Last summer my dad was in the market for a boat, so we all met up at the Levee during the first…read moreannual Boat Festival for a night of fine dining (we ate at Mitchell's Fish Market) and boat shopping. Every marina in the Greater Cincinnati area came out to the boat show, most brought along boats from the previous year at sale prices to induce impulse buys (though how you could rationalize buying a boat on impulse, I'll never know.). The vendors line their wares and stalls up at the base of the Levee, using the Ohio River and the Cincinnati skyline as a pretty backdrop. We browsed the boats for a few hours while listening to live entertainment (a pretty decent cover band that played everything from "Walking on Sunshine" to Johnny Cash) and downing ice-cold slushies. My dad did not end up buying a boat that day but he did get valuable information about the vendors in the area and he was able to determine exactly the style of watercraft he was in the market for. Every vendor welcomed his questions despite knowing he wasn't intending to purchase immediately. Even if you aren't willing or able to purchase a boat, this is a fun event to stroll through during a night at the Levee. Some vendors bring miniature yachts with insanely luxurious interiors and features; pretend you're loaded and get yourself a tour! The festival will take place on these dates and times this year at the Levee's dock: Fri, Aug 15 5 - 11 p.m. Sat, Aug 16 11 a.m. - 11 p.m. Sun, Aug 17 11 a.m. - 9 p.m.

I love Gorman Heritage Farm - everything about it feels so natural, wholesome and healthy. So, of…read morecourse, having a Yelp event here was just fantastic!. We were given a tour of some of the gardens (with all of their captivating scents and sights) where we harvested some fresh basil for our cooking class. Thanks to Katie and her two interns for prep work, set up, and clean-up while walking us through making four delicious dishes - Sauteed Brussel Sprouts, Kale Salad, Stuffed Chicken Breast and Cauliflower Au Gratin. Because it was my favorite with savory cheeses and a perfectly crispy crust, I will be making the cauliflower over the week-end. Shout out to Team Grigio to include Austin & Katie! It felt very synergistic to cook with such enthusiastic and personable Yelpers. They both have the positive energy and limitless potential which makes meeting new people so fun & rewarding. I can easily see why this would be a super team-building activity and/or class. Actually, at first it was unbelievable to think that we could prepare all the food and dine with our co-horts within 3 hours, but manage it we did. What a great opportunity to meet lots of new Yelpers! To the newbies, yes, these Yelp events are always this much fun. Cindy has a total knack for bringing all these fabulous happenings to fruition time and time again. Thank you for that. This wasn't my first time to Gorham Farm, nor will it be my last. There is much going on there than you can imagine. I didn't find out truly what it was about until the last 3 years, but I plan to make up for lost time.

Gorman Heritage Farm is a Cincinnati gem! This was a lovely way to see a tucked away spot in…read moreCincinnati and experience true farm to table dining. This event is a great bridge between the Yelp community and the advantages to exploring Cincinnati. I would recommend the experience for a private cooking party, family farm tour, buying local produce/meat and even sending children to chef camp. Thank you for the introduction, I hope to pass this experience to countless friends and family!

What an absolutely fun activity! I've never been to JCC before and never done zumba, either. Got…read moreto meet Cindy's new intern who was helpful and friendly. She offered us all a Hoist drink, delicious Kind Almond & coconut bars, zippy red water container & info on Green Bean Delivery Service. Thank you to Yelp for those goodies. The Kind bar was perfect for after the workout and the water bottle helped rehydrated me during the class. There was no lack of space to do the workout and there were lots of people who showed up! Because they were on stage, it was easy to see Rita and Beth leading us. Man, they whipped my butt with their energetic moves; it was fun and an intense workout!! It was a beautiful, well-maintained facility. A big thank you to all who put this on.

