1. The Swire Inn
The Swire Inn at 64 S. Main St. in Middletown offers pub food, creative cocktails and live entertainment.
Its menu features sandwiches, pot roast, Chicken & Waffles, Fish & Chips, Bourbon Salmon and Shepherd’s Pie. Pub classic Bangers & Mash features sausages and mashed potatoes topped with an onion gravy and served with a side of sauerkraut.
In addition to an expansive selection of beers, the Swire Inn also offers a bevy of specialty cocktails, including a Snowflake Martini and a S’mores Martini.
MORE: New Middletown restaurant offers pub food, creative cocktails
2. The Village Parlor
The Village Parlor of Hamilton at 302 Main St. on that city’s west side features ice cream from Bexley, Ohio-based Johnson’s Real Ice Cream, a fourth-generation business that has been making ice cream since 1950.
Village Parlor’s nearly 30 different flavors include a mix of classics and hard-to-find options, like rum raisin, banana fudge, coconut almond chip, butter pecan, moose tracks, black raspberry chip, cookie dough chip and cookies and cream.
There’s also 15 different toppings, including fresh fruit and homemade nectar syrup, as well as sundaes, double dip sodas, brownie sundaes and a caramel banana sundae. It also creates its own waffle cones in-house behind a glass-and-brass enclosure, allowing for guests to watch as each one is made fresh.
MORE: New Hamilton business mixes building’s fascinating history with new flavors
3. Skally’s
Skally’s at 9558 Civic Centre Blvd. in the Streets of West Chester Twp. features cuisine with an Italian, Greek, Middle Eastern and even Brooklyn-focused flair.
The restaurant features pitas and pizza dough made in its own bakery and a wide variety of Mediterranean-style entrees and pizzas with house-made sauces and dressings.
Skally’s new location, which replaces the one opened by by the Skally family in North College Hill more than 35 years agoin 1982, retains four popular items — the gyro, pita pocket sandwich, pizza and hamburgers. It also extends its salad menu and introduces a host of house-made dressings, gluten-free options and new chicken- and fish-based sandwiches and entrees.
The restaurant imports its gluten-free dough all the way from California.
MORE: Family-owned bakery opens restaurant in West Chester
4. Blondie’s Sports Bar & Grill
Blondie’s Sports Bar & Grill at 7886 Cincinnati-Dayton Road in West Chester Twp. features a menu that includes “pre-game” fare such as Ultimate Nachos, Buffalo Chicken Dip, Jalapeño Poppers, Chicken Tenders, Fried Macaroni & Cheese and a Chicken Nachos Platter.
A “Build Your Own Fries” options allows guests to choose between crispy fry, steak fry or tater tots, then add a protein, cheese and topping. The restaurant also serves homemade soup, soon to be gluten-free, as well as traditional and boneless chicken wings, salads and tacos.
Fifteen “Slide Into Home” sandwiches include everything from a Steak Hoagie, Classic Double Decker BLT and a Teriyaki Philly to Pulled Pork, Deluxe Grilled Cheese and Grilled Fish Fillet sandwiches.
Baseline Burgers include a Basic Burger, Patty Melt Burger, and Ultimate Bacon Cheese Burger, plus a Blondie Burger (burger patty topped with an onion ring, pulled pork, cheddar cheese and jalapeños on a buttered, toasted bun with barbecue sauce) and a Heartbreaker Burger (burger patty with ham, crispy bacon, Swiss and cheddar cheeses, served on a buttered, toasted bun).
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