Cincinnati Micro Travel Guide

Who Knew?

OVERVIEW

I didn’t know what to expect on my first visit to Cincinnati since 1988. But what I definitely didn’t expect was a city more diverse than my own beloved SF.

For example, Drag Queen Bingo at a local brew pub was not something I anticipated, but they nailed it. Although I don’t know if I prefer the look on the guy or the dog . . .

And it wasn’t just the fun bingo nor the wonderful lesbian wedding reception we observed earlier at a top-flight restaurant in the now-tony Over-the-Rhine neighborhood. There were rainbow flags and middle- and upper-class Black people everywhere - the latter even in the same places as white people. Imagine that.

10 Seconds of Seriousness: Cincinnati is easily as diverse as SF in terms of race and sexuality, but more importantly, there’s an ease to it there where those things take their proper place. As in: Nobody cares.

Whereas in San Francisco and Washington D.C., seemingly everyone does. But I digress.

We couldn’t have felt more welcome - everywhere. Including at the legendary Happy Hollow in Norwood, where the ex-con (true!) Eddie couldn’t have been nicer.

And while nobody is going to confuse Cincinnati with San Francisco visually, it is very pretty, nicely hilled and there are a lot of trees, and yes, there’s a reason a stadium here was once creatively called Riverfront. Overall, we were impressed fairly continuously by the quality, hospitality, and charm of The Queen City. The fact everything is a fraction of the cost of places like our home or Hoboken also helps, but it would be Killer at even those prices.

As usual with these, I will begin with some disclaimers.

First, the unfortunate. Like my own hometown of Albany, New York and so many others, the hometown of our host Andrew Whistler (and the newly adopted home of his bride Laura) was defaced by freeways back in the day. It sadly cuts the city off from its very pretty riverfront and also its football and baseball stadiums, a shame because Cincy has wonderful pre-automobile neighborhoods, with compelling architecture. Like a lot of places, it could/should be much more walkable than it is.

Before building for cars instead of people:

After building for cars instead of people:

And my normal apology-in-advance for these Micro Travel Guides: In no way am I presenting this as some kind of exhaustive resource. There are many parks, venues, and museums that I didn’t visit, and I don’t even have hotel or fine dining recommendations.

But my situation was unusual. Local guidance, and we didn’t even really stay in town, yet we had the use of a luxe highrise condo downtown, too. Huh?

Read on.

LAY OF THE LAND

I can speak only of 4 areas. We stayed with our incredibly gracious hosts at their place in an innovative community called Factory 52, in Norwood, which is about 8 miles northeast of downtown Cincy.

Why the name Factory 52? For decades, it was the home and factory of the United States Playing Card Company, maker of the Bicycle brand.

Now? It is a mixed-use neighborhood of a design there should be more of - a lot more, and everywhere. All within walking distance of their plush 2BR/2BA apartment were coffee and ice cream shops, an extremely trick pickleball/bar/restaurant facility, a full-tilt-boogie food hall, a brewpub (complete with Drag Queen Bingo, as above), and the aforementioned gin mill.

Suburban nightmare it wasn’t and I can’t speak highly enough of what they’ve done there. Whenever I bang on and on about urbanization and the wonders of human- vs. car-scaled development, Factory 52 is what I’m talking about.

In town, I was borderline astonished by both the Mt. Adams and aforementioned Over-the-Rhine neighborhoods. Mt. Adams is just plain nice, with great homes, great streets, and sweeping views of the Ohio River Valley. A nice bonus: Wonderfully real bars and restaurants lining the neighborhood’s narrow streets. It is also home to the Cincinnati Art Museum, which I cover below.

Likewise, Over-the-Rhine, or OTR. For extended periods, I felt like I was in Greenwich Village, or at least Hoboken.

But as recently as 2009, OTR was the absolute worst part of town, and nobody in their right mind wanted to go there, let alone live there. Now, and as above, it is indeed tony. And Killer.

Lastly, we hung out on two different occasions in The Banks, which, despite being tarnished by a nearby freeway, is a great multiblock bar and restaurant area around the Reds’ stadium, the Killer Great American Ballpark. In Cincy, opening day borders on a city holiday, and it was as intense a party scene as I’ve witnessed, at least in public.

Here it all is. For perspective, it is about a 2.5 mile walk between Union Terminal and the Art Museum, albeit under those damned freeways and uphill at the end.

In other words, once in Cincy proper, or especially if you’re staying there, you don’t need a car, but that’s probably just me.

LODGING

Sorry. I think there are real travel guides online and in the analog world that probably list candidates.

Because I have none.

THE GREAT OUTDOORS

Like Lodging, you’ll likely want to look elsewhere for the best hikes, parks, etc.

