CityBeat | Best of Cincinnati, 2023

21cCincinnati.com 609 Walnut Street Cincinnati OH, 45202 513.578.6600

TOP: Tuguldur Yondonjamts | Echinda in the Permafrost #5, 2016 Charcoal, dragon's blood, gouache on paper.

BOTTOM: Anthony Goicolea | Sea Wall, 2008 (detail) 24 graphite on Mylar drawings sealed inside 24 hand-blown glass bottles on hand-casted crystal leaded glass blocks.

IN THE HEART OF THE QUEEN CITY,

SINCE 2012.

> VOTED #1 HOTEL IN CINCINNATI

For more than a decade, 21c Museum Hotel Cincinnati has been serving downtown as a 156-room boutique hotel, spa, chef-driven Metropole restaurant, and contemporary art museum open 24/7.

A welcoming and creative gathering place for residents and visitors alike, 21c offers a range of onsite solo and group exhibitions as well as cultural programming that is free and open to the public.

Scan the code to stay up to date on the latest news, offers and events happening at 21c Cincinnati and Metropole

Follow us at: @21cCincinnati @MetropoleOnWalnut

Every day, we all go about our business in Greater Cincinnati. We work. We eat. We shop. We party. We unwind.

But as we mark things from our never-ending to-do lists, how often do we stop to think about how lucky we are to have so much of what we need within a short walk, drive or transit ride? How often do we think about the culture, entertainment and business that Cincinnati has developed over the years? How often do we think about the parks and public spaces that add some serenity to our hustle? And how often do we think about the folks who make it all happen?

The Queen City is fortunate to have so many people contributing to the region’s vitality in different ways. At CityBeat, we try to highlight many of them in our regular digital and print coverage, but we love to go overboard in our annual Best of Cincinnati® issue. In our 2023 edition, our writers are calling attention to the excellence they’ve discovered both in their personal lives and while covering our fair city. Yes, we’ve got our favorite burgers and nightclubs and city improvements, but there also are plenty of surprises in the pages ahead.

But Cincinnati is vast, and there’s more greatness here than our team will ever be able to count or experience. That’s why we rely on you, our readers, to point us toward Greater Cincy’s unsung heroes who have – in one way or another – become indispensable in your daily lives. Thanks to your votes earlier this year, you’ve helped choose winners in hundreds of categories in the 2023 Best of Cincinnati® issue.

So, soak it all in, Cincinnati. This is the place we call home, and we’re all the better for it.

Reader Picks

ART GALLERY (NOT INSTITUTION)

1. 21c Museum Hotel

2. Pendleton Art Center

3. Rainbow

ART MUSEUM

1. Cincinnati Art Museum

2. Contemporary Arts Center

3. American Sign Museum

ARTWORKS MURAL

1. “Cincinnati Toy Heritage”

2. “Fiona and Bibi at the Cincinnati Zoo”

3. “Charley Harper’s Beguiled by the Wild”

4. “Ezzard Charles: The Cincinnati Cobra”

5. “Martha, the Last Passenger Pigeon”

6. “Mr. Dynamite”

7. “Democracy!”

8. “Homecoming (Blue Birds)”

9. “Swing Around Rosie”

10. “Dream Big and Fly High”

CHARITY FESTIVAL/EVENT

1. Cincinnati Pride

2. Flying Pig Marathon

3. My Furry Valentine

CHURCH FESTIVAL

1. Panegyri Greek Festival

2. CincItalia Festival

3. St. Cecilia Festival

FOUNTAIN SQUARE EVENT

1. UC Health Ice Rink

2. Reds Rally on the Square

3. Salsa on the Square

FREE ATTRACTION

1. Findlay Market

2. BLINK

3. Cincinnati Art Museum

4. Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library

5. Smale Riverfront Park

6. Jungle Jim’s International Market

7. Washington Park

8. Contemporary Arts Center

9. FotoFocus

10. Tunes & Blooms at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden

GALLERY EXHIBIT

1. The Art of Ducks (Rhinegeist Brewery)

2. Michael Coppage: American+ (Alice F. and Harris

K. Weston Art Gallery)

3. Golden Ticket (Clifton Cultural Arts Center)

HAUNTED HOUSE

1. The Dent Schoolhouse

2. Kings Island’s Halloween Haunt

3. The USS Nightmare

HOLIDAY LIGHT DISPLAY

1. Festival of Lights (Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden)

2. WinterFest (Kings Island)

3. Christmas Nights of Lights (Coney Island)

INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT

1. Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden (@cincinnatizoo)

2. Friends of the Public Library (@cincylibraryfriends)

3. Longbottom Bird Ranch (@longbottombirdranch)

KID-FRIENDLY ATTRACTION

1. Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden

2. Children’s Museum at the Cincinnati Museum Center

3. Kings Island

4. Great Parks of Hamilton County

5. Smale Riverfront Park

6. Super Parties TIE

7. Newport Aquarium TIE

8. Longbottom Bird Ranch

9. Cincinnati Parks

10. Cincinnati Art Museum

11. Washington Park

LOCAL ACTOR/ACTRESS

1. Bob Herzog

2. Mark Borison

3. Darnell Pierre Benjamin

4. Kali Marsh

5. Rachel Perin

6. Maggie Lou Rader

7. Annie Fitzpatrick

8. Jeremy Dubin

9. Andrew Maloney

10. Kassandra Jackson

LOCAL ARTIST

1. Pam Kravetz

2. Kiwi the Duck

3. Leah Suzette Noumoff

LOCAL AUTHOR

1. Leah Stewart TIE

2. Curtis Sittenfeld TIE

3. Phil Nuxhall

4. Travis McElroy

LOCAL CLASSICAL MUSIC GROUP

1. Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra

2. Cincinnati Pops

3. MUSE Cincinnati’s Women’s Choir

LOCAL COMEDIAN

1. Mark Borison

2. Gary Owen

3. Steve Caminiti

LOCAL DANCE GROUP

1. Cincinnati Ballet

2. Smoke & Queers Burlesque Troupe

3. DANCEFIX

LOCAL FILMMAKER

1. Cincy Stories

2. Mark Borison

3. C. Jacqueline Wood

LOCAL IMPROV/SKETCH COMEDY GROUP

1. Improv Cincinnati

2. The Alphas

3. OTRimprov

LOCAL PHOTOGRAPHER

1. Casey Miller

2. Catie Viox

3. Sybilka Storie

LOCAL THEATER COMPANY

1. Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park

2. Know Theatre of Cincinnati

3. Loveland Stage Company

4. Cincinnati Shakespeare Company

5. Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati

6. Covedale Center for the Performing Arts

7. The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati

8. Cincinnati Black Theatre Company

9. The Carnegie

10. School for Creative and Performing Arts

LOCAL TOUR

1. Spring Grove Cemetery Tours

2. ArtWorks Mural Tours

3. American Legacy Tours

LOCAL VOCAL ARTS GROUP

1. MUSE Cincinnati’s Women’s Choir

2. May Festival Chorus

3. Cincinnati Men’s Chorus

MOVIE THEATER

1. Esquire Theatre

2. Mariemont Theatre

3. AMC Newport on the Levee

MUSEUM

1. Cincinnati Museum Center

2. Cincinnati Art Museum

3. American Sign Museum

4. National Underground Railroad Freedom Center

5. Contemporary Arts Center

6. Taft Museum of Art

7. Nancy & David Wolf Holocaust & Humanity Center

8. Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum

9. Behringer-Crawford Museum

10. Heritage Village Museum

MUSEUM EXHIBIT

1. Made in Cincinnati (Cincinnati Museum Center)

2. Jane Austen: Fashion & Sensibility (Taft Museum of Art)

3. Irving Berlin’s White Christmas: The Exhibit (Behringer-Crawford Museum)

NEW THING

1. Fritz the baby hippo

2. Manga Manga

3. Bengals mural by Joshua Stout

OLD THING

1. Findlay Market

2. Union Terminal

3. Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden

4. Music Hall

5. John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge

6. Spring Grove Cemetery

7. Krohn Conservatory

8. Over-the-Rhine

9. Cincinnati Art Museum

10. Eden Park

Arts & Culture

OPPORTUNITIES FOR LOCAL ARTISTS

1. The City Flea

2. ArtWorks

3. Summerfair Cincinnati

PLAY (PROFESSIONAL)

1. Hamilton (Aronoff Center for the Arts)

2. Murder on the Orient Express (Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park)

3. Anastasia (Aronoff Center for the Arts)

PUMPKIN PATCH/FARM

1. Blooms & Berries Farm Market and Garden Center

2. Burger Farm & Garden Center

3. Neltner’s Farm

PUBLIC ARTWORK

1. ArtWorks Murals

2. “Fiona the Ballerina” mural

3. “Northside, Keep it Beautiful” mural

REGIONAL ARTS THEATER

1. Dayton Contemporary Dance Company

2. Middletown Lyric Theatre

3. The Human Race Theatre Company

REGIONAL MUSEUM

1. COSI

2. The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis

3. National Museum of the United States Air Force

TIKTOK ACCOUNT

1. @cincinnatizoo

2. @junglejimsmarket

3. @megan_mitchellll

WASHINGTON PARK EVENT

1. The City Flea

2. Summer Cinema series

3. Opera in the Park

FotoFocus is a nonprofit organization created to celebrate and champion photography as the medium of our time. FotoFocus presents lens-based signature programming including the FotoFocus Biennial, FotoFocus Symposium, and FotoFocus Talks Series, and Film and Video programming.

Since its 2010 founding, FotoFocus has:

• Awarded nearly 700 grants to support partners

• Featured more than 2,600 artists and participants

• Supported over 700 exhibitions and programs

Visit FotoFocus.org for future programming.

FOTOFOCUS CENTER COMING SPRING 2025

Fringe Festival producer Katie Hartman |

Photo: provided by Fringe Festival

Best Reason to Look Up at the Sky During BLINK

No, it’s not a Chinese spy balloon (too soon?) — it’s a BLINK drone! BLINK 2022 gave attendees a beautiful reason to look up. For the first time ever, the BLINK festival partnered with Sky Elements Drone Shows to host a drone show in which synchronized drones in luminous colors danced over the Ohio River near Smale Riverfront Park. It was like the Northern Lights meeting a UFO sighting. The drones, suspended in air, floated gracefully and slowly, and the levitating mechanisms didn’t miss a beat — perfectly spaced and choreographed. At times, the whole display looked like Matrix code, and at other moments, perfectly formed shapes transitioned to waves of light. It was almost impossible to believe, even when you knew what you were witnessing. blinkcincinnati.com.

Best Addition to the Cincinnati Zoo’s Hippo Float

Do you remember where you were when you found out that Cincinnati’s favorite hippo would become a big sister? It seems like yesterday that Fiona the hippo stole the hearts of Cincinnatians — and the world — when she was born prematurely at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden in 2017. Now six years old, Fiona still has superstar status but is learning to share that spotlight with her new little brother, Fritz. The baby hippo was a surprise, as Bibi, the matriarch, had been on birth control when meeting the male Tucker for the first time. Cincinnati has since welcomed Fritz to its favorite hippo family. Born in August, Fritz quickly became a delight for both zoo employees and animal fans, with the public even deciding Fritz’s name through an online vote. cincinnatizoo.org.

Best Space Fostering Joy for Cincinnati’s Black Queer Community

The Black Pearl Experience curates spaces that bring

unapologetic celebration of joy, art and music to the Black and Brown LGBTQ+ community, with cofounders Latoya Watson and Darrah Dunn urging the attendees of their social events to dance, drink, socialize and come as they are. In these spaces, they hope to foster joy, connections and a sense of belonging for the Black queer community. According to Black Pearl’s website, there are zero lesbian bars in Cincinnati and zero venues that center Black queer nonbinary individuals or people who identify as women in Cincinnati. But Watson’s and Dunn’s numerous events aim to change that and create room for celebrating BIPOC and LGBTQ+ culture. blackpearlexperience.com.

Best New Starring Role from Behind the Scenes

Early every summer for nearly two decades, Know Theatre has produced the Cincinnati Fringe Festival — two weeks of off-kilter, offbeat performances by local theater adventurers as well as creators who tour the country to perform wildly imaginative shows for enthusiastic audiences. One of those out-of-town performers, Katie Hartman, was a draw during several festivals with wacky shows inspired by macabre writer Edgar Allan Poe. In 2022, she was promoted to the role of Cincy Fringe producer, using her zany, fearless ethos — as well as her years of experience — to keep all the plates spinning. Under her energetic and insightful leadership, the 19th annual Fringe was back in force after two years of a low-key presence due to COVID19. More good news: She’ll be back to lead the 20th installment for 2023. cincyfringe.com

Best Island with No Leis

Ahoy, matey, and welcome to Cincinnati’s own island at the confluence of the Ohio and Little Miami rivers. The island, which emerged due to local flooding, is a fouracre oval that measures 300 feet by 900 feet. It was once owned by Greater Cincinnati Water Works but is currently (kind of) owned by Nick Motz and Kevin Schmidt. With ambiguous legal implications and no recognition from any kind of local government, Motz appointed himself mayor of what he and Schmidt dubbed the People’s Republic of Chicken Island, a name derived from Motz’s nickname Chicken Nick thanks to his family’s poultry business. Motz and Schmidt said they want the island to become a magical leisure location for recreational boaters, but they have no actual plans to add facilities since another flood could wash it all away. facebook.com/groups/chickenisland

Best Mural Dedicated to Restaurant Regulars

Arthur’s in Hyde Park has super good food and a great mural of over 100 stylized caricatures of some its past (and probably present) storied regulars, now immortalized on the restaurant’s wall. The 44-foot-long wall was painted by artist Jerry Dowling between 1981 and 1992 and gives a rare and intimate glimpse into the restaurant’s past that adds a fun touch to its present. arthurscincinnati.com.

Arts & Culture Staff Picks

Best Famous Face on a Dress

At the 45th Kennedy Center Honors, Julia Roberts turned heads. Yes, because she was Julia Roberts, but also because her dress was covered with faces. Whose? None other than George Clooney’s. The visage of the actor/director/ producer who was born in Lexington and later attended school in Mason was centered in gold, ornate frames and sprinkled all over Roberts’ ball gown. When Roberts took the stage to honor Clooney in December, she waved the dress around and laughingly said, “What, this old thing?” Because who wouldn’t wear a dress plastered with one of Hollywood’s most attractive and philanthropic leading men, especially when he was being recognized for his contributions to the arts? instagram.com/kennedycenter

Best Meet-and-Greet with a Pop Culture Icon

Writer, journalist and social commentator Fran Lebowitz made an appearance on her speaking tour for an April event titled “An Evening with Fran Lebowitz” at the Aronoff Center for the Arts, where she covered a lot of ground in a talk and Q&A. Her appearance touched on her views on the overuse of technology, the ridiculousness of politics and more — including, oftentimes, heavy social issues that were all tackled gracefully with her singular wit and humor. Lebowitz even allocated a fair amount of the night to fielding audience questions that were all answered with consideration in her inimitable style. To top off an entertaining, hilarious and often enlightening discussion, the night was followed by a generously free meet-and-greet and signing where Lebowitz signed whatever the winding line of admirers brought along, even taking photos and having a little small talk in between. cincinnatiarts.org

Best Jedi Master with a Lightsaber of Gold

There’s no disturbing lack of faith when it comes to Force followers in Cincinnati, especially those who bear an uncanny resemblance to one of the galaxy’s most famous

Jedi. Local cosplayer “Fluke Skywalker” may be best known around the region — and, honestly, the country — as a twin for Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker character from Star Wars. A former educator, Fluke (CityBeat is withholding his legal name at his request) regularly sports his gray beard, film-accurate robes and green lightsaber at local sports games and pop culture events (Hamill even called him “the guy who looks more like me than me” in a tweet after seeing a photo of the cosplayer at BLINK in the fall). Naturally, all of that is exciting for Cincinnati residents to see, but helping kids truly is his best Jedi mind trick. A staunch supporter of Ronald McDonald House, Fluke appears only in exchange for donations that can help children’s charities, and he puts any appearance fees toward toys and experiences that can bring a tyke some joy. It sure beats bullseyeing womprats. imflukeskywalker.com.

Best Fitness Podcast That’s Not Really About Fitness

Yes, What the F*t! is a fitness podcast, but don’t expect to

Arts & Culture

Carrey from The Mask with the eyes and tongue cartoonishly bulging out while eating a bag of Grippo’s barbecue potato chips. Some of Technique2012’s street art hints at social commentary; for example, the Julie Andrews character from The Sound of Music has a reworked line from one of the movie’s signature songs — “The malls are alive with sound of sales” — written on her apron and a debtcollection bill sticking out of her pocket, all strategically placed near a Hyde Park shopping center. Northside art gallery and venue (DSGN)CLLCTV hosted a solo art show, America Rebranded, in August 2022 that pulled together a large collection of the artist’s contemporary street-art paintings, mixed-media works and sculptures. instagram.com/technique2012.

Best Instagram Account Dedicated to Historic Preservation

be inundated with calorie-counting, gut-health-promising, 10-ways-to-sweat-out-all-your-problems bullshit. Krissy Rubio welcomes guests from all areas of the life and wellness spectrum to talk about what fitness means to them. From indoor cycling to weed to what the hell our hormones are doing, the Cincy-based Rubio brings on friends, business owners and media personalities for real, honest conversations about moving our bodies through life. instagram.com/whatthefitpodcast

Best Street Art Featuring Pop Culture References

The artist Technique2012 is responsible for the mysterious, pop-culture-influenced street art that’s been showing up all over the city in recent years. Their work includes at least a few now-iconic public pieces, including a stylized illustration of the stapler-loving character Milton from the cult classic film Office Space cleverly placed (and then replaced after being removed) on the downtown Staples store location as well as the artist’s version of Jim

The Cincinnati Preservation Association’s Instagram page, @cincinnatipreservation, posts regularly about historic buildings around the city with informative captions and photos detailing the variety of uses, design styles and eras pertaining to local buildings. The group’s Instagram page is about more than just showing off a latest cool building discovery or getting likes — they advocate for historic preservation in the city in real ways, meeting with Cincinnati City Council, launching websites and applications for research, and bringing attention to preservation projects around the city. Cincinnati happens to have a good amount of historic buildings and neighborhoods left intact, which add to the character of the city. Cincinnati Preservation is an interesting and entertaining page devoted to the preservation of that character and history that we’re lucky to have. instagram. com/cincinnatipreservation.

