Dishes we miss the most from closed Cincinnati restaurants

Every Wednesday, Enquirer food writer Keith Pandolfi sends a food-focused newsletter to his subscribers. Here's a free sneak peek. While Part 1 of the dishes Cincinnatians miss the most is offered as a freebie, you'll need to subscribe to his At the Table newsletter to read Part II next week. Without further ado:

Greetings, readers.

Last week, I asked you to tell me about the dishes that you miss the most from gone-but-not-forgotten restaurants in Greater Cincinnati. Since I was overwhelmed with the number of responses I received, I'm going to portion them out into two separate courses. While some of these dishes only recently disappeared, there are a few that harken back to a different era in Cincinnati dining entirely.

Dishes Cincinnatians miss the most – Part 1

Doug Carpenter longs for the liver pate at Schuller's Wigwam, in College Hill, and the Buffalo wings at Budna Grill, in North College Hill.

Joshua Rust misses the Cajun Cream Pasta from Indigo, in Hyde Park. “I ordered it every time I went there. It was your standard pasta in cream sauce but also incorporated seafood and was spicy. Miss it so much.”

Going way, way back, Beth Rusche misses the Friday fish sandwich at the Saybrook Tavern, in Hyde Park, as well as "all of the wonderful ambiance in that restaurant.” I live around the corner from the old tavern location and wish I'd had a chance to try it.

Dave Ziegler reminisced about his old go-to Teller’s in Hyde Park. "I still consider their Buffalo chicken egg rolls as my single favorite appetizer of all time," he said. Reader Christine Brown also misses those rolls.

Perhaps the most comprehensive list I received was from reader Michael Carrico. While I can’t include all of his selections, here are a few that hit home because they included some of my own favorite restaurants and dishes, including the charcuterie board, ratatouille and lamb shanks at Bauer Farm Kitchen, Downtown; the charred cabbage salad at Pleasantry; the grain-and-bean salad from Fausto, the roast beef from Krause's at Findlay Market and the tasting menu at Please.

Ellen Williams misses the garlic soup from Mecklenburg Gardens, in Corryville.

Michael Wilson would like one last slice of the wood-fired pizza at Pomodori's, which had locations in Clifton Heights and Montgomery. I should note that Pomodori's was the first place in Cincinnati to serve pizza cooked in a wood-fired oven.

Peter Steele will never forget the Caesar salad at the old Prime and Wine, in Kenwood, that “was loaded with anchovies − Heavenly!!!”

I enjoyed Laura Chenault’s list of places that included Lin’s Pad Thai on Glenway Avenue: “The best vegetarian green curry & best tofu dish I have had in Cincinnati. The cubed tofu was super crispy on the outside but creamy/dreamy on the inside with a beautiful fresh basil sauce surrounded by bright green steamed broccoli.”

Chenault also misses the tofu cold rolls at Song Long, in Roselawn. “Rice paper still warm from being freshly soaked, warm sesame scented fresh veggies and tofu. Haven’t found any cold rolls even in the ballpark of theirs.” There’s also Annabelle’s, in Mount Lookout: “Everything I had from there was magical but the omelets with the buttery crispy edges were my favorite.” She also misses one of my favorite restaurants in Cincinnati, Tuckers on Vine. “What a treasure,” she wrote. I couldn’t agree more.

Laure Ries still remembers the 7-layer salad at Zinos, in Hyde Park; Trauth French onion dip, creamy penne pasta with Andouille sausage from Red Fish, Downtown, the raw seafood platter at The Anchor in Over-the-Rhine, the pecan-crusted rainbow trout at Mitchell's Fish Market, and Dee's filet in shrimp sauce at Dee Felice, in Covington.

Robin Estes misses the roast chicken and sides from Floyd’s of Cincinnati, on Calhoun.

Tracey Artis would love one last chance to enjoy the wings at the Pike Bar & Grill, in Woodlawn, and the house salad at Grand Finale, in Glendale.

Bob and Mary Schneider miss the Chateaubriand at Grafton's in Silverton. “We were in mourning when it closed.”

Linda J. White brought back some good memories of the gone-but-not-forgotten "What's for Dinner?” in O’Bryonville, saying it had the best of everything, including "room for children at your table, (and) great care and service from Toni and all the staff. I miss them so much."

Joan Welsh longs for the Downtown Old Spaghetti Factory's spaghetti with mizithra cheese. “I’m … dating myself as this had to be about 35 years ago.” FYI, Joan: I just learned that there is still an Old Spaghetti Factory, in Fairfield, where you can still get it.

I love that reader Laura Dowers still misses the Seven Hills Barbeque sandwich from the first-floor coffee shop at Shillito's department store." I would love to get that recipe," she wrote. "The secret was in the spice mixture that was used and sold by Shillito's. There is quite a group of people trying to find this recipe." Can anyone help Laura?

Finally, Amy Jude Uhl shared a heck of a list. Uhl mourns the foi gras and scallops at Daveed’s, in Mount Adams, the Maisonette's lobster bisque; the tasting menu at Jean-Robert de Cavel's Restaurant L, Downtown; Pleasantry's steak & frites; La Poste's scallops in browned butter, the Mercer's risotto, Salazar's beef tartare, Dee Felice's escargot, beef tartare, fried ravioli, and crawfish etouffe, Commonwealth's mimosa with sorbet, Maribelle's anything duck by chef Stephen Shockley and Son of a Preacher Man’s brunch with fried chicken.

OK, that completes my first installment of the dishes Cincinnatians miss most. While this one was a freebie, you're going to have to subscribe to my newsletter to read Part II. If you're already a subscriber, thank you for reading along with me every week ... and for your input.

Keith Pandolfi covers food and dining for The Enquirer/Cincinnati.com. Follow his latest dining adventures on Instagram @keithpandolfi or via the At the Table newsletter.

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This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Dishes we miss most from closed Cincinnati restaurants