Great casual service, with a friendly server.  The menu is small but focuses on fresh ingredients and food that is cooked with an emphasis on quality and great flavor.  I ordered the White Bean Hummus small plate as an appetizer, which had great flavor with crispy flatbread.  I ordered the salt/pepper Teres Major steak, which was cooked medium rare, tender and topped with a red zinfandel reduction sauce.  Restaurants like Burnell's add charater to the culinary cuisine of a city.  It was  great meal, perfect portions, I'll be back for more.
Review Source:Apparently we had the pleasure of enjoying one of their last lunch services for the foreseeable future. Too bad for your...
I don't know what is on the dinner menu but I heard the Cuban sandwich will be on there in some capacity. I had that and a sriracha potato soup. Both were delicious and reasonably priced.
I definitely recommend checking this place out if you're ever in Cincinnati.
I dropped by Burnell's for a weekday lunch with a friend. Â The birch beer was sweet and reasonable but nothing exciting. Â The daily grits were Sriracha garlic grits, and we agreed they were awesome. Â My churrasco flatbread was good. Â It tasted great, but I wanted a little more meat on it. Â And even though I found a way, it was a little difficult to shovel into my face. Â The prices were a little high and warranted given the tastiness & quality of the food. Â But the real stand out was the grits.
Bottom Line: I'll probably be back for a tasty, interesting lunch with some of the best grits around.
Our dinner at Burnell's was nothing short of fantastic.
We went on a night where the menu was Prix Fixe and every single thing we had was dynamite. The settling was cozy, with only 4-5 six tops plus another row, so it made the dinner intimate.
We went with 6 of us and it was one of the most fun group dinner's I'd ever had. This was due to the great atmosphere and food (and the wine we brought that they allowed us to cork ourselves without any cork fee), but mainly the great, attentive, fun staff.
Thanks to everyone at Burnell's for a terrific evening. We'll talk about it for years.
Ok, so I don't get the appeal... I think this place is just like a thousand other OTR restaurants. Â Food is decent but overpriced for what it is, at least at lunchtime.
The bright spots in my lunch was the grits of the day and the tomato soup. Â Both reasonably priced. Â I had the cuban flatbread, which was dry, had very little meat on it, and way overpriced for what I ate. Â
In addition, the space is so cramped I could hear every word at the table next to me. Â My friend and I took the only remaining seats at lunchtime- 2 seats in the window that required the people at the next table to move every time the waitress came over. Â
The service was good, but that doesn't compensate for a lackluster experience. Â Guess I'll be making room for all the people that love this place by never going back.
Went here for a girls night out. The food was really great and really shareable. Small plates you can combine to make a whole meal. The place is BYOB. This is one of my favorite features because I am picky about wine. The best part is your night ends up being so affordable when you don't tack on an outrageous up charge for alcohol.
Really enjoyed the dinner here. Will go back for sure.
This yelp page is almost cult-like. All 5 stars, with one 4 star exception?
Well, consider me officially part of the cult.
There's an unfortunate stretch of Vine St between Fountain Square and OTR that I refer to as one of Downtown Cincinnati's dead zones (it has many.) There are restaurants here, but most of them are open from 11-2pm every day, leaving me with no sense of what they serve or what their quality is. Two places I enjoy sit in this stretch (Istanbul Cafe and Hello Honey), but I rarely make it to them because I just kind of forget they exist.
Burnell's is further up that stretch, but still along it. And, honestly, just like Mayberry before, I always forget it exists. I walk by all the time, but always on my way to somewhere else. I finally went by with no destination in mind, however, and popped in.
I'm ecstatic that I did so. The food was fantastic. We went with a soup, a shared plate and small plate, along with a side of grits. All were fantastic. The soup, a balsamic tomato, was tasty with quite a bite of balsamic. The shared plate was a chicken flatbread, with a small squash salad on the side. Delicious. Our main course was a slow cooked pork shoulder, which was wonderful. The highlight, though, was the grits - a cheddar polenta that evening. I feel almost bad saying that the side was the best part of the meal, typically that's a knock against a restaurant, but these grits were amazing. The entire meal was just very, very good.