Best Place to Watch a Movie Stoned

Take a break from smoking and scrolling in your living room, because the Esquire Theatre is now your living room away from home. Pop an edible, hop on the bus and prepare for the chillest moviegoing experience of your life. The Esquire’s ticket and concession prices are totally reasonable for a theater, so you can munch on their medium popcorn/soda combo deal and still have enough to splurge on some Milk Duds. Unlike at corporate giants AMC or Regal, the Esquire’s small theaters act like blinders on a racehorse, enhancing the film experience by sucking you into only what’s in front of you. By the time the lights go down and your gummy kicks in, you’ll be in a cinematic sensory deprivation tank for a couple of amazing hours — a far-off land with salty snacks. esquiretheatre.com

Fluke Skywalker | Photo: Provided by Fluke Skywalker

Best Holiday Laughs

You might think that after 16 years Cincinnati Shakespeare Company’s annual holiday show, Every Christmas Story Ever Told (and Then Some!), would be worn out. But the classic theater company keeps it fresh and timely with topical references to local and national politics, pop culture and current events. Directed for many seasons by Jeremy Dubin, it’s refreshed annually with a cast of jokesters drawn from Cincy Shakes’ acting company. Rubbery comedic veteran actor Justin McCombs keeps audiences in stitches with his childlike persistence in believing as well

as with his misinterpretation of BHCs (beloved holiday classics, for those in the know). The show has become a regular must-attend outing for office groups, families and anyone else who’s weary of predictable holiday offerings. cincyshakes.com.

Best Rescuing of Signs from Recently Closed Businesses

The American Sign Museum, a local institution with a national glow, has done some great things for the city and the preservation of times past. The museum’s

Arts & Culture

ever-expanding collection contains signs and styles across a multitude of times and places. The collection, naturally, includes plenty of signs with a Cincinnati connection, like the sign belonging to the now-demolished Cincinnati Gardens that went across the side of an arena, amongst a warehouse full of similar advertising art. This past year, the museum also saved signs belonging to the long-running costume design house Schenz Theatrical Supply that supplied theater costumes and the White House Easter Bunny costumes for decades; the beloved Clifton music venue Mad Frog, which closed after 26 years and was demolished

“The Sound of Sales” mural by technique2012 in Hyde Park | Photo: Provided by technique2012

Arts & Culture

last year; Clifton restaurant Lydia’s on Ludlow Avenue which closed in 2020; a Graeter’s storefront sign; and a large Kahn’s factory sign, among many others. americansignmuseum.org.

Best Musical Hat Trick

The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music’s musical theater department demonstrated the irreplaceable gift of live performance with three outstanding productions in 2022. Stephen Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George paid tribute to the epic composer/lyricist, who died in November 2021. Performed in the 170-seat Cohen Family Studio Theater, it was a poignant, wonderfully staged celebration with exceptional performances, terrific use of projections and a great fourpiece pit band led by keyboardist Julie Spangler. Later, Bock and Harnick’s romantic musical comedy She Loves Me received the sweetly ditzy staging it deserved, with every word — both sung and spoken — perfectly articulated by the outstanding cast. Finally, an astoundingly high-voltage, stunning production of Something Rotten featured jawdropping performances that were especially notable for their vocal artistry and physical endurance. It all was better than Broadway, and at a fraction of the ticket price. ccm.uc.edu

Best True-Crime Memoir That Cuts Away Sensationalism

Local author Holly Brians Ragusa’s debut memoir Met the End folds together national, local and personal history to tell the story of her late father, John Powell, whom serial killer Donald Harvey murdered along with dozens of other victims. After a motorcycle accident, Powell was recovering at Drake Hospital, where Harvey worked as a nurse. Brians Ragusa writes that it was journalists, whistleblowers and a coroner’s instincts that led to Harvey being caught as a serial killer, the events of which were spurred by Powell’s death. The author calls Met the End a true-crime survival memoir, penning something that stays true not only to her own experience and that of her family’s, but also cuts away the sensationalism of Harvey’s notoriety to capture Powell’s life as a loving father to three children. Met the End is insightful, often poetic, well researched and a vulnerable read that deserves a spot on your bookshelf. hbragusa.com

Best Exhibit to Investigate the Science of Color

Krohn Conservatory provides Cincinnatians with an urban oasis of well-tended, lush foliage. Backdropped by a burbling waterfall, a stroll through the Krohn’s plant houses

(fern, palm, orchid, desert and bonsai) might just be one of the best ways to destress in the city. But between July and October, the conservatory welcomed even more color into its space via Prismatica, an art installation featuring large interactive kaleidoscopes. Guests could peer into the prisms, casting the plant life (and themselves) into a sphere of color. The show also included placards explaining the science behind color as well as prompts encouraging visitors to engage visually with their surroundings. Both playful and soothing, Prismatica was part of Krohn’s ongoing efforts to bring in more exhibits throughout the year. cincinnati-oh.gov.

Best Place to See Botanical Prints

Lloyd Library and Museum is a treasure trove. Tucked away downtown, it’s stocked with historical and contemporary books, journals and prints related to botany, natural history, medicine and visual arts. The research library at Lloyd also hosts exhibits throughout the year, fielding topics like birdwatching, insects, the intersection of humanity and nature, medical cannabis and more while showcasing items from their collection and outside art pieces. And if you’re looking to add foliage to your social feeds, Lloyd Library’s Instagram (@lloydlibraryofficial) doesn’t disappoint — each post unearths fascinating scientific illustrations and prints from the library’s stacks. Whether in person or online, Lloyd sparks curiosity, champions natural history and is downright cool. lloydlibrary.org.

Best Excuse to Promenade at the Taft Museum

Last summer, Jane Austen fans had the chance to see costumes from beloved film adaptations of the author’s novels at the Taft Museum of Art. Traveling from London, England, Jane Austen: Fashion & Sensibility featured dusters, capes, dresses, tailcoats, trousers, trimmed bonnets, spencers (cropped jackets for women) and other items worn in films like Pride & Prejudice, Emma, Sense & Sensibility and Mansfield Park. While the majority of the exhibit was housed in the Fifth Third Gallery, many of the costumes were placed intentionally by curator Tamera Muente throughout the Taft historic house. Visitors could stroll through the space and be greeted by gorgeous outfits at nearly every turn. Also on display was a 7’x13’ wall-sized map of London made in 1746, about half a century before Austen began writing. The highly detailed map highlighted the spots Austen frequented, including her go-to tea shop and her brother’s flat on 10 Henrietta Street. taftmuseum.org

Esquire Theatre | Photo: Emerson Swoger

Arts & Culture

teen-designed clothing that celebrated creative fashion design and promoted waste reduction and sustainability. The event was hosted in the spirit of vogue balls in drag culture, and those who participated created their own “house,” developing a general theme for the designs created by their group. In addition to the upcycled costume fashion show, the event had music, circus performers and a silent disco. instagram.com/t3cinci

Best Wearable Art Inspired by Reproductive Rights Issues

In response to the potential reversal of Roe v. Wade in June, an Over-the-Rhine art gallery hosted an exhibit featuring wearable art and jewelry meant to ignite conversations surrounding reproductive rights. Plan B Art Project at Ombré Gallery showcased more than 40 artists and pieces of contemporary, handmade jewelry, including pins, earrings and necklaces, inspired by the fight for reproductive rights. A quarter of the proceeds from the exhibit went toward Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio. planbartproject.com.

Best Save of a Musical Heritage Site

On Sept. 6, 2022, the King Records studio buildings, located at 1536-1540 Brewster Avenue in Evanston, were officially listed on the National Register of Historic Places. From the 1940s into the early 1970s, the Cincinnati label produced several celebrated and legendary musicians, including James Brown, Bootsy Collins, Philip Paul and Otis Williams. Being placed on the national register will not only provide certain tax credits, easements and grants for those developing the property, it also gives King Records even more “gravitas,” says Charlie Dahan, coauthor of King Records’ nomination proposal. The achievement also cements King Records’ status as an iconic fixture in the nation’s music history. kingrecords.org

Best Refresh of an Outdoor Sculpture

Best Place to See Music Hall in a Hothouse Environment

Not only is Krohn Conservatory’s annual end-of-year Celestial Holiday show a tradition — it also keeps getting better. In 2022, Friends of Music Hall commissioned Applied Imagination, the Kentucky company that creates the conservatory show’s model-train journey and the exhibits that accompany it, to add a vividly detailed and beautiful 8-foot model of Music Hall to its annual exhibit. Although a miniature compared to the real Music Hall in

Over-the-Rhine, the small version still seemed larger than life to those who busily photographed it or posed by it. cincinnati-oh.gov/cincyparks; friendsofmusichall.org.

Best Immersive Eco-Art Fashion Experience

Last August, Cincinnati Jewish arts organization ish hosted Trashion, an immersive eco-art fashion experience at the Mockbee. Described as “Hunger Games meets Harry Potter’s Yule Ball on Project Runway,” Trashion featured

Edgar Tafur, whose reputation as a highly regarded modernist sculptor continues to grow since his 2007 death, was born and raised in Colombia and did some important work locally while teaching at University of Cincinnati. One such piece used to be located outside the old Temple Sholom in Amberley Village, with its abstracted figuration placed along a horizontal concrete wall. When the Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati demolished the building after the congregation moved in 2016, it saved the wall, but time and weather had taken their toll. So in 2022, a thorough cleaning with water from a tank truck was applied to bring out the beauty. For the best experience, art lovers should

Jane Austen: Fashion & Sensibility at the Taft Museum of Art | Photo: Hailey Bollinger

view the sculpture from a distance (it can be seen from Ridge Road, across from the Mayerson JCC). thejewishfoundation.org

Best Argument for Rethinking Museum Period Rooms

Period rooms often recreate homes too distant in the past for us to relate to beyond our silent admiration for their individual antique objects. But two shows in 2022 brought such rooms — and their potential — into the 21st century by making the lives of their inhabitants seem relevant and modern. Cincinnati Art Museum’s Unlocking an Art Deco Bedroom by Joseph Urban recreated a bedroom he had designed in the Roaring ’20s for a teenage girl living in a Chicago high-rise with her wealthy parents just ahead of the Great Depression. Likewise, Binky Brown’s Funeral Pyre at (DSGN)CLLCTV recreated the exciting, wildly creative workspace of pioneering comix artist/sign painter Justin Green, who died in Cincinnati last year. Both of these displays were temporary but deserve to be permanent somewhere in Cincinnati. cincinnatiartmuseum.org; dsgncllctv.com

Best Place to Perform Your New Poetry

On the last Sunday of every month, MOTR Pub in Over-the-Rhine hosts Word of Mouth, one of the most approachable open-mic opportunities for poetry that yields honorable and bright material. Unlike other open mics, there are no signups here — it’s a read-the-room kind of situation in which participants take turns and walk up to the microphone when the time is right. Yeah, it sounds like a recipe for disaster or awkward silence, but it really isn’t. Participants are always graciously respectful of others and thoughtful in their delivery. Every month a poet is featured, and Cincinnati’s poets laureate and other noted authors have been known to show up. The mic is open before and after the featured reader presents, and time in between allows discussion. After all, the Word of Mouth motto is, “Show up. Mouth off. Pay attention.” motrpub.com.

Best Hidden-Gem History Museum

Tucked away in Devou Park, the Behringer-Crawford Museum is a bit of an overlooked local gem — but it shouldn’t be. Dedicated to showcasing Northern Kentucky heritage, the stated mission of the BCM is to collect, present, study and enjoy the area’s natural, cultural, visual and performing arts heritage. Founded in 1950 as the William Behringer Memorial Museum, it initially showcased the collection of oddities its namesake acquired

on his travels, including a stuffed two-headed calf born on a Kentucky farm. (The bi-brained bovine now serves as the museum’s mascot.) Today, visitors can continue to pay tribute to those curiosities while exploring exhibits dedicated to everything from regional paleontology and steamboat history to folk art and fashion. Climb aboard a 19th-century streetcar or watch toy trains whiz by in an elaborate, miniature urban display. Upstairs, the museum has space for rotating attractions, including this winter’s White Christmas exhibit, featuring costumes and ephemera from Irving Berlin’s classic holiday film on loan from the Rosemary Clooney House in Augusta, Kentucky. Check the BCM’s schedule for slice-of-life history lectures, which explore offbeat topics ranging from murders and classic cars to local landmarks. bcmuseum.org

Best ‘Wise Guy’ Appearance

Cincinnati ranked on Moviemaker Magazine’s best places to live and work in the film industry again this year. Over the course of 2022, five feature films were shot in the Queen City. The film that seemed to draw the most attention in Cincinnati was Wise Guys, which follows a feud between two gangsters, both played by Robert De Niro. Parts of Downtown were transformed into 1950s New York

Arts & Culture

for the filming of the movie. Locals were recruited as extras, apparently along with Cincinnati’s treasured Arnold’s Bar and Grill. The only thing cooler than a feature film being shot in your neighborhood is when you get to see it on the big screen as it debuts.

Best Successfully Innovative Show at the FotoFocus Photography Exhibition

With over 800 artists, curators and other participants involved in staging some 100 exhibitions in about 90 venues, it’s a challenge for any one artist to really stand out for presenting lens-based art in a radically new and different way at the FotoFocus Biennial. But on evenings at Camp Washington’s CampSITE Sculpture Park, Liz Roberts’ site-specific Post Blonde installation succeeded. She presented her varied driving-oriented images — including excerpts from road films— on a makeshift screen of salvaged car windshields and also on cars parked in the park. The effect was eerie, causing transfixed visitors to think about the allure of the wide open road as well as its inherent dangers. fotofocus.org

Plan B Art Project exhibit at Ombre Gallery | Photo: Provided by Ombre Gallery

Reader Picks

APARTMENT COMMUNITY

1. Spyglass Apartments

2. The Lofts at Shillito Place

3. Artistry Cincy

BUILDER

1. Drees Homes

2. Fisher Homes

3. Urban Sites

BUILDING

1. Union Terminal

2. Music Hall

3. Cincinnati Art Museum

CINCINNATI NEIGHBORHOOD

1. Northside

2. Over-the-Rhine

3. Hyde Park

CINCINNATIAN

1. Joe Burrow

2. Fiona the hippo

3. Molly Wellmann

4. Rose Lavelle

5. Pete Rose

6. Bob Herzog

7. Anthony Muñoz

8. Thane Maynard

9. Megan Mitchell

10. Brian Garry

COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY

1. University of Cincinnati

2. Xavier University

3. Northern Kentucky University

CONSERVATIVE

1. Mike DeWine

2. Joe Deters

3. John Cranley

DEVELOPER

1. 3CDC

2. Gaslight Property

3. College Hill Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation

DO GOODER

1. Matthew 25: Ministries

2. The Friends of the Public Library

3. Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden

4. La Soupe

5. Ohio Innocence Project

6. Cincinnati Nature Center

7. ArtWorks TIE

8. Andy Dalton TIE

9. ArtsWave

10. Brian Garry

11. Aubrey Rose Foundation

FRIEND TO THE ENVIRONMENT

1. Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden

2. Cincinnati Recycling & Reuse Hub

3. The Friends of the Public Library

JOURNALIST

1. Jessica Schmidt (FOX19)

2. Bob Herzog (WKRC)

3. Megan Mitchell (formerly at WLWT)

4. Tana Weingartner (WVXU)

5. John Matarese (WCPO)

6. Sharon Coolidge (Cincinnati Enquirer)

7. Lucy May (WVXU)

8. Tricia Macke (FOX19)

9. Nick Swartsell (WVXU)

10. Keith Pandolfi (Cincinnati Enquirer)

LOCAL ACTIVIST

1. Mike Moroski

2. Triiibe

3. Al Gerhardstein

4. Mass Action for Black Liberation TIE

5. Cam Hardy TIE

6. Michelle Dillingham

7. Brian Garry

8. Missy Spears

9. Billie Mays

10. Josh Spring

LOCAL CAUSE

1. Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio

2. Freestore Foodbank

3. The Friends of the Public Library

4. Matthew 25: Ministries

5. Cincinnati Public Radio

6. SPCA Cincinnati

7. ArtWorks

8. Cincinnati Animal CARE

9. Maslow’s Army

10. ArtsWave

LOCAL ELECTED OFFICIAL

1. Aftab Pureval

2. Greg Landsman

3. Charmaine McGuffey

LOCAL PODCAST

1. Cincinnati’s Crime Vault: Beyond the Broadcast

2. Cincinnati Zoo Tales

3. That’s So Cincinnati

MBA PROGRAM

1. University of Cincinnati

2. Xavier University

3. Northern Kentucky University

NORTHERN KENTUCKIAN

1. George Clooney

2. Jean-Robert de Cavel (posthumous)

3. Nick Clooney

NORTHERN KENTUCKY NEIGHBORHOOD

1. Covington

2. Newport

3. Bellevue

PARK (CITY)

1. Smale Riverfront Park

2. Ault Park

3. Eden Park

PARK (COUNTY)

1. Cincinnati Nature Center

2. Sharon Woods

3. Miami Whitewater Forest

PHILANTHROPIST

1. Bootsy Collins

2. Anthony Muñoz

3. Jeff Ruby

PLACE TO TAKE A VISITOR

1. Findlay Market

2. Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden

3. Jungle Jim’s International Market

4. Over-the-Rhine

5. Smale Riverfront Park

6. The Banks

7. Cincinnati Reds game TIE

8. Cincinnati Museum Center TIE

9. Cincinnati Art Museum

10. Newport on the Levee

11. Friends of the Public Library Book Store at the Warehouse

PLAYGROUND

1. Smale Riverfront Park

2. Summit Park

3. Washington Park

PRIVATE SCHOOL

1. Cincinnati Waldorf School

2. Saint Xavier High School

3. Elder High School

PROGRESSIVE

1. Aftab Pureval

2. Mike Moroski

3. Michelle Dillingham

PUBLIC SCHOOL

1. Walnut Hills High School

2. School for Creative and Performing Arts

3. Wyoming High School

RADIO SHOW

1. “Jeff & Jenn” (Q102)

2. “All Things Considered” (WVXU)

3. “Cincinnati Edition” (WVXU)

