diving in to the tri-state’s best dives
Some of the tri-state’s best restaurants are (ahem) locally owned, (ahem, ahem) run by family members and what they lack in style, grace and elegant preezahntayshun, they make up for in honest good food- at a very affordable price.
There are many good dive restaurants in the tri-state. You won’t find any cutesy curlicue garnishes, sexy desserts smothered in mole sauce or before-dinner cosmos at the unpretentious restaurants on this list. Think open-faced turkey, real mashed potatoes and homemade apple pie. Strong coffee and even stronger mixed drinks. Served up by ambivalent, overworked waitresses whose little kindnesses are somehow more authentic than phony overtures from some cheerleading barista. They’re as likely to scold you as they are to serve you, and somehow, it’s comforting. Many of these restaurants accept cash only.
They’re the finest dive restaurants in the tri-state area. And for good reason:
The Chinese Lantern at 965 Main in Hamilton has really good, really cheap, really fresh Chinese food and does mostly a lunch business, so it’s easy to get a table at dinner. Five star service and a fairly decent mai tai.
There are two Hyde’s restaurants in Hamilton. One is a (seasonal) 50’s-style drive-in and one is a hole in wall restaurant with incredibly difficult parking. Both are excellent. The drive-in is located at 2030 Fairgrove and the restaurant is at 130 S. Erie (both are one of fifteen or so names for “route 4”). The drive-in has “fast” food and the restaurant has too many dinner specials to list. Two people can easily eat for $25, including generous tip. Worth the trip.
Richard’s, with multiple locations in Hamilton and Fairfield and I think, Trenton, has to be experienced to be believed. My parents haven’t lived here for over a decade and they still talk about Richard’s. The house specialty is a steak sandwich. The steak’s pedigree is pretty questionable, and it will make your car smell for three days if you get one to go, but man, it’s totally worth it. I have to go up to Fairfield on the 29th and I am totally planning to go there for lunch. Which probably means I’ll have to take three showers when I get home.
Wolpert’s in Hamilton has great sandwiches and full-scale dinners including rib-eye steak. It’s hard to find if you don’t know where to look. It’s at 1005 Eaton Avenue, just over the RR tracks and behind Flub’s.
The Port Union Café’s really random menu includes chicken and dumplings and metts. A lunch-time tradition for people who work in the greater tri-county area. 8953 Princeton Glendale Road in West Chester.
Win, Place or Show (formerly Tommy’s) at 9933 Cincinnati-Columbus Road, Cincinnati (also known as route 42) has great burgers. It’s a favorite of Sharonville and West Chester residents.
The Houston Inn at 4026 S US Route 42 in Lebanon is not an inn like the Golden Lamb is an inn. It’s more like an inn the way HoJo’s might be called an inn. Any Saturday evening that we’d stop by, we’d always find Mr. Houston in his red sport jacket and his lovely daughter-hostesses joking and laughing with customers. I tend to think salad bars are pretty bourgeois, but man, theirs is unbelievable. I guess because it’s all good homemade stuff. And they make a kick-ass, oversized tanqueray and tonic. Big old red booths that you can sink down into and a very casual atmosphere make it a perfect stop after yes, ka-brewing in Lebanon. In all seriousness, this is my favorite restaurant in greater Cincinnati.
I found Maury’s Tiny Cove at 3908 Harrison in Cincinnati by accident, swept off to a last minute dinner with some friends. They have a great Lenten offering in the form of the Panther sandwich (cod on rye), and their dirty martinis are no joke. I drank one and the whole room was spinning. They also have the big old booths that you can sink down into while you dribble olive juice into your glass.
Walt’s at 6040 Colerain Avenue has the best. barbecue. in town. It’s often packed, even during the week and you may have to share your table. It’s in an old taco bell.
Whether Quatman’s in Norwood (2434 Quatman Avenue) or the E in Hyde Park (2900 Wasson Road) are really “dives” is questionable. Especially when compared to some of the other restaurants on this list. But they both have good food at really reasonable prices.
The Loyal Café at 402 Foote Avenue in Bellevue is a local favorite. Don’t be fooled by the tacky paneling on the walls. This restaurant has really good, really cheap sandwiches. They go well with Budweiser in a can. A noted special is their year-round jack salmon sandwich and take-out business is brisk on Fridays during Lent. I think jack salmon might actually be perch. But it’s a darn good sandwich if you don’t ask too many questions.
And I can’t remember the name of this dive (doh!), so hopefully someone will help me- we always call it the White Oak café, and it’s just off of Reagan in Colerain. Whatever they’re called, they have what my friend calls “out of this world” pie. Let me know and I’ll update the post.
The Anchor Grill in Covington had its own post a while back on Northern Kentucky News. The 24-hour café is a late-night favorite for Mainstrasse revelers.
Newport’s Monmouth Street, the antidote to the Levee mall, is literally lined with dives. I’ve never had lunch or dinner at any of them but I’ve had the $3 breakfast special at several and they’re all good.
Just don’t look at the carpet too closely.
