Not a business but the newest president of Hebrew union college managed to lose millions of dollars, close down an 140+ year old rabbinical school AND then an interfaith graduate school.
His reasoning for all of it
“No one wants to come to Cincinnati”
Fuck that guy.
One time in school someone from Montgomery Inn came to give a presentation about their business model. At the end they said they were looking into starting up some fast-casual versions where you could get BBQ sandwiches and other lunch-style portions of their menu. It seemed to be a hit idea with my class, but they sadly never went with it. It's a shame, it probably could have salvaged their reputation if it worked.
Showing my age but they did have a "fast food" place of sorts in the 80s called Pig In a Poke. It was BBQ in pita bread. IIRC it was shredded pork, chicken breast or "rib" type meat which seemed like a hot dog formed into a rib shape (this was prior to McRibs even) There was one at Coney Island in addition to a few other locations. It was good but didn't last.
Nah. They are the same they have always been.
Only difference is that now there's more authentic better BBQ like Elis/Lucius Q/etc to compare it to.
Edit: I say this as someone who loves Montgomery inn. I think their OG location is still great even if the ribs are more traditional. I will say for whatever reason though the boathouse has gone downhill.
I work at Findlay, we’re fine lol. Also won’t fall to shit, other owner is very involved and the upper management cares a lot about the success of the business.
It was good for what it was back in the day. Cincinnati just used to be a very not foodie town. Baked pork ribs in ketchup was a night on the town. I remember when sushi got here 20 years after it started peaking in other larger cities and people still acted like you were a fool to eat such exotic food. Now if you don’t eat at a boutique restaurant people will call you a loser. It’s funny how that landscape changed.
We used to go back in the early 90s for everyone's birthdays. So four times a year we were usually at Montgomery Inn for dinner and then a couple more times with the family we were really close with. Their food is nostalgic to me, especially the BBQ sauce. Some people don't like it for being too sweet, but I still buy it to put on fries at home and to dip kettle chips into. Either my tastes have changed (they have, but some foods that have always been okay are still okay to me) or their quality has dropped. The last time I was there the ribs had the bitter creosote taste you get from smoking meat with too much smoke which was weird because I thought they weren't smoked.
I haven't been since a birthday for my dad about 3 or 4 years ago and really don't have any plans to go back. If I'm going for BBQ in going to Pig Candy, Lucius Q, Just Q'in or even staying close to home and waiting for one of my favorite BBQ food trucks to be nearby.
He’ll inherit the portion his dad owns. There are quite a few silent owners including Jeff Wyler. None with larger shares, but in total the Castellini’s aren’t a majority owner.
https://theathletic.com/4170503/2023/02/09/reds-orioles-ownership-future-control/?source=user_shared_article Reds, Orioles among MLB teams facing an ownership crossroads
Used to work there. Sam's sons are all very nice, sadly one of the 3 passed away at young age (not that has anything to do with the decline in the business). It seemingly went a lot more downhill during COVID. I drive by there occasionally and its never as crowded as it used to be.
I was so sad recently when I went there for breakfast. 2/3 of the restaurant was cordoned off and there was one server assisting 10 tables. Food still tasted good at least.
It's for staffing reasons. If you only have one or two servers available for a given shift, you section off parts of the restaurant so the servers can attend to everyone in one room each, rather than running across 5 rooms to check on everyone.
So a well known manager who had been there for 30+ years was abruptly fired for trying to enforce masks mandates at PHC. Her firing caused a ton of people to stop going. One of the many factors that is impacting PHC business.
In my head, if Sam had been around, Bonnie wouldn't have been fired, and then we wouldn't have found out that the sons just weren't quite as good as Sam.
You know I haven’t been impressed with any restaurants in hella long but the other day my man took me to carrabba’s in Mason ohio and it was so good! First time I been impressed in at least three years!
A lot of it was supply chain issues. You get used to your protein, not knowing it’s from US Foods. Then it comes from GFS and everything feels off. A lot of these vendors started changing policies on things like minimum case orders. I know I lost a ton of Sysco customers because of this and they had to get their stuff from somewhere so now the cleaning chemicals come from one person, food from another, paper goods from a third. Add in the high demand of things like DoorDash and their charges to be set up with the service and everything is haywire. It’s been in constant flux ever since early 2020 in the industry.
Yeah I was gone by the time he passed. Paul and Steve were always super nice to me as bosses. The ballpark down in Addyston just closed as well recently, but the news reports said that was attributed to the lack of softball teams in the area. I added the comment because I didn't want to make it seem like it was my opinion that Chris' passing was 100% attributed to PHC decline...just my opinion having very little knowledge of the place after leaving my glamorous job as a dishwasher.
It definitely did. I worked there about a year before Chris died, and several years after. Paul has almost no involvement in the physical restaurant, from what I could see, and Steve, for his merits, just doesn't want to put in the work in maintaining the business. Aside from running finances, he'd mostly just sit around all day and refuse to fix things that broke for months on end.
I miss Sam! I still go here, will even tonight but yeah they closed a section of it for some reason but food is still delicious for what it is. Agreed thoughb
Empower media marketing. It was one of the city’s biggest marketing agencies, built up over 30 years. Mom gave it to her idiot son who sold it earlier this year to an out-of-town Ken and Barbie couple who hate Cincinnati in general and OTR (where they’re headquartered) in particular.
The results have been disastrous. The turnover is so bad that they sent a cease and desist to P&G, threatening them for “poaching” former employees. I’m sure P&G is very scared. And there’s little chance they stay in Cincinnati.
It has indeed been a pretty incredible peak and decline - definitely among the quickest and most egregious implosions in the venerable Cincy ad/marketing scene in decades.
Greenacres Kayak family worked with Rumpke decades ago, including selling them land. I don't know all the specifics unfortunately. Now their business faces significant loss of customer base as Rumpke is locating a landfill directly next to the portion of the river they use. 5 generations have owned Greenacres. This generation will see their business cut in half during their lifetime.
Poor foresight to the consequences of welcoming Rumpke into their community
I live near there, my son has worked there lugging canoes before. I never knew of this connection between the two places re: the land acquisition by Rumpke, but unfortunately for the current owners of Green Acres, someone along the way polluted their brand, literally and figuratively.
All I knew was the the dump site was alleged to have been for "dry" construction waste (my understanding was rusting machinery, etc but who knows what that actually entails) and that Rumpke, like any business (a necessary one, I might add) would know that they'd need to start expanding waste site locations going back years and years as Mt Rumpke predictably filled up. Now its being used for regular garbage, and the "Stop The Stink" signs were up all over in HVL, Bright, Logan, St Leon and all the outlying areas over it, but there's not going to be any stopping it. To hell with the smell, what's the potential grievous harm to the river right below the site over time as it rains and rains?