4. “Married with Microphones” (WGRR)

5. Bill Cunningham show (700WLW)

6. “Eddie & Rocky” (700WLW)

7. “The Big Dave Show” (B105) TIE

8. “JonJon & Friends” (KISS1071) TIE

9. “Around Cincinnati” (WVXU)

10. Kidd Chris with Allie Martin (WEBN)

11. “The Mo Egger Radio Show” (ESPN 1530)

RADIO STATION

1. 91.7 WVXU

2. 101.9 WKRQ (Q102)

3. 700WLW

RADIO TALK SHOW HOST

1. Jeff and Jenn (Q102)

2. Maryanne Zeleznik (WVXU)

3. Lucy May (WVXU)

RELIGIOUS LEADER

1. Chuck Mingo (Crossroads)

2. Fr. Al Bischoff (Xavier University)

3. Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr (Archdiocese of Cincinnati)

REMODELING COMPANY

1. Arlinghaus Builders

2. 3D Renovations

3. Make Her Mark

SCENIC OVERLOOK

1. Eden Park TIE

2. Devou Park TIE

3. Ault Park

4. Mt. Echo Park

5. Smale Riverfront Park

6. Bellevue Park

7. Mt. Storm Park

8. Alms Park

9. Shawnee Lookout

10. Fairview Park

11. Mt. Adams

SUBURBAN NEIGHBORHOOD

1. Mariemont

2. Wyoming

3. Liberty Township

TROUBLEMAKER

1. The Hub OTR

2. Cincinnati City Council

3. 3CDC

TV ANCHOR

1. Sheree Paolello (WLWT)

2. Megan Mitchell (formerly WLWT)

3. Jessica Schmidt (FOX19)

TV NEWSCAST

1. WLWT (Channel 5)

2. WXIX (FOX19)

3. WCPO (Channel 9)

TV SPORTSCASTER

1. Dan Hoard (Bengals, Bearcats)

2. Joe Danneman (FOX19)

3. George Vogel (WLWT)

TV WEATHERCASTER

1. Steve Horstmeyer (FOX19)

2. Randi Rico (WLWT)

3. Kevin Robinson (WLWT)

WEEKEND GETAWAY (WITHIN 250 MILES)

1. Hocking Hills

2. Red River Gorge

3. Yellow Springs

Alms Park | Photo: Facebook.com/almsparkallies

Staff Picks

Best Peaceful Park to Watch Planes Take Off

Alms Park, located near Columbia Tusculum, has plenty of ground to wander and includes a view of the Ohio River, a lifelike statue of composer Stephen Foster and a large playground and picnic area for families — all anchored by an old Italian Renaissance-style stone pavilion. However, the best part might be the large scenic hillside with a bird’seye view overlooking historic Lunken Field, home to the Cincinnati Municipal Airport where the Beatles, Charles Lindbergh and other historic figures once landed when they flew into the city. Visitors can sit on the long bench built into the length of the hillside or picnic-style on the grass to watch planes take off and land with birds floating at what seems like eye level.

cincinnati-oh.gov/dote/lunken-airport

Best Neighborhood for a Low-Key Date-Night Stroll

What do you need for a date night? Pretty lights? Good drinks? Yummy food? Quality entertainment? Literally all of that can be found in the business district of College Hill. Grab low-key, ethnic grub at MashRoots or Tortilleria Garcia, or get a little more highbrow at Kiki College Hill, Marty’s Hops and Vines or Bacalls Cafe. Or try Smoky Moth, recently opened by the owners of Sleepy Bee as their first try at a dinner-focused restaurant. For drinks, head to Brink Brewing Company (they offer trivia on Tuesdays), or check out the new hot spot Big Chill, a family-friendly bar that will have a walk-up soft-serve window come summer. Whatever you want from an evening stroll with your partner, you can find it in College Hill. chcurc.com

Best Illumination for a Cause

If you’re driving toward Downtown from the West Side — perhaps coming down from Price Hill and continuing on the Sixth Street Viaduct — or if you’re simply passing by the city core on I-75, you’ve surely seen the illuminated panels

spelling out C-I-N-C-I-N-N-A-T-I on the west façade of the Duke Energy Convention Center. A clever overlay of color has made the message all the more meaningful, showing support with yellow and blue lighting for Ukraine and changing over to red and blue following Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin’s terrifying collapse during a January NFL game against the Bengals. The convention center’s letters and colors underscored our big-hearted city for all to see. duke-energycenter.com.

Best Effort to Unionize a Massive Workplace

It takes a lot of courage to unionize your workplace, especially when you work for a mega-corporation like Amazon. Many employees at the Amazon Air Hub in Hebron, Kentucky, launched an effort to unionize in November — the first air hub in the country to openly start union efforts. The employees are calling for a $30 hourly wage, more time off and representation at disciplinary meetings. Organizers pushed through a holiday season with no “peak” bonus pay while canvassing for public support on the weekends at Findlay Market. Amazon has told CityBeat that unions aren’t the best answer for its employees, but that’s not slowing them down in 2023. unionizeamazonkcvg.org

Best Mispronunciation of a West Side Town That Automatically Rules You Out as a Westsider

Cheviot: It’s “shiv-ee-it” like the makeshift prison weapon (shiv), not “shev-ee-ought” like Chevrolet. It’s also definitely not “sheyv-wah.” Even if you’re from the east side, you’re not that fancy.

Best Municipal Affirmations of LGBTQ+ Folks

Under a now year-old administration and largely refreshed city council, Cincinnati took steps to become more affirming to its LGBTQ+ residents throughout 2022. The city raised the transgender pride flag at City Hall for the first time in Cincinnati’s history in recognition of Transgender Day of Visibility, representing people who identify as women and men as well as those who do not have a defined gender, who are transitioning or who identify as intersex. Just a few weeks later, council member Reggie Harris began collaborating with other officials to update language in the municipal code to more directly provide comprehensive legal protections for gender expression and identity and to further protect all individuals from

Amazon Air Hub canvassing at Findlay Market | Photo: Provided by Griffin Ritze

City Life

discrimination. “We have to do both symbolic gestures and policy gestures. That is the way we move forward,” Harris said last March. Other officials have backed him up, with the council repeatedly condemning state bills that restrict care or education for LGBTQ+ individuals. In December, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation and the Equality Federation said Cincinnati was one of just six Ohio municipalities to receive a perfect score on the 2022 Municipal Equality Index as well as one of seven to earn an All-Star status. cincinnati-oh.gov/cityofcincinnati

Best Paint Job on a Downtown Building

We all know it, but do we take the time to appreciate it? We’re talking about the Saxony apartment building at the corner of Ninth and Race streets in Downtown. The head-turning color palette is a gift to strolling pedestrians, especially in the fall. Against the sangria-colored brick are pops of tangerine, olive, lavender, mustard and hot pink. The deep, vibrant base makes it perfect for autumn pictures along the falling leaves of Ninth Street. Grab a coffee from nearby BlaCk Coffee Lounge for a stroll so serene you might just forget to take that photo.

Best Art Heist

Look, no one is happy that the Capitoline Wolf statue was stolen from Eden Park last summer, but you’ve got to hand it to the bandit — it was impressive. The thief not only had to cut through four solid bronze paws, but also move the impossibly heavy statue without drawing attention from park-goers or city employees. Cincinnati Parks said the statue was removed around 8 p.m. on June 16, meaning it was still light enough outside for any onlookers to see the heist. Even still, a $50,000 reward was not enough to track down the 90-year-old gift from Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. cincinnatiparksfoundation.org

Best Push to Reclaim Women’s Reproductive Rights

In November, Kentucky joined the ranks of states like Kansas to reject a ballot measure that would have spelled out harsher limitations in the fight for abortion access. Kentucky’s Amendment 2 would have introduced language into the state’s constitution saying that nothing in the document secured or protected abortion rights. While abortion remains illegal in Kentucky, the failure of Amendment 2 means that Kentucky’s abortion ban can still be challenged as unconstitutional in the courts, giving a bit of hope for those who are steadfast in their mission to revive bodily autonomy in the commonwealth. ag.ky.gov

Trans rally against Crossroads in 2021 | Photo: Mary LeBus

City Life

Best Sigh of Relief for Motorists

Best Facebook Group to Take on the Formula Shortage

The Cincinnati Moms & Friends Facebook group is a watering hole for thousands of parents just trying to figure it out. From sharing spare newborn clothes to finding your next best nanny, the group has been helping moms since 2017, but the community proved itself as a vital utility in 2022 during the infant formula shortage. Desperate parents searching for their baby’s specific formula could turn to the group to find community members posting pictures of newly stocked shelves with specific store locations or even offer their own unexpired backup formula to moms in need. bit.ly/3mvKmR3.

Best Way to Get the Hell Out of Here

Cincinnati is great — really! — but sometimes you’ve just got to leave so you can miss home. Our trusty airport gave us a more direct way to fling ourselves across the Atlantic when CVG announced British Airways’ new service to London. Starting in June 2023, we’ll be able to avoid cumbersome layovers and head straight to tea-time with the Spice Girls. Flights will run five times per week in the summer, so maybe we’ll have an influx of Brits who want to see the Queen City. cvgairport.com.

Best Free Ride Service in the City

The taxi service GEST Carts, which has a franchise location in Cincinnati, offers free rides in decked-out, party-style golf carts within a 2-mile radius throughout the city — even across the river to Covington or Newport. You can call them up or use an app to get a ride in a stretch golf cart that feels more like a mini car or, more accurately, a mini party bus with colorful lights, music and kind drivers to cruise to your next destination. All for free! gestcarts.com/cincinnati.

A new Brent Spence Bridge finally is on the way. In early 2022, Governors Mike DeWine and Andy Beshear announced that they would apply jointly for funds to update the deteriorating, traffic-laden bridge that spans their respective states of Ohio and Kentucky. Since then, the $3.6 billion project has expanded to include a toll-free, doubledecker companion bridge and improvements to nearby green spaces. The project is scheduled to break ground in 2023, with “substantial completion” happening by 2029. In January, President Joe Biden delivered an address in Covington to celebrate the $1.635 billion award that the federal government is providing for the project, signaling that yes, this is all really — finally — happening for the notorious corridor that’s the No. 2 bottleneck in the nation for freight trucks. brentspencebridgecorridor.com.

Best Repurposed Historic Firehouse

As if Nation Kitchen & Bar needed any help getting us to slam burgers and bloody marys, the architecture of

Nation’s Westwood location is a destination in its own right. Solid cement bricks shine from floor to soaring ceiling in this historic firehouse-turned-restaurant. Built in 1907, Engine Co. #33 was built with limestone trim and a stunning arched window on the second floor. Looking at the beautifully preserved building is nice, but drinking a beer inside with a side of tots could very well be how this building was meant to be enjoyed.

nationkitchenandbar.com/westwood.

Best News for Sensitive Noses

The Callery pear tree has beautiful white flowers, but it also harbors compounds that are derivatives of ammonia, which produces the familiar scent of, well, semen. And if your block has dozens of these things, you know that the air smells like a never-ending orgy. Aside from causing the post-coital aroma that blankets the city every spring, the non-native species creates other problems, like crowding out useful trees and damaging local ecosystems. There’s good news, though: In January Ohio began outlawing the buying, selling and planting of these awful things, becoming the first state to do so.

Planned Parenthood protest in 2022. | Photo: Mary LeBus

Brent Spence Bridge |

Photo: Formula One, Wikimedia Commons

Best Hard-Fought Victory for a Congressional District

Former Cincinnati City Council member Greg Landsman was elected to become a representative of Ohio’s 1st Congressional District in November after a hard-fought battle against Republican incumbent Steve Chabot. Though he has only been serving in the U.S. House of Representatives since January, to many, Landsman is already a big improvement over his right-wing Republican predecessor, who bought into former U.S. President Donald Trump’s big lie by voting to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election. landsman.house.gov.

Best Way to Fight Climate Change and Combat Waste Reduction

Chances are, there’s something laying in or around your home that you can’t figure out how to get rid of: batteries, that old flip phone, crutches, lightbulbs, car seats, ink cartridges. We all use them until we don’t. Then what? The Cincinnati Recycling & Reuse Hub will accept all of these items (some for free, some for a fee) and recycle or reuse them appropriately. The Hub aims to help mitigate the effects of climate change and reduce the amount of waste going into landfills through its one-stop drop-off location in Price Hill. The organization seeks to revolutionize the way people think about “things.” It provides a receptacle for almost anything to be recycled or reused. From its

inception in April 2021 until March 2022, it’s recycled or reused 100 tons of material. cincinnatirecyclingandreusehub.org

Best Cincinnati City Council Applicant

When Greg Landsman was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in the fall, he selected fellow Cincinnati City Council member Reggie Harris to appoint the person who would take his council seat. Always dutiful, Harris sifted through dozens of applicants and sought advice from other council members. There were plenty of great candidates, but one applicant bulged out without (understandably) being seriously considered. According to records from Harris’ office, someone who went by the name of “Big Johnny” had gone through the application steps, including answering questions about issues that were important to them. According to Big Johnny’s responses, they seemed to be pro-choice, pro-LGBTQ and pro-social-good. Big Johnny also professed to stand up for people of all types. “I’ve been discriminated against in the past because of my large testicles,” they wrote. Alas, Big Johnny’s application was dismissed as a joke, but perhaps we’ll hear from them again — they claimed that they would run for the U.S. presidency if they didn’t get the council job. cincinnati-oh.gov/cityofcincinnati.

Best Imaginary Witch-Hunt

In late 2022, Rep. Jennifer Gross from West Chester, who previously had a lot of weird takes on COVID-19 and magnets, shifted her focus to casting “witchcraft” out of the Ohio Statehouse. During a December chamber session, Gross introduced Curtis Hill, an associate pastor at LifeChurch, who proceeded to rally House members against the “dark forces.” He then shared a long list of things he wanted to cast out, including “witchcraft” and “perversion.” ohiohouse.gov

Best Mysterious Donation to a Local Food Pantry

The game was afoot after someone donated an authentic Oscar statuette to Be Concerned, a food pantry and thrift store in Covington, Kentucky. Thinking it simply was some kind of gift-store trinket, workers sat the Academy Award on a shelf at the shop until they investigated it a bit more. It turns out, the Oscar in question had been given to the cast and crew of the 1934 Best Picture winner, It Happened One Night, starring Clark Gable. How it ended up in the Cincinnati area is still unknown, but Be Concerned returned the statuette to Hollywood, where it’s now part of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures’ Clark Gable exhibit. beconcerned.org.

Ohio Congressman Greg Landsman | Photo: Provided by campaign

Mini Oscar statuette found at Be Concerned|

Photo: Mary LeBus

Best New Weapon Against Overdoses

Bartenders have a lot more to offer than just drinks and life advice. Scattered through town are bar staff who are becoming trained in lifesaving measures in response to a wave of drug overdoses. Cincinnati’s Coalition for Community Safety has been training bar staff on how to spot someone who is overdosing, how to deploy lifesaving naloxone and where they can stock fentanyl test strips to help prevent overdoses in the first place. If you needed another reason to tip your amazing bartenders, it’s this. twitter.com/ccscincy.

Best News for Renters with Deadbeat Landlords

The city isn’t turning a blind eye anymore to landlords who house tenants in dangerous conditions, officials say. In January, Cincinnati launched the first salvo of the year against bad building owners, filing a lawsuit against the Williamsburg of Cincinnati Apartments & Townhomes for a variety of alleged infractions, including lack of heat or water, flooding, mold, rodent infestations, faulty wiring, inoperable toilets and more. In official documents, the city said that the Williamsburg’s owners haven’t performed basic upkeep or responded to tenant complaints. The lawsuit also said that the Williamsburg is violating fire codes with inoperable hydrants, inadequate exit lighting, accumulated garbage and inadequate fire separation between units. Moreover, criminal activity at the apartments has increased, city officials said, thanks to inoperable security gates, inadequate outdoor lighting and overgrown vegetation. Officials followed up the lawsuit against the Williamsburg with filings against other negligent landlords.

Best Tree-Lined Street

Though it’s a short stretch, a stroll around the quaint neighborhood of Licking Riverside is worth leaving the house. No matter the season, Garrard Street between Sixth and Seventh streets in Covington, Kentucky, is a sight to behold. Trees tower the street, sprawling their long branches to meet high above like a natural, vaulted ceiling of wavy limbs. The houses are also a treat, some of which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. hlrca.com.

Best Use of Political Power to Actually Decrease Political Power

Rarely do you hear of a politician actively campaigning to reduce their power, but Cincinnati mayor Aftab Pureval again flexed on the city in his own unique way. In November, voters overwhelmingly approved an amendment to

Cincinnati’s charter amendment to remove the mayor’s pocket veto, which was a loophole that allowed the mayor to basically kill legislation without discussion. While shitty, the loophole had been used by mayors before, which is why Pureval introduced the effort to nix the pocket veto for all future mayors, himself included. mayoraftab.com

Best Reappearance for the Sake of Public Health

As one of the world’s biggest public health crises, COVID19 has both killed millions of people since early 2020 and exposed government shortcomings when dealing with major medical emergencies. In the United States, the Biden administration pushed through a program in partnership with the U.S. Postal Service that would deliver free COVID19 home test kits upon request to residents — something that especially has helped vulnerable populations like low-income families, people without private health insurance and people without adequate transportation to get to local testing centers. The program had been renewed and paused repeatedly throughout 2022, depending on funding from Congress. But in December, the White House shifted budget items around to fund one final round of tests. It’s been a huge success, with USPS delivering a total of more than 737 million tests as of February 2023, enabling more people to discern if they’re infectious or should gather in public. But as with nearly all pandemic-related government initiatives, the program is scheduled to expire in May, leaving people to fend for themselves once again. special.usps.com/testkits

City Life

Best Drug Bust

This was worthy of an eggplant emoji. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers seized huge, illegal loads of pills used to treat erectile dysfunction that were coming through the Port of Cincinnati in January. Feds sucked up more than 32,500 Viagra, Cialis and Levitra pills along with 1,050 packets of jellies containing “miracle honey,” which features Viagra’s active ingredient of sildenafil. The illegal packages originated in China, India, Malaysia and Sudan, and the criminals faced stiff penalties. cbp.gov

Best Way to Avoid Taking the Brent Spence Bridge When the Roebling Bridge Is Closed

Permanent closure of the Fourth Street on-ramp to I-75/71 in Covington solidified perpetual angst for the Brent Spence Bridge. Now we’re supposed to use something called a Texas Turnaround to get across the river, but this is Greater Cincinnati, and the turnaround nonsense doesn’t make anything easier. Seemingly, the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge has been nursed back to health, but you never know if or when a feral taxi is going to crash into the precious structure again. Just in case, always steer clear and use the Clay Wade Bailey Bridge in Covington or the Taylor Southgate Bridge in Newport. Both routes are typically free of congestion and drop you directly in Downtown easily.

