Chez Nora

11/15/09

Favorite

by Murano4 at Citysearch

We come all the way from near Dayton to eat here, usually for brunch or lunch. We've never had a bad meal. Love the atmosphere, food and service with a smile. I really cannot believe the reviews I've seen on here. Are we talking about the same place???

• Pros: Atmosphere, food
• Cons: Distance for us

01/02/09

New Years Eve 2008 Not a good experience

by CincyFoodieChick at Citysearch

Hmmmm I was there as well on New Year's Eve and my experience was awful!! We had a very early reservation (6:00 pm) and THREE hours later our dinner mercifully ended.

To the waitress that did try her hardest....I am sorry that you were called in to work but it is not my problem so I didn't need to hear that.

8 people in our party. I had Ahi Tuna requested rare as well as someone else at the table. Both of our plates were cold and tuna was dry and overcooked. Our waitress also suggested the butterfish and someone at the table ordered it. It was dry and again the plate was cold. The waitress noticed that not much was eaten and even she admitted the butterfish seemed not as tasty as normal. It took 45 minutes to an hour before we ordered, salads arrived late, soups were cold. We had to request water for heaven's sake! We did not stick around for dessert, though someone at our table got a very watery ice tea and a warm coffee. The difference in our experience and the other poster is we were on the second floor. Could that have made a difference?? Sorry to say but I would recommend only for the bar upstairs and live music. Eat somewhere else beforehand

• Pros: Great live music
• Cons: Horrible service Food not prepared as requested

12/31/08

Maybe I am wrong, but...

by nkyfoodie at Citysearch

I am slightly tipsy having just spent the entire night at Chez Nora. First dinner downstairs. Unfortunately we made a reservation during the busiest portion of the evening, which is always a mistake on New Year's Eve. But, even with a full restaurant, our food arrived in reasonable time, the way we ordered it and not a bit was wasted. Our server was friendly, seemed to know his stuff, and didn't get in the way of our evening.

We had the Crab Cakes for an appetizer -- no disappointment there at all... theirs don't have many equals anywhere in this city that I have found. Since it was a special kind of night, we tried a couple of their dinner specials, butterfish and and a different take on pepper steak (t-bone). The butterfish was amazing, moist, flavorful and allowed to be the star of the plate instead of the sauce. The steak was also good, if not cooked quite to specifications. At least it was undercooked as opposed to most restaurants' method of overcooking. Though we should not have, we even went for dessert. There is no mistaking they are homemade!

The music was fantastic. The place was packed. Everyone was enjoying themselves. I guess that others have had legitimate complaints but from our experience those seem to be exceptions. If a restaurant can serve good food and function reasonably well during a hugely busy night, it has to have something going for it.

No, it is not 5-star. It doesn't seem to pretend to be. But they seem to know what they want to be and it works. We will go back.

• Pros: Solid food, good service, friendly, comfortable
• Cons: Dining room a little too crowded for intimate dining