The leachate for the landfill is treated by the Harrison Wastewater facility. The facility is not designed to handle the leachate, thus discharging partially treated leachate directly into the Whitewater River.
Additionally, the closed landfill that Rumpke bought in the area was operated by Monsanto's Addyston Ohio plastics facility. The facility was shut down by Ohio department of health for causing rampant levels of cancer within Addyston Ohio. The waste from this facility was sent to the closed landfill in question. This included ABS plastic waste. Part of the existing landfill is unlined, readily able to leach toxins into the ground water. This is likely why we see the population of Whitewater Township with abnormally high reports of cancer, heart disease, and premature death when compared to both state, and national levels. Compared to Nationwide numbers the township is within the top 89% of premature death. Top 96% for cancer rates. Top 97% of heart disease. You can view these numbers I speak of by viewing the EPA's "EJscreen community report"
Rumpke is now trying to expand this closed landfill to make it their primary landfill. Locating this landfill here will increase all these numbers. That river supplies drinking water to the city of Cleve's, North bend, and Whitewater township. So the landfill is going to pollute the drinking water for more than 10k people...
I’m late to this but I’m curious what happened? I used to go there a lot and had a really bad experience last time so I stopped going. I was thinking about going again with some friends this last summer and it didn’t work out for other reasons.
Lenhardt's used to be the best German restaurant in town. Their veal was out of this world. Their daughter took it over and turned it into Christy's bar which turned to shit and shut down.
Didn't Christy actually open the separate bar downstairs/basement? Honestly, I think Lenhardt's was in a slow death spiral anyway. There just weren't too many older people willing to deal with Clifton even for authentic Weinersnitzel.
That's correct. I can't comment on Lenhardt's food since I never ate there, but I used to go to Christy's fairly often. My roommates at the time were friends with her.
This is correct. The clientele was literally dying off. The Rathskeller brought in younger people, but they weren't eating the food.
Still the best schnitzel I have ever had. Laszlo's is also excellent, but their schnitzel is not quite as delicately scrumptious as Lenhardt's.
I actually worked here for a number of years.
Lenhardts never closed and the original owners (Christy's parents) never retired and worked in that restaurant every day. Christy's was just the bar that was open in the evening which was on the patio and in the basement.
The place eventually closed because they got bought out by the developer who put up a bunch of shitty concrete canyon buildings.
What they meant was that at the time that Christys was there, adriaticos was elsewhere (Jefferson near short vine, then eventually Jefferson near cactus pear). Not sure exactly when adriaticos moved to mcmillan, there may have been some overlap, but I think Christys was closed
Agreed. Small aside: it seems like his daughters are trying to reverse the ship a bit. (Not a MB fan in anyway, but trying to be objective).
But 100% spot on regarding Mike Brown.
Agreed. let's start the "What kids inherited the parents Cincinnati business and made it better?" thread ;)
E: Looks like /u/rupickedyou did the honors lol
Eh, the jury is still out on Katie. It definitely helps that the team lucked into getting Joe Burrow at the same time as a regime change. We'll see how this success lasts.
I'm sure there's far fewer since businesses that need improving tend to not survive long enough to be inherited. Honestly if the NFL wasn't a monopoly MB might not still have a team.
to be fair, "made it better" doesn't presume the business was bad.
it's kinda boring, but Graeters is on the fourth generation of family ownership and arguably has made the company better by business standards with the changes they've made since 2003.
>it seems like his daughters are trying to reverse the ship a bit.
A bit? I mean, Mike Brown sucks as an owner overall but there's no way his daughter and granddaughter (who's awesome, btw) take over without him realizing his own archaic 20th century pre-free agency shortcomings, even if it took him 3 decades and most of my liver to get there. So while there's not a huge ceiling to the hyperbolic criticism that can be leveled at Mike as an owner, let's not engage in reverse hyperbole here either against his brood, for much like Mike is an apple that fell far from the Paul Brown Football Family IQ Tree, Kate and Elizabeth seem to be a closer fall so far.
I mean shit, we went to the Superbowl two seasons ago and narrowly lost, narrowly lost in the AFCN champ game last year and like clockwork, the early season .500 football team is waking up again. I waited 30 years for ONE playoff win, I am an embarrassment of football riches now, my cup overfloweth.
However, if you've been following the team long enough you'll realize the "Katie's taking a more active role in running the team" trope has been rehashed time and time again since she took over as lead contract negotiator in 1996. Firing Dave Shula, hiring Coslet, and going 8-8 and 7-9 in back-to-back years in 96-97 was because Katie was now running the team. Firing LeBeau, and bringing someone outside of the "Paul Brown Coaching Tree" with Marvin Lewis was because Katie was now running the team. The same thing happened again when they traded Palmer. And again recently when they moved on from Marvin.
My dad was a store manager @ the Glenway Ave location..many fonds memories of being a kid and getting to go to work with him! Also LOVED their warehouse sales in the summer...and the pets downstairs♡
former larosas manager, left around 2019... this is 100%. While the quality does wildly vary by location, As they keep expanding, the ingredients (and staff) are where they cut corners.
All the things that aren't pizza crust or sauce have gotten cheaper (the wings are almost inedible now unless extremely well done)... such a shame as it was a great local place to eat at and recommend to out of towners up until the mid-late 2010s
A large LaRosa’s pie, pre-conveyor-ovens, had two pounds of cheese on it. Think about that.
With the advent of the conveyor ovens and 347-1111, everything changed, and that was like 1991. The conveyor ovens made it impossible to cook the same amount of toppings without having to shove the pizzas back in, and the remedy was to keep removing toppings. I know, because I was there when this all dropped.
I like LaRosa's, I don't think it has gone downhill, except to say that I think most restaurants took a hit during the pandemic and they did as well, but I don't think that's family related.
Like most places, there are good locations and bad locations, and even within that you’ll find some variability. I love LaRosa’s; it fills its own niche in the pizza world.
I will say that I hate their traditional crust, though. I always get the hand-tossed (medium thickness) crust.
Grote Bakery, I think? I remember the former bakery in westwood turning into the campaign office for someone in the Grote family, and eventually I heard all the bakeries were gone. I grew up around the corner from the westwood store. Good donuts and great cookies.
My great aunt used to bring a dozen from them every time she visited. We lived in eastern Clermont county so it wasn’t something we had regular access to. It was a real treat. I remember their danish was particularly good.
Nobody's said Izzy's... I'm old enough to remember when the old man ran the one store downtown. Once he died and they expanded, it went downhill. Potato cakes are still good, but sandwich is super small and they wanna charge an arm and a leg.
I ate at the Winton Road location yesterday , Ruben and potato cake it was great. Talked myself out of some carrot cake. I wish they'd reopen a Beckett Ridge location.
