Taqueria Mercado Open on 8th

Friday, Taqueria Mercado opened at the old Javier's location at 800 Walnut Street. I met the owner, Lordes, and she said that she will be open 7 days a week, days and evenings. I know her food from her other restaurant (by Jungle Jims in Fairfield) and I highly recommend eating here:
 

UPDATE: More and more Latino business owners in Butler County may be moving to Cincinnati because of the Sheriff up there.

Lego Goes Urban - It's Skyline Time !

(Click any Pic for a larger view)
A custom product of Milton Train Works, this kit is a limited production run made under special license for our hometown signature dish, Skyline Chili.

The interior detail is what makes the model. And the removable roof and split construction makes it accessible enough to play with. The signature black and white checkerboard floor runs throughout. Even details like the rooftop ductwork for the kitchen hood system were included. Grubby mechanical systems like these are typically overlooked in the interest of aesthetics.

Booths, a dining bar with fixed stools, and a long steam table bring back memories of early morning munchies after a long night of merriment.

Smokin' hot waitress, large greek cook, and the beginnings of a hangover not included.

I'm not Anti-Downtown, I'm Pro-Urban-Neighborhood

I guess that's what you call the Hyde Park triangle (Edwards, Madison, Observatory). It's not quite city life the way downtown-proper or OTR is, but it's also nothing at all like suburban Delhi where I grew up.

I like that walkability isn't just a theoretical concept...people actually do it. We walk to the bank, post office, video store, liquor store, dentist, orthodontist, and playground. We walk 5 blocks to church, and have half a dozen places to eat brunch on the way back, after buying a paper from the street-vendor on the square. The kids walk to the bus, work, Graeter's for ice cream, GameStop, LaRosa's, Busken's, or just walk up to the square to hang out with friends.

I like that our firemen grill out in front of the firehouse and chat with passers-by. They always put out a bowl full of water, and buy dog treats to hand out. They aren't supposed to let kids sit in the trucks (wink). Pets and kids are everywhere. Couples walk their dogs hand in hand, families take turns pushing the stroller, and joggers go by 24/7. When we moved here in the late 80's our pastor used to quip that he did a dozen baptisms a year and almost a hundred funerals. Today those numbers are reversed.

I like that our shops can't be found anywhere else. I like our gas-lit streets, huge trees, and turn-of-the-century houses with stained glass and fireplaces, and that no two look alike. I like that everybody plants things out front, and that people wave to each other and say "Hi", whether they already know each other or not. I like that our street has it's own email list and "citizens on patrol", all run by concerned neighbors; and that every few years we block off the street and have a neighborhood cookout just to get acquainted with the newcomers. I like that Rookwood shopping center has a fireworks display at dusk on Friday after Thanksgiving to kickoff the shopping season.

I like that about half the houses display political signs during election season, and that none of them are messed with. We had roughly even numbers of Obama and McCain signs, indiating a healthy diversity of opinions, and nobody has any hard feelings over it.

I like that our location makes the greater Cincinnati area as drivable as our neighborhood is walkable. The most distant spot in the I-275 beltway is only 30 minutes away, most of our trips take between 10 and 20 minutes because we're only 3 traffic lights from 4 interstate ramps. My wife's hospital job is 10 minutes away by car, my office is a 15 minute drive (20 minutes in rush hour) and the kids pickup the Metro to school at the end of our street.

Downtown and OTR are already that convenient, and are now heading toward the same social status, becoming more friendly to families, couples and singles, and less friendly to those who mooch off of or prey upon them. I'm looking forward to the same variety of entertainment and fellowship in OTR that we currently have in Hyde Park, Oakley, Mt Lookout, Mt Adams and Clifton.

Cities are more expensive, busier, noisier, and less predictable when it comes to the kind of people you wind up bumping into. But that's what makes them such a rush to live in. And why we couldn't imagine living anywhere else.

