Owner’s Choice. Local restaurant owners show us the dishes they love the most.
We have always wondered what the owners eat off their own menus. Well here they are. These dishes are some of the very best they have to offer, after all if you owned the place what you eat?
For more information on the restaurants listed click on their links posted on the right of the page.
Hunter Thomas from 20 Brix satisfies his appetite in style, just look at this dish(pictured above)! Pan Roasted New Zealand Lamb Tenderloin atop Yukon Gold Potato Risotto, Piquillo Pepper and Crispy Gremoloto. Simply Beautiful. Chef Paul Barraco not only creates the dish daily but often dines on it as well.
Chris Ornell from Anderson Bar & Grill says he’s been all over town and still not found a fillet of fish like this . We know what he means, one EV staffer never eats fish except at ABG. ABG’s Fish & Chips (10.95) features a fresh breaded Cod fillet, crisp fries and homemade tartar sauce (it’s actually better than Frisches). The Brits have nothing on this piece of Yankee pride.
Jan Collins from Putters can’t finish this massive mound of ribs by herself but that doesn’t stop her from loving every bite. Slow cooked to perfection, slathered in sauce, these BBQ ribs are served along side mashed potatoes and corn complete with a dinner roll (for sopping up that extra sauce). Here’s the crazy part... you get all the ribs you can eat on Saturday nights!
This is the famous southern fried chicken that makes KFC look like dog vomit. Slip into Sleepy Hollow on any Wednesday night and try the best fried chicken you’ve ever seen, tasted or even heard of. It comes complete with garlic smashed potatoes and Cole slaw or hot German slaw... mmm, even grandma will be envious.
Mexican at El Picante is not just burritos people. Just look at this dish; Camarones Al Mojo De Ajo ($9.95). A dozen flash fried butterflied spicy shrimp with rice and beans. Mucho Grande Mexican to say the least!
Hugo Tostado (Tostado’s Grill) has been making a living cooking Mexican since he was a lad. He started off making Churros in Mexico City at age 12. I’m glad he’s up here in the states because his authentic Mexican cuisine is damn hard to come by. His “Fiesta Mexicana” (18.95) enables you to taste a variety of his favorites; spicy fried shrimp, mesquite chicken flautas, fish tacos (also chicken or steak), chicken tinga sopes, enchiladas and tamales (not pictured). I see why he loves this dish, it’s all authentic and it’s all delicious.
Bad Habitz owner is a bona fide meat freak, and so to quench his carnivorous cravings he orders Ray Ray’s big fat beautiful rib eye. It’s a mouth watering meal any man would be proud to call his own. It’s served with fries & Texas toast for $8 or with chips for $7. Now that’s just straight crazy. You can’t even make it at home for that and if you did it probably wouldn’t be nearly as good.
Rhino’s owner Bob Flinders loves his beef too. Bob likes to live the good life and when Bob wants a beef sandwich he settles for nothing less than Filet Mignon. His “Tracy Special” is two, yes two Filets grilled to order and served with home fries and your choice of toppings. So, you don’t have to be rich (like Bob) to dine in style at Rhinos but, you would if you wanted to own it (like Bob).
Speaking of Filet Mignon look at this sweet piece of meat. Latitudes owner Chris Hamm also likes his protein and what better way to get it than sinking your teeth into this fabulous Filet? It’s served sitting pretty atop a potato & celery root puree` and grilled asparagus ($11). They have great seafood like Sea scallops or Indian shrimp but when you see this you just might go for the beef instead! Better yet go for it all, that’s what tapas is all about!
Uncle Sam’s Tavern might not come to mind when you get a powerful craving for Salmon or ribs but fact of the matter is Uncle Sam’s has some of best around. All their selections are painstakingly made from scratch daily.
One EV staffer’s brother has searched the city over in the pursuit of the perfect plate of Salmon and guess what... he says Uncle Sams is hands down the best. It comes with your choice of no less than 7 sides! All fresh made and all excellent. A combo for $15 (just salmon or ribs $10) that’s ridiculous.
Garzellis won a Best Pizza award last year by popular vote and that’s no easy feat. It may be a franchise restaurant but the big difference is it’s all family running it. Owner Kathy McDonald’s son Dustin created this pizza and named it the “Chicken Ranchalo”. It features chicken, pepperoni, bacon, buffalo sauce and ranch dressing. It may sound odd but one bite and you’ll understand how it made it to the menu! Large $17, Medium $14, small $8.
Chef Dan Starkins not only keeps his knives sharp but, he’s honed his sushi skills to a razor edge as well. From the soy/saki reduction on the plate to the screamingly fresh fish everything is “Top Chef” quality in this kitchen. Take one look at the perfect presentation and then take a bite and you’ll see why Latitudes is Anderson’s new “Sushi King” Look at this Sushi Platter ($15) Sashimi Sea Bass, Ahi Tuna and Sake Salmon. Who’s going to top that!
By night the Sports Page may be jumping with DJ Sanchez’s late night hip hop parties but by day they serve a variety of decent dishes. For instance “Dave’s Favorite” an authentic Philly Cheesesteak ($6.50). You know what it is but did you know you could get one here? Next time your there for the game you might want to re-think the hot wing order and go for this pretty Philly!