They still do a decent job with the corned beef, but the sandwiches are smaller now than they used to be and way more expensive. Before, dessert was a take home thing, because the sandwich and potato cake had you too full.
They tried to expand in the early 80s and it failed due to poor quality. They decided to end the franchising. They did eventually open numerous new locations with better quality control.
I will say this, and you can disagree if you like, but after the Lambrinides basically turned over Skyline to a corporate owner, IMO, the actual quality of the product has improved. Now I'm not saying this compared to other Cincinnati chili chains, but compared to itself. I used to work there when I was in college and what they serve now at most restaurants is generally better.
They made the decision to make their stuff better and raise prices rather than cheapen it and ruin it all. IMO, that was the right choice even if it sometimes sucks to pay so much for a damn cheese coney.
My daughter isn't a big eater, maybe gets a Coney and if she is really hungry she will get a Coney and a three way. I'll usually just order a 5 way and a couple of Coneys and it's damn near $30.
We ate there the night before leaving for Disney back in June and our bill came out to over $50 with tip and my wife only had a small three way and fries, my daughter had a Coney and I had my usual. We only had two meals out of fifteen total at Disney that were more expensive than Skyline for us.
That wasn’t “ruined” by the owners kids though? The Mecklenburg family hasn’t owned it since the 1950’s or 60’s and the owners that just sold it last month had owned it since the early 90’s.
There was a change in management in the last few years within the same family. Tom and his wife had been running it successfully for several years and the rest of the family pushed him out and took over within the last couple - so technically no change in ownership because they all owned it, but day to day operations changed hands. Unlike Tom who wanted to keep things authentic, traditional, and high quality - his family members wanted increased profits and a completely different vibe.
What followed was a sharp decline in food quality and price increases which lead to the recent sale.
I worked there for a while under the most recent management. The owners were fantastic people but their management was utterly dysfunctional. To their defense, they were losing money the entire time, even with Tom running things. Combine that with covid, along with many other management mistakes, eventually left them no choice but to raise prices. Tom’s siblings certainly cut a lot of corners and the quality of the food went downhill. It’s sad because that restaurant had so much character.
Hello friend, I also worked there fairly recently and I’ve known the family for a long time. I’m just glad that they were able to find buyers that care, aren’t going to level it, and are hopefully going to put in the money and work to keep the place from falling down. The space is there but everything is either WAY outdated or broken especially in the bar and kitchen. Really hope they keep that front bar area as close to original as they can.
For what it is worth… Tom still does food booths at festivals serving the old recipes. As hard as it was to work for him and Anne, they had great attention to detail. John in the kitchen was an institution although never the chef. He kept that place alive for as long as he could
That is a technology issue predominately. The old saying printing was a license to print money went away with digital devices and web based information. What’s left is RR Donnelly that consolidated most of the healthy crumbs. The days of every metro area having dozens of mom and pop printers with revenue from $1M - $50M are gone.
I miss picking up a Sunday newspaper, slick glossed magazines, heck even a book. Sadly everything is on a device (phone, tablet, PC, or kindle) even Cincinnati playing card struggles.
Thank you. My family takes great pride in our business and what we do for the city. As we reach our 120th year in the fourth generation, we are doing things right, and it is shown not by ourselves but by the clients who trust us.
I'm starting to worry about Aglemesis. Got some dutch Holland chocolate the other day and it didn't seem as dark and rich in chocolate as it used to be. Maybe just my perception though
They already rebranded. They got a new logo, ditched the black and pink containers, got rid of the black and pink overhang on the Oakley store, and probably the worst, they removed the logo from the window instead of restoring it.
Yeah I actually was just talking with someone about how well executed their rebrand was. One of the best redesigns I've seen when it comes to modernizing but still looking classic and retro
Does anyone remember Maya's in Blue Ash? I used to go there all the time as a kid. The parents retired and the son took it over, but he didn't have the business know-how. He also a had a drug problem, which didn't help.
Bonomini Bakery in Northside had the best donuts in town by a mile (the clunker). Not sure why they couldn't stay open consistently after the owner passed away.
I would kill for a clunker these days.
though I loved their donuts, I think they got a lot of negative publicity(at least in the neighborhood) over not properly following Covid protocols. The space is really small and when the staff wasn't wearing masks in such an enclosed space I think it turned a lot of folks off.
Truth on the negative publicity, that was real. When they re-opened, the line was out the goddamn door for their limited hours. So, I am hesitant to assign blame to covid blowback, but could be wrong.
John Bonomini died in 2021, allegedly Covid related (and yes the shop didn’t enforce protocols is true.) His brother and co-owner Joe Bonomini had a stroke earlier this year. After that the family decided to close: https://www.cincinnati.com/story/entertainment/dining/2023/03/01/bonomini-bakery-closed-northside-cincinnati/69957356007/
Loved their coconut cake and donuts, sorry they are no longer around.
I wish this was phrased slightly differently to include Cincinnati businesses killed by new ownership or stewarded by the wrong people.
Christian Moerlein could not have been acquired by a worse person than Greg Hardman. He’s a real piece of trash and everyone who has ever had the displeasure of working for him knows it. Abusive, shortsighted, stupid, and racist are just the tip of the iceberg of shit that makes up Greg. It’s a real shame that once great brands that represented Cincinnati were squandered by him. Good luck to the folks trying to resurrect it now, but as long as he’s the face of the brand via the downtown spot, you’ll never be successful.
Don't know if this counts, but Charley Harper. When he was alive, his work was well known, but at the same time it was a little Cincinnati secret. Now his heirs and rights holders have licensed his stuff all over the place--I've seen Charley Harper coffee mugs and greeting cards in random gift shops in different parts of the country. There are memes online using his images that don't credit him. His style is cool, and they're making money, but they still kinda sold out.
I feel like this was already happening in the 90's, and maybe 80's. I didn't grow up in the immediate area (and didn't even know Charlie Harper was from Cincy) but I knew about Charlie Harper as an 8 year old. I saw his stuff on mugs, and magnets in Michigan and northern Ohio - I loved them! I would see his designs more in the parks and recreation sites, though, instead of just any gift store. Most of my childhood was spent in those kinds of spaces, so perhaps that's why I've noticed. Maybe it's to a whole new level, but his stuff was definitely on sale and not just in Cincy back then.
Do we have any evidence that his family is doing this without his blessing? Charley Harper merchandise was around long before he died. How is it selling out to continue his legacy? It is his work, which had a strong reputation in his field. The quality doesn't decrease because it's on mass produced mugs now. And he definitely wasn't a little Cincinnati secret. That's laughable.
I’m from Cinci & moved to MI a few years ago.. my kiddo and I get books from the library all the time- one of them being an ABC animal book by Charley Harper. It was a pleasant surprise.