A great cardio start for Sunday morning at the Mayerson JCC! My first time ever doing Zumba and I…read moreabsolutely loved it. At first I was alittle off, but as you start to get used to the moves, you get right into it. The instructors Beth and Rita were very energetic and threw an intense workout. This Zumba class was a mixture of Latina and a twist of hip hop moves. My heart rate was definately pumping. We had a huge class and everyone was getting into the music. It felt like it was alittle over an hour with the last 5 minutes of stretching. The room itself was spacious and you didn't have to worry about bumping into someone. The time went by so fast because I was having a lot of fun. I burned a total of 562 calories. Definately drenched with sweat! Very intesnse and had a great experience. I may even consider going back in the future because I really loved the workout and the instructors. Loved the Kind bars, Yelp water bottle, and hoise drink. Greatly appreciated. Thank you instructors, JCC, yelp and of course Cindy for throwing a great class. You guys rock!

Oh my gosh! WHAT a privilege! The food was fantastic! The steak Diane was my absolute favorite. It…read moregets set on fire right at the tableside. The crab corn risotto came a close second. The french tomato soup was so unique. I think I'll try that at home. This experience was over the top. It's so beautiful there. I would've liked to see a race during dinner. What a view! The chef was extremely kind and down to earth. I thoroughly enjoyed to food demonstrations. I can't wait to try and make that pasta with my daughter. Hopefully I can instill some of those wonderful memories in my child's life, as was chef and Cindy's experiences. I love how the chef incorporates everyone memories into Favorites. I couldn't believe the amount of food we were able to try. What a pleasure. Soup, salad, pork, steak, chicken, fish, pasta, homemade bread, homemade butter, aunt's cheesecake... Everything was incredible! I'd like to thank everyone who made this event possible. It was an incredible experience.

Each course of dinner held so much visual appeal that you almost felt like you were tasting it…read morebefore you had taken a bite. Because I am a huge beet and feta fan, the appetizer was so adorable looking that I almost didn't want to eat it, but eat it I did! Along with that, we were brought out fresh breads made on the premises and (this part I could hardly believe, but) they actually churn their own butter there! What? Who does that? They do apparently. Something that added lots of depth to our dinner was the way that Chef Josh announced each course and most often regaled with a story as to what inspired that particular dish. His take on the "Frenched" Tomato Soup was unique and creative. My hubby, who is a huge James Bond fan, would have really liked the BLT Martini Salads.. with a Shaken but not Stirred Dirty Martini-like dressing prepared table-side. Cindy was such a good sport by partaking in making some of the ricotta cheese dumplings. I know that she and Josh both are from Italian families who like to cook, but it sure came as a surprise to me that they even make dumplings with ricotta cheese as a main ingredient. That was only one of many things served for the main course served family style: Crab and Sweet Corn Risotto (my favorite), Potato Crusted Chicken, Pork Milanese (yummy), Cavatelli, Gnocchi Bolognese, Chilean Seabass, Roasted Broccoli, and Steak Diane also prepared table-side. I never tire of seeing flames lapping high above the cooking pans. It's such a dramatic sight! In between courses, I was able to ask Chef Josh if his grandmother was his inspiration in becoming a chef and he said that both of his grandmothers were. They must be proud of him! And just when you didn't think you could eat another bite, out came the trio of desserts! Affogoto, Tiramisu in a cute cup made of chocolate and a most deliciously light and moist cheesecake from Chef's Aunt Jean's Recipe. Before going home, we were each presented with 2 chocolate dessert cookies to go. They weren't like any cookies I had tasted before and were a delight. Cindy started us off with a fun ice-breaker of telling everybody something interesting about ourselves. What a fascinating ensemble of Yelpers there! To me, getting to meet other Yelper's is just as delightful as the meal itself. Thank you to Cindy and to Favorites at Belterra Park.

Absolutely beautiful mural on the corner of Walnut and 5th St. depicting Niel Armstrong taking a…read morephotograph of Earth with the famous silhouette of Elliot from the movie E.T. on his bike flying across it. Neil Armstrong and his camera are painted in black and white but the rest of it is an explosion of color. It certainly catches your attention while you're walking or driving down the street and I love it. A few fun facts... Niel Armstrong is from Ohio and he was also a professor of aeronautics at the University of Cincinnati. The mural was created by a Brazilian street artist named Eduardo Kobra who painted it right after doing a huge mural in Rio for the 2016 Olympics. It's located on the giant Fifth Third Bank headquarters building, which is who funded it. Cincinnati is known for its many murals and this one definitely stands out for its vibrant colors and downtown location. If you ever get the chance to explore, I highly suggest doing a mural tour and checking this one out.

