If you go back, check out Mt.Adams. The City View Tavern is the original dive bar, I promise. Also the Blind Lemon, dive bar, Mt Adams (I lived in Mt. Adams once).
The East Side of town is also worth spending some time. Zips in Mt. Lookout square. Wallethub says Cincinnati is one of the best towns for foodies. Goetta, sometimes found in our dive bars, but mostly for breakfast, Graeters Ice Cream, the world’s best and I try ice cream everywhere I travel . Montgomery inn for ribs, Izzy’s for an authentic rueben sandwich with a pickle and potato pancake and Avril-Bleh for your Cincinnati sausage. Just to name a few things!
Arnolds was once owned by “Mr. Cincinnati”, and former mayor you’ll have to look that one up…
Thanks for reading! Impossible to see it all in a weekend sadly, and I try to ride the wave of good rather than force in too much. But City View was recommended by the bartenders at Milton’s Prospect Hill Tavern, and Blind Lemon was on the list too, I just didn’t have the time to make it to that part of town 😭 And Arnold’s was closed when I went by (it was July 4th weekend).
But this list is great, I hope I can make it back!
Cincinnatian here, you did a great job of portraying why so many of us love this city! One thing I’d add is that many of us have very mixed feelings about the legacy of 3CDC given the amount of public funds that have gone through it without necessarily as much accountability.
Ah, thank you! That means a lot if it did the city some form of justice. And yes, that was the sense I got with 3CDC but I maybe didn't articulate that fully. It's so hard, because I want dive deeper on a topic like that, but if I pull that thread, suddenly I'm adding another 3K words to an already long post. So, I try to provide some cursory research and my own view, knowing there's so much more to unpack than I can ever get to from a weekend trip. Hopefully my outside perspective is insightful for locals like yourself as well as potential visitors.
Thanks for visiting Cincinnati, my hometown. I've lived here through its deterioration and now its rebirth. During that time I've gone from being often embarrassed by my city to proud of it. What I love most is that it's a city of 52 neighborhoods, each with their unique personality and passionate advocates.
There's a great time to see Cincy at its best this October, when the weather is usually far more pleasant than mid-summer. For the first time since 2006, Cincinnati is bringing back the old riverboats for a days long festival of the city's heritage: America's River Roots Festival. It's also one of the early kickoffs for the country's 250th birthday celebration.
Lovely travelogue! My grandparents lived in Cincinnati for most of their lives and I spent many summers there growing up. Fond memories of Graeter’s ice cream and Skyline Chili (sorry, I guess my family’s basic because we always went to Skyline 😅). I haven’t been back since my grandmother died about 12 years ago. I’d love to revisit it as an adult. There’s a really rich Jewish history in Cincy as well.
Thank you! You should really make it back to Cincy, you’d have great perspective on how it has changed over the last decade. And yeah, it’s a playground for an adult. No knock on Skyline, I enjoyed mine!
I plan to book shop this weekend so I’ll try and read your reviews first!
We once had to spent 48 hours in Cincinnati for some complicated bureaucratic reason on a home leave trip from Rome. We had the best time! I still think about Graeter’s ice cream (& miss that Cincinnati airport connection between Rome & Knoxville)
Born and raised in Cincy. This was a fun read!
You missed some stuff while there.
If you go back, check out Mt.Adams. The City View Tavern is the original dive bar, I promise. Also the Blind Lemon, dive bar, Mt Adams (I lived in Mt. Adams once).
The East Side of town is also worth spending some time. Zips in Mt. Lookout square. Wallethub says Cincinnati is one of the best towns for foodies. Goetta, sometimes found in our dive bars, but mostly for breakfast, Graeters Ice Cream, the world’s best and I try ice cream everywhere I travel . Montgomery inn for ribs, Izzy’s for an authentic rueben sandwich with a pickle and potato pancake and Avril-Bleh for your Cincinnati sausage. Just to name a few things!
Arnolds was once owned by “Mr. Cincinnati”, and former mayor you’ll have to look that one up…
Thanks for reading! Impossible to see it all in a weekend sadly, and I try to ride the wave of good rather than force in too much. But City View was recommended by the bartenders at Milton’s Prospect Hill Tavern, and Blind Lemon was on the list too, I just didn’t have the time to make it to that part of town 😭 And Arnold’s was closed when I went by (it was July 4th weekend).
But this list is great, I hope I can make it back!
Cincinnatian here, you did a great job of portraying why so many of us love this city! One thing I’d add is that many of us have very mixed feelings about the legacy of 3CDC given the amount of public funds that have gone through it without necessarily as much accountability.
Ah, thank you! That means a lot if it did the city some form of justice. And yes, that was the sense I got with 3CDC but I maybe didn't articulate that fully. It's so hard, because I want dive deeper on a topic like that, but if I pull that thread, suddenly I'm adding another 3K words to an already long post. So, I try to provide some cursory research and my own view, knowing there's so much more to unpack than I can ever get to from a weekend trip. Hopefully my outside perspective is insightful for locals like yourself as well as potential visitors.
Thanks for visiting Cincinnati, my hometown. I've lived here through its deterioration and now its rebirth. During that time I've gone from being often embarrassed by my city to proud of it. What I love most is that it's a city of 52 neighborhoods, each with their unique personality and passionate advocates.
There's a great time to see Cincy at its best this October, when the weather is usually far more pleasant than mid-summer. For the first time since 2006, Cincinnati is bringing back the old riverboats for a days long festival of the city's heritage: America's River Roots Festival. It's also one of the early kickoffs for the country's 250th birthday celebration.
If it's anything like the old Tall Stacks Festivals of the 1990s and early aughts, there will be some really great music as well. And Cincinnati's riverfront has blossomed in the intervening years. https://www.visitcincy.com/events/uniquely-cincinnati-events/americas-river-roots-festival/
Lovely travelogue! My grandparents lived in Cincinnati for most of their lives and I spent many summers there growing up. Fond memories of Graeter’s ice cream and Skyline Chili (sorry, I guess my family’s basic because we always went to Skyline 😅). I haven’t been back since my grandmother died about 12 years ago. I’d love to revisit it as an adult. There’s a really rich Jewish history in Cincy as well.
Thank you! You should really make it back to Cincy, you’d have great perspective on how it has changed over the last decade. And yeah, it’s a playground for an adult. No knock on Skyline, I enjoyed mine!
I plan to book shop this weekend so I’ll try and read your reviews first!
We once had to spent 48 hours in Cincinnati for some complicated bureaucratic reason on a home leave trip from Rome. We had the best time! I still think about Graeter’s ice cream (& miss that Cincinnati airport connection between Rome & Knoxville)
Ha! So funny you ended up in Cincy for that. But love that you enjoyed your time there, it's an overlooked gem for sure.