Spoon & Cellar

Ed Paff Jr.

Near the eastern edge of downtown, at the base of the somewhat new Holiday Inn, sits the Spoon & Cellar restaurant. My wife and I stopped in for a date night dinner on a chilly November evening before a concert at the nearby Taft Theatre. We had an OpenTable reservation and upon our arrival, we were immediately seated and quickly drinks and a complimentary dish of bruschetta arrived. It was a nice touch and we are off to a great start to our meal. We also decided to split the spinach and artichoke dip starter with a nice pale ale based cheese dip and lavash crisps ($10). We were quite happy with this started and it was more than enough for our table of two. I also spied the french onion soup on the menu ($5), and I had to give it a try. The tasty soup was covered in a large melted mount of gruyere cheese and plenty of soggy croutons. With so much food already, I decided to order a handheld sandwich for dinner. The cellar club sandwich comes topped with roasted turkey, crispy pancetta, lingonberry chutney, lettuce, tomato, and garlic aioli on sourdough with fries on the side ($11). This was a pretty standard club sandwich, though the lingonberry chutney added a nice sweetness. My wife ordered the crab cakes from the starter menu as her meal ($8). The plate would be ideal for 2 to share but wouldn't provide a lot for larger groups. For her, it was the perfect sized meal after already filling start to our meal. Overall I think she would have tried something else on a future visit as she was not overly impressed by these crab cakes. Overall we had a good first visit to Spoon & Cellar. I don't think this will be a regular location for our family meals, but it would be nice for future date nights. Especially when going to a show and play nearby.

Kimberly Byrns

We were staying at the hotel and this restaurant/bar was such a great surprise. They have a great menu and the food was delicious. We had the pork belly and pretzels. The beer cheese is the best we've had since our trip to Seattle where we ate at an authentic German restaurant. We will come back even if we aren't staying at the hotel. Also, shout-out to Jessica who gave us amazing service with a smile. You rock!!!!

Larry Stone

Some of the best food in Cincinnati. The porterhouse porkchop is the best I have ever eaten. My girlfriend had the cellar filet, and daughter had the French dip. This was her first one and she talked about how good it was hours after eating it. If you stay close or above in the hotel. You must try.