Cafe Martin

I came here for what I thought would be a quick bite... instead it was more of a slow bite.  The restaurant is nestled inside the Garfield Suites Hotel, so most of the guests who come here are hotel guests like myself.  Overall, the food was not impressive.  The food here is the basic American fare -- soups, salads, burgers, pizzas, salads.  The name "Cafe Martin" is a bit of a misnomer here as the food here is not French as what one might think when he/she thinks of the French restaurant Cafe Martin in NYC.

I ordered the buffalo chicken salad and the Louisiana wrap, which were over seasoned.  The food here was pretty tasty...but so salty!  I had to ask for lots of water refills since the food made me pretty thirsty.  

The service here is slow.  I came here on a Wednesday night and it was pretty packed.  From point of ordering, it took about 30+ minutes to get our food.  There are only two waitresses who work here...they service all the tables and the bar area.  I commend their hard work juggling their dual waitress and bartender roles at the restaurant.  But I also feel pretty bad for them because they look overworked, stressed and a bit grumpy.  

Overall the food is pretty decent, affordable, but just a bit overseasoned and oversalted.  Service could improve a little, but that would probably help with more waitstaff and chefs/cooks.  I give this place a solid 3 stars.

Before going to the Music Hall, my husband and I wanted to grab a quick bite. We were heading for Leboxx, to get a soup in a bread bowl, but as they were closed, we ended up going to Cafe Martin next doors.

We only had limited time (35 minutes), and weren't served very quickly. One girl seemed to be the only one around to attend to all the tables. The menu looked good though. I wasn't very hungry so I got a cup of tortilla soup. We had to wait for quite a long time and the food was ok but not wow. If anything, my soup was very spicy and I found it weird this wasn't mentioned in the menu. My husband's hamburger was ok, but nothing special.

I don't think we'll come here again - it's the kind of place we'd go to when nothing else is open, but otherwise, there are better options in Cincinnati for a good soup or burger.

After some drinks at Knockback Nat's, the bf and I headed out to find dinner.  We passed Cafe Martin and decided to give it a try... looked nice, not crowded.

To start, the service was really good.... efficient and friendly.

The timing of the appetizer was solid (spinach and artichoke dip w/ veggies).  The app itself was ok.  Nothing to rave about.

The bf really like his pizza (buffalo chicken), which was loaded with cheese and large chunks of chicken and had a good flavor.  So, star for that.

My pasta primavera left a little to be desired.  It could have used a bit more "primavera."  I'm really glad I ordered a side of broccoli and added it in.  Also, it was drowning in a brownish, super salty, marsala-tasting type sauce.  I probably ate about half of it (plus all the brocc, which was yummy), then mooched off the bf's pizza.

The prices were fairly reasonable.

To quote Dwight Schrute: Good, not great.