There are many good dive restaurants in the tri-state. You won’t find any cutesy curlicue garnishes, sexy desserts smothered in mole sauce or before-dinner cosmos at the unpretentious restaurants on this list. Think open-faced turkey, real mashed potatoes and homemade apple pie. Strong coffee and even stronger mixed drinks. Served up by ambivalent, overworked waitresses whose little kindnesses are somehow more authentic than phony overtures from some cheerleading barista. They’re as likely to scold you as they are to serve you, and somehow, it’s comforting. Many of these restaurants accept cash only.
They’re the finest dive restaurants in the tri-state area. And for good reason:
The Chinese Lantern at 965 Main in Hamilton has really good, really cheap, really fresh Chinese food and does mostly a lunch business, so it’s easy to get a table at dinner. Five star service and a fairly decent mai tai.
There are two Hyde’s restaurants in Hamilton. One is a (seasonal) 50’s-style drive-in and one is a hole in wall restaurant with incredibly difficult parking. Both are excellent. The drive-in is located at 2030 Fairgrove and the restaurant is at 130 S. Erie (both are one of fifteen or so names for “route 4”). The drive-in has “fast” food and the restaurant has too many dinner specials to list. Two people can easily eat for $25, including generous tip. Worth the trip.
Richard’s, with multiple locations in Hamilton and Fairfield and I think, Trenton, has to be experienced to be believed. My parents haven’t lived here for over a decade and they still talk about Richard’s. The house specialty is a steak sandwich. The steak’s pedigree is pretty questionable, and it will make your car smell for three days if you get one to go, but man, it’s totally worth it. I have to go up to Fairfield on the 29th and I am totally planning to go there for lunch. Which probably means I’ll have to take three showers when I get home.
Wolpert’s in Hamilton has great sandwiches and full-scale dinners including rib-eye steak. It’s hard to find if you don’t know where to look. It’s at 1005 Eaton Avenue, just over the RR tracks and behind Flub’s.
The Port Union Café’s really random menu includes chicken and dumplings and metts. A lunch-time tradition for people who work in the greater tri-county area. 8953 Princeton Glendale Road in West Chester.
Win, Place or Show (formerly Tommy’s) at 9933 Cincinnati-Columbus Road, Cincinnati (also known as route 42) has great burgers. It’s a favorite of Sharonville and West Chester residents.
The Houston Inn at 4026 S US Route 42 in Lebanon is not an inn like the Golden Lamb is an inn. It’s more like an inn the way HoJo’s might be called an inn. Any Saturday evening that we’d stop by, we’d always find Mr. Houston in his red sport jacket and his lovely daughter-hostesses joking and laughing with customers. I tend to think salad bars are pretty bourgeois, but man, theirs is unbelievable. I guess because it’s all good homemade stuff. And they make a kick-ass, oversized tanqueray and tonic. Big old red booths that you can sink down into and a very casual atmosphere make it a perfect stop after yes, ka-brewing in Lebanon. In all seriousness, this is my favorite restaurant in greater Cincinnati.
I found Maury’s Tiny Cove at 3908 Harrison in Cincinnati by accident, swept off to a last minute dinner with some friends. They have a great Lenten offering in the form of the Panther sandwich (cod on rye), and their dirty martinis are no joke. I drank one and the whole room was spinning. They also have the big old booths that you can sink down into while you dribble olive juice into your glass.
Walt’s at 6040 Colerain Avenue has the best. barbecue. in town. It’s often packed, even during the week and you may have to share your table. It’s in an old taco bell.
Whether Quatman’s in Norwood (2434 Quatman Avenue) or the E in Hyde Park (2900 Wasson Road) are really “dives” is questionable. Especially when compared to some of the other restaurants on this list. But they both have good food at really reasonable prices.
The Loyal Café at 402 Foote Avenue in Bellevue is a local favorite. Don’t be fooled by the tacky paneling on the walls. This restaurant has really good, really cheap sandwiches. They go well with Budweiser in a can. A noted special is their year-round jack salmon sandwich and take-out business is brisk on Fridays during Lent. I think jack salmon might actually be perch. But it’s a darn good sandwich if you don’t ask too many questions.
And I can’t remember the name of this dive (doh!), so hopefully someone will help me- we always call it the White Oak café, and it’s just off of Reagan in Colerain. Whatever they’re called, they have what my friend calls “out of this world” pie. Let me know and I’ll update the post.
The Anchor Grill in Covington had its own post a while back on Northern Kentucky News. The 24-hour café is a late-night favorite for Mainstrasse revelers.
Newport’s Monmouth Street, the antidote to the Levee mall, is literally lined with dives. I’ve never had lunch or dinner at any of them but I’ve had the $3 breakfast special at several and they’re all good.
Just don’t look at the carpet too closely.
Update: I've had a couple of people email me about Tina's, located downtown at 350 W. Fourth Street. I put Tina's in with Quatman's and the E; it's an upscale dive. They have a good fish sandwich for Lent and it's just an all-around great place for lunch any day of the week. Also, it's a great place to scope really cute guys (if that's your thing).
And, I completely forgot to include the Green Derby, located at 846 York Street in Newport. The Derby has been a mainstay for cheap, well-made homestyle dinners for more than 50 years. And they have several options for Lent. Go on Monday, sit in the bar, and you might get lucky enough to sit next to the funny, sweet couple in their 80's who have been eating there every Monday night since the Green Derby opened. ~ed.
Comments