Restaurants in Monroe

A number of housemade sauces add depth to Through the Garden’s dishes. Sweet, smoky barbecue sauce glistens across each rack of ribs, basil-garlic butter softens the deep flavors of char-grilled chicken breast, and garlic-dill sauce pools around the edges of crab cakes, proving that gravity may in fact exist. Bright-yellow walls and wooden floors surround tables scattered with American meals, including Cajun scallops nestled in angel-hair pasta and homemade barbarosa burgers baptized with splashes of beer. Outside, a white fence cordons off the stone-paved patio with oversized umbrellas.

Diggs Bar and Grill combines a traditional pub atmosphere with six physical-activity-inducing outdoor beach-volleyball courts. Fried pickles, fish 'n' chips, and dippable pork “wings” are menu standard-bearers in the restaurant, best washed down by a draft beer or cocktail. For discounted merriment, stop by for happy hour to sip or rinse your shirt with drinks from 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Monday–Thursday. Out back, six regulation sand volleyball courts host recreational league play, and a tiki bar with a patio encourages diners to digest while competing in rounds of Corn Hole. Regularly scheduled live music provides a soundtrack to victory dances, and an open sand area gives tots a basic course in burying treasure.

The wood-paneled walls at smoQ are full of vintage photos of renowned southern barbecue chefs, but that’s only one way the restaurant pays homage to the southern barbecue tradition. The other way is the smell, created by the molasses-brined chicken, hand-rubbed ribs, and spiced sausage basking in the wood smoker for up to 14 hours. The process infuses both succulent slabs of meat and the dining room with a sweet, smoky aroma.

SmoQ’s slow-cooked ribs earned praise from Cincinnati.com and were called “Best In Show quality” by Cincinnati Magazine, which also deemed the chicken wings “quite possibly the best in the city.” In addition to the meats, the chefs also send southern staples such as corn succotash to the smoker. At the end of the meal, smoQ finishes in southern style with bread pudding crafted from Maker’s Mark sauce and glazed donuts.

Cazadores takes its name from the Mexican ranchers who used to roam the rangelands where they guarded herds of cattle and cooked their meals over an open fire. The restaurant’s menu features dishes based on this style of “on the ranch” cooking with items such as fajitas and 10-ounce rib eyes prepared using rustic spices and mesquite grilling, and branded with a macho nickname. The menu also offers more than a dozen vegetarian entrees, as well as create-your-own combo plates, which allow diners to customize their meal with one, two, or three items. A full bar pours frozen or on-the-rocks margaritas in eight fruit-infused flavors, Mexican beers, and premium tequila shots.

Chefs at Dos Amigos pride themselves on the extensive menu of traditional Mexican favorites, as well as their smattering of unique dishes that customers can rarely find elsewhere. In addition to classics such as succulent carnitas and vegetarian-friendly spinach enchiladas, they harness the natural sweetness of seafood to forge house specialties including lobster chimichangas and fried-shrimp burritos. This family-owned-and-operated eatery also makes it easy to bring the whole clan, allowing kids to eat for $1 on Thursdays and hosting a daily happy hour ideal for atoning after misplacing your in-laws again.

The Mason Grill's culinary team caters to families with hearty, homestyle breakfasts served all day and a kids' menu with nine entrees under $4 each. Menu favorites include fluffy pancakes flanked by eggs, sausage, and plastic army-men sentries and three-egg omelets stuffed with a choice of breakfast meats, veggies, and cheese. Aside from their morning-inspired morsels, the restaurant's other dishes earn local acclaim, with Greek flavors found in their lamb or chicken gyros drizzled with housemade tzaziki sauce as well as their flaky baklava.