If you have ever been to Cincinnati, you know there are some classic places that are must visits during your stay – especially if you are with someone who used to live there!
We were recently there visiting The Hubby’s family and hit all of his favorites – and I wanted to share them with you.
There are two primary restaurants that are known for Cincinnati Chili – wondering what this is? It’s a thinner chili than what you might think and typically has some sort of unique flavor added to it like cinnamon or cocoa. When you visit Goldstar Chili or Skyline Chili – they pretty much have the same menu. The chili is either served on a coney or “ways” and you have to know how you want to order, a 3-way, 4-way, 5-way? Here is a link to the menu for Skyline and the menu for Goldstar. These will explain more! The cheese is always finely grated – and very fresh! The buns the coneys are served on are super soft. We had some repeat visits to these establishments!
The first couple of nights we were north of downtown visiting friends and after a fun day at King’s Island (as terrifying as The Orion coaster seems – it is a MUST!) we decided to enjoy dinner at LaRosa’s Family Pizzeria. This was perfect – some had a salad and an individual pizza and others ordered a pasta dish.
We spent a couple of nights in downtown Cincinnati and upon arrival, headed straight to Fountain Square to enjoy Graeter’s Ice Cream. They make all of their ice cream using the French Pot Process and according to their site, “Graeter’s is the last small batch ice cream maker still dedicated to this time-honored process; making our ice cream 2½ gallons at a time.” The other awesome feature of their ice cream is that if you order anything with chocolate chips – they aren’t “chips” they are “chunks” – so yummy! Another fun fact about Fountain Square is that the Tyler Davidson Fountain was the one featured in the opening credits (in it’s former location) of the series WKRP in Cincinnati. Don’t remember that show? Don’t worry – it was on in the late 70s – early 80s. I’m sure you can find episodes to stream somewhere!
Last but certainly not least, visiting Montgomery Inn is something we always do when we are in Cincinnati. There are 2 locations and since we were downtown, we dined at the Boathouse. Situated with a ton of windows right on the Ohio River, it offers amazing views. Ribs are always a go to for us, but their menu offers a lot of variety. The food never disappoints.
I hope this post is useful for you for the next time you visit Cincinnati and need to know where to dine!
