12 Ways Newport's East Row gets its pizza fix

One thing the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky region is NOT known for is its pizza.  Friends from Chicago and New York kindly remind us of that whenever they come to visit.  And, we are harshly reminded when we find ourselves gorging on Lou Malnati’s in the Windy City or Ray’s in the Big Apple.  But, while we aren’t known for pizza the way they are, the choices for us living in the East Row have expanded recently – and improved immensely.

We were delivered from the ho-hum predictable brands when Dewey’s Pizza opened at Newport on The Levee a number of years back.  It’s a nice walk down from the neighborhood.  It’s a great place to take friends and visitors.  And for dinner at the Levee, it’s reasonably priced compared to other choices in the complex.  But, while they do carryout (what pizza joint doesn’t?), Dewey’s doesn’t deliver.  To get delivery, East Row residents usually had to call on a national chain. 

In the last couple of years, we’ve had some new players come on the scene, and they’re giving the usual suspects a run for their money. 

Newport Pizza Company opened on Monmouth in 2009 and immediately gave us a local option that wasn’t LaRosa’s.  I’m not a LaRosa’s hater or anything, but, when it’s the go-to at every kid birthday party, school event and kid sports team celebration, well, who wouldn’t get tired of the same old thing? Newport Pizza does a nice job – they deliver, they’ve got an eat-in option and tables on the sidewalk when the weather is nice out. Oh - and they've got at least a couple of dozen beers to choose from. 

Mellow Mushroom is a mid-tier chain based out of Atlanta that has me jumping for joy.  I discovered them while in Georgia for a wedding and so, when I saw it go in just a few minutes’ drive away, I was pretty excited.  Open for over a year, and located down by the Town and Country sports complex in Wilder, they fit right in.

Mellow Mushroom’s atmosphere is fun and festive.  It's noisy enough that you won’t feel self conscious taking the kids, but nice enough that you could enjoy a casual date night dinner before a movie.  They’ve got a nice selection of beers on tap and salads and appetizers to go with the creative pizzas.  Our family’s favorite, the Funky Q Chicken, includes barbeque chicken, cheddar cheese, caramelized onions and bacon. The other one we love, the Kosmic Karma, features sundried tomatoes, spinach, feta, fresh sliced tomatoes and pesto on a crust tossed before your eyes in the open kitchen.  The kids love watching the bakers while they wait for dinner.

Jet’s Pizza is another mid-tier chain, this time out of Detroit.  My husband discovered this one during a business trip in Florida.  When he saw the new store that just opened in Newport next to Kmart, he literally stopped the car and went in and ordered carryout on the spot.

Jet’s Pizza doesn’t look like much from the outside.  The facade is pretty generic.  It's tucked away in the corner of a strip mall, and they only do carryout and delivery.  But, if you “know,” then you KNOW!  Jet’s is a pizza that features a thick, doughy satisfying crust.  A Jet’s twist that makes it unique is offering a number of different options for tricking out your crust.  Customize it with various seasoning options that include garlic, sesame seeds, butter, parmasan, and the "turbo crust," which is a combo of seasonings.  Add in stellar combinations of toppings and a wide range of sizes - including PIZZA BY THE SLICE - and you’ve got a pizza that wins.  Our family loves the barbeque pizza and the Hawaiian.  Jet's Bread is a fun starter, and the subs and hoagies are on my short list to try.

Strong’s Pizzeria is the one I’m rallying for the most.  They’ve opened on Monmouth right next to Atlas Cleaners – just a half block up from the Levee.  With a wood-fired brick oven and back patio, they’re on track to win my heart for favorite neighborhood destinations right up there with Pompilio’s, Dixie Chili and Mammoth Coffee.

Strong’s Brick Oven Pizzeria boasts gourmet specialty pizzas that include an awardwinning Pizza Alla Vodka recipe the owner brought back with him from New York.  It’s fantastic. Add atmosphere that makes you feel like you’re eating in someone’s home, and you’ve got a formula for success.  The menu also features salads and appetizers along with some decent beers and wines.

We aren't short on decent choices in the East Row.  The one’s detailed above are the one’s I’m most excited about.  These new kids on the block are making the Newport pizza scene interesting and I’m not mad about it.

