My favorite downtown Italian? Not who you think!

This is officially the very first restaurant I ever ate at in Cincinnati. I flew in one afternoon to meet with my new boss about my impending move to the 'Nati and needed to get a bite before settling in for the night. I was staying downtown and just started walking and stumbled upon...Campanello's! I mean hey - it's only 3 blocks from the beach! (haha)
Since visiting then five years ago, Campanello's has been one of my favorite spots in Cincinnati. It's a very homemade sweet marinara - so if you like the darker (cooked longer) sauce - this probably isn't the spot for you. But if you like a bright red thick sweet marinara - and cheese cheese cheese - then you're good!

I work just a few blocks away and the programming team likes Campanello's so we hit it up for the latest birthday (happy birthday jordan!).

With many entree choices you get your choice of soup or salad. The salads are iceberg lettuce with a few olives and tomatoes. I had the honey mustard this day - good salad - especially when it comes with the entree!

Birthday boy isn't a salad fan so he got chicken noodle and it looked great! Big bowl and the noodles sure looked homemade! He was most definitely a happy camper.

The table got a variety of options - this was the mostacciolli with meatballs...

Someone else got Spaghetti with Meat Balls...

Another got Manicotti...

And then the Lasagne!

It's my personal favorite - I always get it...I would definitely recommend the lasagne for any first time Campanello's people.

The service isn't always the fastest - but it's usually just 2 guys running it. The decor is horrible - it's all dark old wood paneling - but it's also the charm of the place. It's almost Sopranos-esque. It's also cheap - it's just over $7 for salad, bread and entree! (The bread is nice and fresh too.)

Bottom Line - I love Campanello's!