Ohio Restaurants

Chi-nnati's pizza menu lets you build your own pie or put your faith in a carefully catered creation such as The All-In—which unites pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, onions, green peppers, and black olives ($18.95 for a 10'' deep-dish)—or the gourmet Mediterranean dressed in kalamata olives, feta, green peppers, and onions ($16.95 for a 10'' deep-dish). Go thin with the crust if you don't like getting sauce in your mutton chops, or go deep and show off virtuosic spork skills. The deep-dish options take a little more time to slow-bake (around 30 minutes), since Chi-nnati's has to wait for the Windy City to deliver authentic flavors to its ovens via a special pizza portal, then clear out any extra-dimensional monstrosities that came with it. If you get peckish waiting for your pie, Chi-nnati's also serves up hot sandwiches, dogs, and more.

Setting up shop in a formerly run-down launderette, Lavomatic Cafe provides an opportunity to dine on hearty fare without attracting uncomfortable leers from surrounding shirt-folders. Charming exposed pipes and soft tones accentuate Lavomatic’s décor, which creates a perfect setting for sampling the establishment’s well-stocked wine bar. The menu offers a modest yet satisfying selection of comforting classics with a twist, like when grandma gets tipsy and mixes acids with bases. Start with small bites such as tater tots with chives, cheddar, parmesan, and ranch ($7.33). Warm up with tomato bisque ($5.35) or a fish sandwich with gruyere on an onion bun ($9.40). Refresh the palate with a fusion of flavors thanks to the pesto penne with kalamata olives, artichoke hearts, and tomato confit ($15.16) or smoked pork chops with Sheltowee Farm mushrooms and red wine caramel ($20.47). Sharable sides such as cornbread ($2.92) and onion straws ($3.64) are also available.

Though the family-oriented grill's atmosphere mostly recalls a comfy Mexican restaurant (down to the homemade chips and salsa greeting you at the table), the menu touts tastes from across the globe. Try the signature Hawaiian-style ribs ($13.99 half order, $24.99 whole) marinated and grilled in a secret-recipe Jack Daniel’s barbecue sauce, or take a Bavarian turn with the mett-n-kraut ($12.99), a German-style minced pork with sauerkraut on rye bread. Otherwise, opt for something more Italian such as the homemade meat or vegetarian lasagna ($12.99). Classic Tostado's burgers ($8.49) with your choice of toppings (including mushrooms, bacon, barbecue, and Swiss, Provolone, or American cheese) and reubens ($8.99) bring the around-the-world menu back home. True to its name, though, Tostado’s also serves up Mexican dishes that range from familiar burritos ($9.99–$11.99, depending on filling) and quesadillas ($9.99–$11.99) to the creative Mexican hot dog ($6.99), which comes with sour cream, mustard, and pico de gallo.

Hyde Park Pizzaria specializes in NY-style pies, baked to crispy, thin-crust perfection in brick ovens. Chefs produce fresh, homemade dough daily for their pizzas and top them with the freshest ingredients, including tomatoes so alive they frequently escape from the store and hurl themselves at unfortunate actors. Pizzas range from $6 for a small plain (9”) to $11 for a large plain (15”). You can also order up the brood-pleasing plain family size (14”x18”) for $14. All your favorite toppings, from pepperoni to jalapeno peppers, are available for extra. Specialty pies range from $8.50 for a small to $16.50 for a large, or $19.75 for family size. The Meat Supreme comes loaded with the fruit of the beasts: tons of pepperoni, sausage, ham, bacon, and extra cheese. You can order up a rival pizza with the Veggie Supreme, holding mushrooms, onions, green peppers, tomatoes, green olives, and extra cheese. The Meatball comes with homemade meatballs, and the Deluxe Seven features a most-wanted combo of pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, onions, green peppers, bacon, and extra cheese. It is certifiably the most delicious number-based food, except possibly algebra flash cards dipped in marinara.

Essencha's leisurely tea lunch begins with your selection of either a hot pot of tea or a shot of matcha (finely milled green tea). The tea house lets you choose from over 70 varieties of high-quality blacks, oolongs, greens, whites, rooibos, herbals, and organic flavors. Essencha's passionate staff of tea-totalers will help you navigate this voluminous variety until you find the tea you never knew you craved. Next, a soup of the day or miso soup stretches tongue tendons, followed by a fruit salad or a café salad with seasonal greens, veggies, dried fruit, pine nuts, and lemon vinaigrette. After you fill up on finger sandwiches with your non-teacupped free hand, enjoy a scone paired with clotted cream and jam. A cupcake or triple-chocolate-chunk brownie caps off a meal fit for tea tycoons and tea-drinking raccoons alike.

The most famous offering on King Gyros' menu is the Big Fat (and presumably Greek) Gyro ($7.99), an extra-large pita packed with 12 ounces of thin-sliced gyro meat and topped with gyro sauce, diced tomato, onion, banana peppers, black olives, and lettuce. If that isn't Greek enough for you, try the souvlake gyro ($4.19+), which is a gyro wrapped around a skewer of filet-mignon tips. You can order them by the sack (up to $34.95 for five BFGs), like Socrates always did, or with a side of fresh-cut chili cheese fries ($3.69).