Newport East Row's pizza choices at a glance - order is alphabetical, not by preference:

Dewey’s Pizza  Delivery? NO

Domino’s  Delivery? YES

Donato’s  Delivery? YES

Fort Thomas Pizza  Delivery? YES

Jet’s Pizza Delivery? YES

LaRosa’s Pizza Delivery? YES

Mellow Mushroom Delivery? NO 
Newport Pizza Company  Delivery? YES

Papa John’s Delivery? YES

Pizza Hut Delivery? YES

Snappy Tomato  Delivery? YES

Strong’s Brick Oven Pizzeria  Delivery? YES

Edit July 5th 2012:  Here are two more places within a few minutes drive that were added by a reader (see comment below):
Buona Vita's Pizzeria in Dayton KY  (Delivery?  NO)
Raniero's Pizzeria in Highland Heights KY (Delivery? Yes, but not to Newport)

Did I miss any?  If there’s another pizza joint I’ve overlooked, leave a comment and I’ll gladly add to the list.


Disclosure:  I am a marketing professional who writes articles for a range of clients that are published in various places from time to time. I strive to operate with the highest integrity, ethics and transparency.  The content of this blog is my own and all posts and topics are published by my own volition and choice. I received no incentive, payment or other consideration in exchange for writing this article from any of the parties mentioned herein or otherwise.

East Row Garden Club hosts annual Garden Walk June 2-3

Image courtesy of EastRowGardenClub.org

An early Spring has pushed up the 16th annual Garden Walk hosted by East Row Garden Club.  Traditionally held in late June, it happens this weekend, June 2nd and 3rd.

Eight private gardens featured on the tour include six never open to the public before.

This tour is one of the most popular tours in the region.  Guests will enjoy lingering in these tucked away oases and will marvel at the peaceful serenity that can be found in these small urban secret spaces.

If you go:

Saturday and Sunday, June 2nd and 3rd, 2012 
10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Tour begins at corner of 6th and Washington in Newport, Kentucky 41071

Tickets: 
$15/person available for advance purchase online and in person at A New Leaf Florist.
Children 12 and under are free if accompanied by an adult.
Purchase tickets on day of tour at Watertower Square parking lot (6th Street and Washington Street).
Credit cards accepted for online orders but CASH or CHECK only accepted on the day of the tour.

Tour begins at the ticket booth, where visitors will also find a vendor market featuring garden accessories, plants, antiques and other garden related items for purchase from notable vendors such as Greenfield Plant Farm and Greg's Antiques among others.

Wanna nominate a garden for next year's Garden Walk?

Novice and expert East Row gardening residents are invited to join the Garden Club anytime throughout the year.

See some of the garden club's current projects and programs.  Learn about how the garden club gives back to the community.

Find the garden club on Facebook and see their website www.EastRowGardenClub.org  for more information.

Amanda's fabulous bean salad recipe

My version of Amanda's fabulous bean salad

This is one of those recipes that you just eyeball everything depending on how many people you are trying to feed, what you have on hand, and your personal preferences.  There is no single ingredient that will make or break this dish.  If you aren't a fan of one item or another, leave it out.

It is fabulous.  My neighbor Amanda clued me in a couple of years ago, and I've been making it ever since.

1 can dark red kidney beans (drained and rinsed)
1 can chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
1 can whole kernel corn (drained) *can use frozen instead*
1 rib of celery - diced
1 cucumber - diced (remove seeds before dicing)
1/2 small red onion - diced
1 orange bell pepper - diced
Fresh, flat-leaf italian parsley - chopped (to taste)

Toss ingredients in a bowl, douse generously with red wine vinegar.  Sprinkle with a little sugar and salt to taste. Serve.

Makes approximately 6-8 servings. 

Taste of Cincinnati 2012 there's an app for that

Image courtesy of Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber

The Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber hosts the 34th Annual Taste of Cincinnati this Memorial Day weekend.  Hailed as the nation's longest running culinary arts festival,  the party fires up Friday, May 26th and continues through Monday, May 28th, 2012.

New this year, the Chamber offers a free iPhone app (a Droid version is available as well) that will help festival guests navigate over 40 food vendors. The app promises to enhance guest experience by providing booth map and menus to discover new and favorite samplings from over 200 food and beverage offerings.  It also features an event schedule along with an entertaining photo booth feature.

Make a bee line to J. Gumbo's for some Bumblebee Stew.  Then head over to Pit to Plate for a pulled pork BBQ sandwich with slaw.  Strasse Haus breaks the rules with fried peanut butter and jelly and Keystone Bar & Grill will make you swoon with their Buffalo Mac & Cheese.  Do yourself in with some real Schnecken from Queen City Cookies.


In addition to plenty of eats and drinks, the festival includes live musical and comedy entertainment all weekend long.  A complete schedule can be found here. 

East Row Mama's personal pics include dancing yourself silly with the Naked Karate Girls Saturday at 4:00pm on the Fountain Square Stage. Kick up your clogs with the bluesy, bluegrassy acoustic sounds of The Tillers on Sunday at 4:30pm on the Metromix Stage at P&G Gardens.  For a dose of some killer good piano blues, check out Ricky Nye Inc. on Monday at 2:00pm on the Government Square stage.

