The Cincinnati Tradition That Is Unfor”Goetta”Ble

Some of my earliest memories as a kid living on the west side involve Saturday family breakfasts. My dad was the cook in our house, and every weekend we had a big meal together. One of my favorite things he would cook was goetta from our local meat store. It came sliced from a huge loaf, and each slice had parchment paper between it.

We had many a breakfast like this in my childhood home, so when I met my husband I was shocked to hear he didn’t like goetta. I asked if he had ever tasted it, and he assured me he had. It is definitely an acquired taste. I won’t argue with that. After a few years, I finally convinced him to taste it again, and it was love at first bite! Shew!

According to Wikipedia, goetta is mostly local to Cincinnati, which explains why non-Cincinnati natives can’t even pronounce it. It was developed as a peasant dish to help make the meat stretch into a few meals. It consists of ground pork or beef, pin oats, and spices including thyme, bay leaves, salt, and pepper. While the basic recipe is the same, each brand has a slightly different proprietary recipe.

There’s even a whole festival dedicated to this tasty breakfast meat. Glier’s Goettafest is held every year at Newport on the Levee in August. They even have a goetta vending machine!

For the Cincinnati born-and-raised on goetta or for the transplant who has never had it… below you will find places to buy goetta to take home and fry up for your own Saturday morning family breakfast, as well as restaurants you can visit for goetta-infused dishes.

Places to Buy

Avril-Bleh & Sons

33 E Court Street
Cincinnati, OH 45202

Cincinnati Fun Fact – This butcher shop has been around since 1894 and is still going strong in its original location downtown on Court Street… talk about the ultimate local, small business!

Bill Finke and Sons

1502 Amsterdam Road
Ft. Wright, KY 41011

Eckerlin Meats

116 W Elder Street (Findlay Market)
Cincinnati, OH 45202

Glier’s

533 Goetta Place
Covington, Ky 41011

Mom Tip – Glier’s is available at your local grocery store. If you are new to goetta, we recommend going with the “original” recipe.

Humbert’s Meats

5679 Rapid Run Road
Cincinnati, OH 45238

Stehlin’s Meats

10134 Colerain Ave.
Cincinnati, OH 452519

Queen City Sausage

1136 Straight Street
Cincinnati, OH 45214

Mom Tip – Also available at your local grocery store.

Vonderhaar’s Market

19 W Pleasant Street
Reading, OH 45215

Wassler’s Meats

4300 Harrison Ave.
Cincinnati, OH 45211

Goetta “Dished Up” at Local Restaurants

Blue Ash Chili

• Cincinnati Caviar
  

Multiple locations

The Echo

• Glier’s German Greats
• Oktoberfest Omelette

3510 Edwards Road
Cincinnati, OH 45208

Half Day Cafe

• Goetta Hash

Locations in Wyoming and Mason

Slatts

• Goetta Burger

4858 Cooper Road
Cincinnati, OH 45242

Sleepy Bee Cafe

• Queen City Bee

Multiple locations

S.W. Clyborne Provision and Spirits

• Queen City Poutine

5948 Snider Road
Mason, OH 45040

Trotta’s Pizza

• Goetta Pizza

3501 Werk Road
Cincinnati, OH 45248

No matter if you like it or not, goetta is a part of our city’s deep history.

What side are you on?
Can’t “goetta” ’nuff, or “goetta” out of here?