Here for Giants’ Opening Day and the attendant debauching, as well as to party in general with our SF ex-pat pals, hitting the many (and well-tended, I’m told) green parts of the greater Cincinnati area wasn’t on our list. At least not this time.

But we still did a lot of walking, in Mt. Adams and OTR, and especially along the river for the 15 minute walk between Andrew’s parents’ swank condo - at the base of Mt. Adams - and the baseball stadium. It was perfect being able to Über from the younger Whistler’s place in Norwood to the elder’s condo downtown and use it a base of operations.

Especially when his parents’ place looked like this and they are away at their home in Florida.

I share that if only to show there’s hope for places like Albany.

Although that is Julie and Laura relaxing with drinks on the outdoor terrace and enjoying its 180-degree Ohio River Valley views. Does that not qualify as THE GREAT OUTDOORS?

And wait, isn’t this kind of a park?

EATING/DRINKING

I better not lie, as my nose is large enough as it is: We went to a whole bunch of bars. Here they are, broken down by the 4 districts we visited. As always, I provide links where I can for Textbook or better places.

Norwood

Everything here except for the don’t-miss Happy Hollow are within the Factory 52 development.

Ace’s Pickleball Bar and Grill: Killer

• Not a franchise

• Why isn’t it? Or: Why don’t we start one?

Gatherall Food Hall: Diamond Certified

• I frankly couldn’t believe this existed here

• Not the biggest, but still: wow

• Someone told me the bar there makes a great Old Fashioned

Happy Hollow Inn: Textbook and Diamond Certified

• As good as it gets in terms Boozer Bars

• Fun Fact: It at one time was open 24 x 7, such that it could serve the shift workers from the Siemens factory surrounding it - see above

• 2 ratings? 3 beers and 2 shots = $20 and I am still shaking my head

Hi-Wire Brewery: Killer

• The home of the previously mentioned Drag Queen Bingo

• But jeez, what a spot - multi-level, and indoor/outside

Mount Adams

A note that there were a lot more places up there, but we only had so much time after 3 well-spent hours at the Cincinnati Art Museum. Indeed, this was probably my favorite neighborhood, although access is a bit tough, because of its hilltop location.

But that’s never been a problem for SF’s Pacific Heights, and our hosts explained that Mt. Adams is Cincy’s version, which seemed about right.

El Barril: Killer

• Great Mexican sports bar and grill

• Every single bar stool in the place - and there were a lot - was painted by hand in Mexico (!)

Over-the-Rhine (OTR)

If you ever would like to see what can happen with public-private partnerships, come here. They took the worst, and made it, if not the best, among the best, neighborhoods in town. Gentrification? Sure, but I will publish any well-reasoned alternative.

And again: We didn’t scratch the surface in terms of what’s here.

Bonus: Geez, there’s a very cool football stadium for FC Cincinnati right in the middle of all of this. A must next time.

Alcove: Killer

The Pitch: Diamond Certified

• Arguably the perfect sports bar?

• Although we didn’t eat here, the bartender played Tame Impala for me

Queen City Radio: Killer

• The hits just keep coming

• It had great indoor and outdoor spaces, but also vintage couches

Taste of Belgium: Killer

• Hints of the old Belgo, in Covent Garden in London

• Not really, but still

The Banks

As above, this is the defined party area for both the Bengals’ and Reds’ stadiums. It was a great party scene, but we only visited Yard House, a chain, so there’s no review.

But it did have a lot of bathrooms.

Because a lot of our drinking was on the street, which is encouraged, and there’s even an official name for such districts: DORA, short for Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area. Nice.

MUSEUMS/GALLERIES/PERFORMANCE ART

Let me be clear: These two institutions, Diamond Certified both, border on being worth a trip to Cincinnati on their own. Yes, they’re that good.

Cincinnati Art Museum: Diamond Certified

• I haven’t been taken by surprise like this in quite a long time

• The building, collection and setting can be summarized easily, beyond even Diamond Certified: World Class

Cincinnati Union Terminal: Diamond Certified

• The story of the city and region told via a craftsman-grade S scale model railroad? The size of roughly Missouri?

• In one of the prettiest buildings in America (see the lead photo and above)?

• I nearly wet my pants

And while we didn’t go inside, the Cincinnati Music Hall, built in 1877, is gorgeous and I’d love to see something there on a future visit. And it’s right there in OTR.

SHOPPING

Of course not. But there were some very nice shops all over OTR and Mount Adams.

THE TAKEAWAY

It’s not Paris, or even Chicago. But Cincinnati is its own place and an awfully good one, at that.

Major thanks again to our hosts, Laura and Andrew Whistler.