The Summit Restaurant

It’s too bad that so few people know this exists. We can’t remember the last time we’ve had a meal this good. This place gives The Orchids at Palm Court a run for their money, and The Summit is less expensive.
The staff was friendly and service was quick. Valet parking is FREE. The restaurant itself has a nice upscale feeling. It’s easy to see why they won an award for their ‘Manhattan’. The duck was particularly noteworthy.
Everything was fresh, tender, and hot. We couldn’t have been more pleased. We were also happy that has the extra benefit of helping the Culinary Institute. We will return.

What a lovely evening at The Summit! Every dish was outstanding. Sea Bass, Filet, Crab Cakes and Chicken — all fabulous — well prepared and presented!
Give it a try!

Foodie here, was very excited to try this. Very disappointed.
Prices are that of a nice restaurant downtown. Décor however lacks luster and food was mostly overlooked.
Bread was stale. Cheese plate and bang bang shrimp were delicious.
Entrees (steak, fish) were undercooked and overcooked. Asparagus side was undercooked. Fries on the side tasted like oil reused from a fish fry.
Even after they removed our entrees from the bill, it still was $ 40+ for our appetizers and asparagus (they didn’t take that off).
Would not recommend, from this visit this place is overpriced poorly cooked crap.

Great food and a wonderful staff that gave great recommended great tasting food. Facility feels like a cafeteria however the food makes up for it.

What a cool place! I got the chance to visit The Summit Restaurant during a private event. My sister is a student at Cincinnati State in their culinary department and invited me to an event where the students prepared the food and served. The Restaurant itself is a little hard to find. There are some signs along the way but it’s sort of hidden within the back corner of the school. Overall, it’s a nice size, not too big and not too small. Our food, prepared by the students was great. I was really impressed.

We celebrated our 50^th wedding anniversary at The Summit Restaurant on August 29, 2014. Chef Kagy prepared 3 culinary delights which were served in the «dine around» fashion. Chef Stanton from Bakery Hill prepared a 3 tier wedding cake that tasted as beautiful as it looked. Everyone loved the food. Donna Schmitt the restaurant manager was a great partner with us as we planned this event. We enthusiastically recommend The summit to anyone planning an event or simply want to dine there. We loved it!

The seating area looks like the dining hall of a best western, but the food, service and prices were fantastic! The chefs cam out and spoke with us. I dream about those scallops

Curious to try this place as it is run by students from the Midwest Culinary Institute (with «professional» supervision). The location is a bit strange (on the second floor of a building on the Cincinnati State campus) and the décor is a bit dated (90’s «modern» with bright colors, chrome, and light wood), but we were here for the food.
There is a definitely a «process» that the servers are trained to follow: first offer/​serve a drink, then present the dinner menu (after drinks have been served), then bring bread, and then the courses are presented in turn). Service was excellent, but anything that deviated from this process seemed to throw him off a bit (i.e. Q: «could we please have some bread?» A:“well, we normally bring it later, but sure”).
The rosemary bread with herb butter was very good. There was also an amuse bouche, which is always a nice touch. My husband got a square of thick bacon and since I had previously mentioned while ordering that I don’t eat pork, they thoughtfully substituted a tiny dish of fresh beets for me. I got the crab cake as a starter – nicely seasoned, just a bit bready.
For the main course, I went with seared scallops. They were nicely cooked, but only seared on one side and unfortunately so heavily spiced that my palate was kind of ruined for the rest of the dish. There was a delicious bed of cheese grits that I wish I could have tasted more and an altogether unnecessary moat of barbecue sauce surrounding the grits that I just tried to avoid.
We shared a dessert to finish – 2 scoops of house-​made ice cream, which I wouldn’t recommend. There was a chocolate hazelnut (with sneaky, unannounced flecks of coconut throughout) and cookies & cream. I love ice cream and this didn’t even measure up to store-​bought.
Overall, I thought it was a tasty meal with a few missteps; my husband loved his (a salad to start and the soft-​shelled crab special entrée) and the value and service were both pretty good. Oh, and I can’t forget to mention – Friday is half-​price wine night for select bottles! We really enjoyed our Matchbook Chardonnay (like buy one glass, get one free!). They have special events and other promotions on a fairly regular basis, so might be worth joining their mailing list to keep track of those.

I had the pleasure of dining here last Friday night with my mother and cousin. It was a reunion dinner. The free valet parking was very helpful since my mother is recovering from surgery. The whole experience from the greeting by the hostess (a student from a nearby college) to the final bill was wonderful. We each had 3 courses and I had a glass of wine. The meal selections included comforts foods as well as more gourmet meals. I had the ahi tuna with miso broth and phở noodles as the main course and an incredibly light panna cotta with mixed berries for dessert. The ahi tuna was cooked perfectly (which I am picky about) and it was an interesting twist to have it served with phở noodles and miso broth. They brought a side plate with a selection of extras to enhance the flavor, e.g. chili sauce, more miso, lime, cilantro and basil. My mom and cousin both had steak-​each were grilled to each of their preferences. I highly recommend this and will be back when I am home visiting my family again. The dress could be either business casual or dressy depending on your occassion and the environment is versatile and could be either casual, upscale or romantic depending on your mood, what you are celebrating and where you are seated.