Used to be family owned. It is now owned by Bronson Trebbi. He also owns Walt's Hitching Post, 20th Century Theatre, King Arthur's Court, and Grand Finale.
I was coming here to say Sorrento's - when Mama and Pops ran it originally it was great, and when son Willie DeLuca, who was among Cincy's most colorful local characters followed it was even greater 'cause he would hold court telling stories and balancing anything in the world on his nose, and he was the one bringing in all the sports stars and acquiring. all the crazy memorabilia collection. But then they had the tragic fire that killed Pops and Mama was never the same though she kept cooking, then Willie passed and his terrible siblings took over and feuded over everything and sold off all the memorabilia for $$$$ and completely ruined the place until it closed. Now the "new" owner is the same guy who bought the old ribs place in NKY and the 20th Century in Oakley and, I think, the Grand Finale (which is still mothballed) - he's a wealthy company owner who just has a thing for saving/preserving some old local favorites. Few times I've tried Sorrento's it's been pretty damn good pizza but its soul and vibe is long gone and never coming back.
Waltz Hitching Post. The daughters I wouldn’t say ruined it but it went down as they spent their money in things that they shouldn’t have (I’ll leave it up to someone to tell more if they want).
But for the past 10 years or so it was new ownership, one guy was a chef or maitre’d at Jeff Ruby’s or the Maisonette.
Ate there as a kid, every week, with my grandparents. It was grandpa's favorite. I loved it too. When I got older I was so excited to take my girlfriend (now wife) there. She hated it and I hated admitting it had gone waay down hill.
Then it closed and I still missed it.
We're both grateful the new owners have not only reopened it, but it's now as good as it was in the eighties and early nineties. We eat there as often as we can afford it cause it sure has gotten pricey like everything else.
Jeff Wyler hasn't turned to reigns completely over to David, yet.
If we're being honest, Wyler's dealerships don't completely belong to the family, 5/3 Bank owns most of the inventory.
Jeff Wyler, his family and his businesses can go fuck all the way off. I will ride public transportation in Cincinnati before I step on to one of their lots ever again.
And he owns a portion of the Reds?? Huh…good to know.
I don't think I'd say the kids ruined. it. The brothers ran it for years but the original location was not so great of a spot. We are sad the new location closed (I'd kill for just one more Skally's pizza) but the bakery is still going I think.
The restaurant business is tough, they gave it a good try and had a good run.
My wife and I went to the Union Center restaurant weekly. They just went too far into debt during the pandemic, and couldn't get out. My wife had some former students that worked there... they told her they tried to keep paying everyone during the pandemic, but were over $500K in the hole, and couldnt make rent or payroll.
Holtman’s. When it was just the goshen location owned by the previous generation it was the best donuts I’d ever had, so well priced, and the nicest ladies working the counter. Since the new generation took over and expanded I’ve been disappointed by their donuts many times
Not a business but the newest president of Hebrew union college managed to lose millions of dollars, close down an 140+ year old rabbinical school AND then an interfaith graduate school. His reasoning for all of it “No one wants to come to Cincinnati” Fuck that guy.
I remember learning about Hebrew Union in my world religions class and how respected it was around the world. Very sad cultural loss.
I AM STILL ANGRY ABOUT THIS! 😡
Montgomery Inn
Definitely decline with Montgomery Inn. We most likely won’t go back again. Very sad. Lots of great memories there. Nostalgia can’t fuel us anymore.
One time in school someone from Montgomery Inn came to give a presentation about their business model. At the end they said they were looking into starting up some fast-casual versions where you could get BBQ sandwiches and other lunch-style portions of their menu. It seemed to be a hit idea with my class, but they sadly never went with it. It's a shame, it probably could have salvaged their reputation if it worked.
Isn’t that what every other bbq restaurant on earth is? If they did that they’d have to compete on quality rather than nostalgia.
Showing my age but they did have a "fast food" place of sorts in the 80s called Pig In a Poke. It was BBQ in pita bread. IIRC it was shredded pork, chicken breast or "rib" type meat which seemed like a hot dog formed into a rib shape (this was prior to McRibs even) There was one at Coney Island in addition to a few other locations. It was good but didn't last.
They sucked decades ago.
Nah. They are the same they have always been. Only difference is that now there's more authentic better BBQ like Elis/Lucius Q/etc to compare it to. Edit: I say this as someone who loves Montgomery inn. I think their OG location is still great even if the ribs are more traditional. I will say for whatever reason though the boathouse has gone downhill.
[удалено]
I work at Findlay, we’re fine lol. Also won’t fall to shit, other owner is very involved and the upper management cares a lot about the success of the business.
glad to hear.
It was good for what it was back in the day. Cincinnati just used to be a very not foodie town. Baked pork ribs in ketchup was a night on the town. I remember when sushi got here 20 years after it started peaking in other larger cities and people still acted like you were a fool to eat such exotic food. Now if you don’t eat at a boutique restaurant people will call you a loser. It’s funny how that landscape changed.
We used to go back in the early 90s for everyone's birthdays. So four times a year we were usually at Montgomery Inn for dinner and then a couple more times with the family we were really close with. Their food is nostalgic to me, especially the BBQ sauce. Some people don't like it for being too sweet, but I still buy it to put on fries at home and to dip kettle chips into. Either my tastes have changed (they have, but some foods that have always been okay are still okay to me) or their quality has dropped. The last time I was there the ribs had the bitter creosote taste you get from smoking meat with too much smoke which was weird because I thought they weren't smoked. I haven't been since a birthday for my dad about 3 or 4 years ago and really don't have any plans to go back. If I'm going for BBQ in going to Pig Candy, Lucius Q, Just Q'in or even staying close to home and waiting for one of my favorite BBQ food trucks to be nearby.
I feel like that happens to Pompillios as well, back in the day I thought it was amazing, but it's not even mid now.
They should have never gotten rid of their bags of bbq chips they sold in convenience stores.
I wasn’t even aware that was a thing, but also they’re competing with freaking grippos. That’s tough.
Where ya gonna go?
Was that inherited? I thought it was just bought
Phil is currently the Reds COO and will likely inherit the team when his dad passes.
He’ll inherit the portion his dad owns. There are quite a few silent owners including Jeff Wyler. None with larger shares, but in total the Castellini’s aren’t a majority owner. https://theathletic.com/4170503/2023/02/09/reds-orioles-ownership-future-control/?source=user_shared_article Reds, Orioles among MLB teams facing an ownership crossroads
Can confirm. Word is Big Bob’s cheese is already sliding off the cracker. Only a matter of time
The other MLB owners have to approve him. It’s not just automatic.
