The results of February’s poll are in…and they are decidedly split (sounds familiar). The two run away selections were individuals that have lived in Cincy for less than 5 years and those who have lived here their whole life.
So if you have been here your whole life, what has kept you here? If you are new to the area, what is it that brought you here? What can be better and what is it that makes this region so special? Tell all…we could have some good discussions with this one.
As some of you may know, I have been out of town (Atlanta) on business for the past couple of months. For the past two weeks I was shipped off to another area (Baton Rouge) to continue my work, and I thought I would relay my thoughts on Louisiana to the great readers of UrbanCincy.
I spent most of my time in Baton Rouge. I will say that the people are very laid back and easy to get along with, but with that said…Baton Rouge seemed to be lacking any coherent development pattern(s), disposable income, and most importantly it was muggy even in February. The place was alright. Downtown had a few museums, lots of government buildings and some new construction. Overall Baton Rouge was kind of dirty, a little sloppy and somewhat depressing.
I was also able to spend a weekend in New Orleans. I spent the majority of my time there in the French Quarter and loved every minute. There were some other nice areas that I saw (Magazine Street), but overall New Orleans seemed to have many of the same qualities as Baton Rouge but on a larger scale.
The Lower 9th Ward looks as if the hurricane had just recently hit, and the place is almost entirely vacant. The CBD was kind of creepy and not all that comfortable. If you would like to hear more rantings and most importantly see my pictures of the cities…check out my photo threads on UrbanOhio.
The Garden District (Baton Rouge)
Downtown Baton Rouge
New Orleans’ French Quarter
As mentioned before, UrbanCincy has worked out a relationship with the Blue Wisp Jazz Club downtown. Thursday nights offer UrbanCincy readers $3 off of the cover charge. This week includes the talented Rob Allgeyer Organ Trio w/Dan Drees and Ron Enyard.
Additionally, UrbanCincy now also has a deal with the Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati. If you mention UrbanCincy you can get Buy 1, Get 1 half off Adult tickets to any evening performance (not valid on opening night). The next show to start up is Radio Golf (3/19 – 4/6) and you should not miss this show. All you need to do is contact the box office at 513.421.3555 (you can not get this offer online, only by calling). Tickets are going extremely fast to this performance so get ’em while they’re hot.
Get out and take advantage of these UrbanCincy exclusive offers. The more you do, the better the chance more of these pop up in the future.
Translation: I’d like to propose a toast to Grammer’s!
I’ll be honest I had never been in Grammer’s before last night. I am a relatively new resident of this great city and had not had the opportunity to enjoy Grammer’s prior to 1992, when it closed. Let me tell you. It seems like the place never closed. There were easily 100-150 people at the opening of Grammer’s last night. You could barely 
move in the bar area, and many of the tables were full as well. Like I had said in my last post, Beer and Brats… what else do you need? This place is going to do amazingly well. What a GREAT building. It screams its German heritage loud and clear. Old Steins are everywhere, and the basement area is going to be one of my favorite spaces in the city, once the renovations are complete. In general, this could become my NEW favorite hang out. Prost!
No real menu yet, but the management expects a full restaurant in about a year. Other developments should start popping up around Grammer’s at about that same time.
This past week has been a truly remarkable time for our favorite previously neglected neighborhood.
On Tuesday, Lavomatic opened on
The food was amazing, as expected. I started off with their daily special appetizer, a smoked trout salad. Simply Stunning. My entree and dessert of salmon on a bed of couscous, and crème Brule, were just as spectacular. Also the wine selection was very small, but I was told that they will be expanding it before the weekend. With entrees between 12-24 dollars it is probably the most affordable of Jean Robert’s places. I honestly can’t wait to go back and sit on the terrace.
Today, Grammer’s reopens. A true Cincinnati Gem that I honestly can’t wait to go to. It’s basically going to have my two favorite things. Beer and Bratwursts. It promises to become a staple of Over-the-Rhine once again, especially with some of the redevelopment opportunities that have been recently hitting the presses.
What an exciting time for OTR and the city in general. It is hard not to get wrapped up in the momentum that we are experiencing right now in our neighborhood.