I’m also glad that I’m not the only one who didn’t like Balboa’s.

For downtown, the gyro at Jordan Valley or at Elm Street Diner is far bettter (again imho) than the one at Mythos.

Balboa’s is a good idea that does not come together well. Very salty, skimpy steaks plus tasteless pizza. The TasteeCakes naturally are fine.

I don’t think Mythos are the best I’ve had– Zorba’s wins that one– but these sure are good.

I’ll definitely try a Balboa’s cheesesteak sometime during the summer. It’s not easy to get to Balboa’s if one doesn’t work in downtown Cincinnati. They’re open only during lunch hours, Monday through Friday. But I should be able to swing by there sometime during June or July.

I’m not convinced that most restaurants are able to showcase their best efforts at venues such as Taste of Cincinnati. Some foods keep better in hotel trays than others. Most restaurants are, at the least, forced to cut a few corners for expediency’s sake.

The problem I have with the cheesesteak I ate at Taste of Cincinnati is fourfold: (1) the sandwich had about half as much meat as what I recall from my time in Philadelphia; (2) ditto with the amount of fried onions; (3) there was no “sauce” option [I always ordered mine in Philadelphia as, “Cheesteak…sauce…fried onions”]; and (4) the bread was stale. It also didn’t help that it was such a small sandwich, and since Julie and I were splitting everything, I had only two bites.

That was an Amoroso’s roll? I’d be interested to learn how they get the rolls to Cincinnati. I know that frozen Amoroso’s dough can be purchased through some company in Columbus. I did notice that they had a few varieties of Tastykakes available. But of course snack cakes last longer and travel better than sandwich rolls. I started to pick up a Peanut Butter Kandykake, but I didn’t figure it would survive the trip home intact (it’s sort of hard to fight large crowds with a gooey snack cake in one’s hand).

I spent a lot of time in Philadelphia, including the majority of the summer months, over a four-year period. My favorite cheesesteaks were from Chubby’s and Dalessandro’s, both located on Henry Avenue in Roxborough (across the street from one another, in fact). Chubby’s was probably my favorite…they had good fries, and customers could help themselves to pickles and sweet or hot peppers. I also managed to take the Pat’s vs. Geno’s challenge. No real preference there. What are your Philadelphia favorites?

In any case, I look forward to trying out a full-sized, produced-in-the-restaurant cheesesteak from Balboa’s.

Terry (he of the crap-laden taste buds and uneducated palate)

And Liz is right– there’s a ton of good eats here.

anonymous, i have only been in cincinnati for about 2 years and have found tons of delicious places (i moved here from NYC so definitely was used to good eats there). i think you should continue your search. there are lots of really great restaurants here… it’s one of my favorite things about cincinnati.

I, too, am a supporter of local business, but if the food isn’t good, I won’t say it is just because they’re local. That’s dishonest.

as for a line at Balboa’s, it was non-stop on the cheesesteak and pizza side on Saturday and Sunday…

And for the record phantom…I have been fortunate to have lived in many places, and do have culinary skills,,,,,whether it lends itself to cred., I agree with you…to a certain extent…I wasn’t trying to be rude, I just feel that if one is willing to comment poorly, (as I did, to get a reaction, and I did)…you see, when you are exremely sarcastic or negative and continuously use the word “crap”… this could negatively affect local business owners…

lastly…I didn’t say you were uneducated…just parts of your palate..