We had a fantastic experience dining at Nolia. The cocktails were next level and all the food was spot on. My favorite was the sweet potato donuts. Also, they have the best collard greens I’ve ever had (came with the chicken entree). Staff was friendly and service was quick. ☺️ Love that you can watch them cook!

Authentic New Orleans and Southern food in OTR. I wanted to try everything, but didn't bring my full appetite, so I ordered from their small plates, sides and sweets menu options (specifically, oyster maque choux, collard greens and the fig hand pie for dessert). Everything tasted good. They also have a raw bar and a pretty good drink menu. In addition to the main dining area, there's a cozy bar in the back where you can also be served. I was seated quickly, since it was before 6:00 pm, but I would recommend booking a reservation just to be safe.

We heard a lot of good things about this new restaurant and wanted to try it while we were in town. Even though we didn’t have reservations, the wonderful wait staff let us into the back bar. They let the chef know we had limited time as we were headed to a concert. The chef, personally served our dinner. The meal itself was amazing. This restaurant deserves your time and money. Probably should call for reservations. Thank you, Noila! Keep up the great food and service! 🥰

Phenomenal experience from end to end: the atmosphere, cocktails, food, and service are all second to none. Transparently, I was initially skeptical, considering that a New Orleans inspired menu in the German city of Cincinnati may not be up to par with restaurants I’ve personally experienced in Louisiana. I’m glad I was wrong: Chef Jeffrey Harris has brought the soul to our city, and a fantastic menu to prove any doubters wrong. There is not a wrong choice on the menu. The waitstaff was happy to recommend multiple items, and every one of them blew me away. From the mint-heavy Bourbon Smash to the light, flavorful sweet potato donuts (a must have), I was eager to try more. Where Harris really brings it home however is in the entrees. The Pork and Peas with succotash and Barbecue Chicken in Alabama style were an explosion in taste. Perfectly cooked, no need for salt, pepper or condiments. The long story short: Nolia Kitchen is a already personal favorite restaurant in the city. Get yourself a reservation soon. Your mouth will thank you.

Nolia is definitely the best restaurant in Cincinnati right now. All of the food is delicious and the staff is so kind. Loved the Oyster Maque Choux and cider braised greens. The stewed okra and the savory sweet potato donuts with quark are out of this world. Great cocktails too. Looking forward to trying their summer menu, have heard great things about the red snapper.

Nolia is such a vibe. It is a fairly small place making it perfect for an intimate but non-stuffy dinner atmosphere. We got a cocktail and mocktail and both were delicious. The hamachi crudo appetizer was UNBELIEVABLY good. The ingredients of every dish were so intentional and made for a great food experience. The food on the red plate is a dessert, it was amazing and very different from traditional offerings!

We decided to try Nolia after seeing who made the list for the James Beard semifinalists. The ambiance and decor is chic but welcoming. Service was always friendly and pleasant. The menu has just the right amount of items to choose from - more and you'd risk misses on quality due to too much diversity. The food was a mix of hits and misses. We started with the jackfruit griot and the hush puppies - to drink we selected some NA options. We were optimistic based on the starters - jackfruit had great flavor; hush puppies had good structure, minimal oil, and good flavor but the pepper jam didn't taste like much - made the hush puppies a bit one dimensional. For the main course we ordered pecan flounder and duck + oyster gumbo. I can only comment on the duck + oyster gumbo - oysters had good flavor w/o being oily, duck was cooked to the right temp w/ a crispy skin, but the gumbo left something to be desired as it was thin and under seasoned. Also, I was aware it would be deconstructed - I asked the serve for a recommendation and was under the impression this was gumbo. We had sides of mustard greens and black eyed peas. The mustard greens were good but were really gritty, like they needed to be washed a couple more times before cooking - we said something to our server to let the kitchen know. The black eyed peas were very sweet - maybe they were supposed to be this way, but we found it to be not to our liking. Overall, for the price point, we expected more - too many misses to give a 4-star review. And because of the price point, it's unlikely that we'd return to try it again.

If you come to Cincinnati this place should definitely be #1 on your to-eat-list!! The whole experience was amazing thank you chef for blessing our city with your story!!

What a wonderful addition to the OTR restaurant scene! Chef Jeffery & team created a warm & cozy environment, served unique southern dishes that are founded in his family’s recipes and offered exceptional service. An absolute must for any Cincy foodie!