Parkside Cafe on McMillan

 

Stopped at the Parkside Cafe in Walnut Hills last weekend for lunch. It is located in an old Frisch's restaurant. This is a breakfast and lunch place only. No Dinner. The positives: lots of parking, open weekends, very affordable and decent service. The negative: the food was just about as generic as could be. But sometimes that fits the bill.

One item on the menu diverged from the standard hamburger, chicken fingers or BLT, and that was the deep-fried green beans. Maybe next time.
[where: 1026 East McMillan, Cincinnati, OH 45206]

I'm not anti-Suburb, I'm pro-City

I thought of this topic looking at the latest "I'm a Mac" commercial. I've always found them somewhat entertaining (John Hodgman is brilliant) but was curious about the tenor of the campaign. What I mean by this is that (in my opinion) the Mac character reinforces the negative stereotypes that I would think Apple would want to leave behind. Am I the only one that wants to smack the Mac-guy upside the head? I imagine he plays well to the Mac faithful, but isn't the purpose of advertising to expand the audience, rather than pander to the converted?

This made me wonder about city-fans. Do we come off as smarmy as the Mac guy? In all honesty, I think we do. We can go on pandering to the faithful, or we can step out and try to communicate why anyone in their right mind would want to live and raise a family in the city. Comparisons are important, but my goal on this blog will be to give the positive reasons for the city, not the negative for the 'burbs.

For me, the three advantages to city-life are the three L's of Real Estate: location, location, location. I love living in the urban center of the area. It helps that my wife works downtown, and while I work from home, most of my client meetings occur downtown. But even when I have projects that take me out of the core, I get the advantage of going against traffic.

OK, so we learned I am lazy. How is this a family benefit? Our son's childcare is downtown (a couple blocks from my wife's work). He is a 5 minute commute from home (kid + lots of stuff makes the 20-minute walk less tenable). I know folks from the 'burbs that drop their kids off, then have a 45-minute to 1 hour commute. That gives us a minimum of an extra hour and twenty a day with our son. That is pretty priceless for us.

Since we are at the center of things, it also makes most places convenient. Besides all the great opportunities here, we are positioned to easily go to Montoya's on Buttermilk, Vincenzo's on Chester or back to Ruthai's in Mount Lookout if we want to. And it is really convenient to a number of kid-friendly venues like the Zoo, Museum Center, and Newport Aquarium.

Now it certainly depends on the family. We have good friends who live out in Loveland. Now to us that seems the ends of the earth. But since work for them is in Mason, as much as we would like to lure them down here, they are where it is most convenient for them. So I know the location thing won't work for everyone, but it works great for us.

What about you? Why do you live in the city, if you do?

It's Just Crepes

We went to the new Crepes place on Court Street, and I cannot recommend it highly enough. Yum.

iZEN and the Duttenhofer's Block

The block of McMillan, bounded by Clifton, West Clifton and Calhoun, has grown into a dynamic block. Tons of thriving businesses. I guess, since the rest of the street has been demolished all the activity has concentrated into the remaining buildings.

For some reason the food here seems to be leaning Asian, with King Wok, Cilantro, Maki, Thai Express, Chef Chen Red Pepper, and an Indian place on Calhoun. These are all in this same block, along with at least a dozen other notable eateries, and numerous shops and bookstores.

Both Thai Express and Cilantro were closed Sunday, so we had to try one of the new "Asian" offerings in this block. We settled on iZen, which has only been open 3 days:

It is owned by a recent UC grad, and he greets each customer with a loud "welcome". The offerings are mainly what he calls a cheese roll, which is fish or meat, wrapped with rice and vegetables in seaweed into a roll, that is sliced and then covered with cheese and microwaved. He also has fresh sushi, tempura, smoothies, and ice-cream with fresh fruit. It works well as a take-out because the rolls are meant to be heated in the microwave for 1.5 minutes to be ready to eat, and the sushi is already plated and ready to go.

I guess this is what you could term fusion comfort food. Definitely not authentic Japanese dishes with the cheeses and sweet corn and all, but somehow satisfying. I'll be back.

