Eclectic, hip restaurants like MYRA'S DIONYSUS lend character and flavor to a university neighborhood. With the current renovation of Clifton Heights business district underway and one skeptical eye wary of the area becoming "mallified," Myra's (121 Calhoun St., Clifton Heights, 513-961-1578) is as welcoming and comfortable as a bowl of their famous soups. Although largely catering to the college crowd with its cozy funkiness, vegetarian sensibility and student friendly prices, Myra's is by no means just a campus hangout. (Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday- Saturday, 5-10 p.m. Sunday)

Once inside the door of the shabby-elegant Victorian, greeted by the diminutive kitchen of spicy smells, the intimate dining room with its barn-planked walls and local art, to the outdoor patio planted with flower-filled bathtubs, it's clear that Birkenstocks or a student planner are not required for dining here. Couples, solo diners, veg-heads, twentysomethings and fiftysomethings crowd the tables for Myra's home-cooked meals.

Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and revelry, is merely the starting point of the menu with familiar offerings of spiced-meat gyros and Greek salads, feta sandwiches and tzatziki (yogurt and cucumber) sauce.

Indonesian Gado Gado (brown rice topped with tomatoes, cucumbers, raisins, sunflower seeds and a spicy peanut ginger sauce), Vegetarian Curry, Red Bean Mole (a traditional Mexican red/brown sauce consisting of peppers, tomatoes, spices and chocolate), Asian inspired Sesame Noodles, Taco Salad, Pita Pizza and a Mediterranean Seafood Tapenade share menu space with vegetarian and vegan sandwiches, salads and sampler plates. Prices top out at $6.

Myra's soups are the stars of the show: three or four dailies rotating from a list of 25 -- clam chowder, black bean, cream of spinach and gazpacho on one visit, Thai pumpkin and fabulous vegetarian chili on another. A bowl of soup and plate of crackers with cream cheese and jalapeno pepper jelly are one of my favorite combinations and even with the tip, I've spent less than $10.

Make sure on your way in past the kitchen you check out the case for daily desserts: carrot cake, cheesecake, flan, peanut butter-banana chocolate cake and cookies and more are all house made and generally pretty yummy.

As most of the former businesses along Calhoun Street are skeletal remnants in line for their extreme makeover, many of the remaining businesses such as Myra's, Mole's Record Exchange, Downtown Vintage and Floyd's Mediterranean are trying to weather the transition with the promise of more retail traffic. But it's been difficult with the elimination of street parking. A parking lot at the corner of Scioto and Calhoun (a half-block walk) is available for patrons of any of these establishments at no cost. Grade: B