Taste of Cincinnati always happens along Fifth Street between Race and Broadway with Fountain Square at the center of the action.

Admission is free.  Parking is easily accessible all around downtown in garages, surface lots and on the street. 

  East Row families can catch a ride to the fest   on the Southbank Shuttle Trolley at several stops   along East Third Street in Newport between Hofbrauhaus and the Newport Aquarium for a dollar per person.

   If you go:

Hours: Noon to midnight Saturday and Sunday, Noon to 9:00pm on Monday


Video courtesy of CincyChamber via YouTube

May is the new December

A friend of mine declared recently that "May is the new December."

Boy, she is NOT kidding.  If you are at all involved in your children's life, and if they are at all involved with any activities beyond eating, drinking, bathing, sleeping, going to school and coming home, then your weeks leading up to the close of the school year are just as busy as those leading up to the holidays.

Recitals and performances, tournaments, bees, competitions, concerts, and countless other exhibitions of the talents that your children have been honing throughout the fleeting school year, must be attended.

Loose ends must be tied up.  Missing books must be found and returned.  Gifts must be purchased or made for teachers in appreciation for their efforts to help shape our "young breed."

This is the time that the weekends become crowded with First Communion and prom and graduation celebrations.  You know they are coming. You just don't often know when or how many until you've already got multiple balls in the air and you've abandoned the ink pen on your calendar and resorted to pencil instead.

In the midst of all this, winter clothes must be purged and replaced with summer wardrobes. 

Those of us who wear all the hats of running a small business or work away from the home must still find time to keep those initiatives moving forward.  The good news is, I decide when and where and who I work with on most days.  But what I want to get done and what is humanly possible are two different things in May. 

And just like the Winter holiday season, those who enjoy it most are the ones who simplify and prioritize.  The ones who trade in at least some of the "nice-to-haves-but-not-necessary-for-happiness" in exchange for "this-must-be-done-to-preserve-sanity" tasks wind up getting to June with a sense of sentimental accomplishment, traditions and memories that their children will cherish.

I'm working on that.  But it's a feeble attempt at best.  What do you think?  Is May the new December at your house?


photo credit: MrB-MMXhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/marlon-bunday-mmx/4692932272/">MrB-MMX> via photo'>http://photopin.com">photo pin cchttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">cc>

Dive right in and just keep swimming

This blog, East Row Mama, has served as a private place to park my thoughts over the last several years.  It began as a "toe in the water" back in 2008 - when I first began to explore the new media channels that were exploding all around us.

I was coming out of a stretch of nearly ten years as a fully engaged, stay-at-home spouse and mother and was making the difficult decision to return to the workplace. I was also facing the difficult challenge of discerning what exactly I might do out there after being away for so long.

Since that time, my path has rapidly evolved and I find myself looking at this blog, shocked to realize that it's been nearly 3 years since I posted anything to it. 

I'm choosing to see that as an indicator of growth. Lack of activity here is evidence that I've found meaningful things to occupy my time elsewhere. As it turns out, what it really means is that I decided to ditch the "toe in the water" approach to all of this and, instead, I dove right in to the deep end and kept swimming into the open water.

Now, I find myself returning to this early spot - like a wistful, sentimental pilgrimage back to my roots. I am still a mom. I am still a spouse. But I have my own identity - I am my own person. The path is not easy, but I am energized by it, and that makes it worthwhile. I'm excited to blow the dust off this blog. It's time.

I read somewhere once that, no matter what else is going on, all a woman really wants is control over her own life. It's true. I don't need to control others. But I do need to at least have the sense that ultimately, I am in charge of my own life.

I'm an urban mama in the East Row. And I do some other things too. Welcome to my joyful madness.


photo credit: Έλενα Λαγαρία via photo pin cc

The "Lion of the Senate" Moves On

I was surprised by my own emotional reaction to the news of Ted Kennedy's passing.

More than anything else, I felt the magnitude of the passing of an era. He was the one who carried the torch for his fallen brothers. He was the glue that kept a legendary family unified.

Forced to exist in a world where the media wanted to define him by scandal, he refused to accept that label and forged ahead to make the world a better place with courage and relentless energy.

In a statement issued by his family they described him as "the irreplaceable center of our family and joyous light in our eyes."

In spite of a life filled w an extraordinary amount of tragedy, Senator Edward Kennedy always believed that our best days were still ahead of us. If he was able to maintain that kind of faith in a life plagued with loss and heartache, how can we not?