Dishes are $10+. Atmosphere is bright, clean and better suited for carry-out, if you know what I mean. Only a few tables.

A few shots of the neighbors:

Tea N Bowl, Cincinnati's first bubble tea place:

Maki:

Thai Express:

iZen phone: 381-5909
[where: 212 W. McMillan Street, Cincinnati, OH 45219]

Cheap Eats for Kids Downtown

Where can a family go for an affordable dinner out at 7pm on a Saturday downtown? I'm thinking pizzeria type food and atmosphere. If we drive to Clifton there is Dewey's, Pomi's, and a few other spots that are pretty kid friendly. Downtown, not much. Most cheap eats are closed completely on weekends, and some that are open on Saturday, close by 4pm (Potbelly's, Skyline). Even our only fast food place downtown (Arbys) is closed by then. The food at Rock Bottom is terrible, IMO and I will never go there again if I am paying. We've done some of the nicer places, like Shanghai Mamas and others, but do kids really need $10 entrees? I think not. I've also tried Courtyard Cafe and Arnold's, which are fine, but not the best for kids.

Two places have worked for me in a pinch. First is Universal Grill. Although we are typically the only straight people there, and usually the only people with children, they do have mini hamburgers and fries, and decent beer for dad. In nice weather, you can sit outside on the sidewalk:

 

Second, Donatos. Last Saturday evening, I had 3 ragged kids with me and we needed cheap eats in a very casual atmosphere (kids were dirty and sweaty), and Donatos was the only place I could think of. The other pizza places downtown are carry-out only, Donatos, has a dozen tables, and although decidedly downscale and with no atmosphere the kids had a great time, and I spent under $20! ... Now that's what I'm talking about.

Terry's Turf Club

Being a native westsider and dedicated downtowner, Beechmont levy levee is just about as far east as I get on an average week. And since it is spring soccer season and the Otto Armleder Soccer fields are over there, we have been over there often lately. We found a good place to stop after the games.

Terry Carter, the collector of neon and former owner of Neon's in OTR, opened this bar/restaurant 14 months ago, but all we knew before we went was that Shadeau Bread sells hundreds of kaiser rolls to this place every week. Turns out they use so many buns, because this is the kind of eatery in which everything is served on a bun, including shrimp and there is nary a fork in the building.

Despite being firstly a bar, there were several families 7:30pm on a Friday, then again on Sunday afternoon. Hamburgers and grilled fish (on a bun) are each $6, and fries are $3. The burgers are tops.

Exterior

 

Interior:

 

Factory across street:

 

Otherway up street:

 

Burger Beer sign:

 

Barber shop sign:

 

Budweiser:

 

Reflections in glass looking out:

 

Crowded with 40 customers, furnace sitting in the room, friendly, loud din, not handicapped accessible, not vegetarian friendly, free peanuts, not downtown, eastside, but westsiders ok, scribbled handwitten tab, good beer, canned sodas, all prices are even dollar, no coinage below quarters used, paper plates, $30 plus tip for 4 people.

[where: 4618 Eastern Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45226]

Four ways to mix your sugar water

I broke my new year's resolution against fast food. Blah.

 

1132 Bar

 

[Where: 1132 Race Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202]

Eat Grease Live Longer

"Doctors Say So"

 

Alabama Fish Bar, Liberty and Race Street, OTR.

I had food here again, against my better judgement. They offer 3 kinds of fish, Cod, Whiting, and Perch, all deep fried for 5.99 or 6.99. The "meal" includes fries and two slices of the cheapest white-bread. Plus they will pile on cooked onions and peppers if that is what you like. It is quick, local and tastes pretty good. But you won't be able to forget you ate there for the next day or so. Kinda sticks with you in the same way White Castle does.

I forswear this place for at least the next year.

[where: 1601 Race Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202]

Instead of crayons

 

How about some miniture blocks to play with at the restaurant?