After booking reservation for Nolia a month ago, the day had finally come for this highly anticipated meal. And let me say-it did not disappoint. Our table started out with a few drinks, the cocktails were quite tasty-I had a hard time deciding and ended up trying two on the menu. What I really like was the variety of cocktails, and they way they put on spin on the classics. For starters my sister and I split the peel n eat shrimp and the skillet cornbread. It was the best cornbread I've ever had, with just a hint of sweet. For the entrees we went with the jalapeño Caesar salad and the pork and peas. The jalapeño Caesar had a hint of spice that wasn't overwhelming, but definitely could tell the jalapeño flavor. Now on the the pork and peas...INCREDIBLE. The rub on the outside was crisp and full of flavor, while the meat was still tender. I was hesitant to order because I typically don't like peas, but the chef made them so well I am now a fan of Nolias peas! While the food and drinks were all stars by themselves, the other thing I loved about Nolia was how welcome you feel when you are dining there. Our server Max was attentive throughout our meal, and Chef Jeff Harris even came over to talk to our table. All of these reasons are why Nolia is now top of the list of my favorite restaurants in Cincinnati. I look forward to coming back and trying out the rest of the menu !

The ambiance and the chance for complete relaxation - Outstanding! Jerk rabbit was really, really good. Crawfish a bit of a downer. Brussel sprouts, cornbread excellent. If you're looking for a fun and different experience, this place is fabulous!!! Oh and Ghetto Boys cocktail works.

[Review of Apr 2023 menu] The decor is gorgeous; the wallpaper had me taking selfies before we ordered drinks. The cocktail menu is efficient. I had the Big Tymer’s cocktail, a tall glass full of gin and (house made) blueberry mint syrup. I had two, and nearly everyone at our table also ordered seconds of their drink. Because we were blessed to have a party large enough, we tried everything but 3 plates. On the entire menu. The food is whimsical and delicious, every bite full of different textures and spices. The menu is inspired by New Orleans cuisine (according to their website, with “imaginative and unconventional twists to familiar classics”). Our table was ravenous for their raw bar, so we began there. The oysters were a hit at our table, and we dressed them with two different kinds of house made hot sauce. We also tried the cornbread and the crab boulettes — if you’re enthusiastic about these, you may want to order two unless you’re dining alone… they’re fantastic — the whipped butter on the bread was decadent, and the crab boullettes had an excellent (and generous) crab to filling ratio. We ordered all 5 entrees; we especially liked the rabbit, pork belly, and lamb steak. The rabbit was jerk flavored (house made) and so tender. The lamb was cooked perfectly, with (also house made) jalapeño mint jelly on the side. The pork belly was smoky and crispy. The trout was also a hit at the table, and unsurprisingly it was cooked perfectly. The award for underdog hit, however, goes to the stuffed collard greens. A vegan dish stuffed with jackfruit, we weren’t expecting it to blow us out of the water. But the smoky spicy flavor of the stuffing and the perfect texture of the collard wrap impressed me, and I ended up begging to take the leftovers of it home. Out of the smaller plates, we nearly wept over the potatoes, and the black eyed peas and okra is to this date the only time I’ve ever eaten okra made by anyone other than my mother and liked it. Our table also got a kick out of their summery pickled veggie plate — the daikon radish was an immediate crowd favorite. Lastly, OF COURSE, we come to dessert. I think it was at this stage we began to realize what a special place this is; by this point the chef had actually come out to talk to us, and give us a sample of green Serrano chili hot sauce (one member of our party ended up purchasing their bottled hot sauce, it was so good). It may have had something to do with our waiter’s (hilarious) face when he asked what we wanted to order and we said “one of each!” The best part of Nolia is its staff, and you can especially see it in their desserts. Their cheesecake is seriously off the charts, and the sous chef came out to tell us that she learned how to make a special kind of creole cheese in house just for the filling, and that they make the graham crackers for the crust in house as well, with classic southern ingredients like steen sugar. It was simultaneously rich and light, creamy with a delightfully dark, gingerbread-y crust as the base. The cornbread pudding reminded a member of our party of a classic Indian dessert, sooji ka halwa, which is a sweetened dessert with cooked semolina. Another example of the interesting twists and flavors the restaurant adds to familiar favorites. We especially loved the rustic texture of the pudding, and the passion fruit gel tasted like real passion fruit! A very rare treasure in the Midwest, in my opinion. And the huckabuck was soooo refreshing — we recommend you ask the staff what the history is behind this dessert — and even if you’re feeling stuffed, be a trooper and ask for one to go! Overall, our party left completely sated and in awe. Not only was the menu a fresh take on a Cajun spring, but the environment and staff in Nolia are top notch. Their website says that “the South has come to Cincinnati” and I think we should roll out the red carpet. Five stars.