Garrard Street between Sixth and Seventh streets in Covington | Photo: Aidan Mahoney

Reader Picks

APPETIZERS

1. Sotto

2. Pepp & Dolores

3. Agave & Rye

BAGELS

1. Marx Bagels

2. Bruegger’s Bagels

3. The Bagelry

4. OTR Bagel Bar

5. Bagel and Deli Shop (Oxford)

6. Servatii Pastry Shop & Deli

7. Everything Bagels Cincinnati

8. Skip’s BagelDeli

9. Big Apple Bagels

10. Lil’s Bagels

BARBECUE

1. Eli’s BBQ

2. Lucius Q

3. City Barbeque

4. Montgomery Inn

5. Just Q’in BBQ

6. Bee’s Barbecue

7. Smoke Justis

8. Pig Candy BBQ

9. Pickles & Bones BBQ

10. Sweets & Meats BBQ

BEER SELECTION (RESTAURANT)

1. Yard House

2. Northside Yacht Club

3. Moerlein Lager House

BOURBON SELECTION (RESTAURANT)

1. Goodfellas Pizzeria/Wiseguy Lounge

2. The Littlefield

3. Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse

4. Smoke Justis

5. Purple Poulet

6. Agave & Rye

7. Rich’s Proper Food & Drink

8. Libby’s Southern Comfort

9. Nicholson’s Pub

10. Old Kentucky Bourbon Bar

BREAKFAST

1. Sleepy Bee Cafe

2. Sugar n’ Spice

3. First Watch

4. The Echo

5. Original Pancake House

6. Taste of Belgium

7. Hangover Easy

8. Maplewood Kitchen and Bar

9. Yuca

10. Blue Jay Diner

BRUNCH

1. Sleepy Bee Cafe

2. First Watch

3. Taste of Belgium

4. Maplewood Kitchen and Bar

5. Hangover Easy

6. Ivory House

7. Yuca

8. Cedar TIE

9. National Exemplar TIE

10. Greyhound Tavern

11. Nation Kitchen & Bar

BURRITOS

1. Gomez Salsa

2. Mazunte

3. The Comet

4. Chipotle

5. El Rancho Grande

6. Tortilleria Garcia

7. La Mexicana Restaurant

8. Cancun Mexican Restaurants

9. Taqueria Mercado

10. Agave & Rye

BUSINESS LUNCH

1. Skyline Chili

2. Montgomery Inn

3. Coppin’s at Hotel Covington

BUTCHER SHOP

1. Avril-Bleh Meat Market & Deli

2. Eckerlin Meats

3. Jungle Jim’s International Market

4. Lehr’s Prime Market

5. Wyoming Meat Market

6. Humbert Meats

7. Redden Fine Meats and Seafood

8. Bridgetown Finer Meats

9. LK at Findlay Market

10. Bill Finke & Sons

CAJUN/CREOLE

1. Knotty Pine on the Bayou

2. Swampwater Grill

3. Allyn’s Cafe

4. J. Gumbo’s

5. Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen

6. BrewRiver Creole Kitchen

7. Dee Felice Cafe

8. Nolia

9. Rich’s Proper Food & Drink

10. Bishop’s Quarter

CAKE SHOP

1. The BonBonerie

2. Nothing Bundt Cakes

3. Servatii Pastry Shop & Deli

4. The Cheesecakery

5. Brown Bear Bakery

6. 3 Sweet Girls Cakery

7. Happy Chicks Bakery

8. North College Hill Bakery

9. Busken Bakery

10. Tres Belle Cakes

CHEAP EATS

1. Skyline Chili

2. Zip’s Cafe

3. Goodfellas Pizzeria

CHEESESTEAK

1. Penn Station

2. AJ’s Cheesesteaks

3. Cincy Steak & Lemonade

CHEESE SHOP

1. Jungle Jim’s International Market

2. The Rhined

3. Share: Cheesebar

CHEF (W/RESTAURANT AFFILIATION)

1. Jean-Robert de Cavel (Posthumous)

2. Jose Salazar (Salazar, Mita’s, Goose & Elder, Daylily)

3. Danny Combs (Sotto)

4. Rob Scannell (Ivory House)

5. Kayla Robison (Arnold’s Bar & Grill)

6. Cristian Pietoso (Via Vite, Forno, Nicola’s)

7. Dylan Jones (Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse)

8. Alfio Gulisano (Alfio’s)

9. Christian Gill (Boomtown Biscuits & Whiskey)

10. Paul Barraco (The Governor)

CHICKEN

1. The Eagle

2. Galactic Fried Chicken

3. Silver Spring House

4. Ron’s Roost Restaurant & Bar

5. Revolution Rotisserie

6. CityBird

7. Greyhound Tavern

8. Hitching Post

9. Libby’s Southern Comfort

10. Joella’s Hot Chicken

CHICKEN SANDWICH

1. The Eagle

2. Galactic Fried Chicken

3. CityBird

4. The Silver Spring House

5. Revolution Rotisserie

6. Ron’s Roost

7. Nine Giant

8. Delwood

9. W Bar + Bistro

10. Incline Public House

CHILI (NON-CHAIN)

1. Camp Washington Chili

2. Price Hill Chili

3. Pleasant Ridge Chili

4. Zip’s Cafe

5. Empress Chili

6. Pig Candy BBQ

7. Chili Hut

8. Melt Revival

9. Bard’s Burgers & Chili

10. Anderson Township Pub

CHILI (CHAIN)

1. Skyline Chili

2. Gold Star Chili

3. Dixie Chili and Deli

CHINESE

1. Oriental Wok

2. KungFood AmerAsia

3. First Wok

4. Blue Gibbon

5. Uncle Yip’s

6. Shanghai on Elm

7. Casual Chinese

8. Fortune Noodle House

9. China Gourmet

10. Pacific Kitchen

CHOCOLATES

1. Aglamesis Bro’s

2. Schneider’s Sweet Shop

3. Maverick Chocolate Company

COFFEE SHOP (LOCAL)

1. Coffee Emporium

2. Mom ‘n ‘em Coffee & Wine

3. Deeper Roots

4. Unataza Coffee

5. Kitty Brew Cafe

6. blaCk Coffee Lounge

7. Urbana Cafe

8. Carabello Coffee

9. College Hill Coffee Co.

10. Proud Hound Coffee

COFFEE SHOP (NATIONAL)

1. Starbucks

2. Dunkin’ Donuts

3. Biggby Coffee

COOKING CLASSES

1. Jungle Jim’s International Market

2. Findlay Kitchen

3. Tablespoon Cooking Co.

CREAMY WHIP/SOFT SERVE

1. Putz’s Creamy Whip

2. The Cone

3. Mt. Washington Creamy Whip

4. Zip Dip

5. Dairy Queen

6. Silver Grove Dari Bar

7. Loveland Dairy Whip

8. Ameristop Bellevue

9. Whipty-Do!

10. Cups N Cones

CUPCAKES

1. The BonBonerie

2. Abby Girl Sweets Cupcakery

3. Gigi’s Cupcakes

4. 3 Sweet Girls Cakery

5. Happy Chicks Bakery

6.SugarSnap! Truck

7. Wyoming Pastry Shop

8. North College Hill Bakery TIE

9. Cakes & Pastries by George TIE

10. The Cheesecakery

11. Tres Belle Cakes

DELICATESSEN

1. Izzy’s

2. Carl’s Deli

3. Jungle Jim’s International Market

DESSERTS (RESTAURANT)

1. Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse

2. Sotto

3. Cafe Mochiko

DESSERTS (RETAIL)

1. Graeter’s Ice Cream

2. The BonBonerie

3. Servatii Pastry Shop & Deli

4. The Cheesecakery

5. Brown Bear Bakery

6. Holtman’s Donuts

7. Aglamesis Bro’s

8. Jungle Jim’s International Market

9. Wyoming Pastry Shop

10. Busken Bakery

DONUTS

1. Holtman’s Donuts

2. Moonrise Doughnuts

3. Busken Bakery

4. Starlight Doughnut Lab

5. Peace Love & Little Donuts

6. Marcella’s Doughnuts & Bakery

7. Bonomini Bakery

8. Graeter’s Ice Cream

9. North College Hill Bakery

10. Emerson’s Bakery

FARMERS MARKET

1. Findlay Market

2. Hyde Park Farmers Market

3. Fort Thomas Farmers Market

FARMERS MARKET FOOD STALL

1. Blue Oven Bakery

2. LK at Findlay Market

3. Colonel De Gourmet Herbs & Spices

FISH & CHIPS

1. Alabama Fish Bar

2. Nicholson’s

3. The Pub

4. Cock & Bull Public House

5. Incline Public House

6. Pelican’s Reef

7. Off The Hook Fish & Chips

8. Greyhound Tavern

9. Dead Low Brewing

10. HighGrain Brewing Co.

FOOD FESTIVAL OR EVENT

1. Taste of Cincinnati

2. Oktoberfest

3. Cincinnati Food Truck Association Festival

4. Goettafest

5. Asian Food Festival

6. Panegyri Greek Festival

7. Cincinnati Burger Week

8. Germania Society Oktoberfest

9. Bockfest

10. Greater Cincinnati Restaurant Week

FOOD TRUCK

1. Red Sesame Korean BBQ

2. Tacos Locos

3. The Poutine Machine

4. Sweets & Meats BBQ

5. Texas Joe Tex-Mex

6. Marty’s Waffles

7. Empanadas Aqui

8. Pata Roja Taqueria

9. Stellar Street Eats

10. Jorge’s Taco Truck

FRENCH FRIES

1. Zip’s Cafe

2. Taste of Belgium

3. Northside Yacht Club

4. The Poutine Machine

5. Senate

6. Nation Kitchen & Bar

7. Gold Star Chili

8. Bard’s Burgers & Chili

9. Nine Giant

10. Penn Station

GELATO/SORBETTO/FROZEN ICE

1. Graeter’s Ice Cream

2. Aglamesis Bro’s

3. Dojo Gelato

GERMAN

1. Hofbrauhaus

2. Mecklenburg Gardens

3. Wunderbar!

GLUTEN-FREE SELECTIONS

1. Sleepy Bee Cafe

2. Galactic Fried Chicken

3. Pho Lang Thang

4. Aladdin’s Eatery

5. Melt Revival

6. Pig Candy BBQ

7. Mazunte

8. Cherbourg Cyprus

9. W Bar + Bistro TIE

10. Dead Low Brewing TIE

11. Good Plates Eatery

GOETTA

1. Glier’s Goetta

2. Eckerlin Meats

3. Bill Finke & Sons

4. Queen City Sausage

5. Humbert Meats

6. Pig Candy BBQ

7. Avril-Bleh Meat Market & Deli

8. Stehlin’s Meat Market

9. Lehr’s Prime Market

10. Gramma Debbie’s Kitchen (Findlay Market)

GUACAMOLE

1. Mazunte

2. Bakersfield

3. Agave & Rye

HIDDEN GEM

1. Mazunte

2. Kiki College Hill

3. Incline Public House

4. Ivory House

5. Nine Giant

6. The Governor

7. Galactic Fried Chicken

8. Maury’s Tiny Cove

9. Tuba Baking Co.

10. Pig Candy BBQ

HOT DOG/SAUSAGE

1. Senate

2. The Root Beer Stand

3. Eli’s BBQ

4. Wunderbar!

5. Quite Frankly

6. Mr. Gene’s Dog House

7. Tuba Baking Co.

8. Lucius Q

9. Chicago Gyro & Dogs

10. Costco

HOTEL RESTAURANT

1. Coppin’s Restaurant & Bar at Hotel Covington

2. Metropole at 21c Museum Hotel

3. Overlook Kitchen + Bar at The Summit Hotel

ICE CREAM

1. Graeter’s Ice Cream

2. Aglamesis Bro’s

3. United Dairy Farmers

4. Schneider’s Sweet Shop

5. Hello Honey

6. Dojo Gelato

7. Gold Spoon Creamery

8. Whipty-Do!

9. Cowboy Cones

10. La Grassa

INDIAN

1. Ambar India Restaurant

2. Baba India Restaurant

3. Amol India

4. Dusmesh Indian Restaurant & Bar

5. Delhi Palace Indian Cuisine

6. Jot India

7. Krishna Indian Restaurant & Carryout

8. Maya Indian Restaurant

9. Adeep India

10. Shaan Indian Cuisine

Eats

ITALIAN

1. Sotto

2. Pepp & Dolores

3. Pompilios

4. Giovanni’s Family Italian Restaurant

5. Nicola’s

6. Scotti’s Italian Restaurant

7. Primavista

8. Ferrrari’s Little Italy

9. Mama’s on Main

10. Via Vite

JAPANESE

1. Ichiban Japanese Restaurant

2. Kiki College Hill

3. Cafe Mochiko

4. Quan Hapa

5. Miyako Sushi & Steakhouse

6. Kyoto Japanese Cuisine

7. Soho Japanese Bistro

8. Matsuya Japanese Restaurant

9. Ando Japanese Restaurant and Sushi Bar

10. Mei Japanese Restaurant

KOREAN

1. Riverside Korean Restaurant

2. BIBIBOP Asian Grill

3. Decibel Korean Fried Chicken

4. Kanji OTR

5. Red Sesame BBQ

6. Izen’s Drunken Bento

7. Stone Bowl

8. The Korea House

9. Dolsot Bistro

10. HARU

LATE-NIGHT EATERY

1. Skyline Chili

2. Goodfellas Pizzeria

3. Anchor Grill

4. Gomez Salsa

5. Pleasant Ridge Chili

6. Camp Washington Chili

7. Dixie Chili and Deli

8. Shanghai on Elm

9. Mikey’s Late Night Slice

10. Cloud 9 Sushi

LIVE MUSIC WHILE YOU EAT

1. Arnold’s Bar & Grill

2. Dee Felice Cafe

3. The Comet

4. The Monkey Bar & Grille

5. Fretboard Brewing

6. Northside Yacht Club

7. MOTR Pub

8. Ivory House

9. Dead Low Brewing

10. Lucius Q

LOCAL CHAIN

1. Skyline Chili

2. Dewey’s Pizza

3. LaRosa’s Family Pizzeria

4. Mazunte

5. Thunderdome Restaurant Group

6. Agave & Rye

7. Gold Star Chili

8. Taste of Belgium

9. Holtman’s Donuts

10. Servatii Pastry Shop & Deli

LOCAL SNACK

1. Grippo’s

2. Hen of the Woods

3. Babushka Pierogies

LOCAL FARM

1. Blooms & Berries Farm Market

2. 80 Acres Farm

3. Gorman Heritage Farm

MACARON

1. Macaron Bar

2. The BonBonerie

3. Jungle Jim’s International Market

MACARONI & CHEESE

1. Keystone Bar & Grill

2. The Eagle

3. Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse

4. Eli’s BBQ

5. Lucius Q

6. Pig Candy BBQ

7. Ivory House

8. The Mac Shack

9. Tavern on the Bend

10. MamaBear’s Mac

MEDITERRANEAN/GREEK

1. Aladdin’s Eatery

2. Sebastian’s Gyros

3. Andy’s Mediterranean Grille

4. Abigail Street

5. LEYLA Mediterranean

6. Greek to Me

7. Phoenician Taverna

8. Fillo Greek Bake Shop TIE

9. Chicago Gyros & Dogs TIE

10. Cafe Mediterranean

11. Gyros on Main

MENU (MOST INNOVATIVE)

1. Agave & Rye

2. Sotto

3. The Governor

MEXICAN

1. Mazunte

2. Agave & Rye

3. Tortilleria Garcia

4. El Rancho Grande

5. La Mexicana Restaurant

6. Cancun

7. Taqueria Mercado

8. Rio Grande Newport

9. Olla

10. El Jinete TIE

11. Frida 602 TIE

NEIGHBORHOOD BAKERY (DOWNTOWN/OTR)

1. Brown Bear Bakery

2. Blue Oven Bakery (Findlay Market)

3. Allez Bakery

NEIGHBORHOOD BAKERY (CENTRAL)

1. The BonBonerie

2. Servatii Pastry Shop & Deli

3. North College Hill Bakery

NEIGHBORHOOD BAKERY (WEST SIDE)

1. Servatii Pastry Shop & Deli

2. Busken Bakery

3. Regina Bakery

NEIGHBORHOOD BAKERY (EAST SIDE)

1. Servatii Pastry Shop & Deli

2. The Cheesecakery

3. Busken Bakery

NEIGHBORHOOD BAKERY (NORTHERN KENTUCKY)

1. Moonrise Doughnuts

2. North South Baking Co.

3. Emerson’s Bakery

NEIGHBORHOOD BAKERY (‘ BURBS)

1. Servatii Pastry Shop & Deli

2. Holtman’s Donuts (Loveland)

3. Wyoming Pastry Shop

NEIGHBORHOOD BURGER SPOT (DOWNTOWN/OTR)

1. Arnold’s Bar & Grill

2. Nation Kitchen & Bar

3. Krueger’s Tavern

NEIGHBORHOOD BURGER SPOT (CENTRAL)

1. Tickle Pickle

2. Quatman Cafe

3. Nine Giant

NEIGHBORHOOD BURGER SPOT (EAST SIDE)

1. Zip’s Café

2. Arthur’s

3. The Turf Club

Win-Win!

When you’re happy, we’re happy. Our Skyline family is truly humbled by your ongoing support for doing what we love to do.

