This diner ? born in an old chili parlor ? offers feel-good 'Ratatouille' moments
At The Park Diner, in Northside, echoes of the building's former tenants, the Park Chili parlor – which closed in 2016 after 100 years in business – have all but disappeared.
Gone are the wood-paneled walls, now replaced by a bright palate of blue, green and yellow. Dropped ceilings have given way to more attractive pressed tin. And the closest thing I had to Cincinnati chili on a recent visit was the “Cincinnati-ish” three-way special ($8) that came with noodles topped with Texas-style chili, beans and coarsely grated cheddar. It's a far cry from the classic three-ways once offered here, but I'm not complaining.
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Like Park Chili, The Park Diner, which opened in the summer of 2023, is a place that aims to provide a gathering spot for the community. It's owned by longtime Northside fixture Kevin “Pogo” Curtis, an artist, and his wife, Allee Thompson, who works as a counselor in Butler County. Curtis grew up in Middletown but never imagined he would run a restaurant after spending more than a decade working at bike shops and hardware stores.
It wasn’t until a stint working at Middletown's Brown's Run Country Club ? where a woman he admired taught him how to make a really good soup ? that he thought he might have a future in restaurants. Since then, Curtis has worked at The Comet, The Hideaway, The Kitchen Factory and more recently his first restaurant, the creative taqueria Tacocracy, which was also in Northside.
The diner is about as Northside as it gets. The soundtrack is '90s-kid stuff (think Talking Heads, New Order and the Pixies), the staff is made up of artists and musicians, though the crowd is more eclectic than you might think. On a recent visit, I sat at a counter stool noting tatted Northside kids with dyed pink, purple and green hair seated next to construction workers, a mother with her two kids, and four well-dressed women who looked more P&G cafeteria than greasy spoon diner.
There’s some down-home Appalachian spunk here, too, courtesy of chef Lindsey Wagner, who uses they/them pronouns and says most of the dishes they've come up with were inspired by their late Memaw Brenda Sue Baker, a short-order cook and waitress at a diner outside of Alexandria, Kentucky.
“She was a country gal who’d go to the honkey-tonk with her blue eye shadow and her rhinestones,” Wagner recalls. “She did everything there. She was a prep cook, a server and a dishwasher. She was one of four waitresses ? all women in their early 50s or early 60s ? with hair kept up with Aqua Net, and everyone smelled like Red Door perfume.”
The food here is a collaboration between Wagner and Curtis. It's Curtis who came up with the excellent Cincy cheesesteak ($13) with thinly sliced beer-braised pork, melted American cheese and plenty of grilled peppers and onions, all topped with beer mustard. Curtis also came up with a mighty good Angus beef burger with grilled onions ($9). I like burgers with a story, so I was happy when he told me his was inspired by The Jug, in Middletown, a classic 1930s-era car hop he loved when he was a kid. He also credits the Hamburger Wagon, in Miamisburg, where his grandpa used to take him for lunch, as an inspiration.
Wagner’s contributions include one of the better fried chicken sandwiches you'll find in Greater Cincinnati. A juicy breaded chicken thigh served in a glaze of maple syrup and gochujang (a savory-sweet fermented chili paste) with Kewpie mayo and kimchee ($15). Order it with the diner’s shoestring fries that are tossed in Greek seasoning and paprika and you’ll see why this diner is a cut above the rest.
Other menu items include an Angus beef patty melt ($15), poutine ($10) and a Cubano ($14). Wagner, who has worked in fine dining restaurants such as Pleasantry, has a fondness for Asian flavors that shines in their spicy pickled vegetables (you can get a pickle plate for $13) as well as a fantastic spicy kimchee soup I ate here recently. On a more traditionally Southern note, Wagner's beer cheese soup, which they make with a dark roux and cheap beer, is something you should order whenever it's on the specials board (check Park Diner's Facebook and Instagram accounts to stay up to date).
Much like the old Tucker’s on Vine, in Over-the-Rhine, this is a diner that has prioritized making vegetarians and vegans feel welcome. The burger is available with Beyond Beef, and a beer-braised tofu hoagie with roasted garlic hummus and pickled vegetables is particularly good. Curtis said many of the veggie and vegan dishes he serves are things he started making at home for Thompson, who’s a vegan. Unlike, Tucker's, Park Diner doesn't serve breakfast, though Curtis said that might change in the future.
Wagner wants people who come here to feel like they are getting a relatively affordable meal of classic diner food with a little bit of oomph. "There might be a little twist on it, but it’s still the things you know and love from growing up," they said. "The kind of stuff that will give you that 'Ratatouille' moment where the critic eats the food and goes back to being a kid. We just want to make you feel good."
4160 Hamilton Ave., Northside, 513-541-0159. Hours: 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. Closed Sunday and Monday.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Park Diner in Northside offers burgers, fries, 'Ratatouille' moments
