Saturday, January 12, 2008

Nada

"Nada" is really a lot more than nothing. It is one of the new, downtown, hot spots, in location, atmosphere and food.
"Nada" is located at 600 Walnut St.,adjacent to the Aronoff Arts Center. Phone number 513-721-6232. The entrance is at street level and so they are handicapped accessible. There is full bar service on both floors and reservations are taken for seat on the 2nd level. I recommend a reservation if you don't want to "hang out" at the bar, before being seated.
On Thursday night at 8 PM the place was full, both up and down, with "walk ins" waiting about 1/2 hour, for seating. "Nada" is lively, noisy (but not too), upscale in ambiance and full of a mostly 30 and 40 crowd. It is owned by David Falk, the owner of "Boca" and serves Americanize true Mexican food, not Tex-Mex. The staff is young, attentive and helpful.
There were 3 of us and we were seated on the 2nd level at a table overlooking the corner of 6th and Walnut. The noise level was present but not too loud to restrain conversation.
We started with drinks, my usual, Marilyn's soft and our friends red wine. With those we had excellent Ceviche and Guacamole, a large enough portion to serve 4 people, easily, which the 3 of us devoured. There was a basket of "homemade corn chips" and a mild Salsa. Both the Ceviche, with it's strong lime flavor, and the fresh made Guacamole were outstanding, the salsa was fairly ordinary, so after a dip or two it was abandoned.
Our companion ordered Pork Green Chile, which he reported as very good and enough to fill most patrons. It is served with a side of publano rice and extra seasoning. The Chile comes in an iron pot and contains not only liquid but a roasted pork shoulder. Marilyn had perfectly satisfactory Carnitas(grilled pork) tacos. Two medium Taco's which in her case were sufficient dinner, after the Guacamole. I wanted to try the Sliders, which are appearing on more and more menu's,after staring at "The Little Owl, in New York. The two ground tenderloin patties come on fresh buns with the meat being topped with a cheese jalapeno mixture, which gives them a mild bite.
We finish with one "decaf" while our friend had a beer to wash all down. In my opinion beer is the beverage of choice for dining at Nada.
The total, including tax and tip came to $33 each for a fun, filling and enjoyable evening.

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