The food is 5 stars dropping a star here because there are some areas for improvement with the service. Service: we were served the wrong dish once and were given two of the same dish (even though we only ordered one), we were given plates for dessert even though we didn’t order any. Two servers bumped into each other and spilt a drink on my jacket. Both were apologetic and resolved the issue but all that is to say there are some kinks to work out. Food: -oysters tasted ok. Nothing remarkable. - curry soup really good, had a bite to it but we’ll balanced. - slaw: thought this dish was great. Very vegetable focused and well dressed. - flounder: sweet bite but with savory greens well balanced, a bit heavy on the butter. - eggplant: tasted good, possibly a mole type sauce and the eggplant well prepared not too oily or overdone. - black eyed peas and okra. Really excellent side dish, very flavorful.

Really good food!! The sides and desserts were amazing. The turnip root vegetarian plate was super flavorful too..it’s hard to find good, innovative vegetarian options but this place had it. We ordered some apps from the raw bar too which was the only thing I found to be underwhelming for $50 bucks, but everything else was great. We loved the open kitchen too.

Beautiful restaurant, friendly and knowledgeable service, amazing menu, excellent food. We had crab claws, fried green tomatoes (w pickled shrimp!), gazpacho with cocktails. Then, rabbit and mahi en papillote for entrées. Finally, cheesecake and peaches and cream for dessert. Wednesday’s special offered half-priced wine bottles before 7 pm. Our server recommended a red blend that was great and he thoughtfully packed it for us to take when we didn’t finish the bottle. The bold wallpaper and historic architecture in the restaurant make for unique and pretty décor. We were here for our 15th wedding anniversary. We look forward to returning soon. Nolia Kitchen is a joy—chef, staff, food, drink, space.

We celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary at this restaurant that we have heard so much about; it didn't disappoint! The food was TOO DAMN GOOD: jerk 🐇(that's a rabbit y'all), pork belly, 🦀 (and that's a crab) boulette, black eyed peas, and skillet cornbread with Steen's crane syrup. The latter reminded me of my mama's silver dollar size skillet cornbread. Oh, the drinks were top notch as well: one Big Tymers and a glass of Brown Estate (red blend). We can't wait to see the next menu.

Finished the day with an awesome celebration meal with some clients after closing on their house at Nolia Kitchen - I can see why they were nominated for the James Beard award for best new restaurant in the US - and they might have the best cornbread that I’ve ever had in my life 🥵 Tonight we started with some Oysters 🦪 with Apple Mignonette, Blue crab claws 🦀, and Hamachi Crudo 🐟 Then an amazing Lamb Shank with yellow Curry, Eggplant Dirty rice, and a Goat Pepper Pot 🍛 We finished with Buttermilk Pie w/ Blackberry & Caramel, Apple Cider sorbet, an Apple Bread pudding, and a Puffed Cereal Ice Cream 🍨 If you have not checked this place out, definitely go! The food is seriously next level!!! 🔥🔥🔥

Woah this place is ridiculously delicious. The red fish is one of the best dishes I’ve ever had. Top 3. Unexplainably good. Just trust me and get it. My wife got the half chicken and it was cooked perfectly with a light crispy skin. Chicken 10/10, red fish 15/10. They had a coffee styled old fashioned which was unreal. I had 3 or 4 of those. Had to get the cherry pie and buttermilk ice cream. So good. Oh and I started with cornbread. They bring that out in a little cast iron skillet. The hot sauce was seriously THE best I’ve ever had. I bought 3 bottles to go. Intimate but casual dining experience with the kitchen where the bar would normally be and the bar where the kitchen would normally be. Chef/owner is a super cool guy.

I can't recommend Nolia Kitchen enough. Well branded, well located and a new jewel of Cincinnati. We had the sweet potato donuts and fried oysters, then the bbq chicken, and apple hand pie for dessert. The dense and vibrant flavors, the elegant plating, the staff and restaurant atmosphere, I look forward to coming back again and again. Jeffrey knows what he is doing.