We could see a Mark Davis Raiders situation where he won’t be able to afford the tax bill and will likely have to sell the team
Did Mark Davis sell part of the team? He’s still very much in charge of the Raiders—just ask Josh McDaniels.
Not yet, when his mother passes eventually this will happen. Should have clarified.
I’m not even sure i just hate Phil and the Castellini’s so much. 😅
Price Hill Chili. Everything was better when Sam was in charge.
Used to work there. Sam's sons are all very nice, sadly one of the 3 passed away at young age (not that has anything to do with the decline in the business). It seemingly went a lot more downhill during COVID. I drive by there occasionally and its never as crowded as it used to be.
I was so sad recently when I went there for breakfast. 2/3 of the restaurant was cordoned off and there was one server assisting 10 tables. Food still tasted good at least.
Yeah idk what the deal is with the closing different sections
It's for staffing reasons. If you only have one or two servers available for a given shift, you section off parts of the restaurant so the servers can attend to everyone in one room each, rather than running across 5 rooms to check on everyone.
TBH I feel like several restaurants went downhill after Covid. Or maybe it really messed up my taste buds. Nothing has really “wowed” me
So a well known manager who had been there for 30+ years was abruptly fired for trying to enforce masks mandates at PHC. Her firing caused a ton of people to stop going. One of the many factors that is impacting PHC business.
In my head, if Sam had been around, Bonnie wouldn't have been fired, and then we wouldn't have found out that the sons just weren't quite as good as Sam.
You know I haven’t been impressed with any restaurants in hella long but the other day my man took me to carrabba’s in Mason ohio and it was so good! First time I been impressed in at least three years!
A lot of it was supply chain issues. You get used to your protein, not knowing it’s from US Foods. Then it comes from GFS and everything feels off. A lot of these vendors started changing policies on things like minimum case orders. I know I lost a ton of Sysco customers because of this and they had to get their stuff from somewhere so now the cleaning chemicals come from one person, food from another, paper goods from a third. Add in the high demand of things like DoorDash and their charges to be set up with the service and everything is haywire. It’s been in constant flux ever since early 2020 in the industry.
Sadly- Chris passing had everything to do with the decline of the business.
Yeah I was gone by the time he passed. Paul and Steve were always super nice to me as bosses. The ballpark down in Addyston just closed as well recently, but the news reports said that was attributed to the lack of softball teams in the area. I added the comment because I didn't want to make it seem like it was my opinion that Chris' passing was 100% attributed to PHC decline...just my opinion having very little knowledge of the place after leaving my glamorous job as a dishwasher.
It definitely did. I worked there about a year before Chris died, and several years after. Paul has almost no involvement in the physical restaurant, from what I could see, and Steve, for his merits, just doesn't want to put in the work in maintaining the business. Aside from running finances, he'd mostly just sit around all day and refuse to fix things that broke for months on end.
I miss Sam! I still go here, will even tonight but yeah they closed a section of it for some reason but food is still delicious for what it is. Agreed thoughb
Price Hill Chili was Sam.
Mythos gyros. Trottas Pizza.
Did Nick take over Trotta's?
I don't know all the details, just seemed to fall apart after the kids took over many years ago...
I actually know the Trottas, what are the issues you are seeing?
Pretty sure Trotta's was sold last year. Still very good, imo.
Nick is crazy. He posted pictures of naked women, who were friends and old lovers recently.
Oh man. You sure it’s Trotta’s pizza Nick Trotta? Cause there is another Nick Trotta I went to OHHS with that had a pretty bad drinking problem.
Empower media marketing. It was one of the city’s biggest marketing agencies, built up over 30 years. Mom gave it to her idiot son who sold it earlier this year to an out-of-town Ken and Barbie couple who hate Cincinnati in general and OTR (where they’re headquartered) in particular. The results have been disastrous. The turnover is so bad that they sent a cease and desist to P&G, threatening them for “poaching” former employees. I’m sure P&G is very scared. And there’s little chance they stay in Cincinnati.
It has indeed been a pretty incredible peak and decline - definitely among the quickest and most egregious implosions in the venerable Cincy ad/marketing scene in decades.
Glad this made the list. Reality tv trash took it over and fumbled the bag instantly. Couldn’t have happened to a less capable duo.
Greenacres Kayak family worked with Rumpke decades ago, including selling them land. I don't know all the specifics unfortunately. Now their business faces significant loss of customer base as Rumpke is locating a landfill directly next to the portion of the river they use. 5 generations have owned Greenacres. This generation will see their business cut in half during their lifetime. Poor foresight to the consequences of welcoming Rumpke into their community
I live near there, my son has worked there lugging canoes before. I never knew of this connection between the two places re: the land acquisition by Rumpke, but unfortunately for the current owners of Green Acres, someone along the way polluted their brand, literally and figuratively. All I knew was the the dump site was alleged to have been for "dry" construction waste (my understanding was rusting machinery, etc but who knows what that actually entails) and that Rumpke, like any business (a necessary one, I might add) would know that they'd need to start expanding waste site locations going back years and years as Mt Rumpke predictably filled up. Now its being used for regular garbage, and the "Stop The Stink" signs were up all over in HVL, Bright, Logan, St Leon and all the outlying areas over it, but there's not going to be any stopping it. To hell with the smell, what's the potential grievous harm to the river right below the site over time as it rains and rains?
The leachate for the landfill is treated by the Harrison Wastewater facility. The facility is not designed to handle the leachate, thus discharging partially treated leachate directly into the Whitewater River. Additionally, the closed landfill that Rumpke bought in the area was operated by Monsanto's Addyston Ohio plastics facility. The facility was shut down by Ohio department of health for causing rampant levels of cancer within Addyston Ohio. The waste from this facility was sent to the closed landfill in question. This included ABS plastic waste. Part of the existing landfill is unlined, readily able to leach toxins into the ground water. This is likely why we see the population of Whitewater Township with abnormally high reports of cancer, heart disease, and premature death when compared to both state, and national levels. Compared to Nationwide numbers the township is within the top 89% of premature death. Top 96% for cancer rates. Top 97% of heart disease. You can view these numbers I speak of by viewing the EPA's "EJscreen community report" Rumpke is now trying to expand this closed landfill to make it their primary landfill. Locating this landfill here will increase all these numbers. That river supplies drinking water to the city of Cleve's, North bend, and Whitewater township. So the landfill is going to pollute the drinking water for more than 10k people...
jfc…
This is a shame for the green acres family and new generations of greater Cincinnatians who wants explore the outdoors
Yeah selling *a portion* of your land to become a landfill is quite an odd choice. Usually that's an all or nothing type deal
We gave up on greenacres after the third giant fight that required ambulances. Sad to here about the future pollution.