I love this mural. It is an explosion of color.This mural was funded by Fifth Third Bank, with the…read moremural being painted on the side of its headquarters. This mural is the work of Brazilian street artist Eduardo Kobra, who is know for his larger than life colorful murals. He painted it in 2016. The mural takes up the entire side of the building, covering 7,600 square feet. The mural depicts Armstrong, an Ohio native, behind a camera. Armstrong's face is in black and white, while everything else is rainbow. I love the contrast they make. You will see a small 3D image of Earth in the upper right corner. Nice touch! If you look closely, you will see, a silhouette of Elliot and his floating bike from the Steven Spielberg hit movie, E.T. Spielberg happens to also be an Ohio native. Construction in the area has really limited metered street parking to get a closer look of this mural. There is still some in a reasonable waking distance. I parked about a quarter mile away. There are also commercial garages and lots you can park in, but they are pretty pricy. I love this mural and Kobra is one of my favorite artists. It is definitely worth a peak and will surely grab your attention. Anyway, as with most murals that I have visited and reviewed, this is not a very long stop. I was there less than 5 minutes. You may want to consider planning out additional stops at many of the other murals in the area or making this stop part of a larger itinerary to maximize your time and trip. I just did a mural tour. There are a ton within about a half mile of each other.

My wife wanted to check out this it is possible you're all while we were in Cincinnati Ohio. So we…read moredrove through some pretty rough neighborhoods of people just standing on the street Right in the middle of the road we had to try to get around it to see what was going on and she got out real quick a few pictures of this I added it to yelp for others to see. But this is a good message that hopefully brighten up the neighborhood

What an awesome Yelp Event! I know we are only half way through the year, but this is my favorite…read moreone so far. The night started off checking in. We got cool bandanas and a complimentary drink ticket. I got the 5 Star Stout (Tropical brewed with coffee). Awesome stuff. City Barbeque provided the delicious meal. We were given a tote bag with instructions on making a simple rub recipe, coupon and faqs about their business. I LOVED creating my own Rub! So much fun. My friend Brandy and I did not waste any time and headed to the Buffet line and got our meal. There was green beans (with bacon), Macaroni and Cheese (you can choose the toppings), Brisket (so tender and juicy, the best!!! YUM!!) and for desert- the peach cobbler. The long tables felt like we were outdoors on a picnic. Sweet!! After dinner, we were given a tour by Braxton Brewing Co. Very informative and interesting. It was short and to the point. They brew their beer at this location which is small, yet spacious. I've never been to Braxton Brewing and will definitely return. I love the décor and the long couch to chill out. My second drink is the Storm Golden Cream Ale (smooth and crisp). At the end of the night we had some pictures taken by WINKINGMANPHOTO.COM (Cool Props and backdrop provided). Overall, I had a blast!!! Thank you Cindy, Yelp, Braxton Brewing Co., City Barbeque, and Winking Man Photo, for everything!! The night was absolutely perfect!

Since I don't get to Covington very often, I wonder how long it would've taken me to find this…read morejewel known as Braxton Brewing. I shudder to think about it. Predominantly a family run business, it is clear that they want to set themselves apart from the rest of the craft beer pack. We learned on our tour that one of the sons in the family started out brewing beers at home when he wasn't even old enough to buy a beer. At 18, he already had an award-winning concoction!! This place is so high-tech that in order to vie for some of the gift cards, you could tweet and see it almost instantaneously right there!! The facility itself was modern, spacious and clean. Co-hosting this amazing Yelp event was City Barbecue! They started off with a bang by letting us all go through their make-your-own-spice-rub bar to bring home some of the resulting deliciousness. Not only were the scents of their spices enticing, but the colors were as well. I don't know about you, but I can't wait to make use of it tomorrow!! Their brisket was mouthwatering and who could resist their mac n' cheese with extra fixings to top it with - think bacon and extra cheeses! After filling our tummies, we were sent home with their simple rub recipe, along with a small container of the one we had made with their ingredients. I found this to be a novel and fun idea!! Then as if that wasn't enough, they gave us a coupon for two free sides when we purchase the smoked meat from them. Here is a company trying to "rub' us the right way. Another fun night coordinated by Cindy again! A big thanks to her, as well as Braxton Brewing and City Barbecue!

