The Breckenridge Tap House @ Oscar's – An elevated taco experience

Don't you love when you have this gut feeling about a place and it pays off better than you even expected?

Taking a day off after three straight days of amazing Colorado skiing, we decided to lazily meander Breckenridge's busy Main Street. It’s a street packed to the gills with various coffee houses, boutiques, pubs and restaurants. A day can easily slip by in the dizzying array of tantalizing scents, sights and sounds. We were drawn to Oscar’s of Breckenridge – Tacos, Tequila, Whiskey – and their Tap House with its rustic, cool decor, and decided on a quick (if a bit early!) beer. With 34 beers on tap, you're sure to find something interesting to try. We went for local brews, and while enjoying them glanced over the menu and were intrigued. We weren’t hungry, so we continued weaving our way thru the town. All the while we kept thinking about Oscar's menu. We knew they had a great happy hour, so it was inevitable we would go back and conclude our day there. Their menu states “An elevated taco experience…” and is right on. It is amazing to have so much precise flavor complexity in every single taco bite.

We started with the Chips and Guac. So good and fresh. Served with a roasted red pepper sauce on the side. We had several of their creative ala carte taco offerings: Blackened Mahi Mahi, Slow Braised Carnitas, and Chef's Choice Seasonal Sautéed Veg tacos. Every single ingredient had its place and stood out, while being the perfect complement to every other ingredient.

Our server, Ashaley Lynn Reynaga also deserves a huge round of applause for being both knowledgeable of the entire pub/restaurant, and for being so accommodating with our usual barrage of menu, ingredient and restaurant questions. She really made the experience.

Oscar's was that unexpected surprise on our trip – of being drawn somewhere and ending up with a truly memorable experience. We love when that happens. Don’t you?

Happy Hour at Light Bistro

If you're looking for a really nice happy hour with a chic ambience and great food and drink specials, stop in at Ohio City's Light Bistro. The bar food menu items are $5 during happy hour, and it's not a small list. There is a nice range of choices from a mac and cheese of the day to a specialty burger. We had the very tasty oven-dried tomato pesto flatbread and the fried clams. There are featured wine pours (a red and a white) for $5, outrageously inexpensive beer and many interesting cocktail specials, too. And bonus – it goes past 6pm! Happy Hour is offered Monday – Friday from 2:30 – 7pm. Of course, the dinner menu looked sumptuous too, but we had a date with Ingenuity Fest.

We used to go to Light Bistro all the time for the Vegetarian dinners, but thought they had discontinued them. We were happy to find out they do still run them, they just do not send out emails any more. So we liked them on Facebook to be in the know.

We also learned about their upcoming new restaurant in Hudson, Peachtree Southern Kitchen & Cocktails, which is now on our list to try when it opens this November. We wish them the best on their new endeavor.

Unity Design is a print and online design firm that specializes in the restaurant and culinary industry.

Olesia’s Place

After driving past this new restaurant many times and glancing at its unique structure with curiosity, we finally stopped in, and are so glad we did. Set in a converted spa showroom that might look like a greenhouse from the exterior, Olesia’s Place, located on Royalton Road in North Royalton, provides a comfortable, upscale dining environment and simply delicious American-Ukrainian cuisine. They feature a wide selection of dishes, all made from scratch and prepared according to the traditional recipes of their heritage.

We stopped in just to check out their happy hour, but ended up staying for dinner as well. The Happy Hour is fantastic. Nicely priced apps, specialty drinks, and house wine pours along with domestic and Ukrainian beers. Whether sitting at the bar or in the dining area, you can enjoy the view of multiple fireplaces which provide a cozy atmosphere.

To start, we enjoyed the happy hour red wine pour (very nice) and he had the Chicken Shish Kabob Skewer appetizer, served with house-made sauce, couscous and salad. The portion could have been a light dinner entree, and is actually offered in larger portion on the dinner menu. The chicken was grilled, well seasoned and very good. But the stand out was the amazing couscous. Simple, flavorful, light and fluffy.