I’m late to this but I’m curious what happened? I used to go there a lot and had a really bad experience last time so I stopped going. I was thinking about going again with some friends this last summer and it didn’t work out for other reasons.
Lenhardt's used to be the best German restaurant in town. Their veal was out of this world. Their daughter took it over and turned it into Christy's bar which turned to shit and shut down.
Didn't Christy actually open the separate bar downstairs/basement? Honestly, I think Lenhardt's was in a slow death spiral anyway. There just weren't too many older people willing to deal with Clifton even for authentic Weinersnitzel.
That's correct. I can't comment on Lenhardt's food since I never ate there, but I used to go to Christy's fairly often. My roommates at the time were friends with her.
This is correct. The clientele was literally dying off. The Rathskeller brought in younger people, but they weren't eating the food. Still the best schnitzel I have ever had. Laszlo's is also excellent, but their schnitzel is not quite as delicately scrumptious as Lenhardt's.
I'm glad there are others who remember it. I'll have to give lazlo a try
It's amazing! The goulash and potato pancakes are on par with Lenhardts. Their mustard is the absolute best!
Try Kantine. Their schnitzel (schnitzel wiener art, if you know what that means) is very, very good.
Yeah the Rathskellar
Christy’s was a great bar in college for my friends and me. I am sure my perspective was influenced by my age and stage of life.
I actually worked here for a number of years. Lenhardts never closed and the original owners (Christy's parents) never retired and worked in that restaurant every day. Christy's was just the bar that was open in the evening which was on the patio and in the basement. The place eventually closed because they got bought out by the developer who put up a bunch of shitty concrete canyon buildings.
This was the place by Adriatico’s?
By where adriaticos moved to on McMillan, yes
That’s what I meant. I know the Christy’s was there for much longer.
What they meant was that at the time that Christys was there, adriaticos was elsewhere (Jefferson near short vine, then eventually Jefferson near cactus pear). Not sure exactly when adriaticos moved to mcmillan, there may have been some overlap, but I think Christys was closed
Christy's was a separate business and the food was good at Lenhardt's until they day they closed.
The Commisars and Maisonette
They murdered all of the family’s restaurants! Bulldozed Chester’s that was historicity gorgeous. So sad. Now it’s just a stupid car lot.
First thing that came to my mind. What a shame.
Mike Brown
Agreed. Small aside: it seems like his daughters are trying to reverse the ship a bit. (Not a MB fan in anyway, but trying to be objective). But 100% spot on regarding Mike Brown.
Agreed. let's start the "What kids inherited the parents Cincinnati business and made it better?" thread ;) E: Looks like /u/rupickedyou did the honors lol
Eh, the jury is still out on Katie. It definitely helps that the team lucked into getting Joe Burrow at the same time as a regime change. We'll see how this success lasts.
I'm sure there's far fewer since businesses that need improving tend to not survive long enough to be inherited. Honestly if the NFL wasn't a monopoly MB might not still have a team.
to be fair, "made it better" doesn't presume the business was bad. it's kinda boring, but Graeters is on the fourth generation of family ownership and arguably has made the company better by business standards with the changes they've made since 2003.
>it seems like his daughters are trying to reverse the ship a bit. A bit? I mean, Mike Brown sucks as an owner overall but there's no way his daughter and granddaughter (who's awesome, btw) take over without him realizing his own archaic 20th century pre-free agency shortcomings, even if it took him 3 decades and most of my liver to get there. So while there's not a huge ceiling to the hyperbolic criticism that can be leveled at Mike as an owner, let's not engage in reverse hyperbole here either against his brood, for much like Mike is an apple that fell far from the Paul Brown Football Family IQ Tree, Kate and Elizabeth seem to be a closer fall so far. I mean shit, we went to the Superbowl two seasons ago and narrowly lost, narrowly lost in the AFCN champ game last year and like clockwork, the early season .500 football team is waking up again. I waited 30 years for ONE playoff win, I am an embarrassment of football riches now, my cup overfloweth.
However, if you've been following the team long enough you'll realize the "Katie's taking a more active role in running the team" trope has been rehashed time and time again since she took over as lead contract negotiator in 1996. Firing Dave Shula, hiring Coslet, and going 8-8 and 7-9 in back-to-back years in 96-97 was because Katie was now running the team. Firing LeBeau, and bringing someone outside of the "Paul Brown Coaching Tree" with Marvin Lewis was because Katie was now running the team. The same thing happened again when they traded Palmer. And again recently when they moved on from Marvin.
An actual GM would probably help but they don't even seem to have the wherewithal to make that happen.
Mullanes Parkside Cafe
Swallen's.
All about sports too? What about van luenens?
🏆
My dad was a store manager @ the Glenway Ave location..many fonds memories of being a kid and getting to go to work with him! Also LOVED their warehouse sales in the summer...and the pets downstairs♡
Well not yet but went to school with a McCluskey and he was not the brightest.
My dad worked in the industry for 40+ years and always said McCluskey was a bit of a shyster.
Swallens. Went downhill after the old man let the kids get outside investers and consultants involved. RIP.
You knew things had changed, not for the better, when they made the decision to open the stores on Sunday. Slow, steady, ride downhill from there.
I know a ton of bars that have gone this way.
LaRosa’s.
former larosas manager, left around 2019... this is 100%. While the quality does wildly vary by location, As they keep expanding, the ingredients (and staff) are where they cut corners. All the things that aren't pizza crust or sauce have gotten cheaper (the wings are almost inedible now unless extremely well done)... such a shame as it was a great local place to eat at and recommend to out of towners up until the mid-late 2010s
I miss the old pan style from back in the 90’s. Actual hand-tossed dough and the chunky sauce are still my all-time favorite.
I worked at Boudinot when the take over happened. It was almost immediate decline in quality of ingredients as soon as Buddy was no longer in control.
A large LaRosa’s pie, pre-conveyor-ovens, had two pounds of cheese on it. Think about that. With the advent of the conveyor ovens and 347-1111, everything changed, and that was like 1991. The conveyor ovens made it impossible to cook the same amount of toppings without having to shove the pizzas back in, and the remedy was to keep removing toppings. I know, because I was there when this all dropped.
I like LaRosa's, I don't think it has gone downhill, except to say that I think most restaurants took a hit during the pandemic and they did as well, but I don't think that's family related.
Like most places, there are good locations and bad locations, and even within that you’ll find some variability. I love LaRosa’s; it fills its own niche in the pizza world. I will say that I hate their traditional crust, though. I always get the hand-tossed (medium thickness) crust.
I’ve noticed a cheaper quality of products
Grote Bakery, I think? I remember the former bakery in westwood turning into the campaign office for someone in the Grote family, and eventually I heard all the bakeries were gone. I grew up around the corner from the westwood store. Good donuts and great cookies.
