There were also a couple comments about the communities we chose and ones that may have been left off the list. We chose the neighborhoods based on the "official" neighborhoods as listed by the City of Cincinnati website. Some neighborhoods are broken up (such as Price Hill into East Price Hill and West Price Hill) and some are listed as neighborhoods, but aren't necessarily a "neighborhood" as compared to traditional Cincinnati neighborhoods (such as FayApartments, a neighborhood listed that is really just a vast apartment complex).So we will do the research on the neighborhoods, and if we see fit will change out an official neighborhood for one that will work better.
Ok, and now, on to neighborhood and date #1!...
Paige picked our first neighborhood to visit with an interesting choice: Madisonville.
First, a little background on Madisonville. Madisonville was established in 1809, and originally named Madison, Ohio after James Madison, who had been recently elected President of the United States. The name was changed to Madisonville in 1826 to avoid confusion with another Ohio town previously named Madison. Madisonville was annexed to become part of the City of Cincinnati in 1911, and today has a diverse population around 10,827 (2000 Census), with about 60% black, 35% white, and 5% for all other combined ethnicities.
The Madisonville neighborhood of Cincinnati is predominantly residential in nature, with its main business district running along Madison Road. Unfortunately, decades of abandonment have turned Madisonville's business district into a shell of its former self, with boarded up businesses and storefronts marking the community's main drag.
I (Kevin) jumped online to see what I could find in Madisonville. In terms of restaurants, not much choice after you rule out all the national and local chain restaurants. The one that looked the most interesting and unique was "Salt of the Earth," located on Red Bank Road, so off we went! (No website available for Salt of the Earth, but check out Soapbox Cincinnati's Madisonville page here, City Beat's website here, or MetroMix's website here for more info...)
For an urban adventure, Salt of the Earth was not quite what we would have expected for our first date in this adventure. Located on Red Bank Road, Salt of the Earth sits within more of a suburban shopping center than in the heart of a neighborhood business district. Unexpected, but we checked it out anyway. Entering the restaurant, it had a small cafe-like feel (somewhat similar to Highlands Coffee House if it were located in a suburban shopping center, for you Cincinnati folks). Also interesting to note, Salt of the Earth functions as a restaurant, gourmet grocery, and wine shop all rolled into one, complete with shopping baskets available at the front door. Pretty cool.
We went on a weekday, so there was a decent lunch crowd. As far as we could tell, all the food is made from scratch, fresh from the open restaurant kitchen. They have a very nice refrigerated display showcasing their specialties and side dishes for the day. It seems as if they have their normal menu and a few new specials that change daily. So a good variety of options are available.
I'm no expert, but it seemed like Salt of the Earth would be very much vegetarian/vegan friendly if that is your sort of thing. Paige and I, on the other hand, are not, and we both ordered the furthest thing from vegetarian on the menu: the meatloaf sandwich (mine with fruit salad side, hers with blue cheese cole slaw).
It was a beautiful day in Cincinnati, so we chose to eat out on the patio. Nice day, not so nice view, unless you're really into Self Storage facilities and surface parking lots. But besides that, everything was delicious. Large portion of meatloaf on freshly baked ciabatta-like roll. Overall, a pretty good find in a very unsuspecting location! And of course, the company was great, as always! :) The price wasn't bad either, under $20 for both of us for a freshly made, homecooked-type meal. Check it out if you are ever feeling like grabbing a quick dinner instead of cooking and don't want to settle for greasy take-out.
Afterwards we still had sometime to kill, so we drove south through historic Mariemont, and made a stop at Alms Park (located in the Columbia-Tusculum neighborhood of Cincinnati), which neither of us had been to before. There is a pretty awesome pavilion and overlook down to the Ohio River, so we just hung out and enjoyed some downtime before heading back home!
Know of any other good spots to check out in Madisonville that we missed? Or have a place we just have to check out next in your favorite neighborhood? Leave some feedback and we will be sure to check it out!