For dinner, we started with something we had never tasted before, Borscht. A traditional Ukrainian soup made with beets, root vegetables and finished with sour cream. Not a fan of beets at all, it was a real surprise for me. It was so savory, robust, and complex that we are still talking about it. We definitely will order a full bowl next visit, having just ordered a cup this time. Next up, Mushroom Pierogies, filled with mushrooms, cheese, spices and served with onions and sour cream. Homemade and just delicious. He had the Pan Seared Salmon with sautéed spinach, seasonal vegetable, apricot glaze with an added side that just had to be tasted – Stuffed Cabbage. It came stuffed with beef, rice, onions, spices, and served with tomato or mushroom sauce. He opted for the mushroom sauce, which was an excellent choice.

All in all, Olesia’s Place provides a beautiful, warm, welcoming interior perfect for a cold evening. They have a great happy hour, and a dining menu that deserves full exploration. It also seems to have a nice patio for when the weather gets nice. Enjoy. And check out their website too. Nicely done and shows you just what to expect.

Unity Design is a print and online design firm that specializes in the restaurant and culinary industry.

Istanbul Grill in Tremont

We've been meaning to check out Istanbul Grill in Tremont for a long time, and finally, thankfully did! From the tasty authentic Turkish cuisine, to the charming decor and friendly, accommodating service (thanks Andrew and Greta!), this will be a new regular spot for us.

The ambiance is cozy and inviting with lovely Turkish ornamentation throughout. A beautiful brick archway leads you to a raised up dining area, where all the tables feel very private and intimate. The patio out front would be the perfect people-watching place for dessert and a cup of coffee.

We started at the bar with a couple of appetizers and wine during happy hour. We had Hummus (rich and creamy - yum!) and Ezme (a fresh tomato dip) with the most amazing, warm and delicious grilled pita bread. The Sigara Boric were really good – delicately deep fried phyllo rolls with house-made feta cheese inside. We will probably order these on every visit!

For entrees, he had the Chef's Chicken Burger which had great flavor and was served with a yoghurt dill sauce. Next time he would order the burger on the pita bread, because it was so amazing. The deliciously crispy fries tasted like they were battered in a little chick pea flour, giving them extra flavor and crispness.

I had the Kuru Fasulye Pilav (white bean stew with rice), which was mild in flavor but nice, and healthy-tasting (in a good way!) There were tons of vegetarian and vegan options on the menu. It will take a while to work my way through it!

Note: If you check it out on the website, don't let that mislead you. It does not do the setting or intimacy justice, and the food imagery on it looks sort of cafeteria-like, when it is actually quite delicious.

The Barrio in Tremont

Upon recommendation of trusted foodie friends, we checked out The Barrio in Tremont. Our friends did not steer us wrong!

The Barrio is located in the old 806 Winebar on Literary Avenue. They redecorated with fun Day of the Dead murals on the walls and a grunge-goth vibe on the menus.

You are provided menus and pencils to check off toppings to build your own tacos, and to choose from starters such as guacamole (4 creative variations), tortilla soup, salad and sides. The ingredients are fresh and eclectic and mix and match makes the taco options seem endless.

They brought us chips and salsa to start. The salsa roja was muy caliente – actually a little too hot for us – so we moved onto guacamole. We ordered the Tuscan guacamole which was finished with a balsamic reduction and pine nuts. It was fresh, generously portioned, and an interesting mix of sweet and spice. I was also tempted to try the mango guacamole, but that will have to wait until next time.

We built our tacos knowing we'd be back to try other varieties, because the options sounded so intriguing (ie: jicama slaw with strawberries, cilantro pesto, chipotle honey…)  Also there were plenty of vegetarian options with tofu and black beans on the protein list. The tacos are actually small, but so is the price of $3. We wished after so carefully choosing the toppings for each taco that there would have been a larger version for a few more dinaro.

They have quite a happy hour – daily from 5-7pm and then reverse happy hour later on – in fact only a few hours in the evening are not "happy"! Tequila and whiskey seem to be the house drinks, but we didn't indulge as we stuck to our usual wine.

Overall, we loved the vibe and concept, and look forward to returning! Oh, and of course they inherited the nice patio from 806 with an open air fireplace for those chilled evenings.

Unity Design is a print and online design firm that specializes in the restaurant and culinary industry.