Red Squirrel — Restaurant in Colerain Township

When I became a single dad, I relied on forming habits to get through the struggle and adjusting to a new way of life. One of these new habits was Monday nights going to the public library, going to the park and having dinner at Red Squirrel. Over the next 2.5 years, this pattern became a tradition. It helped us weather the pandemic and give us a chance to form a bond. Our tradition became known throughout my family and friends, that my mom would call if we changed up the order one night and she didn’t find us at the park. The workers at the restaurant grew to know us and that my son ordered the same thing every time. 3 pieces of French toast, whatever melon they had as part of their fruit bowl, and chocolate milk. We would talk about whatever was interesting him and I did my best to try and follow along. Over time the restaurant changed ownership. Some of the staff stayed on, some decided to move on. I believe those that moved on were the ones that made the restaurant familial, welcoming. For the last year I have broken from our tradition on Monday nights. It has grown hard to support an establishment that was once a second home. I understand times are tough and once new ownership comes in, they want to make it their own. I understand that costs of goods and services have gone up and the restaurant business operates on tight margins. What I cant understand is how a meal for a 7 year old can cost $17. When the change was made to use regular bread instead of Texas toast for the French toast, neither he nor I complained, we adjusted and ordered another slice. But this breaks down to $4 for a slice of bread dipped in egg wash and $1 for fruit, when we once paid $2/slice with the fruit included. We are not talking about the best tasting French toast. That has never been our reason for going. We went because it was our habit, we liked the staff, we were welcomed. Now when we go there are more and more empty tables, young staff on their phones and not at all welcoming. There is no sense of familial or even warmth. All that’s there is...

we don’t often get delivery or even eat out because of the cost, but i had three $5 gift certificates for red squirrel. we had them for a couple years, but i stopped in a few months ago to make sure i could use them; the lady at the register told me i could, and i could even use them all in the same transaction.

today we were feeling hungry for some breakfast food so figured we’d visit an old local favorite of ours. this is usually the place we decide on if we’re feeling local diner breakfast bites and we have the funds to eat out. we knew we had the $15 in gift certificates, so we headed over. linda was our server, she was awesome. linda gets five stars. she kept checking back with us to make sure everything was good. the food isn’t anything spectacular, but it is satisfying. we got the biscuits and gravy, goetta and egg sandwich, grilled cheese, and tomato queso soup.

we got our check and went to the register. we were told they no longer accept these particular gift certificates. the new owners apparently only allow them to accept white certificates. ours were red and therefore unacceptable. they wouldn’t budge, so here i am. leaving a complaint. those certificates would’ve covered half our bill, but now i’ll be working doordash a little longer this evening to make up that extra money we were forced to spend. and i guess i’ll be throwing away that $15 in gift certificates.

don’t bother reaching out to fix this, you had your chance and you missed. this was not the move to make to keep your loyal customers’ support. there are plenty of other local diners we can hit up when we have the funds to...

My original review from 2020-2021: "This is one of my favorite restaurants. The staff is very friendly and the food is great and very well priced. I don't think I've ever had a bad meal or bad service at Red Squirrel."

My current review: This restaurant is mostly the same, but the menu prices are absolutely outrageous now. A bowl of soup is 6 dollars. If you expect to have a regular breakfast or lunch, you should expect to pay around 11-15 per plate, and 2.75 per drink, at least if you get a soft drink. The issue is, this price change did not come with a change in ingredient quality or portion size. You are getting local diner food and local diner portions for Italian restaurant prices.

I used to recommend this place to everyone. It was a staple on my 'Welcome to Cincinnati list'. The fact that I recommended it without realizing that the prices inflated the way they did (and much more than what could be considered normal given how much everything costs for everyone now) makes me cringe.

I get it, inflation has really choked a lot of places, but these menu prices are ludicrous for what you're getting in this restaurant.

I really loved this place, but I, personally, will not...