Picture of the Day: Autumn Leaves in a Stream

Cleveland, Ohio
10.07.2006

Cincinnati Eats

I had to make a quick trip down to Northern Kentucky for work earlier this week and had the chance on the drive down and on the way back to try a few new restaurants in the Cincinnati area.

On Monday evening we pulled into Blue Ash Chili at eight p.m., just in time to eat before they closed at 8:30. I really enjoy Cincinnati style chili and Blue Ash Chili had a lot of rave reviews so I thought it would be fun to try it. I got a 3-Way which is spaghetti topped with chili and cheese. For reference, a 4-Way is a 3-Way with the addition of beans or onions and a 5-Way is a 3-Way with both beans and onions. Blue Ash Chili also featured a topping unique to their restaurant: fried jalapeño caps. Of course I had to have them added to my 3-Way. I really loved it. The spicy jalapeños gave an excellent kick to my 3-Way. The service was also really quick and we ordered, got our food, ate and left in under thirty minutes which was nice since we still had an hour and a half drive remaining that night. Overall it was delicious chili and I would go there again if I had the chance.

On Tuesday as we drove back we arrived for an early dinner at Terry's Turf Club at four o'clock, right when it opened. I had read that it was a popular place and fills up fast but we had no problems getting a seat since it was early on a weekday. I will say that almost all the tables had people seated at them by 4:30, though. The decor is really charming full of vintage neon signs and posters. The vibrant colors and neon continued outside as well, and I also spotted some old brightly colored stadium seats for waiting in line to get in, I presume. Besides the fun decor, another thing that I liked about Terry's was that every table has a bowl of peanuts and you can just toss your shells on the floor as you snack on them.

The menu looked awesome. I had never seen foie gras on the menu at a diner before so I decided to try it. It was served with toast points, grilled apple slices and a pomegranate pear sauce. It wasn't the best foie gras that I had ever had but it was pretty darn good. The burger, on the other hand, was probably the best burger I have ever eaten. Terry's offers all sorts of sauces and toppings for your burger and I couldn't resist getting Stilton cheese and the Burgundy wine with wild mushrooms and truffle sauce. The burger was perfectly cooked and both the sauce and the cheese were to die for. Absolutely delicious! Terry's is definitely worth a detour if you are anywhere in the area.