Yesterday I was treated to a special tour of Graeter's state of the art manufacturing facility…read morethanks to Yelp. This plant is four years old and has been optimized for nationwide distribution of the finest ice cream around. Before taking our tour, we were given hair nets and beard nets when appropriate. I was excited to wear a beard net for only the second time! You may recall my first beard net from my tour of the Frisch's commissary. Those who are familiar with Graeter's ice cream already know that one of the best parts of the ice cream are the massive chunks of chocolate in many varieties. These chunks of chocolate start out as ten pound blocks of the finest chocolate available. I believe that retail price of this chocolate is $19.95 per pound. Nothing like staring at a $200 piece of chocolate! The chocolate is melted and mixed with non-GMO soybean oil to achieve a better consistency for use in ice cream. The vats containing this rich chocolate mixture smelled heavenly. Graeter's still a small-batch french pot process slowly creating just two gallons at a time. This creates an irresistible creaminess that cannot be achieved through modern commercial products. There are four pods of eight french pots. Each pod is staffed by three employees, two who work the french pots and the other who hand-packs the ice cream into containers. The flavor of the day during our visit was double chocolate chip. Yum! As I just mentioned, all the ice cream is hand-packed into the packaging, nearly 20,000 pints per day. One employee was kind enough to hand pack samples for our entire tour group right off the assembly line. This ice cream was almost of a soft serve consistency and was simply perfect. The new manufacturing facility does make use of machines to automate the bookends of the manufacturing process, while still allowing the ice cream to be made by hand in small batches. After viewing the entire production line, we took a quick tour of the warehouse, which can reach temperatures of negative forty! It literally took minutes for my body to recover from just a quick visit to this massive storage room. After our tour was over we were treated for a few more samples, including two varieties of the new gelato line, the most authentically made gelato in North America. I really enjoyed the caramel truffle variety and will have to check for that in stores.

Holy smokes! This Elite event was out of this world awesome!! What a way to celebrate National…read moreIce Cream month Behind the scenes at the Graeter's Ice Cream Factory! This is not open to the public, so I felt very special to be part of this event! Checked in and was greeted by Cindy. Btw, loved the complimentary smores jar! Graeters factory was on Reading road but moved to a bigger location off Paddock Rd. Jeff and Nick started off the tour discussing the history, the process of making the ice cream, the workers and equipment. Even Bob Graeter (4th generation) was there to support and answer questions!!! Holy flypaper batman!!! How cool was that??!!! For sanitary reasons and safety, we had to wear a long smock and hair net (I needed two of them. I have long thick hair). We must be covered before entering the factory. This is how clean the factory is-there is soapy foam on the floor so when we walk, it cleans and sanitizes our shoes. As we entered the factory, we are up close with the workers and pictures are allowed. They encourage we post and share to the world their hard work and how they take pride in making ice cream. Graeter's ice cream is made using the French Pot method. This is a slow, small batch process making only two gallons at a time. It creates ice cream that is rich, creamy and dense. Graeter's also uses this method to create chocolate chips completely different from other brands. The French Pot process begins with the mix being placed into a chilled, spinning French Pot. Each batch of ice cream is only about two gallons and is thus very labor-intensive. The ice cream is so thick that it must be hand-packed into pints. I have mass respect for the workers and how hard they work to create the best ice cream in the world! (In my opionion). We were able to taste the chocolate-chocolate chip ice cream right off the assembly line!!! That is as fresh as it will get!! Pure heaven!! I also love the chunky chocolate chips! After the tour, we were able to sample their latest creations- Gelato and other Graeters flavored ice cream. It was hard to choose my favorite. As a courtesy, Yelp offered us a bagged lunch from Silverglades Deli. I got the Turkey Sandwich on marble rye bread with Potatoe Salad and fruit. Thank you Miss Cincy Cindy for an awesome event and most of all Graeters for letting us tour your facility. I will always be a fan and support your business!! WORD!!!!