When Bakers Diner owner Linda DeMeo (yes they also own the awesome Italian eatery DeMeos) told us the burger was her favorite I was surprised. Bakers has so many great home cooked dishes, not to mention the pies. I almost asked her “are you sure” but I stuck with her first reaction and now I see why. This burger is one you’ll be bragging about, the kind of thing you show off to out of town friends and relatives. It’s big, and it’s soo delicious. How in the hell Frisches can sell a single “Big Boy” with Bakers just down the block is beyond me. If you think you know where the best burger is and it’s not at Bakers Diner. Think again.
Here’s an Indian Oven spread. My main man Tony hand picked this dish because he’s a hopeless romantic and this is a traditional dinner for 2. For $29.99 you are presented with mulligataway soup, tandoori chicken, lamb curry, chicken saag, mater paneer, raita, basmati, nan, papadam, gulab, jamun or kheer. All I can say is wow what a date!
Maloneys owner Linda is proud of her homemade specials. The pub is packed with diners daily and it shows no signs of slowing. One of her faves is this Shrimp & Steak Kabob ($6.95). Served up with garlic herb rice, roasted peppers, Texas toast and a side salad, this is one hearty meal. It’s heathy too! Maloneys has way too many homemade specials to mention here but this one sure looks good to me. At $6.95 McD’s across the street should be out of business. If you eat there, you just suck.
Jim at Little Caesar’s still loves the old favorite... a large cheese pepperoni... for that matter who doesn’t. To top it off you can buy 5 of them for $25. Did you hear that moms? That’s 40 slices of pizza (cheese, pepperoni or sausage) for $25. They don’t deliver but they make it so fast it will be done before you get there, every time.
You’ll feel almost royal when you order this Thal at Royal Taj. It’s offered in veggie form and meat form. Both are fit for a king. It’s even served on a silver platter. The Veggie Thal ($13.95) comes with saag paneer, aloo matar, choley, raita, gulab, jamun, papadum & garlic nan and basmati rice. If it’s meat that will please your palate order the Non-Veggie Thal ($14.95). It comes with lamb, chicken and shrimp curry, chicken tandoori, galub, jamun & garlic nan and basmati rice. These are also the perfect dishes to order if your new to Indian cuisine and not to sure exactly which way to go. Order these and you can’t go wrong!
This is the Newtown Village Tavern owner’s favorite. It’s a BBQ chicken pizza (half w/no bacon). The crust is thin and crispy and topped with just the right amount of everything. They deliver just about anywhere (even to Beechmont and Indian Hill) because they know how to treat customers right. They also know how to make a hell of a pizza, these aren’t skimpy pies either, their medium is other places large. Here’s the kicker, they deliver until 2 am on weekends! You’ll get the whole story on NVT next month.
Lebos has new owners, a new look and a new menu to go with it. The East End pub wasn’t known for great food before... but it will be now. Daily specials and great menu items are certain to attract the attention of all the locals and even the folks up on the hill. After all who else has a beautiful slab of bones like this on Kellogg? These ribs come decked out with potato, veggie and diner roll for $16.95. You get a half rack and Saratoga chips for $10.95. I’d say Lebos just might end up becoming the “Ribs King of Kellogg” here soon.
We all know and love crispy fried hot wings. Most of us regret the fact that they’re deep fried but those baked wings at Dominos and such are slimy and inedible so what do you do? McNamaras has the best of both worlds, they serve only convection cooked wings. Hot air crisps these babies up nicely then they are tossed in hot sauce and served up grease free. In the end you get crisp juicy wings without any grease whatsoever. Cool huh!
Mark at the Veg Head eats one of these nearly every day. Not because he has too either. Mark is a veg head after all and this is the kind of food you eat when you really want fast healthy food.
It’s the classic Veg Head wrap ($6.75). Organic wheat wraps are stuffed with rice and seasoned veggies then press grilled to a crisp. People drive from all over to eat here, I mean all over.
Big Jim at J&B’s serves big ribeyes, cheese crazy Palmer burgers, jambalaya, and many other great entree`s but he still loves his classic dish the “Tavern Potato” ($7.49). It’s fresh cut home fries with cheddar cheese, bacon, sour cream and chives. It goes great with damn near anything and does just fine all on it’s own as well.
This is so crazy we’re following up on it next month in detail. Mt. Carmel Pub is now home of some of the most truly authentic Mexican in the city. It’s awesome, seriously. The folks who run the Mexican grocery store next door now run the pubs kitchen. Look at the menu; flautas, tortas, sopes, todos cas dias, and of course taco’s & burritos. Now look at this Mole Enchilada ($7). Gracias amigos. Cuantioso cena!
Last but far from least, the 3 cheese stuffed jumbo shells at DeMeos ($13.95). These puppies come smothered in either Bolognese or Dom’s decadent marinara sauce. Either way you’ll make mama proud and clean your plate. If you can finish the salad, bread and a bottle of Pinot your my kind of people. Dom, your the best!
