Good Plates Eatery — Restaurant in Cincinnati

I really want to like this restaurant more. I’m the perfect demographic, college-age, vegetarian, obsessed with healthy eating, and yet, I don’t see myself going back anytime soon with my current income.

Pros: Tasty, super healthy food (my favorite- I’m the target demographic!) Artistic, interesting interior. The restaurant has an aesthetic look. This can’t be undervalued.

Cons: Small portions Disposable sit-down containers and utensils Lack of protein for vegetarians poor value for money

This restaurant has a fundamental flaw. It doesn’t know quite what it wants to be. On one hand, it offers a well decorated restaurant with a refined menu with excellent quality food. On the other hand, the food is served in small portions (for the price) on disposable “dishes” with plastic silverware.

If the prices (all between $8.50-$9) are to remain the same, the presentation HAS to get better. Guys, get some artsy unique plaits to complement your artsy interior design! Give the guests real, metal silverware and a glass water cup. Have the server take your check instead of paying up front. And serve bigger portions! I calorie-counted my entree, the Brussels and shroom quinoa bowl, and it was under 400 calories. A snack, for $9, served in a flimsy paper bowl. If you make these changes, people will gladly pay $11-$13 for entrees.

If the paper dishes, small portions, and light service are to be kept, prices need to fall. Why else would I go here when so many great alternatives exist? Good Plates is far from the only healthy eating restaurant in Clifton. If my snack-sized bowl was, say, $5-$6, I’d instantly become a regular.

The reason a restaurants like the Whole Bowl, BIBIBOP, or Chipotle are so successful is that you get SO much more food for the price. These are also ridiculously quick. On the other hand, many sit-down restaurants are successful charging often a minimum of $11-$12 because they offer large portions and full service. Good luck guys, I want to support a local...

Met my mentor here for lunch and ended up staying for like 2 hours talking. The entire time the wait staff were friendly and refilled our waters, which is a plus since I know it can be annoying when people are sitting (but we weren't taking tables from other customers).

More importantly - Oh my god the food is dope! We split the beef and chorizo meatball sandwich (with corn salad), and the braised short rib grilled cheese (with fries). They were both great but the meatballs were far and away the favorite for both of us. The braised short rib needed more of the horseradish sauce (which was basically just horseradish and sour cream), but when you got a bite that had the perfect combination of cheese, sauce, and beef (which they give you a lot of beef), it hit hard. Chorizo and beef meatballs were just consistently great, with wonderful sauce and cheese.

They absolutely nailed both sides, with the fries being crispy and soft and hot and seasoned perfectly, without any complaints. The corn salad with jalapenos was super mild, with just a hint of heat, but a great blend of flavors with the creamy feta on top.

Plus they have an extensive selection of soft drinks. I only wish they had a fountain soda machine.... Otherwise,...

Good plates has been on our to-do list for quite some time now, and we finally got around to visiting today.

The good: -Smash burger, burger/fry sauce, and braised beef sandwich were all very, very good. I will be thinking about that braised beef for quite a while. -Waitress was very sweet and personable. -Reasonable prices

The bad: -Very hot and uncomfortable inside. No AC and tons of fans everywhere. It was tolerable but hardly enjoyable. On a 90 degree day it actually felt good to go outside. -Very loud inside due to said fans, people trying to talk over the fans, and also because of having the front door open to the craziness of McMillan. -Understaffed. Waitress trying to do way too much by herself. -The fries weren't very good. I appreciate they are homemade but the texture and flavor is off. The poutine fries were NOT GOOD. This dish needs some serious recalibration. I couldn't come up with a compliment for this dish. -No lights were on in the dining area. Very strange. -From review of the photos online this place looks trendy and like a place I would enjoy dining in. Hard to explain, but it didn't live up to the photos IMO. A likely contributor was the...