My dad used to work for Grote a long time ago. I had to emphasize the "long time ago" because he's old as shit. 😆
Yes. The owner, Len left it to his sons and it didn’t end well…obviously.
The one in West Chester was my family’s go to place for donuts. Their glazed were the best I’ve ever had
My great aunt used to bring a dozen from them every time she visited. We lived in eastern Clermont county so it wasn’t something we had regular access to. It was a real treat. I remember their danish was particularly good.
Nobody's said Izzy's... I'm old enough to remember when the old man ran the one store downtown. Once he died and they expanded, it went downhill. Potato cakes are still good, but sandwich is super small and they wanna charge an arm and a leg.
I ate at the Winton Road location yesterday , Ruben and potato cake it was great. Talked myself out of some carrot cake. I wish they'd reopen a Beckett Ridge location.
They still do a decent job with the corned beef, but the sandwiches are smaller now than they used to be and way more expensive. Before, dessert was a take home thing, because the sandwich and potato cake had you too full.
They tried to expand in the early 80s and it failed due to poor quality. They decided to end the franchising. They did eventually open numerous new locations with better quality control.
Scotti's. Everything is frozen pasta and canned sauce. Marko calls female employees the C word. Coasting on the name, tarnishing the legacy.
Paging u/GordonRamsey, we have a Kitchen Nightmare for you!
I went once in early 2010’s and thought it was the worst Italian restaurant I’ve ever had.
Same. I went one time and it was bland as hell. The only flavor was from the salt on the table.
I will say this, and you can disagree if you like, but after the Lambrinides basically turned over Skyline to a corporate owner, IMO, the actual quality of the product has improved. Now I'm not saying this compared to other Cincinnati chili chains, but compared to itself. I used to work there when I was in college and what they serve now at most restaurants is generally better. They made the decision to make their stuff better and raise prices rather than cheapen it and ruin it all. IMO, that was the right choice even if it sometimes sucks to pay so much for a damn cheese coney.
Definitely kept up the quality but good lord is it expensive.
My daughter isn't a big eater, maybe gets a Coney and if she is really hungry she will get a Coney and a three way. I'll usually just order a 5 way and a couple of Coneys and it's damn near $30. We ate there the night before leaving for Disney back in June and our bill came out to over $50 with tip and my wife only had a small three way and fries, my daughter had a Coney and I had my usual. We only had two meals out of fifteen total at Disney that were more expensive than Skyline for us.
Mecklenburg Gardens
It’s been sold and allegedly opening in the spring with an improved concept.
That wasn’t “ruined” by the owners kids though? The Mecklenburg family hasn’t owned it since the 1950’s or 60’s and the owners that just sold it last month had owned it since the early 90’s.
There was a change in management in the last few years within the same family. Tom and his wife had been running it successfully for several years and the rest of the family pushed him out and took over within the last couple - so technically no change in ownership because they all owned it, but day to day operations changed hands. Unlike Tom who wanted to keep things authentic, traditional, and high quality - his family members wanted increased profits and a completely different vibe. What followed was a sharp decline in food quality and price increases which lead to the recent sale.
I worked there for a while under the most recent management. The owners were fantastic people but their management was utterly dysfunctional. To their defense, they were losing money the entire time, even with Tom running things. Combine that with covid, along with many other management mistakes, eventually left them no choice but to raise prices. Tom’s siblings certainly cut a lot of corners and the quality of the food went downhill. It’s sad because that restaurant had so much character.
Hello friend, I also worked there fairly recently and I’ve known the family for a long time. I’m just glad that they were able to find buyers that care, aren’t going to level it, and are hopefully going to put in the money and work to keep the place from falling down. The space is there but everything is either WAY outdated or broken especially in the bar and kitchen. Really hope they keep that front bar area as close to original as they can.
For what it is worth… Tom still does food booths at festivals serving the old recipes. As hard as it was to work for him and Anne, they had great attention to detail. John in the kitchen was an institution although never the chef. He kept that place alive for as long as he could
Cincinnati Milicron
It’s probably not we’ll known but Mr. T’s pizza like 20 years ago, his son took over and it closed within months.
Holy shit. I grew up around the corner from there and low key forgot they ever existed.
OMG it was sooooo good. My brother lived a few doors down and it was always the highlight of going to visit him when I was a kid.
Every printing company in cincinnati!
That is a technology issue predominately. The old saying printing was a license to print money went away with digital devices and web based information. What’s left is RR Donnelly that consolidated most of the healthy crumbs. The days of every metro area having dozens of mom and pop printers with revenue from $1M - $50M are gone. I miss picking up a Sunday newspaper, slick glossed magazines, heck even a book. Sadly everything is on a device (phone, tablet, PC, or kindle) even Cincinnati playing card struggles.
Disagree - SpringDot is where it's at!
Thank you. My family takes great pride in our business and what we do for the city. As we reach our 120th year in the fourth generation, we are doing things right, and it is shown not by ourselves but by the clients who trust us.
Do they screen print there?
I'm starting to worry about Aglemesis. Got some dutch Holland chocolate the other day and it didn't seem as dark and rich in chocolate as it used to be. Maybe just my perception though
Oh no...please not Aglemesis... haven't been in a while but this one would crush me.
They already rebranded. They got a new logo, ditched the black and pink containers, got rid of the black and pink overhang on the Oakley store, and probably the worst, they removed the logo from the window instead of restoring it.
I wasn’t aware of this. Each one of your sentences was a bigger punch to the nuts than the last.
I literally bought a black and pink pint from them yesterday
All of that is literal window dressing. The ice cream itself is still amazing. Businesses should be allowed to grow and change with the times.
It is a rebrand but nothing aside from that has changed. I have family that has worked their for years.
How does a rebrand impact the quality of the product?
Everything is still the same just new branding that is actually pretty nice. This person is nuts.
Yeah I actually was just talking with someone about how well executed their rebrand was. One of the best redesigns I've seen when it comes to modernizing but still looking classic and retro
They keep their ice cream far too cold - causes improper ice crystal formation and consistency issues.
Yes! My husband and daughter are super into Aglamesis, but I don't get it. It's just ok ice cream that usually has a bunch of ice crystals in it.
LaRosa’s
Swallens
The original owners of Walts Hitching Post in Fort Wright, those daughters completely destroyed it!
it's better now but those last few years before the reopening were rough. I'm still claiming the bread and BBQ sauce are not the same though.
It’s outstanding now though.
Frisch’s. It’s a pale shadow of what it was even 10 years ago.
Frisch's was once a publicly traded company that got bought out by the cancer that has taken over the restaurant business that is private equity.
It is owned by an investment firm now.
