CINCINNATI – Pop! Clink! Fizz! New Year's Eve is a fun night, filled with reminiscing about the past year and looking forward to the one ahead. It's also a great time to make a reservation for a delicious dinner at one of the many restaurants in Cincinnati offering specials.
Whether you're having a fancy dinner out, or a low-key dinner in, don't forget to pop a cork at midnight!
1. Metropole: On New Year's Eve, Metropole will serve a four-course, prix fixe menu ($95) beginning at 7:30 p.m. Choices include dinosaur kale salad; ricotta caramelle with cured duck egg, spinach and Pecorino; grilled duck breast; black grouper with Weisenberger grits; and warm maple cake with smoked pecan ice cream and charred cranberries for dessert. Of course, there's also a champagne toast. Call 513-578-6660 for reservations.
2. Via Vite: With a gorgeous view of Fountain Square, Via Vite will have two seatings for dinner. An early seating at 6 p.m. ($49) includes an Italian buffet with favorites such as Caesar salad, penne Bolognese, pizzas, gnocchi and dessert. The 9 p.m. seating ($99) includes a complimentary glass of wine or cocktail, a midnight toast, raw bar, New York strip and even more desserts! Make reservations online here.
Boca downtown will serve a four-course New Year's Eve feast for $95. Provided photo
3. Boca: Boca will serve a $95 four-course meal, including oysters Rockefeller, beef Wellington and Boca's famous Brussels sprouts. Make reservations online here.
4. Jean-Robert's Table: JRT will celebrate the traditional French New Year's Eve, the Feast of Saint Sylvestre. There are three ways to celebrate, at different times and with different prices and menus. At the bar all evening, try the French lunch tray, reimagined for dinner and featuring lobster and truffles ($50). In the dining room, the first seating ($80 for three courses, $45 for wine pairings) includes your choice from a prix fixe menu, including oysters, foie gras, lobster salad, beef tenderloin, venison and a selection of desserts. To ring in the New Year, enjoy a five-course dinner ($130) with wine pairings ($60). Call for reservations: 513-621-4777.
The Palace restaurant at The Cincinnatian Hotel will offer a five-course prix fixe dinner for New Year's Eve. Photo by the Associated Press
5. The Palace: The Palace Restaurant at the Cincinnatian is pulling out all the stops with a dinner that will allow revelers to go to their favorite party afterward. A five-course prix fixe dinner includes truffled risotto, sea bass, filet mignon with cassoulet and a spiced chocolate cake with MadTree's Thundersnow ice cream.
6. Grandview Tavern: This Fort Mitchell spot will celebrate the new year with braised short ribs, surf and turf, and potato chip-crusted sea bass, as well as a champagne toast, all to the music of Legato. Make reservations on OpenTable.
7. Fifty West: Is beer more your speed? Fifty West is hosting a special dinner with four courses, each paired with a Fifty West beer, and a special New Year's release of its Pilsner. Tickets are available for $59.02 on Eventbrite.
8. Taft's Ale House: Taft's is hosting its first New Year's bash, with options of standing room ($35) or a reserved table ($90 per person), which includes a welcome beer, special beer tapping at midnight and appetizers (included in seated tickets only; apps are available at the bar for purchase for the standing-room tickets). Tickets are available on Eventbrite, and private rooms are still available.
9. Bistro Grace: Bistro Grace in Northside may be the best value on New Year's Eve, repeating its successful three-course surf-and-turf dinner ($29.95) starting at 4 p.m. and ending with its last reservation at 10 p.m. Make your reservations on OpenTable.
What is your plan for New Year's? Going out? Staying in? Let me know @winemedineme on Twitter or comment on Facebook. I want to hear your ideas, too (because I haven't figured out what I'm doing yet)!