The chef came out towards the end (it was closing, and we were the last table) and had a brief conversation with us. He was clearly very enthusiastic about what he does, and it shows in the food. I'm running out of adjectives - it was a fantastic meal.
Next time you're in OTR and stuck with a 2 hour wait for all the restaurants, walk down a block and head into Burnell's. I'd wager you add it to your regular rotation. It's that good.
Four words: Grits of the Day. What? Who has a "Grit of the Day"? Where are we, Alabama? Nope! Downtown Cincy, at Burnell's, baby!
I'm terrified to write this review...because if you all find out how much I love this place, then you are going to go there too and I'm not going to be able to get in anymore. But--I have to, because this much awesomeness needs to be praised publicly.
I absolutely LOVED Burnell's. I will confess: part of the reason may be because we went with super-awesome friends and had an amazing time. But--the food was spectacular, and with no corkage you can, hypothetically of course, afford to consume two bottles of wine when you bring your own. That makes all dinners better :).
Here is the deal: The menu changes all the time. They have some "shared plates" (3 for like $35 when we went). THings like salads and flatbreads and I've heard they are fantastic. There are maybe 4-5 of these. Then there are another 4-5 "Small Plates", which are more expensive--$16 each. These aren't microscopic but they are small, and not a ton of food for $16. But oh, is that food delicious! And then they have a few $3 sides--the aforementioned "Grit of the Day", which was tomato parmesan (I think) and made my non-Southern husband (who rarely eats grits) have TWO ORDERS. I think he was about to order another order before I shamed him out of it. So there's that.
It's TINY. Tiny as in, three 4-tops, and then a bar sort of area (meaning, chairs facing the wall--there is no alcohol served there. You can BYOB, which is delightful.
I just love what they are doing and how they are doing it!
I've been here for both lunch and dinner (twice), and both are awesome. Â I've done the 3 for 33 and the stand alone small plate for dinner.
The hummus is a great starter, the salad is delicious, and the flatbreads are mouth-watering. Â Soup: incredible. Â Grits: smooth as can be. Â
Husband and I split 2 different small plates for dinner and both were out of this world. Â He sent his pork back to be cooked a little more and instead of doing that, the chef/owner made him a new plate with an extra piece of pork. Â
Owner came out to check on us. Â The one server does an amazing job keeping up with everyone in the tiny restaurant.
I recommend reservations for a party larger than 2.
Somewhere between 4 1/2 and 5 stars, so I rounded up because the owner was such a nice guy. Â Small little store front. Â We went for dinner on a Saturday night. Â Great laid back vibe. Â Limited menu of small plates. Â This place is perfect to take a couple of friends, bring a couple bottles of wine and chat away while delicious little plates of food come out for you to munch on. Â
The menu changes regularly, but the pesto herb chicken flatbread was great and the scallop with tomato and parmesan grits was ridiculous.
So I wasn't going to write a review for Burnell's because I pretty much agree with everything Cliff K. said (since I was kind of present during the magic of it all), but now I absolutely must be the 10th reviewer in order to urge some of the on-the-fence Yelpers and foodies to come save Burnell's from closing down.
A few days after I had my first charming dinner experience, I was tempted to try their lunch menu.
As with my first encounter with the staff at Burnells, the lunch staff was just as friendly, polite, and engaging. I ordered the Challah Cuban (mostly because of the divine toasted challah bread, which I believe comes in fresh daily from a local joint sold by the loaf rather than bulk, in which case, Burnell's avoids the risk of having you eat stale challah bread) for $8. It came with a small salad, which I think is Burnell's strong point. The sandwich was good, but not quite as enjoyable as their dinner menu (so try it!).
