of drinks and split a few pizzas. Speaking of drinks, the craft beer menu is pretty solid with at least a few choices in each of a handful of styles.

South Side Classico

My wife and I ordered a large sized south side classico pizza with mozzarella, sausage, mushroom, green pepper, and onion ($22.95). For my taste the cornmeal crust was much too thick, and I preferred the slices of thin crust that others in our group ordered. With that said, the sauce was good and the toppings were all great.

For my money, I prefer the stuffed pizza from Mio’s to this cornmeal based deep dish, and I will stick to the thin crust pizza from Pi on future visits.

Saturday was MadTree Brewing Company‘s 2nd annual Winter Bonanza, an all day celebration with bands, food trucks, and tons of great craft beer. I was able to attend for a few hours in the afternoon to sample a few new beers, listen to Buffalo Wabs & The Price Hill Hustle, and grab an always delicious sandwich from C’est Cheese.

Buffalo Wabs & The Price Hill Hustle

I also caught a couple of MadTree’s founders talking  with the Southern Ohio Brew Show, a newer podcast dedicated to craft brewing in and around southern Ohio.  The Southern Ohio Brew Show is a free local source for brewing information exchange; bringing you local brewing news, brewing experiments, and interviews with local brewing advocates.

Southern Ohio Brew Show

If you missed this awesome event, don’t forget that the Cincy Winter Beerfest is taking place next weekend. I’ll be down there on Friday, and likely volunteering and pouring beer on Saturday.

Cincinnati Beer Week BlackTart

Also don’t forget about the upcoming Cincinnati Beer Week, which kicks off with the Beerfest and runs for the entire next week. I’ll definitely make it to at least one or two of these official events. It’s a good time to drink local beer!

With a quick trip to Columbus scheduled for this coming weekend, I remembered that I had not finished a restaurant review from my last trip up I-71. My family and I met up with a friend who is currently living in the Short North area of Columbus a couple of months ago. We wanted to grab dinner nearby and with our young children along for the ride, we settled on Melt Bar & Grilled.

Bar

Melt is a small chain of restaurants in central and northern Ohio, which serves a variety of grilled cheese sandwiches and burgers along with a great selection of craft beer. We arrived around 7pm on a Thursday and found just a short wait for a table of five, really a four top with a high chair added.

Inside

One look at the menu and I was quickly sold on the fried green tomato BLT with  hickory bacon, southern herb remoulade, romaine lettuce, and cheddar ($12.50). The sandwich was massive and the serving of fries on the size was equally as large.  The sandwich was actually so thick that it was hard to eat, and the grilled cheese aspect is definitely an after thought. This is more of a grilled sandwich that happens to have a little cheddar cheese on it.

Fried Green Tomato BLT

My wife ordered the backyard BBQ with pulled chicken, thick cut battered onion rings, sweet BBQ sauce, and sharp cheddar ($11.50). Again the sandwich is super thick, which way too much bread. With that said the flavors of this sandwich were strong enough to shine through, which was not the case with the BLT. I would order the BBQ again, but skip on the BLT.

Backyard BBQ

Calling these massive sandwiches grilled cheese is not really an accurate description. The bread is too thick and there is no emphasis on the cheese. This is a much different experience than I’ve had at Tom +  Chee  (which is expanding into northern Ohio)  and I would go there for a more authentic grilled cheese. With that said the  beer list  at Melt is great and worthy of a stop for a few pints at their large bar.

Late last week  my wife and I had the chance to try the newest neighborhood restaurant, J Bar Pizzeria, occupying the former Indigo spot in Hyde Park Square. While we always enjoyed the food at Indigo, the atmosphere definitely needed some work. Fortunately upon our first steps inside the restaurant spot shares very little resemblance to its past.

Inside

J Bar has lots of dark wood work throughout, and the space feels very open. There is a newly added bar along the left wall, which meets up with the kitchen at the back of the room. A window allows customers to see back into the kitchen and watch as all meals were prepared fresh and from scratch. There are a couple dozen tables throughout the space and there were plenty available during our 7pm visit on a Thursday.

Potato and Ricotta Dumpling

We started with the potato and ricotta dumpling ($10). The dumpling also features small pieces of house made sausage. Fried Brussels sprout leaves, crispy kale, Parmesan, and pine nuts are served on the side. The dumplings were very tasty, and I actually preferred the bites without any sausage in them. I would order these again but I think next time I’d go for a salad, some of which looked amazing.

Half J Bar Pie, Half South of South

The large size pizzas can be split half and half ($21.50 for our choices). We went with the J Bar pie (red sauce, cheese blend, pepperoni, truffled gremolata) and the south of south (house made chorizo, chihuahua cheese, spicy red sauce, jalapenos, onion, cilantro, avocado). While the J Bar pie was fairly simple as far as ingredients go, the taste was excellent. And the south of south was like nothing I’ve ever had, especially with avocado served as a pizza topping.

Both pizzas were excellent choices and I saw a few more selections from the menu that also caught my eye, not to mention all the paninis that looks great too. I know for sure that I will be back soon.