NEIGHBORHOOD BURGER SPOT (WEST SIDE)

1. Incline Public House

2. Nation Kitchen & Bar (Westwood)

3. Price Hill Chili

NEIGHBORHOOD BURGER SPOT (‘ BURBS)

1. Fifty West Burger Bar

2. Quatman Cafe (Mason)

3. Sammy’s Gourmet Burgers & Beer

NEIGHBORHOOD BURGER SPOT (NORTHERN KENTUCKY)

1. Bard’s Burgers & Chili

2. Herb & Thelma’s

3. Midway Cafe

NEIGHBORHOOD COFFEE SHOP (DOWNTOWN/OTR)

1. Coffee Emporium

2. Deeper Roots

3. Urbana Cafe

NEIGHBORHOOD COFFEE SHOP (CENTRAL)

1. Mom ‘n ‘em Coffee & Wine

2. College Hill Coffee Company

3. Sidewinder Coffee

NEIGHBORHOOD COFFEE SHOP (EAST SIDE)

1. Coffee Emporium (Hyde Park)

2. Deeper Roots Coffee

3. Awakenings

NEIGHBORHOOD COFFEE SHOP (WEST SIDE)

1. Biggby Coffee

2. BLOC Coffee Company

3. Muse Café

NEIGHBORHOOD COFFEE SHOP (‘ BURBS)

1. Wyoming Community Coffee

2. Kitty Brew Cafe

3. Luckman Coffee

NEIGHBORHOOD COFFEE SHOP (NORTHERN KENTUCKY)

1. Roebling Point Books & Coffee

2. Unataza Coffee

3. Carabello Coffee

NEIGHBORHOOD PIZZA JOINT (DOWNTOWN/OTR)

1. Goodfellas Pizzeria

2. Taglio

3. Mikey’s Late Night Slice

NEIGHBORHOOD PIZZA JOINT (EAST SIDE)

1. Dewey’s Pizza

2. Taglio

3. Catch-a-Fire Pizza

NEIGHBORHOOD PIZZA JOINT (WEST SIDE)

1. Dewey’s Pizza

2. LaRosa’s Family Pizzeria

3. Trotta’s Pizza & Drive Thru

NEIGHBORHOOD PIZZA JOINT (CENTRAL)

1. Dewey’s Pizza

2. Adriatico’s

3. Fireside Pizza

NEIGHBORHOOD PIZZA JOINT (‘ BURBS)

1. Dewey’s Pizza

2. A Tavola

3. LaRosa’s Family Pizzeria

NEIGHBORHOOD PIZZA JOINT (NORTHERN KENTUCKY)

1. Goodfellas Pizzeria

2. Strong’s Brick Oven Pizzeria

3. Dewey’s Pizza

NEIGHBORHOOD RESTAURANT (CENTRAL)

1. Adriatico’s

2. Quatman Café

3. Nine Giant

NEIGHBORHOOD RESTAURANT (DOWNTOWN/OTR)

1. Sotto

2. Pepp & Dolores TIE

3. The Eagle TIE

4. Pho Lang Thang

NEIGHBORHOOD RESTAURANT (WEST SIDE)

1. Incline Public House

2. Primavista

3. Price Hill Chili

NEIGHBORHOOD RESTAURANT (EAST SIDE)

1. Jeff Ruby’s The Precinct

2. Mazunte

3. Dead Low Brewing

NEIGHBORHOOD RESTAURANT (‘ BURBS)

1. Silver Spring House Restaurant

2. Blue Ash Chili

3. Mellow Mushroom

NEIGHBORHOOD RESTAURANT (NORTHERN KENTUCKY)

1. Pompilios

2. KungFood AmerAsia

3. Greyhound Tavern

NEW RESTAURANT

1. Mama’s on Main

2. W Bar + Bistro

3. Milkman

4. Nolia

5. Alcove by MadTree

6. Onolicious Hawaii

7. Tuba Baking Co.

8. Rodi Italian (Loveland) TIE

9. Son of a Butcher Steakhouse TIE

10. Rosie’s Italian

11. In Between Tavern

NOODLES

1. Pho Lang Thang

2. Kiki College Hill

3. KungFood AmerAsia

4. DOPE! Asian Street Fare

5. Fortune Noodle House

6. Cafe Mochiko

7. Tuba Baking Co.

8. Lulu’s Rice & Noodles

9. Zundo Ramen and Donburi

10. Saigon Noodle Bar

OUTDOOR/PATIO DINING

1. Incline Public House

2. Cabana on the River

3. Little Miami Brewing Co.

4. Fifty West Brewing Company Burger Bar

5. Northside Yacht Club

6. Arnold’s Bar & Grill

7. The Monkey Bar & Grille

8. Dead Low Brewing

9. The View at Shires’ Garden

10. Pig Candy BBQ

OVERALL BAKERY (BREADS)

1. Sixteen Bricks

2. Blue Oven Bakery

3. Servatii Pastry Shop & Deli

4. Allez Bakery

5. North College Hill Bakery

6. Wyoming Pastry Shop

7. Baker’s Table Bakery

8. North South Baking Co.

9. Breadsmith

10. El Camino Baking Co.

OVERALL BAKERY (SWEETS)

1. The BonBonerie

2. Servatii Pastry Shop & Deli

3. Brown Bear Bakery

4. North College Hill Bakery

5. Wyoming Pastry Shop

6. The Cheesecakery

7. Cafe Mochiko

8. North South Baking Co.

9. Happy Chicks Bakery

10. Makers Bakers Co.

OVERALL BURGERS (NON-CHAIN)

1. Zip’s Café

2. Tickle Pickle

3. Nation Kitchen & Bar

4. Turf Club

5. Quatman Cafe

6. Bard’s Burgers & Chili

7. Sammy’s Craft Burgers & Beers TIE

8. Arthur’s TIE

9. W Bar + Bistro

10. Roney’s

11. Delwood

OVERALL BURGERS (CHAIN)

1. Five Guys Burgers & Fries

2. BRU Burger Bar

3. Culver’s

4. Red Robin

5. Frisch’s

6. Smashburger

7. Gold Star Chili

8. Freddy’s

9. The Rusty Bucket

10. Swensons Drive-In

OVERALL PIZZA (CHAIN)

1. Dewey’s Pizza

2. LaRosa’s Family Pizzeria

3. Goodfellas Pizzeria

OVERALL RESTAURANT (NORTHERN KENTUCKY)

1. Walt’s Hitching Post

2. Pompilios

3. KungFood AmerAsia

4. Agave & Rye

5. Bouquet Restaurant & Wine Bar

6. Libby’s Southern Comfort

7. Greyhound Tavern

8. Otto’s

9. The Baker’s Table

10. Coppin’s at Hotel Covington

OVERALL RESTAURANT (SOUTHEAST INDIANA)

1. Third & Main

2. Whisky’s

3. Strong’s Brick Oven Pizzeria

OVERALL PIZZA (NON-CHAIN)

1. Taglio

2. Adriatico’s

3. Strong’s Brick Oven Pizzeria

4. Trotta’s Pizza & Drive Thru

5. Two Cities Pizza Co.

6. Krimmer’s Italianette Pizzeria

7. Saint Francis Apizza

8. Catch-a-Fire Pizza

9. Fireside Pizza

10. Cork N Crust

OVERALL RESTAURANT

1. Sotto

2. Jeff Ruby’s The Precinct

3. Ivory House

4. Pepp & Dolores

5. Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse

6. Agave & Rye

7. Incline Public House

8. Boca

9. The Eagle

10. Taste of Belgium

OYSTERS

1. PearlStar (closed in February 2023)

2. Knotty Pine on the Bayou

3. Swampwater Grill

4. W Bar + Bistro

5. Rich’s Proper Food & Drink

6. Losanti

7. Pelican’s Reef

8. Sen by Kiki

9. Somm Wine Bar

10. Metropole

PUB FOOD

1. Incline Public House

2. Arnold’s Bar & Grill

3. Northside Yacht Club

4. Nine Giant

5. Knockback Nat’s

6. Oakley Pub & Grill

7. Dead Low Brewing

8. The Pony

9. The Hi-Mark

10. W Bar and Bistro

RAW BAR

1. PearlStar (closed in February 2023)

2. Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse

3. Jeff Ruby’s Carlo & Johnny

RESTAURANT DESIGN

1. Sotto

2. Orchids at Palm Court

3. Agave & Rye

RESTAURANT FOR FINE DINING

1. Sotto

2. Jeff Ruby’s The Precinct

3. Boca

4. Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse

5. Ivory House

6. Orchids at Palm Court

7. Pepp & Delores

8. Nicola’s

9. Jeff Ruby’s Carlo & Johnny

10. Primavista

RESTAURANT FOR A FIRST DATE

1. Sotto

2. Incline Public House

3. Primavista

4. Nada

5. Abigail Street

6. Ivory House

7. Taft’s Ale House

8. York Street Cafe

9. Libby’s Southern Comfort

10. Bouquet Restaurant

RESTAURANT FOR LARGE PARTIES

1. Montgomery Inn

2. Moerlein Lager House

3. Dead Low Brewing

RESTAURANT TO TAKE A FOODIE

1. Sotto

2. Salazar Restaurant

3. Ivory House

4. Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse

5. The Eagle

6. Bouquet Restaurant

7. The Baker’s Table

8. Abigail Street

9. Pepp & Dolores

10. Boca

RESTAURANT TO TAKE THE KIDS

1. Skyline Chili

2. Chick-fil-A

3. Fifty West Burger Bar

4. Dewey’s Pizza

5. Sleepy Bee Cafe

6. Zip’s Cafe

7. Dead Low Brewing

8. Ford’s Garage

9. Camp Washington Chili

10. Nation Kitchen & Bar

RESTAURANT TO TAKE VISITORS

1. Montgomery Inn Boathouse

2. Skyline Chili

3. Incline Public House

4. Pepp & Dolores

5. Sotto

6. Primavista

7. Ivory House

8. Taste of Belgium

9. The Eagle

10. Arnold’s

RIBS

1. Montgomery Inn

2. Eli’s BBQ

3. Walt’s Hitching Post

4. Lucius Q

5. Pig Candy BBQ

6. Just Q’in BBQ

7. City Barbeque

8. Pickles & Bones BBQ

9. Bee’s BBQ

10. Sweets & Meats BBQ

Eats

ROMANTIC RESTAURANT

1. Sotto

2. Primavista

3. Orchids at Palm Court

4. Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse

5. Pepp & Dolores

6. Ivory House

7. Alfio’s Buon Cibo

8. Nicola’s

9. Salazar

10. Via Vite

SALADS

1. Dewey’s Pizza

2. Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse

3. Ivory House

4. Maplewood Kitchen and Bar

5. E+O Kitchen

6. Aladdin’s Eatery

7. Melt Revival

8. Good Plates Eatery

9. Dead Low Brewing

10. Longfellow

SEAFOOD

1. Pelican’s Reef

2. Ivory House

3. PearlStar (closed in February 2023)

4. Allyn’s Cafe

5. Oakley Fish House

6. BrewRiver Creole Kitchen

7. Emery

8. Alfio’s Buon Cibo

9. Metropole

10. Dear Restaurant & Butchery

SMALL PLATES

1. Mita’s

2. Nada

3. Abigail Street

SMOOTHIE/JUICE BAR

1. Rooted Juicery + Kitchen

2. Smoothie King

3. Tropical Smoothie

SOUL FOOD

1. Alabama Fish Bar

2. Lucius Q

3. Purple Poulet

4. Richie’s Restaurant

5. Rich’s Proper Food & Drink

6. Island Frydays

7. Nolia

8. Soul Secrets

9. Sweets & Meats BBQ

10. Conscious Kitchen

SOUP

1. Pho Lang Thang

2. La Soupe

3. Zoup!

SPECIALTY FOOD MARKET

1. Jungle Jim’s International Market

2. Findlay Market

3. Country Fresh Farm Market

STEAKHOUSE

1. Jeff Ruby’s The Precinct

2. Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse

3. Walt’s Hitching Post

4. Ivory House

5. Losanti

6. Jeff Ruby’s Carlo & Johnny

7. Tony’s of Cincinnati

8. Maury’s Tiny Cove

9. Jag’s Steak & Seafood

10. Eddie Merlot’s

SUBS/SANDWICHES

1. Carl’s Deli

2. Melt Revival

3. Silverglades

SUSHI

1. Ichiban Japanese Restaurant

2. Cloud 9 Sushi

3. Kanji OTR

4. E+O Kitchen

5. Wabi Sabi

6. Izen’s Drunken Bento

7. Wild Ginger

8. Teak OTR

9. Green Papaya

10. Kyoto Japanese Cuisine

TACOS

1. Mazunte

2. Agave & Rye

3. Condado Tacos

4. Tortilleria Garcia

5. Bakersfield

6. OLLA Taqueria Gutierrez

7. Texas Joe Tex-Mex

8. Gomez Salsa

9. La Mexicana Restaurant

10. Frida 602

TAKEOUT

1. Dewey’s Pizza

2. Eli’s BBQ

3. City Barbeque

4. Gomez Salsa

5. Mazunte

6. Pig Candy BBQ

7. Lucius Q

8. Currito

9. Good Plates Eatery

10. Revolution Rotisserie

TEA SELECTION

1. Churchill’s Fine Teas

2. Jungle Jim’s International Market

3. Mom ‘n ‘em Coffee & Wine

THAI

1. Teak OTR

2. Thai Express

3. Green Papaya

4. Wild Ginger

5. Thai Taste

6. Bangkok Bistro

7. Lemon Grass Thai Cuisine

8. Thai Namtip

9. Mai Thai Restaurant TIE

10. Siam Orchid TIE

11. Asiana Thai & Sushi

VEGETARIAN

1. Aladdin’s Eatery

2. Melt Revival

3. Loving Hut

4. Rooted Juicery + Kitchen

5. Harmony Plant Fare

6. W Bar + Bistro

7. Tuba Baking Co.

8. Condado Tacos

9. Café Alma

10. Good Plates Eatery

VEGGIE BURGER

1. Tickle Pickle

2. Krueger’s Tavern

3. Nine Giant

4. Nation Kitchen & Bar

5. Arthur’s

6. Dead Low Brewing

7. Goose & Elder

8. Taste of Belgium

9. W Bar + Bistro

10. Maplewood Kitchen and Bar

VIETNAMESE

1. Pho Lang Thang

2. Wild Ginger

3. DOPE! Asian Street Fare

4. Saigon Noodle Bar

5. Pho Kimmy

6. Saigon Subs and Rolls

7. Pho96

8. Pho Viet

9. iPho Vietnamese Cuisine

10. Pholicious

VIEW FROM YOUR TABLE

1. Incline Public House

2. Primavista

3. Montgomery Inn Boathouse

4. Moerlein Lager House

5. City View Tavern

6. The Chart House

7. The View at Shires’ Garden

8. Eighteen at the Radisson

9. Le Bar a Boeuf

10. Via Vite

WAITSTAFF/SERVICE

1. Jeff Ruby’s The Precinct

2. Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse

3. Sotto

4. Ivory House

5. Pepp & Delores

6. Dewey’s Pizza

7. Boca

8. Abigail Street

9. Losanti

10. Tuba Baking Co.

WATERFRONT DINING

1. Montgomery Inn Boathouse

2. Cabana on the River

3. Moerlein Lager House

4. Buckhead Mountain Grill

5. Chart House

6. The Monkey Bar & Grille

7. Pirates Cove Tropical Bar and Grill

8. Sinners & Saints

9. Skipper’s on the River

10. Eighteen at the Radisson

WINE SELECTION (RESTAURANT)

1. Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurant

2. Ripple Wine Bar

3. Sotto

WINGS

1. Knockback Nat’s

2. Wild Mike’s

3. Northside Yacht Club

4. The Oak Tavern

5. Wings and Rings

6. Lucius Q

7. Dead Low Brewing

8. Knuk-N-Futz

9. Nine Giant

10. Smoke Justis

Mz. Jade’s Soul Food in Middletown | Photo: facebook.com/mzjades

Staff Picks

Best Brunch Potato to Cure a Hangover

Whether you’re organizing a fancy baby shower brunch or you’re clinging to life from your hangover, the tots at Coppin’s Restaurant & Bar at Hotel Covington are going to deliver. Shaved potato forms a perfect cube, golden and crusted with flaky salt. Dip the sacred square into Coppin’s housemade aioli and prepare for a crunch usually only heard in a chiropractor’s office. hotelcovington.com

Best Soul Food and Karaoke Combination

Soul is everywhere at Mz. Jade’s Soul Food in Middletown – the food, the music, even in the air. Mz. Jade’s new location on Central Avenue in Middletown’s historic downtown has given the business lots of room to play with for their seafood boils and weekly karaoke nights. The karaoke crowd isn’t just for your typical “Sweet Caroline”-singing friends; there are serious vocalists who get off work and go straight to Mz. Jade’s to unwind. But all talents are welcomed by Mz. Jade’s uproariously friendly staff. mzjadessoulfood.com.

Best Hot Pretzel to Eat Among Exotic Animals

You know how they say the best LaRosa’s Pizza is at Kings Island? Well, the best soft pretzel might be at the Cincinnati Zoo. It’s nothing fancy, but it is perfect. At the Hops beer garden right next to Roo Valley, visitors can buy a pint and a pretzel that’s just the right amount of sweet and salty. It’s as if they deep-fried the pretzel in oil that was just shared with a funnel cake, giving the outside a slightly sweet crunch. Dip the pretzel in their liquid-gold nacho cheese for the perfect balance. It will drive you, dare we say, wild? cincinnatizoo.org

Best Restaurant for Being Serenaded by a Mariachi Band

East Price Hill’s Incline District grows hipper every year, but some things stay the same, like the birria tacos at Veracruz Mexican Grill on Price Avenue. If you’re lucky, you’ll be there when a mariachi band serenades tables one by one. Take in the lively music while you sip on a gigantic frozen margarita. facebook.com/veracruzmexicangrill

Best Comfort Food to Fix a Terrible Monday

Delhi Palace Indian Cuisine has the emotional support you didn’t know you needed. The chicken tikka masala and garlic naan will put you right to sleep with its deliciousness — the perfect hearty dish to soften the blow of a new week. The lightly broiled chicken is cooked in savory tomato, onion and butter sauce, served at the spice level of your choosing. And if you feel like you simply can’t make it to dinner because the office has drained all life from you, try the daily lunch buffet for a daytime food coma. delhipalaceindia.com

Best Coffee/Brownie Combo to Chase Away the Monday Blues

Mondays can be tough. Buckabee Brownie, which claims it’s Cincinnati’s only bakery specializing in brownies and blondies, knows this, which is why each Monday they offer a treat featuring two start-of-the-week necessities: coffee and chocolate. The Blue Ash shop’s delectable, fudgy brownie is swirled with white chocolate and then infused with coffee for an intense, well-paired flavor. Mondays are no match for this perfect square of indulgence. buckabeebrownies.com.

