Regular Dives - Walt's Barbeque

Slowly getting back into regular diving weather.  Volleyball season is over, outdoor soccer season has started.  But with warmer weather it seems easier to venture out on weekend evenings, even after a day full of tournament games.

This time blogging about another one of our regular places to meet and eat - Walts Barbeque on Colerain Avenue.  Walts is a super casual, family barbeque restaurant which should not be a surprise since the building is a red barn.  The red barn is hard to miss on busy Colerain Avenue.

All the meat is slowly smoked. It is hard to decide between the brisket, ribs, chicken, pulled pork, and even turkey.  The best bet is go for the three meat combo feast!  Every time we go, we leave with plenty of leftovers, good for at least one more full meal.  It will take several trips to work your way through the selection of 15 hot and 7 cold sides.  Some of our favorites are red beans and rice (Mike!), green beans (Tracy), collard greens (Mickey) and baked potato casserole (Lisa). Walts is a great place to have the table order a variety of items and eat them family style.

The motif is definitely gitchy piggish barbeque with plenty of pig humor decorating the walls.  The atmosphere is open and can be a bit loud - it is a barn.  There is a smaller dining room, in the bar area.  We love Walts for the good food, quick service and great value. And oh yeah, for the great company that comes along with it.

Regular Dives - JB's

It is not the cold and snowy Cincinnati January that has kept us from dive adventures, it's actually volleyball, basketball and indoor soccer seasons. We both coach volleyball teams, have daughters playing indoor soccer and Tracy has two others playing basketball and volleyball too.  Until a new dive adventure can get scheduled we decided to begin blogging our favorite, regular dives.

During this hectic time our regular place remains JB's in Brentwood Bowl.  (Officially name changed to Steak Nina but nobody calls it that!)  Technically it is at Brentwood Bowl (Winton Road in Springfield Twsp) but you cannot see or hear the bowling alley while inside the restaurant.  We depend on JBs for great service, great reasonably priced food, being 'team friendly' and full of plenty local friends. It is fun to surprise 'newbies' with the idea of taking them to a bowling alley for dinner.  The next surprise is the menu.  A full menu which includes pork chops, sirloin steak, tilapia, wings and massive burgers is usually not expected. Our favorite items are:  the hot italian sub (!!!), sirloin steak and the loaded potato rags. We could go on about the potato pancakes, potato soup or hot slaw. We cannot omit the awesome green beans or the side salads loaded with eggs, cheese, and tomatoes. Gotta check out their Sun - Thurs dinner specials for $9.99 too.

Of course my Mick is disappointed by the on-tap beer selection.  They recently added American Red which seems to satisfy him for now.  They do have a full bottle beer selection if you want something besides the usual Anheuser Busch brews.

JBs is a great place for us to unwind with our families and spend time with awesome friends.  The kids have a few games to play and always seem to run into a teammate, classmate or neighbor. Our most recent visit was on Sunday of MLK weekend celebrating wins by Tracy's volleyball team.  Cajun tilipia, sirloin steaks, buckets of beer and bestest of friends made a spontaneous evening out priceless.

We are hoping to dive to a new place soon but until then JBs totally satisfies.

Christmas at the Bier Haus

OK, Kreimer's Bier Haus (St. Rte 128 just south of I74) does not qualify as a dive since it has become one of our regular places.  We had only 'discovered' it this past May so it is still new to us.  Tracy and I had spent a May day celebrating our birthdays and just dropped in while wandering our way home.  We were delighted to find the new bier garden in the back open.  The many terraces, gazebos and quiet view of the lazy Great Miami river quickly made the Bier Haus one of our summertime favorites.

We had only eaten outside on the upper deck and down by the river. The menus are different, with full meals available at the restaurant level and more appetizer fare at the river. Before Christmas we decided to try the inside dining experience. We sat in the back room which has a low ceiling, dark wood and very toasty fireplace.  With the Christmas decorations and fire, it was perfect place to share the holidays with friends.





They have two house ales - Kreimers Dark and Light which we usually order.  Available in 20 or 40 ounce glasses!  Mick was disappointed to learn that they did not have the porkchops he always ordered but quickly replaced it with the special - all you can eat crab legs.  It seemed to be the reason many had come to the Bier Haus that night. Tracy's Mike ordered the same.  Earlier in the summer I had ordered a house speciality burger which was topped with a brat and sauerkraut.  I stayed away from that behemoth this time! Tracy and I had the Chicken Cordon Bleu.  Soon we were being sprayed with crab juices and butter as the boys began digging in.  In the middle of their second order we left to talk at the bar, we had seen enough!  We enjoyed our wintertime experience at the Bier Haus but definitely prefer the warm weather and the outside bier garden.

Ladies Diving Alone

Before our first dive experience to Mayday and The Comet, in November Tracy and I had been anxious to get started with our diving, but were having difficulty scheduling a night that worked for all four of us.  So just before Thanksgiving when the boys were having a guy’s night we ventured out on our own for the first unofficial dive. We were headed to Christkindlmarkt at Germania.  During the summer we had spotted a bar called The Banklick on Bank Road near Kemper.  It was early in the evening and we were ready for an adventure. 