My company ordered the Garden Flatbread for $7, which seemed like it was a popular choice by most customers. I tried it and although I hate to admit, it was better than my sandwich. But I would suggest you be a bit daring and venture out of ordinary, "safe" options, because Nathan knows his palette combinations quite well.
He made sure he talked to us before we left the restaurant so that we were happy with what we ordered.
I give this place five stars because you know they care about what food they put out and how much satisfaction it brings to their customers.
Save Burnell's! Come! You won't regret it.
I love it.
DO:
-Try the three dishes for $33
-BYOB (No corkage fee!)
-The toasted challah is bomb
-Shortbread for dessert. Only $2
DON'T:
-Don't be afraid to walk in
PARKING:
-Street parking
There is something very special going on at Burnell's and I'm all for it. I usually base my reviews solely on the food, but I cannot ignore the great service and the awesome ambience of this restaurant. The art on the wall is all local and very refreshing. The layout of the seats and the tables is clean and precise. The service follows right along and was superb. The owner, Nathan, ran out to bring us a bottle of wine when City Cellars was closed 20 minutes before the noted time (it was a very special case, but it shows the level of care). Now on to the food.
We had the toasted challah with roasted mushrooms and arugula salad, baked veggie flatbread with squash salad, roasted duck with soy ginger syrup and mirco green salad, and a side of smoked cheddar and tobasco grits. The challah was toasted perfectly, and the mushrooms were cooked lightly to keep its strong rustic flavor. The arugula salad had the perfect amount of acidity with a dash of salt that brought it all together. This was our first dish and we knew right away that the level of detail in the flavor was carefully thought out. Next up was the flatbread. It was topped with various veggies and some cheese, and then baked. Honestly, the flatbread was nothing special, but the squash salad on the side was great. After the second dish I could tell that Nathan is very good with the veggies that accompany the main starch or protein, and this I can appreciate. The final dish was the roasted duck and it's where Nathan shined and made his mark. It was the perfect balance of the slightly salty protein, followed by a spicy undertone from the chili garlic butter, and finished with the depth and sweetness of the soy ginger syrup. The micro green salad accompanying the protein was great as well. The grits was straightforward. For dessert we had the pomegranate and molasses shortbread cookies which were delicious and MADE TO ORDER.
All in all, I cannot wait to come back.
This is a restaurant with a heart of gold.
I visited Burnell's on a sweltering, 100+ degree day, and the poor shop was struggling to keep the heat down. They had the A/C cranking, the lights off, the curtains drawn shut (even though I'm sure this last bit hurt their lunch business).
But the service was nothing short of astounding. Our waiter-- I believe his name was Nathan?-- bent over backwards to make us happy and do whatever he could to cool us off. The food was delicious-- I highly recommend the vichyssoise on a hot day like that one!
And when I had half of my lunch packed up to take home with me, Nathan added in extra sides so I could have a whole meal when I got home. It's little extras like that which set the experience apart from so many other venues. I'll let other people talk about the food (excellent, in my opinion), but I want to be sure to let you know about its heart!
We ate here again last night. This time, we brought our old neighbors out with us. They're both Cincy locals and are very familiar with the dining scene in the area but had never heard of Burnell's. This didn't stop them from (almost) licking their plates clean at the end of each course.
The mushroom dish was just as tasty as I remembered. The scallop, bacon, and cheddar grit dish was my favorite of the night. So good, in fact, that we ordered more of those same grits to go with the meat dishes at the end of the meal. We finished with the pork shoulder and braised hanging beef (?). Both were fantastic and fell apart at the touch of our forks.
Most importantly, we had the pleasure of listening to Nathan (chef/owner) voice his passion for cooking to a customer who was curious about the background of some of the dishes. Listening to him talk, you can immediately tell that the food is going to be amazing. We ate and drank and laughed and talked for almost three hours... and the bill was barely over a hundred bucks. There's no corkage fee. Tell me another place you can do that with this caliber of food. It doesn't exist, at least not around here. The only problem is that nobody seems to realize they exist. If Senate (good, not great) can be on a two hour wait on a Wednesday, Burnell's should have a line around the block. I'm going to continue to bring people there as often as possible and highly recommend others try it out. If there's a Subway sandwich shop holding down their location this time next year, we'll all only have ourselves to blame.