Best Historic Candy Shop

Nestled on Court Street between Downtown and Overthe-Rhine and housed within a single-story building with, appropriately, candy-striped awnings is the long-running candy shop Minges Candy. Opened in 1905, Peter Minges & Son Wholesale Candy and Confections — the name only adding to the charm — sells wholesale and individual candy classics spanning the decades. Inside the open, airy room, a long central counter with glass cases of

Buckabee Brownie | Photo: facebook.com/buckabeebrownie

housemade chocolates takes center stage in front of walls of colorful candies that pop. Stop in to take in the charm and taste a sweet side of Cincinnati history. facebook.com/mingescandy.

Best Summertime Nostalgic Eats

The Root Beer Stand, a Cincinnati classic, offers housemade root beer along with staples like foot-long hot dogs and burgers out of a small, mid-century modern roadside drive-in during the warmer months. Open since 1957, it’s a local tradition in Sharonville. Pull up under the zigzagging roof and hop into line at the outside ordering station — or go into the miniature building and get a counter seat for a nice, cool, creamy mug of root beer. therootbeerstand.com

Best Po’ Boy North of Louisiana

BrewRiver Creole Kitchen has some flavor-packed sandwiches that can change your day. A New Orleans-style

restaurant, the original location in Linwood has plenty of good options, but the Cochon Du-Lait Po’ Boy at the outpost Sonder Brewing in Mason is a powerhouse of flavor — filled with roasted pulled pork, creamy coleslaw, Creole mustard and barbecue sauce on a delicious po’ boy roll. It just might be a contender for one of the finest sandwiches in the city. brewriversonder.com.

Best Combo Meal for Professional Athletes

If there’s one thing Chad Johnson said over the past year, it was “I’m lovin’ it.” The former Bengals wide receiver frequently gathered with football stars old and new during the team’s 2022-2023 season, posting his exploits on social media and eating his way through town. Sure, he continued his $1,000 tips for Cincinnati restaurant staff, and sure, he often ended up at Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse just like many athletes and celebrities do. But Johnson also made no

bones about his love for McDonald’s, particularly the location in Covington. In a genius move, he brought Mickey D’s to Jeff Ruby’s, proceeding to chow down on both $2 burgers and $250 Wagyu steak at a fancy-schmancy table. That combination just may be the city’s most expensive Happy Meal — no toy prize necessary. mcdonalds.com, jeffruby.com.

Best Taste of Nepal

Mo’ momos, please! A traditional delicacy in Nepal, momos are bite-sized dumplings. Bridges Nepali Cuisine started serving momos at their Northside restaurant on the weekends in 2017, but as the dish grew in popularity, they made them a permanent addition to the menu. Bridges Nepali’s momos can be steamed, pan-fried or come with jhol, a caramelized tomato soup with roasted sesame and soybean and just a hint of lemon, and they can be filled with vegetables (shredded cabbage, carrots and green beans and marinated with spices), chicken or pork. Can’t decide? Get a half-and-half order. Bridges also sells frozen momos you can make at home. bridgesnepalicuisine.com

Best Sweet Pick-Me-Up

It’s early afternoon and your morning caffeine boost has worn off. On top of that, you’re craving something kind of sweet but not too sweet. This is the situation in which Muse Café’s honey-lavender latte shines. A combination of honey and lavender syrup plus steamed milk, this slightly floral drink soothes your sweet tooth and offers a nice kick with its double shot of espresso. musecafecincy.com

Best Veal Meatball Appetizer

Pressing your fork down the middle of a Pepp & Dolores meatball is like cutting through an airy sponge cake. The impossibly tender meatball is softened to perfection by the veal-pork blend and the piping-hot red sauce. While the meatballs can be found on the Sunday Sauce entree, they’re best appreciated on their own in the form of the meatball appetizer. peppanddolores.com

Best Peach Cobbler Endorsed by a Sitting U.S. President

It’s always a thrill when someone compliments your food; no matter if it comes from a friend, a food critic or a parent, it’s all validating. But the president of the United States of America? Well, that’s affirmation that even Mom can’t touch. Matt Cuff, owner of Just Q’in in Walnut Hills, received the highest of kudos when President Joe Biden stopped by after delivering remarks in Covington about

The Root Beer Stand | Photo: Danielle Schuster

the Brent Spence Bridge project. The commander-in-chief picked up a to-go order containing a brisket plate, macaroni and cheese, potato salad, jalapeño cornbread and peach cobbler. That cobbler was what Biden was craving, it seemed, as he immediately opened the bag to sample the dessert. “This is really good, seriously,” Biden told the press pool between mouthfuls of the sweet stuff. justqin.com.

Best Joe Burrow-Themed Sushi Roll

Hot, spicy and full of surprises — it’s Joe Burrow (the sushi roll!). Kanji honors the Bengals’ fearless leader with this deep-fried roll packed with shrimp tempura, jalapeño, salmon, cream cheese, spicy crab and eel sauce. It’s the game-day food you didn’t know you needed, and it goes perfectly with a Rhinegeist Cheetah for the full local effect. kanjiotr.com.

Eats

Best Pancit and Margarita Pairing

Pancit, a classic Filipino dish of stir-fried rice noodles mixed with meat and vegetables, may be a side dish at Christine’s Casual Dining in Western Hills, but it’s a culinary star in its own right. Mixed with chicken, beef, carrots, green beans and cabbage at Christine’s, it pairs wonderfully with the restaurant’s steamed rice and chicken skewers on the combo platters. Add a frozen lime margarita to the mix and some ube ice cream for dessert, and you’ll be in Filipino-food-inspired heaven. christinescasualdining.com.

Best Charcuterie Boards to Match the Party Vibe

Charcuterie boards are perfect for any occasion: Classy New Year’s Eve party? Charcuterie board. Monthly book

club? Charcuterie board. But the folks at Birch + Bloom understand that charcuterie boards aren’t one-size-fitsall, which is why they’ll customize your board to your heart’s desire, with freshness and creativity as the main ingredients. When you order, you’ll pick what size board you need (from The Mini, which serves two, to The Maxi, which serves eight to 10) and include any special requests. What you’ll get is a beautifully designed artisan charcuterie board that will pass the vibe check at your next wine-andcheese night or cocktail party.

birchandbloomcharcuterie.com

Best Lavender Oat Milk

Latte to Take Thrifting

While lavender is a seasonal flavor to some, Collective Espresso in Northside makes a perfect lavender oat milk

President Joe Biden visiting Just Q’in | Photo: twitter.com/potus

Cackleberry food truck | Photo: Provided by Cackleberry

latte year-round. Meaning even in December you can pick up the perfectly steamed, not-too-sweet drink on your way to the Northside St.Vincent de Paul to troll for funky finds. This is what leaving the house to get cozy feels like. collectiveespresso.com, svdpcincinnati.org/directory/northside

Best Breakfast Sandwich That Uses SPAM®

It’s a crime that Cackleberry is only open on the weekends, but we’ll let it slide, because their Lola breakfast sandwich is un-fucking-believable. SPAM® is crisped to salty perfection and nuzzled next to a soft tamagoyaki-style egg while spicy mayo and chives bring it home on a brioche bun. Cackleberry operates as a pop-up, so check their ultra-stylish Instagram to find out where they’ll be setting up their iconic camper. eatcackleberry.com

Best Suburban House-Turned-Restaurant

Tucked away from the sea of chain restaurants in Liberty Township is a retrofitted farmhouse straight out of the Goldilocks and the Three Bears fairy tale. That is, if Goldilocks drank bloody marys with her duck-fat fries. Cozy’s Café & Pub’s elevated comfort food and intricateyet-homey atmosphere is a combination that’s just right for those who are too cool for a chain. cozyscafeandpub.com

Best Coconut Cold Brew for the Summer

Real-deal coffee lovers don’t give up in the summer, they just switch to cold brew, but even purists need to switch it up sometimes. Enter Mom ‘n ‘em Coffee & Wine’s coconut cold brew. The smooth-but-not-so-sweet coffee is light and tropical, pairing great with a splash of your favorite milk and a sunny spot on the sprawling patio at their Camp Washington location. momnemcoffee.com.

Best European Tour in One Bite

Known for its innovative, artisan cannoli creations, Del Gardo’s isn’t afraid to take this humble Italian pastry and fuse it with flavors from other cultures. The shop calls its crème brûlée cannoli one of its favorites, and it’s easy to see — and taste — why. The rich custard and caramel flavors of France’s crème brûlée marry perfectly with the classic Italian cannoli pastry shell and ricotta-based filling, giving notes of butterscotch and Madagascar vanilla. It’s an easy and delicious way of country-hopping across Europe without leaving Covington. delgardos.com

Best Almond Croissant to Channel Your Parisian Alter Ego

French Rendezvous is a quaint French shop nestled in Madisonville that sells authentic French foods and merchandise, along with fresh-baked croissants, including butter, chocolate, raisin swirl, almond and chocolate almond. If you only try one, you must try their almond croissant, but make sure to stop by early as this rich and buttery flavor almost always sells out. While you’re there, go full Parisian by grabbing a frozen baguette for dinner later, a medley of macarons for dessert, and a cup of coffee to enjoy with a flaky croissant. La perfection! frenchrendezvous.com

Best Reminder of Your Trip to Hawaii

For a quintessential Hawaiian snack, a side of SPAM® musubi from Kealoha’s Kitchen in Latonia will give you a taste of the islands right here in the Tri-State. The dish features pieces of fried SPAM® sandwiched between two beds of rice and wrapped in nori, an edible seaweed typically used in Japanese cuisine. Add some kick and ask for it spicy or teriyaki style. kealohaskitchen.com

Best Healthy Alternative to Chocolate Ice Cream

It’s easy to get swept up in the food, fun and history that is Findlay Market, but you’re missing out if you don’t stop by BanaSun Smoothie Bar for the most delicious smoothies and smoothie bowls made from fresh and real ingredients.

Eats

If it’s your first time in, go for their cocoa bowl, which is an irresistible mix of almond milk, bananas, dates, cacao, peanut butter and cacao nibs, and is best topped with the classic pack option that includes a sweet and savory mix of sliced bananas and strawberries, granola, almonds and chia. Though it’s packed with nutritious ingredients, it tastes even better than ice cream. Not only are their smoothies and bowls absolutely delicious, but the staff is super friendly and helpful, making it a delightful experience every time. facebook.com/banasun513

Best Chocolate-Chip Cookie for an Afternoon Pick-Me-Up

Not only does Em’s Sourdough Bread make bomb buns, bread and hot made-to-order sandwiches, but their chocolate-chip cookie is reason enough to make a trip down to Findlay Market. It has the perfect ratio of chips and dough with a soft center, making this a fan favorite you don’t want to skip over. If you’re looking for a refreshing beverage to wash your cookie down with as you stroll through the market, grab some of their fresh-made lemonade for the perfect afternoon pick-me-up. emsbread.com

Best One-Stop Shop for Local Foodie Delicacies

Daylily Deli, an NYC-inspired bodega, is a welcome new addition to the Columbia Tusculum neighborhood, filled with locally made goodies and more inside. During one

Chocolate-chip cookies at Em’s Sourdough Bread | Photo: facebook.com/emsbread

visit, enjoy a fresh cup of Deeper Roots coffee or grab a bag of coffee beans to make at home along with fresh bagels from the Bagelry, housemade sandwiches, alcoholic beverages and essential groceries like milk, cheese and canned pantry staples. Grab a seat inside, on their back patio, or take your food to go as you explore the rest of the sights on Eastern Avenue. Whatever you do, it’s a good bet you’ll keep returning for more. daylilydeli.com

Best Hangout for Carnivores and Herbivores to Meet for a Meal

Delwood is a Mt. Lookout staple dishing out delicious classics, like juicy cheeseburgers and crunchy fish and chips, but they also make one of the best — if not the best — veggie burgers in town. It’s fresh, thick and bursting with flavor — and it tastes absolutely delicious with a fried egg on top. Better yet, they can be made vegan, too, so no one is left out. Make sure to arrive early or be ready to wait, as this spot tends to fill up fast. But it’s definitely worth the wait. delwoodcincy.com

Best Italian Restaurant That Feels Like Going Home

Mama’s on Main is a pure delight for the tastebuds. Located along Main Street in Covington’s MainStrasse Village, you may have to place a reservation weeks (or months) ahead, but the food is well worth the wait. With pasta and entree selections like lemony aglio e olio, spaghetti and meatballs, eggplant (or chicken) parmesan, tagliarini with mushroom ragu and ricotta gnocchi, Mama’s lives up to its name. Prepared with high-quality ingredients, their Italian offerings are reminiscent of dishes your mom might serve up. Make sure to start with the bread service, a crispy helping of focaccia served alongside melt-in-your-mouth ricotta, olive oil and black pepper. And you’d be remiss not to indulge in their tiramisu. The restaurant’s baroque decor paired with stained-glass windows and plenty of natural light creates a cozy-butinspired atmosphere sure to keep you coming back. And make sure to stop by on weekend mornings — from 9 a.m. until sellout on Saturdays and Sundays, Mama’s slings pastries and sweets along with coffee to wash it all down. mamasonmain.com

Best Place to Take Your Date for Bolognese

If you’re looking for a classy but affordable place to take a date, Nicola’s in Over-the-Rhine has you covered. Every Monday is Bolognese night, which consists of a large portion of pasta — one serving is plenty for two people — as

Mama’s On Main | Photo: Catie Viox for Zest Cincy

well as your choice of two house salads, and all for only $17. Opened in 1996, Nicola’s is a well-established purveyor of authentic and unfussy Italian cuisine. With a wide selection of wines, a knowledgeable and sharply dressed staff, and a beautiful dimly lit and rustic brick interior, Nicola’s provides the perfect atmosphere for anyone celebrating an anniversary or just a romantic evening in the city. nicolasotr.com

Best Place to Drink Wine While Grilling Your Own Steak

Nestled near the edge of the West Side is an idyllic winery surrounded by rows of grapes and rolling hills. Vinoklet is the only working winery in Hamilton County and is home to 12 award-winning wines and the annual autumn

Vinoklet Wine & Art Festival. On Fridays and Saturdays, the winery hosts its Grilled to Perfection dinner, during which you can select your entree and grill it yourself while sipping on a half bottle of wine of your choosing and enjoying the beautiful views that surround you. vinokletwines.com

Best Restaurant Comeback

Lil’s Bagels surprised bagel lovers and loyal customers after it closed its Covington location permanently in December 2022 only to resurface as Lil’s Kitchen in January. Failed lease negotiations and high rent costs caused the closure of Lil’s Bagels, but owner Julia Keister was planning a comeback that no one foresaw. Lil’s Kitchen began operating out of Roebling Point Books & Coffee locations in Newport and Covington in March. Lil’s Kitchen will offer new and old

recipes including sandwiches and smoothies and eventually get back to preparing homemade bagels. Keister has big plans for the future and hopes to finalize a permanent kitchen space so Lil’s signature “hawt” sauce can continue enhancing sandwiches near you. facebook.com/lilsbagels

Best Breakfast for Dessert

Is it a hearty breakfast or a sweet treat? Trick question — the Piggy Pancakes at Cincinnati brunch champion Sleepy Bee are both. A little bit of salty and a lot of sweet, Sleepy Bee adds bacon right into the batter and then tops off the pancakes with whipped cream and candied pecans. You can get the pancakes made two different ways: as super fluffy buttermilk pancakes or as the gluten-free bee cake, which is made from bee-pollinated flowers. For some extra

Roebling Point Books & Coffee owner Richard Hunt (left) and Lil’s Bagels owner Julia Keister | Photo: Katie Griffith

Eats

protein, add an egg, thick-cut bacon, sausage or goetta (including vegan goetta!) to your order. sleepybeecafe.com.

Best Bourbon-Infused Milkshake

Best known for serving a side of nostalgia with your hamburger and boozy milkshake, MIlkman in Over-theRhine has perfected its spin on the classic cookies & cream flavor. Their Cookies & Irish Cream milkshake is whipped up with vodka, Oreos and Buffalo Trace bourbon cream, which makes this drink rich with just the right amount of smoothness. Top it off with some whipped cream and a side of fries for Frosty-style dipping. milkmanbar.com

Best Skyline Chili-Inspired Taco

Not like we need more reasons to be obsessed with Skyline Chili, but Jefferson Social’s Taconey is a unique way to get a fix. It’s also an inspiring recipe that captures the signature Skyline Chili flavor while somehow entering the ranks of an entirely different food group. The ratio of chili-to-taco flavor is unbeatable and pretty rare. The Taconey is braised Cincinnati Chili-style short rib, beef hot dog, mustard, crème, pico de gallo, Colby-Jack cheese and fire-roasted tomato sauce served on a flour tortilla. Yes, there’s a hot dog in that taco. And yes, in Cincinnati we like our chili with noodles — and in tacos. jeffersonsocial.com

Best Starbucks That Gets Your Order Right Every Time

Local coffee shops are great, but are often lacking drivethrus. And, despite their specific recipe cards and onceextensive training, your Starbucks order can taste differently from one location to the next. The Western Hills Starbucks seems to keep up with training and standards better than any other local stores. Plus, the baristas/partners are full of personality and charm. It’s worth driving past another location or two to get reliable flavors from the gang at Western Hills. starbucks.com

Best Vegan Berry Basil Donut

Vegan donuts may not bake to the same heft as their fulldairy cousins, but their flatness definitely doesn’t impede their flavor, especially at Happy Chicks Bakery. Each Saturday, Happy Chicks bakes their popular donuts with two different glazes. Flavors rotate each week at the Northside shop, but the Berry Basil is one you’ll want to remember during its turns in the display case. The sweet, slightly peppery taste of the basil brings out the fresh sweetness of the berries in the glaze. That burst is balanced nicely with the donut itself, which features more of a funnel-cake-like flavor and consistency. happychicksbakery.com

Best Birria Quesadillas with a Side of Fireworks

Do you eat birria quesadillas while sizzling tequila planes fly overhead, or are your dinners boring? El Asadero’s menu is drool-worthy — there’s something for everyone on each and every page, and it’s all packed with juicy, rich Mexican and Tex-Mex flavors. The best part, though, is the atmosphere. From the commotion created with every tequila flight, frozen margarita and birthday to simply the truly hospitable spirit of the staff, El Asadero is a must-visit Mexican restaurant. elasaderombg.com.

