Where to eat before the symphony:

        There are few restaurants near Music Hall where you can park once, eat and go to a Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO) concert. But that doesn't mean you should go hear classical music on an empty stomach. Here are some restaurants that welcome the concert crowd:

        • Nicola's Ristorante Italiano in Over-the-Rhine has several offers to attract symphony patrons. You can valet park there (for $4), have dinner, then take the restaurant's shuttle bus to Music Hall. Or valet park, take the shuttle and come back to eat something after the concert (Nicola's stays open until midnight on concert nights; Maestro Paavo Jarvi likes to drop in occasionally when he gets off work).

        In addition, Nicola's will take $10 off your meal if you show your CSO tickets for that night, and it offers Symphony specials: dishes of braised pork or beef, perhaps, ready to serve quickly.

        This month, you can get coupons at Nicola's for 25 percent off CSO tickets for the two weekends of performances remaining in September. Call Nicola's at 721-6200.

        • The 25 percent off coupon is available at a number of restaurants. You'll know who's participating by the servers wearing “Bravo Paavo” buttons. Restaurants are, downtown: Aioli, Bistro on Elm, Cafe Cin-Cin, La Normandie, Maisonette, Nicholson's, Redfish, Rock Bottom, Shanghai Mama's and Trattoria Roma. In Over-the-Rhine: BarrelHouse Brewing Co., Nicola's and the Symphony Hotel. In Mount Adams: Blind Lemon, Daveed's, Mount Adams Bar and Grill, the Promontory and Rookwood Pottery Bistro. Also: Mike Fink in Covington, Cody's Cafe in Clifton and Bronte Bistro at Rookwood Pavilion in Norwood.

        • The Symphony Hotel is the most convenient place to eat before a concert. It's right across 14th Street from Music Hall, so when you arrive for dinner, it's early enough to find a parking spot quite close. The restaurant serves dinner on Music Hall event nights only. It's a prix-fixe, four-course menu, with a couple of choices of entrees, for $35. Service begins at 6 p.m. Reservations: 721-3353.

        • Five times a season, there are CSO concerts at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays. These include a free buffet catered by Benson's. The buffet is set up in the Music Hall lobby, and begins at 6 p.m. The first Thursday night concert of the season will be Nov. 14.
       

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