Nada — Restaurant in Cincinnati

So this is definitely one of the best, if not the best, place in the area for Mexican food. We went for a dinner date here and it was totally amazing. The place is generally full, so a reservation is recommended, especially if you are going on a weekend. Very good option if you're a vegetarian.

Food & Drinks: We started off with small plates - Farro & Sweet Potatoes and Pedro's Black Beans & Rice - and cocktails - BB Lemonada and Chile Mango Margarita. To begin with cocktails, Chile Mango Margarita was great. More alcoholic in terms of taste but the rest of the flavors, especially the spice, came together very well. BB Lemonada was good if you prefer less alcohol taste. Farro & Sweet Potatoes was the star of the meal. The sweetness and the acidity combined really well and you just can't stop having it. Definitely to be tried. Pedro's Black Beans & Rice was good. Nothing amazing about it but no complaints either. For the entree, we ordered Hongos Taco. It was delicious. The taste was fantastic and the balance of taco size to stuffing was near perfect which made it very convenient to eat. For dessert, we went for Butterscotch Flan and Caramelized Vanilla Bean Cheesecake. Butterscotch Flan was fantastic. The flavors were amazing and the coconut cream on top had a very subtle taste, not empowering the butterscotch. Caramelized Vanilla Bean Cheesecake was very good. Although the sorbet wasn't going well with the cheesecake. Cheesecake, alone, would have made a great dessert. I loved the crust at the bottom.

Ambiance: With summers in, the best place to sit is in open but you certainly don't want a corner seating. The lady at the entrance was considerate enough to tell us where the seats are available before getting us there. So we opted for inside table instead of the open - and we didn't regret it at all. The interiors were classy yet casual. The lighting can be improved, especially on the left side of the restaurant. There are bulbs suspended from the ceiling above each table but all they have is illuminated filament with minimum lighting. We were pleasantly surprised by the candle on the table (I was able to claim a candlelight dinner to my wife ;) ). I haven't been to the second floor but I'm quite sure it receives more natural light than the first. The music was a little louder than we normally see at other restaurants but we were still able to hear each other quite easily so it wasn't bothering.

Service: Our server, Clare, was amazing. She seemed naturally excited about the food here - especially for Farro & Sweet Potatoes and Butterscotch Flan. The service was quick, although we thought the drinks would arrive before small plates. Having said that, we didn't experience any gaps between the appetizers and entrees. Overall, great service and very friendly staff.

Overall, a great place to have some amazing Mexican food in Cincinnati.

I made a reservation for my wife and I to eat here for our 1 year wedding anniversary. I also surprised her with staying at the Cincinnatian Hotel, which was a block away. I don't want to go into great detail, but the hotel was terrible. They charged us for our room and valet twice. They never apologized or offered us anything. Now, we are young and what we had financial was to stay a night at the hotel and go eat dinner at Nada. Since they charged us twice for everything, we were not able to spend the money to go out to eat. My parents were awesome enough to call Nada and ask if they could pay for our dinner. My mom said the manager Tim was very helpful and that he said we could go anytime that evening. Upon arriving after a short walk, we were amazed by how friendly everyone was. The place looked absolutely beautiful and romantic. Tim walked us to our table on the second floor and once we sat down, he said he was sorry for how our anniversary was turning out and how the hotel treated us. A few minutes later, Tim came back with our drink order and also brought chips and salsa for us. He said "we sure hope we can help make your 1 year anniversary memorable and special" and proceeded to explain the 3 types of salsa that were included. Then, our waiter came by. The first thing he said was that he also heard about our hotel and asked us what happened. We went on to explain in a short matter and he also apologized for how they treated us. We had a few questions about the menu items and he did an amazing job at explaining them in detail. We received our food and it was absolutely amazing! My wife and I agreed that it was the best unique Mexican food we ever had. A few minutes later, our waiter brought out two glasses of champagne and said "Sparkling champagne on the house for the lovely couple on their anniversary." After eating, he also brought churros on the house. Two other people apologized for how the hotel acted. Overall, we were so impressed with the service and food! Everyone was so amazing. We will definitely be visiting again very soon!

Was looking for a place to have a good semi-casual bite near my hotel. The front desk recommended the location. My son (12 years old) and I went and were seated right away. The interior is nice and clean and vibrant...very colorful. The bar looked great even though we did not sit there. Our server was very attentive and they kind of tag team their service so there is always someone there to refill your water, take a plate, etc. we started with the queso and chips and it was exceptional....this was real white queso with perfect additions of pico and some poblano....could have eaten a cat of it! The chips are clearly made in house so they were fresh and crispy. My son had the steak quesadilla and it was a messy monster, but he loved it. I had the Carne Asada tacos...the seasoning and the cool of the steak was amazing! And they did not skimp on the steak in the quesadilla or the tacos. We were stuffed before we finished. I had their basic Nadarita and it was perfectly fine. Order the base margarita and get a base margarita....I have no doubt some of their higher end ones would have been fantastic. The menu overall is not that varied. A couple of starters, couple of soups/salads then they had a few each of the Quesadillas, tacos, and enchiladas. They did have non meat variations in each of the categories like a caramelized cauliflower taco. There was not a LOT on the menu, but it was enough. The simplicity clearly allows them to focus on what they do produce, and what was on our plate was excellent. My only knock on the place was we were there around 8pm on a weeknight and it wasn't too busy, but the music was blaring like they were trying to drown us out. Made it hard to talk with my son without shouting. If they would turn the music down a little it would have been 5 stars across the board. If we are back in Cincinnati, we will definitely go back. In fact we liked it so much we were researching to see if there were more around or if they had franchises....would love to have them in Milwaukee where we live!