Best Vegan Deli Sandwich

Findlay Market’s Harmony Plant Fare is a New York-style deli specifically for vegetarians, vegans and anyone looking for an excellent animal-free meal. The cold case is lined with housemade plant-based meats and melty vegan cheeses, as well as dips, soups and salads — eggless egg salad, a chickpea tu-no salad, Buffalo “chicken” dip. But the sandwiches are where Harmony really shines. With hot and cold options available, order everything from a seitan gyro with muhammara to a hot turkey and Havarti sandwich to a grilled cheese. But the best sandwich on the menu is the hearty Italian sub, loaded with seitan ham and pepperoni, provolone, lettuce, tomato, onion, banana peppers and sub dressing on a Sixteen Bricks roll. harmonyplantfare.com.

Best Homemade Horchata

Launched originally as a pop-up, Northern Kentucky’s Unataza Coffee has since expanded and is now in its second, larger and bright yellow brick-and-mortar shop in Dayton, Kentucky. Helmed by owner Alejandra Flores, a native of Honduras, the menu boasts a selection of singleorigin Honduran coffees and Latin American bites. The drink menu spans expected coffeeshop staples, from cortados and cappuccinos to lattes, but also includes Flores’ favorites like café con leche, a golden latte with housemade turmeric syrup, and an out-of-this-world horchata. Unataza makes the blend of rice milk, toasted morro and pumpkin seeds, sugar and cinnamon in house. It’s a fresh and refreshing take on this classic beverage — not too sweet and you can add a shot of espresso for a novel take on a dirty chai. unatazacoffee.com

Best Massive Middle Eastern Eats

Corryville’s Al-Madina Market & Grill is a hidden gem everyone should know about. The Lebanese grocer and grab-and-go eatery serves up a hot bar of lunch and dinner — ask for the shish tawook meal and you’ll walk away with

Milkman | Photo: Provided by Milkman

a massive Styrofoam container stuffed with charbroiled cubes of marinated chicken, yellow rice, salad and spicy potatoes. It’s actually insane how much food you get. The vegetarian combo includes tabbouleh, grape leaves, falafel, hummus and baba ganoush, and probably weighs more than a pound. The wraps are just as large, served in a housemade flatbread. The chicken shawarma is roughly the size of a forearm. Made with roasted chicken carved from a vertical rotisserie, add everything from lettuce, tomato, parsley and toum to your wrap, and whatever you do, make it spicy. Bonus: Everything here is super affordable. almadinagrill.com.

Best Dessert with a Kick

Sugar is great, but sometimes your sweet tooth craves something a little hotter. The solution? Dulce Pecado’s mangonada in Hamilton. It’s an authentic Mexican frozen

treat that features blended mango swirled with chamoy and topped with chunks of fruit, more chamoy and a chililime seasoning. A tarugo, or tamarind candy stick, completes the sweet-yet-spicy dessert that looks like a sunset in a cup. Searchable on Facebook

Best Traditional Turkish

Truva Turkish Kitchen is an unexpected culinary experience. Located in a Kenwood strip mall, the restaurant’s unassuming exterior belies a beautiful interior, spacious and airy with industrial touches that will make you completely forget you’re in the suburbs. Its location — between storefronts of local chains Fusian and Currito — would lead one to believe it’s a fast-casual concept, when in reality it’s anything but. As soon as you walk through the door, you’re enveloped in traditional Turkish hospitality and

Eats

greeted by owners, the Karahan family. Once seated, you’ll hear snippets of Turkish conversation from both staff and guests. Grab a bottle of imported wine or a glass of ayran and order a platter of cold mezze, which includes unique items like spicy ezme, eggplant in tomato sauce and the most delicious pinto beans, with carrots, potato and onion. The traditional Turkish expands through the rest of the menu, with dishes including borek; mashed and smoked eggplant with lamb; okra stew; and lahmacun, a thin-crust Turkish pizza. End the meal with a coffee and slice of kunefe or caramelized milk pudding. If you want more, go back the next morning for a traditional Turkish breakfast featuring an array of fresh cheeses, olives, beef sausage, sliced tomatoes and cucumber, borek and housemade bread and simit with a variety of sweet spreads. truvaturkishkitchen.com

Best Bisque to Warm You Up on a Cold Day

A little bit of sweet and a lot of spicy, W Bar + Bistro’s red-pepper bisque will keep you warm during the long Cincinnati winters. Red bell peppers are blended into a thick soup with bits of green apple to add just a touch of sour to the peppers’ sweetness. But that’s not all — the spices in the soup kick it up several degrees on the Scoville scale, leaving you with a pleasantly spicy burn to balance out that sweet-sour flavor. If you need something to cool off your meal, pair the bisque with W Bar + Bistro’s Nut + Berry Salad. wbarbistro.com

Best Bit of New Orleans in OTR

Chef Jeff Harris brings a taste of New Orleans to Over-theRhine with his restaurant Nolia, which recently garnered a James Beard nomination for the best new restaurant in the nation. Located in the space that formerly held another James Beard-recognized eatery, Please, Nolia’s shotgunstyle, open kitchen puts out a seasonally changing menu that reflects Harris’ childhood. Tapping into the cuisines of the Big Easy — specifically the Ninth Ward — as well as Texas and the Carolinas, diners will find the chef’s versions of classics like hush puppies and skillet cornbread, plus entrees like duck and oyster gumbo, an amazing vegetarian hoppin’ john and beef grillades with grits. And in true Gulf fashion, there’s also a raw bar. Get an order of oysters with tasso mignonette, marinated crab claws or peel-andeat shrimp with cocktail sauce — or combine all three in the Ba Kri Twa. No matter what you order, make sure you ask for a side of the housemade hot sauce.

noliakitchen.com.

Al-Madina Market & Grill | Photo: Paige Deglow

Best Big Salad

It’s really hard to find a good salad. A lot of restaurants are lazy and just toss some mixed greens at you with a sprinkling of cranberries and goat cheese, or a wedge of iceberg and bacon. Are these technically lettuce-based dishes? Yes. Are they exciting or fulfilling as a meal? No. But Goose & Elder’s Big Salad — inspired by Elaine Benes’ order on the Seinfeld episode of the same name — is. It’s just a really good, fresh, hearty salad infused with a variety of flavors and textures, and it will fill you up. There’s a base of farm greens topped with seasonal veggies (generally something crunchy), sliced hard-boiled egg, cherry tomatoes and green olives. There’s no cheese on the salad, which is typically a travesty, but you can opt to add everything from avocado to grilled chicken, local tofu or housemade falafel. It automatically comes with house vinaigrette, but we recommend you swap that out for the buttermilk ranch. And order a side of crinkle-cut fries. gooseandelder.com.

Best Buckeye Assortment to Gift Your Favorite Person

A fixture on the Ohio Buckeye Candy Trail, Haute Chocolates in Montgomery has been crafting its signature buckeyes — a confection named after the famous Ohio nut — and bringing delight to gift-givers’ loved ones since 1979. While many places just use milk chocolate for the outer layer of the buckeye, Haute Chocolates enrobes their creamy peanut-butter centers in milk, dark and white chocolate for a perfect assortment of flavors that will add an extra sweet touch to birthday, holiday and just-because presents. Buy boxes of mixed buckeyes or a full carton of just your loved one’s favorite. haute-chocolate.com

Best Heated Baklava and Champagne Combo

If you haven’t filled up on Abigail Street’s wood-grilled octopus, firakh and shrimp ceviche, then you must order their pistachio baklava. Even if you’re full, push through, because the crumbly-yet-gooey, sweet-yet-savory dessert needs to be experienced warm. Alternate baklava bites with sips of Abigail Street’s house bubbles (Pierre Delize Blanc de Blancs Brut) for a luxurious sensory experience. abigailstreet.com.

Goose & Elder’s Big Salad | Photo: Hailey Bollinger

Reader Picks

NEW BAR

1. Alice

2. Alcove

3. Bloom OTR

4. Fifty Fifty Gin Club

5. Higher Gravity (Summit Park)

6. Cincinnati Distilling

7. In Between Tavern

8. Hi-Fi Cincy

9. Hearth Room

10. Fulton Yards

OVERALL BAR/CLUB (NOT BREWERY/TAPROOM)

1. Good Judy’s

2. The Belle and the Bear

3. Northside Yacht Club

4. Somerset

5. Longfellow

6. Ludlow Garage

7. Arnold’s Bar and Grill

8. MOTR Pub

9. Queen City Radio

10. Queen City Exchange

BAR/CLUB (NORTHERN KENTUCKY)

1. Southgate House Revival

2. Jerry’s Jug House

3. Rosie’s Tavern

BAR/CLUB (‘BURBS)

1. The Belle and the Bear

2. Fretboard Brewing Company

3. Dead Low Brewing

BAR/CLUB (CENTRAL)

1. Good Judy’s

2. Northside Yacht Club

3. MixWells

BAR/CLUB (DOWNTOWN/OTR)

1. Ghost Baby

2. Somerset

3. Longfellow TIE

4. MOTR Pub TIE

BAR/CLUB (EAST SIDE)

1. Little Miami Brewing Company

2. Mt. Lookout Tavern

3. Dead Low Brewing TIE

4. Pearl’s TIE

BAR/CLUB (WEST SIDE)

1. West Side Brewing

2. Knotty Pine Rock Club and Tiki Bar

3. Blue Note Harrison

BAR/CLUB FOR LIVE MUSIC (LOCAL BANDS)

1. The Belle and the Bear

2. MOTR Pub

3. Southgate House Revival

4. Northside Yacht Club

5. Ghost Baby

6. Urban Artifact

7. Arnold’s Bar and Grill

8. Dead Low Brewing

9. Caffè Vivace

10. Lucius Q

BAR/CLUB FOR LIVE MUSIC (NATIONAL ACTS)

1. Bogart’s

2. Ludlow Garage

3. Woodward Theater

4. Southgate House Revival

5. Madison Theater

6. Memorial Hall TIE

7. Riverfront Live TIE

8. MOTR

9. Northside Yacht Club

10. 20th Century Cincinnati

11. Caffè Vivace

BAR/CLUB STAFF

1. The Belle and the Bear

2. Good Judy’s

3. MixWells

BARTENDER

1. Ceris Christopher (The Belle and the Bear)

2. Scott Dittgen (Good Judy’s)

3. Valerie Diehl (Lost and Found)

BEER SELECTION (BOTTLES AND CANS)

1. Higher Gravity

2. Northside Yacht Club

3. The Belle and the Bear

BEER SELECTION (DRAFT)

1. Yard House

2. The Belle and the Bear

3. Higher Gravity

BLOODY MARY

1. Northside Yacht Club

2. The Belle and the Bear

3. Hangover Easy

4. The Eagle

5. Crazy Fox Saloon

6. Taste of Belgium

7. Dead Low Brewing

8. Maplewood Kitchen and Bar

9. Lucius Q

10. Nation Kitchen and Bar

BOURBON COCKTAIL

1. Old Kentucky Bourbon Bar

2. The Littlefield

3. Japp’s

BOURBON SELECTION (BAR)

1. Old Kentucky Bourbon Bar

2. The Belle and the Bear

3. Wiseguy Lounge

4. Smoke Justis

5. Longfellow’s Other Room

6. Nicholson’s

7. Jefferson Social

8. Revival Vintage Spirits

9. Queen City Exchange

10. Hoppin’ Vines

BOURBON SELECTION (RETAIL)

1. The Party Source

2. Jungle Jim’s International Market

3. Cappy’s

BOWLING ALLEY

1. Madison Bowl

2. Western Bowl

3. Stone Lanes

CANNED COCKTAIL (LOCAL)

1. Sway (MadTree)

2. Rhinegeist

3. Bourbon Wheel (Karrikin)

CASINO

1. Hard Rock Casino

2. Hollywood Casino

3. Miami Valley Gaming

CELTIC/BRITISH PUB

1. Molly Malone’s

2. O’Malley’s in the Alley

3. Hap’s Irish Pub

4. The Pub (Rookwood Commons)

5. Nicholson’s

6. The Crow’s Nest

7. Murphy’s Pub

8. R.P. McMurphy’s

9. Thatched Roof Pub (Irish Heritage Center)

10. Cloverleaf Pub

CLUB/PARTY DJ

1. DJ Airborne

2. DJ Castle

COCKTAIL BAR/LOUNGE

1. Good Judy’s

2. Blind Lemon

3. Ghost Baby

4. Longfellow

5. Somerset

6. Japp’s

7. Tillie’s Lounge

8. Sundry and Vice

9. Old Kentucky Bourbon Bar

10. Wodka Bar

Music & Nightlife

COLLEGE-CROWD BAR

1. Murphy’s Pub

2. Good Judy’s

3. Mac’s Pizza Pub (Clifton) TIE

4. Arlin’s Bar TIE

COMEDY CLUB

1. Go Bananas

2. Funny Bone

3. Chameleon

CONCERT VENUE

1. Riverbend Music Center

2. Bogart’s

3. Andrew J. Brady Music Center

4. Ludlow Garage

5. Woodward Theater

6. Southgate House Revival

7. Memorial Hall

8. Madison Theater

9. PNC Pavilion

10. Northside Yacht Club

DANCE CLUB

1. MixWells

2. Tokyo Kitty

3. The Birdcage

4. Good Judy’s

5. Alice

6. Mr. Pitiful’s

7. Main Event

8. Bloom OTR

9. Energy Nightclub

10. Lost and Found

DRAG ENTERTAINER

1. Kiara Chimera

2. Stixen Stones

3. Penny Tration

ESCAPE ROOM

1. Breakout Games

2. OTR Escape

3. The Escape Game

HAPPY HOUR (DRINKS)

1. Northside Yacht Club

2. The Belle and the Bear

3. Queen City Radio

4. Longfellow

5. Queen City Exchange

6. Higher Gravity

7. Dead Low Brewing

8. Somerset

9. Igby’s

10. The Righteous Room

HAPPY HOUR (FOOD)

1. Knockback Nat’s

2. Oakley Pub

3. Nada

HARD CIDER

1. Cidergeist (Rhinegeist)

2. MadTree

3. March First Brewing and Distilling TIE

4. Northwood Cider Company TIE

HARD SELTZER

1. Astra (March First Brewing and Distilling)

2. Urban Artifact

3. Vive (Braxton Brewing Company)

HOTEL BAR

1. Coppin’s Restaurant and Bar at Hotel Covington

2. Metropole at 21c

3. The Bar at Palm Court

JUKEBOX

1. The Comet

2. Northside Tavern

3. Junker’s Tavern

KARAOKE

1. Tokyo Kitty

2. MixWells

3. Northside Yacht Club

LGBTQ BAR

1. Good Judy’s

2. The Birdcage

3. Tillie’s Lounge

4. Crazy Fox Saloon

5. Rosie’s Tavern

6. Bloom OTR

7. Old Street Saloon

8. Chameleon

9. Bar 901

10. Home Base Tavern

LOCAL BAND (ORIGINALS)

1. Foxy Shazam

2. Tweens

3. 500 Miles to Memphis

LOCAL BAND (COVERS)

1. Naked Karate Girls

2. The Rusty Griswolds

3. Crown Watts

LOCAL BREWERY

1. Rhinegeist

2. Urban Artifact

3. MadTree Brewing

4. Dead Low Brewing

5. Braxton Brewing Company

6. Little Miami Brewing Company

7. Fretboard Brewing Company

8. Streetside Brewery

9. March First Brewing and Distilling

10. Darkness Brewing

LOCAL DISTILLERY

1. New Riff Distilling

2. OTR StillHouse

3. Second Sight Spirits

4. Northside Distilling Co.

5. Cincinnati Distilling

6. Northern Row

7. Augusta Distillery

8. Karrikin Spirits

9. RJ Cinema Distillery and Taproom

10. Sons of Toil Brewing

LOCAL MUSIC PROMOTER

1. Leroy Ellington Productions

2. Kevin Blum

3. Dan McCabe

LOCAL MUSICIAN

1. Jamie Combs

2. Kevin Fox

3. Jess Lamb

LOCAL TAPROOM

1. MadTree Brewing

2. Rhinegeist

3. Urban Artifact

4. Fretboard Brewing Company

5. Little Miami Brewing Company

6. March First Brewing and Distilling

7. Dead Low Brewing

8. Esoteric Brewing

9. Braxton Brewing Company

10. Nine Giant Brewpub and Fermentorium

LOCAL WINERY

1. Revel OTR Urban Winery

2. Vinkolet Winery and Restaurant

3. The Skeleton Root

4. Valley Vineyards

5. Elk Creek Vineyards

6. Indian Spring Winery

7. Henke Winery

8. StoneBrook Winery

9. Harmony Hill Vineyards

10. Burnet Ridge

MARGARITA

1. Bakersfield

2. Condado Tacos

3. Mi Cozumel

4. El Coyote

5. Frida 602

6. Cactus Pear

7. El Rancho Grande

8. Cantina Agave

9. Taqueria Mercado TIE

10. Mazunte TIE

MARTINI

1. Japp’s

2. Somerset

3. Longfellow

MUSIC FESTIVAL/EVENT

1. Cincinnati Pride Festival

2. Cincinnati Blues Festival

3. Whispering Beard Folk Festival

NO-FRILLS WATERING HOLE

1. Northside Tavern

2. The Belle and the Bear

3. Knockback Nat’s

OPEN MIC NIGHT

1. The Belle and the Bear

2. MOTR Pub

3. Urban Artifact

PLACE TO DRINK WHILE YOU WAIT FOR A TABLE

1. Taft’s Ale House

2. The Belle and the Bear

3. Longfellow

PLACE TO PLAY GAMES

1. Pins Mechanical Company

2. Scene 75 Entertainment Center TIE

3. The Belle and the Bear TIE

4. Arcade Legacy

PLACE TO SHOOT POOL

1. The Belle and the Bear

2. Northside Tavern

3. Fries Cafe

PLACE TO THROW DARTS

1. The Belle and the Bear

2. Murphy’s Pub

3. Crazy Fox Saloon

ROOFTOP BAR

1. Rhinegeist

2. 21c Cocktail Terrace

3. AC Upper Deck

4. Bishop’s Quarter

5. Braxton Brewing Company

6. Top of the Park

7. Pins Mechanical Company

8. City View Tavern

9. The View at Shires’ Garden

10. The Blind Pig

SPORTS BAR

1. The Holy Grail

2. Second Place

3. Knockback Nat’s

4. MVP Sports Bar and Grille

5. rinehaus

6. Queen City Exchange

7. Oakley Pub TIE

8. Higher Gravity TIE

9. Anderson Township Pub

10. Lucius Q

11. Hoppin’ Vines

TRIVIA NIGHT

1. Northside Yacht Club

2. The Belle and the Bear

3. Queen City Exchange

WINE BAR

1. Cooper’s Hawk Winery and Restaurant

2. The Loon

3. Revel OTR Urban Winery

The Lounge at Liberty

Staff Picks

Best Offbeat Show on Local Public Radio

Cincinnati has a ton of independent radio stations with interesting programming, but The Sunday Drive with Dean Hart might be the most offbeat and unexpected, like walking into a thrift store and finding a hodgepodge of all the fun stuff you’ve been looking for and some you didn’t know you needed. It’s part nostalgic amusement park, part off-the-beaten-path leisure. Hart takes you on a trip back in time looking at pop culture by playing oldies music to old commercials, TV theme songs or clips of dialogue interspersed with his own commentary, trivia and reminiscences. Each show has a featured artist like Buddy Holly or The Supremes with other selections in between, but the music, in this case, is only a small part of the reason to tune in. Tune your radio to 89.3/89.9 WMKV-FM Sundays at noon or 88.3 WAIF-FM Fridays at 1 p.m. to take a cruise in the family station wagon that goes anywhere it wants. wmkvfm.org, waif883.org

Best Vino Version of Graeter’s Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

If Graeter’s black raspberry-chocolate chip ice cream had a baby with dessert wine, the result would be Holtkamp Winery’s Black Raspberry Chip wine. This Sunman, Indiana, winery takes its already-delicious Black Raspberry Wine and blends it with just the right amount of chocolate to give you the perfect treat to enjoy after you dine on their housemade pizzas. Plus, it comes in a snazzy blue bottle you can pour and share with your friends while you look out over the winery’s lake and vineyards. holtkampwinery.com.