I loved this little joint when it was Mayberry's and now that it's Burnell's, I may love it just a little more. Â The concept is still the same: 3 little plates for $33 and it's enough to share + you can bring your own wine. Â The other night we had sea bass crusted with bread crumbs served with a micro-greens salad + jumbo shrimp served with the most amazing indulgent rice. Â This was followed by a single slice of the most tender pork tenderloin. Â Stay for the short bread cookies - heaven sent. Â The menu changes weekly; so come back often.
Review Source:The food here is really good, the only reason I don't give five stars is because I'm still on the fence re the small plates. They're bigger than tapas but definitely smaller than a typical entree. I could have had an entree portion of any one of them. My girlfriend and I shared the 3 for $33 (scallops, cappellini, and pork) along with a side of mac and cheese and four small cookies. This was plenty for us, but the scallop dish only had one scallop (along with some really good grits)- kind of a let down. The other two dishes seemed to have slightly bigger portions, and we had a pretty big, delicious slice of mac and cheese. Could have done a little more with the dessert presentation. Also, it was a little too hot in the restaurant, and the one-person bathrooms didn't have locks on the doors.
Review Source:Another super downtown dining experience!
We ordered the 3 for $30/$33 (don't remember for sure). We dined on small plates of short ribs, trout and capellini pasta dish. All excellently prepared and generous portions filled us both. We also ordered two sides; the grits and macaroni and cheese. The grits which accordingly to my southern friend was the "best I've ever had" and the macaroni and cheese was simply wonderful.  Lastly, we finished up with the chef's  honey shortcake cookies. Seriously out of this world!
At the end of our evening, chef Nathan came out to greet us and thank us for our support. He was sweet and humble despite our well deserved compliments.
We had a great evening and sure that we will be back over and over again. Â Give Burnell's a try I'm sure you'll be glad you did. :)
Almost forgot ...much like their predecessor Mayberry, this place is BYOB . Don't forget your favorite bottle of wine or beer.
A group of co-workers and I ate lunch here during the week on a co-worker's recommendation. Â The lunch menu was impressive, with thoughtful house versions of salads, sandwiches, flat breads, and appetizers. Â My veggie flatbread was tasty and satisfying. Â I was glad to see a few veggie friendly items, but 'meatie' friends were also very happy with the menu. Â The group of seven of us left determined to return again and spread the word. Â
It is worth noting that the experience was enhanced by the attentive and friendly service of the server/owner. Â I look forward to returning for dinner.
Just got back from here a few hrs ago. Â This was a great little place to go have lunch. Â I went with my sister and had the chef's grits (smoked gouda) and Garden Flat bread. Â The grits were great. Â They apparently change it up every day. Â The Garden Flatbread was awesome. Â Crispy and had a great taste with the vegetables and gouda. Â My sister had the Pressed mess with mater soup. Â Basically grilled cheese and tomatoe soup. Â She said that it was very good. Â Our waiter was great and was very attentive. Â I would definitely come here againg. Â I'd highly recommend it. Â Nice it have another great place for lunch downtown.
Review Source:
The 5 best restaurants in the 2015 Denver Restaurant Week
3,607 Views | Category: Denver
The complete list of 2015 Denver Restaurant Week businesses
1,970 Views | Category: Denver
The tourists' guide to Portillos: 5 must have dishes
3,306 Views | Category: Chicago
Pho = Pronounced "fuh" not "foe" for pho-king sake
2,904 Views | Category: Denver
Indulgery selected to exhibit at Collision Conference
2,983 Views | Category: Press Releases
Not Logged In
BUSINESSES
Local Businesses
Near Me
My Favorites
SOCIAL
Blog & News
MY ACCOUNT
Login
Register
Contact Us
Add Your Business