I’ve had the pleasure of dinning at the summit on about 4 or 5 occasions now and can say that each visit is inexplicably better than the last. I say that because from the first bite on my first visit I was hooked. As a meat and potatoes guy I did not think I would find anything to my liking at the Summit. After sampling most of the menu I’ve decided that there is no way to get a bad meal here. Everything is thoughtfully created and presented and rises to the high levels that you would expect from the students and staff of the Midwest Culinary Institute. Current favorites include Aranchi, a crispy melt in your mouth rice based ball in an amazing spicy tomato sauce and the Vietnamese Sea Bass presented in a build your own noodle bowl fashion to make it as mild or as spicy as you like. Always cooked and seasoned to perfection. The staff is friendly, knowledgeable and always at your service. They have a great wine list with parings on the menu and beforehand grab a seat at the bar for the award winning Cincinnati State Manhattan. The free valet parking makes things nice and easy too. I have heard some say that it a bit pricey but I would expect to pay more (and have) for food of this quality. The Summit is truly a hidden gem in the Queen Cities crown.

I finally went to one of their wine dinners. This is the first full meal I have had there, I had only been there for a few events before. I still need to get their for one of their normal ordering from the menu meals. The wine dinner I went to was a game dinner, the guest chef was the chef from Brown Dog Café. The wine dinners are nice, the seating is communal style, which I especially like for set dinners. I think is a fun way for to have dinner. The table I was at was great. Since everyone is eating the same food and having the same wine, you have an opening for conversations. The meal was excellent and the wine pairing by Ian from Wine trends was spectacular. I have heard sometimes at wine dinners other places, the wine person selects the wine and then the chef selects the food. Here the Chef adn students decides on the menu and the wine person then picks the wine (personally, I think this works better, the chef is not limited by the wine choosen and the wine person knows what they have available to fit the food. I like unusual dishes so a game menu really appealed to me and Brown Dog is and excellent restaurant and known for serving game dishes. I was not disappointed. Chef Shawn McCoy did an excellent job with the Culinary institute staff and students.
The price for the wine dinners is very reasonable for what you get.
I do not think many people in Cincinnati realize what an excellent program the Midwest Culinary Institute has.

my experience at Summit was great, Started with a drink at the bar. Staff was very friendly and the seating was roomy. The food had great presentation and nice portions. The servers were always there for any needs you had. I had the 3 course special that is offered on Thursday. Each course was very good. I will go back there again.

I had wanted to try dinner at The Summit for ages, intrigued that the food is prepared by students from the Midwest Culinary Institute, located on the second floor at Cincinnati State’s main campus.
From my Farmer John’s beet salad, to the perfectly pan-​seered salmon, and ending with the best chocolate mousse cake I have ever tasted, this is a restaurant worth supporting. I was with a rather large group and everyone raved about their dinner.
Along with the delicious food, the service is impeccable, rivaling any restaurant in the city. The staff is accommodating and happy to answer any questions about the Institute.
You will enjoy a marvelous evening, so make reservations and enjoy!

Came for Restaurant Week. We always wanted to try this, supporting the local Midwest Culinary Institute. Plenty of signs to get you to the valet parking (free, but we tipped), then signs to the restaurant.
Food was good, but not inspired, but certainly tasty. I had the arancini appetizers, which were flavorful. For the main course I had the filet mignon which was well cooked. Everything needed a dash more seasoning, but just a little.
Dessert were beignets with three dipping sauces. Yum.
The service was earnest, and any little flubs were no big deal. I have had worse service being served by pros, not students.
We will come back!

Located inside Cincy State. Free Valet parking was a plus! I came here for the Unilocal Meet the Chef event. The ambience was great. I checked out the menu and was not impressed.

Located inside Cincinnati State, The Summit features the cooking of the Midwest Culinary Institute students. Jean Robert heads this department, so I knew my palate would be in for a treat.
While it was a bit odd walking through the school to get to the restaurant, once inside I was surrounded by a mood-​lit room with a bar, intimate table settings, and a hilltop view of the rolling campus greenery. The waitstaff dressed in formal black and white, keeping drinks refilled and our dishes cleared.
As a lover of baked goods, I was thrilled to taste their bread: soft, warm served with sweet, creamy butter. It’s everything you’d ever want bread to be.
For my main, I had the braised short rib. It was tender, juicy and had a hint of wine flavoring. Absolutely delicious. I had the asparagus as a side, which was savory and cooked perfectly. I could definitely taste the Jean Robert in every bite!
Price per person: $ 30.00