E+O Kitchen - The Banks — Restaurant in Cincinnati

After hearing so much about E+O Kitchen, I was pretty disappointed in the experience - though I am guessing that a lot of it was impacted by the local football game.

First, at 3:50pm, they wouldn't allow anyone to sit at a table without a reservation (despite bing there an hour+, most of the restaurant remained empty). Second, it was difficult to hear anything because they had music blasting inside and outside of the restaurant - my guess was for people pregaming it.

We were seated at the bar - thankfully, dinner was available to order. It felt more like a dive sports bar than a fine dining restaurant, especially with the loud music, drinks being served in plastic cups, and immediately being asked for my credit card rather than being served a bill at the end of the meal.

The food was perfectly fine (chicken sandwich was a little dry but the quality of fish in the sushi was excellent) and the cocktails were watered down/very bland and one was only half full. Despite there being 3-4 servers behind the bar, they were too busy hanging out with each other to do basic things like refill water or present the check (even a while after finishing our meal). I've received much better service at Chick-Fil-A (and a better sandwich too).

What was supposed to be a nice date night out before a show turned out to be something that felt more like a frat party. For 2 drinks, a shared appetizer, and 2 entrees + tax/tip, it was over $150. After the meal, I saw a sign in the bathroom that it was Happy Hour but we were never offered the specials or deals.

Again, my experience might be unique in that there was a Bengals game starting at 8pm but at that price point, I was expecting something...

Great sushi!

I came here for a lunch around 1:30pm on a Saturday. There weren't any events happening nearby (to my knowledge) so the place was about half full at the tables and empty at the bar. The sound levels with good. No one having to yell over each other or the music. The music is upbeat pop.

Drink: Lemon Kind - it was heavy on the coconut water. I almost couldn't taste any lemon until I squeezed in the slice it came with. Definitely could not taste the pineapple. Probably would not order again

Food: Many of their rolls are made with shrimp tempura which I try to avoid these days. Thankfully they had no problem swapping out the shrimp for raw salmon, and without an upcharge! The only roll they said they could not do a substitution was the Closer because they remake those since it is a deep fried roll.

Dragons Breath - I really liked this roll. My favorite part of sushi is the different textures and this roll plays into that. The inside, with my substitution, is soft and creamy, whereas the outside is crunchy from the shallots. The roll is served on top of a sweet sauce, but still good dipped into soy sauce.

Side of asparagus - I opted for a side because 2 rolls would have been too much food, the sashimi plates have had mixed reviews, and the nigiri seemed pricey if it was only going to be the typical 2 pieces. There were 7 spears on the plate. Not reedy. Salty and smoky. Great side!

Next time: I'll try another drink...

On Sunday my mom and I went to E+O before the game. I am a regular at this restaurant but something has changed here, and I am pretty sure is management. We were always treated so kindly until Sunday. The manager is terrible and just a horrible human being. He spoke to us like we were beneath him and treated us disrespectfully even when we kept trying to be kind to him. We were sitting on these chairs that the hostess told us we could have until 11. At 10:50, I asked for to go boxes and my check, to be respectful And leave the chairs before 11. At 10:51, this manager came and told me that he was going to sit people in those chairs. I said: thank you, yes, we are paying, they told us we could stay until 11. He then looked at me and said: and I telling you that I am sitting people in those chairs. My 70 year old mom was sitting in the chair, I had already gotten up and was paying. He was so rude and just disrespectful. Then we found chairs to sit outside that one of the security guys was so kind to let us use to finish our food that we had put on to go boxes. This guy came back again and was ready to kick us out of those chairs that no one was using until the security guy said: I told them they could sit there. I’ve done corporate events there before, hosted my birthday party and was always treated amazingly by a manager name Ty. This new guy knows nothing about customer service or treating anyone with a little bit of kindness...