Tracy decided to leave her scarf in the car since from the outside The Banklick did not appear to be a scarf type of place.  Unfortunately since it was early The Banklick was not crowded and us newcomers were noticed immediately by the regulars at the bar.  Undaunted we ordered our beers and sat at a high top along the edge of the room.  It was a challenge to appear casual, deep in conversation and to try to check the place out while at the same time being watched closely by the regulars  We were sure that they thought we were undercover for the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms  Well if we were undercover agents we weren’t doing a good job being inconspicuous. 

We would both describe The Banklick in one word – smoky!  How quickly we had forgotten the smoky bar and bowling alley days?  But yes, the place was wall to wall smoke.  It had a relatively long bar and several high top tables along the wall and small dance floor.  From the large American flag and motorcycle motif we guessed it was popular during the summer months with the bikers.  There was back patio but appeared off limits at that time.  It was a relief to leave and breathe fresh air.

After The Banklick we enjoyed walking around Germania with their winter drinks and German beer.  We had not eaten yet and the food lines were a bit long.  Feeling impatient and still adventurous we headed to the Cancun Restaurant on

Hamilton Avenue

.  Since there are several of them in town, the Cancun probably does not qualify as a dive.  But it was close, neither of us had been there before and we were hungry.  Tracy and I enjoyed our visit, from what we both remember.  The Cancun’s margaritas are hand mixed and apparently quite potent.  We each just had one and they pretty much kicked our ass. 

The first evening of Ladies Only Diving was a success.

Saturday 12/4/10 - Another New Experience

So Saturday is our “big surprise” night out that we have been waiting for!  Mickey (Lisa’s husband) was in charge of our dive experience tonight.  The challenge to pick one bar and one restaurant that none of us have been to.  He had a long time to prepare and investigate for tonight.  Upon arriving to pick Mike and I up, he hands me a permanent marker, telling me that I may need a tattoo for the first bar we are going too!  I’m a little nervous, because there is no telling where he has selected; all I know is that it is on Spring Grove Avenue.  He also tells me I may not want to bring my purse!  You can only imagine what I’m thinking!

So we drive through Northside, one of our favorite areas down to Spring Grove.  We have to park on the street and we see the corner bar called the Mayday www.maydaynorthside.com !  It does look a little scary on the outside.  When we enter, we are all pleasantly surprised.  Only a few other patrons at this time, it’s only around 7pm.  The Mayday has a great bar!  A nice collection of beers!  They have an area for bands and an upstairs for playing pool and ping pong.  A couple outside areas and decks, I can’t wait to try out this spring.  They also offer an interesting menu…..hotdogs, brats, metts! 

Overall I enjoyed our first stop and would definitely go again!  Mick has picked the perfect “dive bar”, truly a winner!

Now onto our next stop, he tells us we are going to another bar!   So we pull up at Boomerangs in St. Bernard.  It doesn’t look open….it’s not!  It’s a Saturday night around 8pm and it’s not open!  Mick is a little disappointed, but decides that we are on to our next destination for dinner.  We just drive a bit and head to Meiners.  Which none of us have been too, it also looks closed!  Unfortunately they must have closed their doors in September.  Needless to say Mick is really baffled now!  So we head to Crossleys to have a drink and decide where we are going to eat!

We all agree to head back towards Northside and try the Comet www.cometbar.com. It’s been years since I have been to the Comet, but remember that they have great burritos.  Parking is a little difficult since it is on street parking and apparently packed.  We go on in, and yes it is very crowded.  We do end up with a table and go to the bar to get a beer and menu.  We have to place our order for burritos at the bar and take our tickets to the kitchen.  While we are waiting we meet a very pleasant young lady named Sarah, who also shares some of her dive experiences.  Very sweet girl!  Also Josh, who has guided us in the past, stops in to the Comet.  My burrito, chicken with NO BEANS, was incredible.  I can’t wait to get the burrito again.  We all very much enjoyed our meals and our evening.   Looking forward to Mike’s pick.  I did mention that I think we should try to stay local, meaning 10 minutes drives and maybe no highways.  Another new challenge!

Background to our 'diving'

The couples had been going out for a couple years already.  The typical choices had been neighborhood places like JB's in Brentwood Bowl (Finneytown),  Bacalls in College Hill or Century Inn in Glendale. If you are not familiar with any of these, they would great places for someplace different that breaks the chain of typical restaurants.  

One weekend we decided to start our evening at Marty's Hops and Vines on Hamilton Ave in College Hill. A perfect place for beer drinkers to choose from a variety of beers and plan the next stop. We met Josh the bartender, who helped us with our selections.   We did learn that Duval is a Danish beer that means Red Devil and it will kick your ass! That evening took us to the Hideaway in Northside and then onto the Northside Tavern  .  A few months later found us sitting at Marty's again looking for a different place.  Josh came to our rescue and suggested Boswell's Alley in Northside as well.  It was a perfect evening to sit on the patio, enjoy cold drinks, and the eclectic atmosphere. 

While enjoying beers and a summer evening on the patio, we talked about our evenings in Northside.  It was thought we should continue our search and discovery of out of the way restaurants (and dives).  Each person would have to find one place. Since the evenings revolve around drinking beer, it would     be fun to start at a neighborhood bar. Tracy hatched the idea of blogging it and here we are.