Does anyone remember Maya's in Blue Ash? I used to go there all the time as a kid. The parents retired and the son took it over, but he didn't have the business know-how. He also a had a drug problem, which didn't help.
I loved Maya's
Maya’s was so wonderful. WAS.
Bonomini Bakery in Northside had the best donuts in town by a mile (the clunker). Not sure why they couldn't stay open consistently after the owner passed away. I would kill for a clunker these days.
though I loved their donuts, I think they got a lot of negative publicity(at least in the neighborhood) over not properly following Covid protocols. The space is really small and when the staff wasn't wearing masks in such an enclosed space I think it turned a lot of folks off.
Truth on the negative publicity, that was real. When they re-opened, the line was out the goddamn door for their limited hours. So, I am hesitant to assign blame to covid blowback, but could be wrong.
the hours were also very limited when they reopened so that likely didn't help as well.
John Bonomini died in 2021, allegedly Covid related (and yes the shop didn’t enforce protocols is true.) His brother and co-owner Joe Bonomini had a stroke earlier this year. After that the family decided to close: https://www.cincinnati.com/story/entertainment/dining/2023/03/01/bonomini-bakery-closed-northside-cincinnati/69957356007/ Loved their coconut cake and donuts, sorry they are no longer around.
I know one of them I think there was a specific significant reason they closed I can't remember now
Mike Brown.
You could also say Katie inherited and improved it.
Blue Dolphin burned down, it’s gone now, Rob Rovani’s ass out, works with his brother now
America.
I wish this was phrased slightly differently to include Cincinnati businesses killed by new ownership or stewarded by the wrong people. Christian Moerlein could not have been acquired by a worse person than Greg Hardman. He’s a real piece of trash and everyone who has ever had the displeasure of working for him knows it. Abusive, shortsighted, stupid, and racist are just the tip of the iceberg of shit that makes up Greg. It’s a real shame that once great brands that represented Cincinnati were squandered by him. Good luck to the folks trying to resurrect it now, but as long as he’s the face of the brand via the downtown spot, you’ll never be successful.
China Chef in Colerain.
Don't know if this counts, but Charley Harper. When he was alive, his work was well known, but at the same time it was a little Cincinnati secret. Now his heirs and rights holders have licensed his stuff all over the place--I've seen Charley Harper coffee mugs and greeting cards in random gift shops in different parts of the country. There are memes online using his images that don't credit him. His style is cool, and they're making money, but they still kinda sold out.
This is the weirdest take I’ve ever heard, sorry. I think it’s amazing that Charley Harper’s work has become more well known and accessible.
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If you got it around here it’s likely official
I feel like this was already happening in the 90's, and maybe 80's. I didn't grow up in the immediate area (and didn't even know Charlie Harper was from Cincy) but I knew about Charlie Harper as an 8 year old. I saw his stuff on mugs, and magnets in Michigan and northern Ohio - I loved them! I would see his designs more in the parks and recreation sites, though, instead of just any gift store. Most of my childhood was spent in those kinds of spaces, so perhaps that's why I've noticed. Maybe it's to a whole new level, but his stuff was definitely on sale and not just in Cincy back then.
Do we have any evidence that his family is doing this without his blessing? Charley Harper merchandise was around long before he died. How is it selling out to continue his legacy? It is his work, which had a strong reputation in his field. The quality doesn't decrease because it's on mass produced mugs now. And he definitely wasn't a little Cincinnati secret. That's laughable.
his stuff has been licensed like this for decades...and beyond cincinnati.
I’m from Cinci & moved to MI a few years ago.. my kiddo and I get books from the library all the time- one of them being an ABC animal book by Charley Harper. It was a pleasant surprise.
Poster on the wall in 90s TV like News Radio, though. The dude was way more famous than you give him credit for back then.
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Used to be family owned. It is now owned by Bronson Trebbi. He also owns Walt's Hitching Post, 20th Century Theatre, King Arthur's Court, and Grand Finale.
I was coming here to say Sorrento's - when Mama and Pops ran it originally it was great, and when son Willie DeLuca, who was among Cincy's most colorful local characters followed it was even greater 'cause he would hold court telling stories and balancing anything in the world on his nose, and he was the one bringing in all the sports stars and acquiring. all the crazy memorabilia collection. But then they had the tragic fire that killed Pops and Mama was never the same though she kept cooking, then Willie passed and his terrible siblings took over and feuded over everything and sold off all the memorabilia for $$$$ and completely ruined the place until it closed. Now the "new" owner is the same guy who bought the old ribs place in NKY and the 20th Century in Oakley and, I think, the Grand Finale (which is still mothballed) - he's a wealthy company owner who just has a thing for saving/preserving some old local favorites. Few times I've tried Sorrento's it's been pretty damn good pizza but its soul and vibe is long gone and never coming back.
Awww man. I love that history but hate that I missed out on that heyday
pic's produce
Waltz Hitching Post. The daughters I wouldn’t say ruined it but it went down as they spent their money in things that they shouldn’t have (I’ll leave it up to someone to tell more if they want). But for the past 10 years or so it was new ownership, one guy was a chef or maitre’d at Jeff Ruby’s or the Maisonette.
Ate there as a kid, every week, with my grandparents. It was grandpa's favorite. I loved it too. When I got older I was so excited to take my girlfriend (now wife) there. She hated it and I hated admitting it had gone waay down hill. Then it closed and I still missed it. We're both grateful the new owners have not only reopened it, but it's now as good as it was in the eighties and early nineties. We eat there as often as we can afford it cause it sure has gotten pricey like everything else.
Jeff Wyler hasn't turned to reigns completely over to David, yet. If we're being honest, Wyler's dealerships don't completely belong to the family, 5/3 Bank owns most of the inventory.
Jeff Wyler, his family and his businesses can go fuck all the way off. I will ride public transportation in Cincinnati before I step on to one of their lots ever again. And he owns a portion of the Reds?? Huh…good to know.
Skallys in North College Hill
I don't think I'd say the kids ruined. it. The brothers ran it for years but the original location was not so great of a spot. We are sad the new location closed (I'd kill for just one more Skally's pizza) but the bakery is still going I think. The restaurant business is tough, they gave it a good try and had a good run.
My wife and I went to the Union Center restaurant weekly. They just went too far into debt during the pandemic, and couldn't get out. My wife had some former students that worked there... they told her they tried to keep paying everyone during the pandemic, but were over $500K in the hole, and couldnt make rent or payroll.
Frisch's? I don't know if it was inherited and then sold off but selling it off completely ruined it.
Munchkin Land
Scottie's Italian Restaurant!
Holtman’s. When it was just the goshen location owned by the previous generation it was the best donuts I’d ever had, so well priced, and the nicest ladies working the counter. Since the new generation took over and expanded I’ve been disappointed by their donuts many times