Nada

Reviews 3

JA

Jay Mehta

So this is definitely one of the best, if not the best, place in the area for Mexican food. We went for a dinner date here and it was totally amazing. The place is generally full, so a reservation is recommended, especially if you are going on a weekend. Very good option if youre a vegetarian. Food & Drinks: We started off with small plates - Farro & Sweet Potatoes and Pedros Black Beans & Rice - and cocktails - BB Lemonada and Chile Mango Margarita. To begin with cocktails, Chile Mango Margarita was great. More alcoholic in terms of taste but the rest of the flavors, especially the spice, came together very well. BB Lemonada was good if you prefer less alcohol taste. Farro & Sweet Potatoes was the star of the meal. The sweetness and the acidity combined really well and you just cant stop having it. Definitely to be tried. Pedros Black Beans & Rice was good. Nothing amazing about it but no complaints either. For the entree, we ordered Hongos Taco. It was delicious. The taste was fantastic and the balance of taco size to stuffing was near perfect which made it very convenient to eat. For dessert, we went for Butterscotch Flan and Caramelized Vanilla Bean Cheesecake. Butterscotch Flan was fantastic. The flavors were amazing and the coconut cream on top had a very subtle taste, not empowering the butterscotch. Caramelized Vanilla Bean Cheesecake was very good. Although the sorbet wasnt going well with the cheesecake. Cheesecake, alone, would have made a great dessert. I loved the crust at the bottom. Ambiance: With summers in, the best place to sit is in open but you certainly dont want a corner seating. The lady at the entrance was considerate enough to tell us where the seats are available before getting us there. So we opted for inside table instead of the open - and we didnt regret it at all. The interiors were classy yet casual. The lighting can be improved, especially on the left side of the restaurant. There are bulbs suspended from the ceiling above each table but all they have is illuminated filament with minimum lighting. We were pleasantly surprised by the candle on the table (I was able to claim a candlelight dinner to my wife ;) ). I havent been to the second floor but Im quite sure it receives more natural light than the first. The music was a little louder than we normally see at other restaurants but we were still able to hear each other quite easily so it wasnt bothering. Service: Our server, Clare, was amazing. She seemed naturally excited about the food here - especially for Farro & Sweet Potatoes and Butterscotch Flan. The service was quick, although we thought the drinks would arrive before small plates. Having said that, we didnt experience any gaps between the appetizers and entrees. Overall, great service and very friendly staff. Overall, a great place to have some amazing Mexican food in Cincinnati.

JP

JP Smith

While the food was fine, my experience there wasnt. Last night (6/12/14), my wife and I were downtown for an event and decided to try out Nada. We were seated immediately and were looking forward to a nice meal. The server took our drink order and the appetizer came a short while later. Next, is where the bad service kicked in. We were ready to order and she walked past us several times, even after I made eye contact with her twice, indicating I was looking for her. After about 10 minutes, she takes our order and shes off again. Five minutes later, two diners were seated next to us and they were also being served by this same person. She promptly takes their drink orders, brings them appetizers and about 10 minutes later, their food arrives. Mind you, our meals have not arrived yet. A couple of minutes later, our meals arrive. My wife and I are not happy at this point. Another five minutes pass and she checks on the couple next to us and, seemingly as an afterthought, catches herself and turns to check on us. At this point, I went from decided to pay for our meal and on to needing to talk to the manager. So, the next time our server passes by I decline ordering dessert and, instead, ask for the check and to speak to the manager. After about five minutes, the manager (Chris Smith) arrives and I let him know my dissatisfaction. I explain to him my experience and question if there might be some unwritten "policy" related to certain "types" of customers (my wife and I are persons of color). He picks up on this and is immediately dismissive of not just this notion but of any notion that the service was poor, telling us how they get such rave reviews for their service. However, the two women who had been served before us (both Caucasian) chimed in and said they had both noticed how poor our service was, as well, and were particularly suprised to see that they had been served meals prior to us. Amazingly, Chris now finds our complaint credible and offers to discount our meal. I told him "no thank you" and that I would be paying my bill in full, which I did. I told him I would much rather that he fix the service there, should I ever consider returning there. He then apologized and told me that he wanted me to be satisfied but, I stated "how could that possibly be when you were so dismissive of any concerns I expressed?" I promptly paid my bill, took the business card Chris offered and left. I doubt that Ill be back.

TH

th blckdmnd

Had dinner at Nada during our first visit to Cincinnati since it showed up on all the lists of suggested restaurants. After eating there, Im not sure why it did. Atmosphere is generally nice. It was great weather so we opted to sit in the patio area outside. Sitting under the tree with lanterns hanging on the branches was a nice experience that was completely ruined by the incredibly loud, obnoxious music coming from the speaker 10 feet away. Im not just making this up; I couldnt carry on conversation with my wife because of how loud & obnoxious it was. Suggestion: put on something classy that matches the restaurants outward appearance. Food: mediocre & expensive. My wife liked her fish tacos. I ordered the "chicken enchiladas"...which were more like 4 flour tortillas rolled 2 inches thick with a couple small pieces of chicken and uncooked black beans inside. Seriously...I could have made a more appetizing dish at home, and my culinary skills are nothing to be envied. Not to mention it was a $19 dish...it couldnt have cost them more than $2.50 to make. I understand they gotta make a profit, and Im happy to pay for good food, but this was just not good. At all. On the other hand, the chips and salsa were actually really good, except that we ran out of salsa fairly quickly and didnt get any more even after asking. Which leads me to... Service: not good. Our server ignored us a lot. Since someone else brought our food out, he came by to ask how everything looked. It looked good, so we communicated that and asked for more salsa, which never came. The next time we saw him, he walked up and said "So you saved room for dessert, right?" We didnt get asked by anyone how our food actually was. Im not one to go cheap on servers, since you never know what factors are influencing their night, so I started a conversation with him while he was collecting the bill. He didnt seem very excited about working there or living in Cincinnati. Cant fault him for that, but it seemed like he lets it affect how he treats his guests. I wouldnt suggest visiting this restaurant. Its incredibly overpriced and not very tasty. However, they have great potential and could easily turn around some of these negative reviews. We plan on returning to Cincinnati, but until some of these problems are fixed, we wont be back to Nada.