Best Place to Drink and Feel Swanky AF

Inside the art deco treasure that is the Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza hotel is the lavish Palm Court, which contains a central bar in the cavernous room that features

warm colors accented by ornate brass lamps and chandeliers. Live jazz musicians perform in front of the fountain on the stage by the bar regularly. Elvis Presley and Jimi Hendrix once stayed in the hotel, and Bing Crosby even stood on top of a car and sang to a crowd that had gathered in the street out front when he stayed. Given its history, the Palm Court might be Cincinnati’s most stylish and historic place to get a drink. While you’re there, explore the upstairs balconies surrounding the bar and beyond to see all the museum-quality murals, amazing architectural details and different views of the Palm Court that will have you taking a photo at every turn. Though the Palm Court’s restaurant is currently closed, the bar is open to the public. orchidsatpalmcourt.com.

Best Time-Capsule Bar

The Lounge at Liberty Exhibition Hall is a basement bar that was left untouched for decades below a historic former vaudeville theater. The Northside bar is like a ’70s time capsule, made only more retro with the addition of funky decor like mid-century modern furniture, black-light posters, vintage signs and stylish retro lamps. The Lounge features an eclectic mix of events and programming including weekly big-band performances, DJ-hosted dance nights, live jazz sessions, chef pop-ups, free movie-viewing parties from a local film collective and plenty more. facebook.com/libertyexhibitionhall

Best Musical Memorial to a Tragedy

In May, The Who returned to Cincinnati to perform for the first time since Dec. 3, 1979, when 11 people waiting to get into that night’s concert lost their lives in the crowd rushing into what was Riverfront Coliseum (now Heritage Bank Arena). Regarded by some as one the most influential rock and roll bands of all time, The Who gave a powerful and emotional performance at TQL Stadium, backed by an orchestra and giving proceeds to scholarships in the name of the 11 people who died. The performance was topped off with a tribute that featured the names and photos of the victims scrolling across screens throughout the stadium while a solo piano intro to the band’s “Love Reign O’er Me” played. There was an emotional weight, at times, throughout the night that was matched by warmth from the band and appreciation from the crowd that included some of the victims’ families. thewho.com

Best Coffee Cream Ale

Esoteric Brewing Company takes its Chrysalis American Cream Ale and combines it with a special roasted La Terza coffee blend to create this smooth and refreshing brew. The

Liberty Exhibition Hall | Photo: Provided by The Lounge

Purrfect Day Cat Cafe | Photo: Ashley Moor

Chrysalis brings hints of pear and a “delicate taste of maize and sweet bread,” according to the brewery. But when blended with the coffee, you also get the aroma of a freshly brewed cup combined with the creamy, sweet undertone of the ale for a drink that’s as energizing as it is satisfying. esotericbrewing.com

Best Place to Drink and Pet Cats

Cats and drinks? A “purrfect” day, indeed. At Purrfect Day Cafe in Covington, you can hang out with adoptable kitties while enjoying a tasty beverage. For just $15, book a 50-minute time slot to meet the cats, play and sip on a coffee or cocktail. And if you’re looking to adopt, the room is usually a temporary home for 15 to 20 cats, meaning you’re sure to meet a feline friend who would be the perfect addition to your home and family. The cafe also carries an assortment of wines, local beers and pastries, which are available to purchase without booking a kitty meet-andgreet. purrfectdaycafecovington.com

Best Bar with ‘Nice’ Holiday Decorations

The immersive Christmas experience at Overlook Lodge Miracle Pop-Up gets top billing on Santa’s Nice List for its over-the-top holiday decor, which spans every inch of the space. Fully decorated Christmas trees — big and small — dot the room, and wrapping paper covers the windows to give you the feeling of being inside a gift box. Tinsel, ribbons, lights, ornaments, wreaths and more fill every nook and cranny, leaving no inch untouched from the festivity. The event is ticketed, but for the price you get two holidaythemed drinks, a shot and a holiday clip show. thatshiningbar.com

Best Bar with ‘Naughty’ Holiday Decorations

Northside Yacht Club got a bit of a naughty holiday makeover as the mermaid mascot donned a pair of sparkling red pasties and a Santa-beard merkin over the holiday season. Next year, keep an eye out for colored lights, a giant mounted fish in St. Nick cosplay and Santa beards on almost every item in the establishment. northsideyachtclub.com.

Best Homecoming Performance from a Breakout Star

Cincinnati native Brittney Parks, better known by her stage name Sudan Archives, performed during the Keep Smiling Festival in Walnut Hills’ Five Points Alley ahead of the release of her critically acclaimed breakout record,

Northside Yacht Club | Photo: Provided by Northside Yacht Club

Sudan Archives | Photo: Alex Black

Natural Brown Prom Queen. The high-energy performance featured local guest appearances and previewed songs off the then-upcoming album that went on to make multiple year-end best-of lists from the New York Times, Pitchfork and other major outlets. sudanarchives.com

Best Cider Named After a Person

Oh my gourd, Becky, look at her … well, you know the rest. If you love the taste of fall all year ‘round and drinks named after people, Northwood Cider Company’s Becky can be your new best friend and drink of choice. Not your mom’s PSL, Becky is a semi-dry pumpkin spice cider that’s full of autumnal spice like clove and nutmeg and a little bit of sass (although that might just be the cinnamon). Becky’s fun, interesting and 10/10 would be the perfect companion to bring on a hayride and snap a selfie with while colorful leaves rain down on you. northwoodcider.com.

Best Pop-Up Asian Night Market

With street-style eats from more than 10 area Asian restaurants, plus lanterns, light art and glow-in-the-dark family activities, the Asianati Night Market brought the feeling of Asia’s historic night markets — “a vibrant, diverse and inclusive community experience with delicious, accessible late night street food,” according to a press release — to Court Street during the BLINK Cincinnati Festival in October. The night market also served as a light and art installation, allowing guests the chance to immerse themselves in the lights, smells and flavors of Asia. asianati.com

Best Bourbon-Blending Experience

You don’t have to own a bootleg booze still to craft a personalized bourbon

— just head to Wenzel Whiskey

Located in a historic former pickle factory and one-time soda-pop manufacturer, this drinking experience goes above and beyond cocktail mixology and allows guests to build their own perfect bottle of straight bourbon whiskey via a process called “rectifying,” or “thieving.” Tapping into individual barrels sourced from famous American but notallowed-to-be-publicly-named distilleries, visitors are able to blend different whiskies into their own superb spirit. Using a pipette, you can drop varying ratios of bourbon from a lineup of four selections to make a unique flavor profile. After playing mad scientist, Wenzel will bottle your favorite, one-of-a-kind creation for you. Visit their website to book your blending experience. wenzelwhiskey.com.

Best Live Guest Appearance

Two of Cincinnati’s most prominent bands, Tweens and Vacation, shared a rare bill together last April, each giving

energetic and powerful performances. The night took an exciting turn when Vacation frontman and founding Tweens drummer Jerri Queen began singing with Tweens’ Bridget Battle while being ushered onstage to join the band on drums and vocals (a first since leaving the band) for an impromptu and high-powered performance to end the night. tweens.bandcamp.com, vacation.bandcamp.com.

Best Bar Officially Certified to Pour the Perfect Guinness Pint

Public House embraces both the German and Irish roots of Cincinnati’s heritage, but its Irish side holds a claim to fame in the Queen City: It’s the only bar in the city certified to pour the perfect Guinness pint by Guinness brewmaster Fergal Murray. The two-part pour is an art form that requires precision in angles and timing, and once you have a perfect pour, you won’t want a Guinness any other way. Savor the drink with some delicious pub fare off Public House’s menu on their patio to complete the experience. thepublichousecheviot.com

Music & Nightlife

Best Hot Buttered Rum

The vibe at the cozy and romantic underground tavern Blind Lemon screams “warmth” with its self-described Old World comforts, soft firelight, colorful Tiffany lamps and the courtyard that’s filled with lush plant life in the spring and summer and a large fire pit in the winter. So, it only makes sense that you would want to warm up with one of their classic hot drinks. For something sweet and buttery, pick their hot buttered rum. The drink is made with dark rum, brown sugar and hot water and topped with a pat of butter, guaranteed to warm you from the inside out. theblindlemon.com

Best Alcoholic Interpretation of a Creamsicle

13 Below Brewery doesn’t just brew excellent beer; this micro craft brewery also has an extensive list of fruity, hazy hard seltzers. Starting with just five flavors, the list has now grown to 14, including one of the brewery’s favorites, orange cream. The citrus and vanilla in the drink blend together to make it taste like a grownup creamsicle — perfect for summertime and nostalgic feelings. And if the

Blind Lemon | Photo: Hailey Bollinger

other hard-seltzer flavors intrigue you, you can try them in a flight of four. 13belowbrewery.com.

Best Blog for Adventurous Music Lovers

If your interest in music is so expansive it takes in every genre from art rock to hip hop, and you like reading about them from a local source, then the blog on the website of Clifton’s adventurous Torn Light Records is for you. It features deeply researched posts, written by blog creator Hannah Blanchette, that include a deep dive into Japanese musician Toshimaru Nakamura’s use of a no-input mixing board, which — according to the story — “forgoes any external audio input, instead feeding a mixing board’s output back into its input in defiance of the owner’s manual.” (Feedback is a risk.) For those interested in something less sonically experimental but still offbeat, there’s a story about the “whimsical, heartfelt folk of Norma Tanega,” who had a long if under-the-radar career after her 1966 hit “Walkin’ My Cat Named Dog,” and until her death in 2019. Torn Light also has an email newsletter listing its recent arrivals of new and used records. tornlightrecords.com

Music & Nightlife

Best Spot to Sip Across the Centuries

Revival Vintage Bottle Shop is like a unicorn for bourbon lovers, or any spirit lover, really. The petite storefront and tasting room in Covington is helmed by a group of experts with a passion for history and education. And it is stuffed with unique, rare, one-off and very vintage bottles of alcohol, including tons of novelty decanters (The best is a 1970s Jim Beam bourbon whiskey packaged in a ceramic poodle). Sample bourbon bottled in almost every decade of the 1900s and 2000s, with a strong focus on “dustys.” These are the historic bourbons collectors go crazy for — those found sitting in people’s basements or forgotten on bar shelves. Check Revival’s social media to see what new, old bottles they’ve opened and are pouring. And, if you’re lucky, catch Revival co-owner Brad “Dusty” Bonds, one of the country’s top antique spirit collectors, behind the bar. He’s an animated storyteller who truly brings bourbon to life; he’s also the one who curates Revival’s fascinating and ever-changing — and ever-growing — inventory. To help accommodate more people and more alcohol, Revival will soon be relocating to the first floor of the new North by Hotel Covington space. revivalky.com

The Best Instagrammable DORA

As DORAs, or Designated Outdoor Refreshment Areas, continue to pop up in neighborhoods across the Tri-State, it’s important to consider what each has to offer. Liberty Center might be a bit of a hike for folks Downtown, but it’s a fun little adventure for suburbanites. There are games set up on the lawn, plenty of places to take a load off, and even some photo ops while lounging at the picturesque square. Why even drink an adult slurpee if you can’t document it with a cute Insta post? liberty-center.com/dora

Best Bar for Ditching Muggles

W ithout Funding Terfism

Dubbed a “wizard speakeasy,” Pennifold’s Pub is a Quidditch-themed bar near Findlay Market that is everything a Harry Potter fan could ever ask for. The bar offers up wizarding-world-themed cocktails and mocktails in a warm and inviting atmosphere. The bar holds no official affiliation with a certain author, either, so you don’t have to worry about your money landing in the hands of anyone practicing the dark art of hatred. pennifoldspub.com

Revival Vintage Bottle Shop | Photo: Brian Cross

Best Literary Deep Dive into Cincinnati’s Music History

Steven Rosen has decades of experience writing about Cincinnati’s arts scene (full disclosure: he previously worked as CityBeat’s arts and culture editor and remains a regular freelancer). Rosen is also immensely knowledgeable about local music, making it no surprise that he penned Lost Cincinnati Concert Venues of the ‘50s and ‘60s. While not exhaustive, the book deep dives into Queen City music history, covering topics like the Ludlow Garage’s impact in drawing national acts, jazz’s deep roots in Cincinnati, festivals that came and went, and the major players working behind the scenes. Rosen has bylines in Cincinnati Magazine, the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe, American Songwriter, Documentary Magazine, Indiewire, Variety and more, but Lost Cincinnati Concert Venues marks his first book, a great starting

point for anyone interested in the bygone days of Cincinnati nightspots, venues and arenas. Want to go deeper? Consider checking out the Cincinnati Vinyl Club and the Mercantile Library’s Rock & Read book discussion group, both of which Rosen is a member. stevenrosen.net.

Best Movie-Theater Bar

Esquire Theatre on Ludlow Avenue in Clifton is celebrated for its unique charm. It was originally opened in 1911 as a neighborhood theater and has fostered local charm ever since. Today, if you’re in search of an intimate theater experience that offers rare and sometimes eccentric screenings plus alcohol, the Esquire is it. It’s not that the bar has top-shelf options – it doesn’t even have a signature drink menu – but it does have local beer, wine and spirits. The service is always friendly and fast, with an unfussy aura that completes the novel experience. esquiretheatre.com

Best Way to Eat Alcohol

Paddy’s on Main in Covington, Kentucky, has an edible shot on the menu. It’s a boozy chocolate pudding shot, served with a handful of cookies. The brave ones scoop the pudding out, tongue first, Jell-O-shot style. A more refined alcoholic-pudding-cup consumer might savor it by dipping the cookies provided into the chocolate, enjoying it one bite at a time. Either way it’s a tasty method to mask the alcohol. Plus, who doesn’t love a cookie chaser? Searchable on Facebook

Best Irish Pub for St. Patrick’s Day in Kentucky

Molly Malone’s Irish Pub & Restaurant in Covington on St. Patrick’s Day is a wild experience. The bar doubles in size, utilizing its rarely seen second and third floors. In addition, the space spills out into the street where tents

Molly Malone’s Irish Pub & Restaurant | Photo: facebook.com/mollymalonescincinnati

are erected and multiple outdoor bars appear. Molly’s is a destination for soccer fans all season, and a relaxed spot to indulge in their Irish and American dishes. It’s a dive-barmeets-sports-bar where Guinness is always on tap and poured the right way. On St. Patrick’s Day, its true nature is revealed, and every other day of the year it serves the community well. mollymalonesirishpub.com.

Best Music Venue to Pitch a Chair and Hear a Concert for Free

While this venue’s nearly unbelievable name change to MegaCorp Pavilion (formerly PromoWest Pavilion at OVATION) could win in a category of its own, there’s an unlikely feature that’s beneficial to passersby: You can hear concerts on the outdoor stage from the sidewalk, clear as day. The echo reaches as far as Newport on the Levee, though it’s not discernible from that far. Can’t afford concert tickets? Love live music but hate other people? Scope out the upcoming lineup at MegaCorp Pavilion and grab a patch of grass or a slab of concrete outside the venue. Along with the free and people-less entertainment, you might even be able to catch a sunset while you’re there. Also, Big Daddy’s Liquor Store is steps away. We don’t condone or suggest drinking alcohol in public, but Big Daddy’s has snacks, too. promowestlive.com.

Best Selection of Experimental Music at a Record Store

Torn Light Records is quickly rivaling Shake It and Everybody’s as one of the best record stores in Cincinnati. Located on Ludlow Avenue, Torn Light has a terrific selection of new and used records, plus a constantly replenished stock of new acquisitions in front of the counter that’s always worth flipping through. Not many record stores give you a sense of the staff and owner’s personal tastes like Torn Light does. They have a thoughtfully curated section of experimental and noise music, modernist composers like John Cage and Karlheinz Stockhausen, as well as a nice little nook of books tucked in the back, with an eye towards, again, the experimental. Think Georges Bataille, Leonora Carrington, Nicholson Baker and more. And if you aren’t sure what to look for, the staff is always playing an interesting record you’ve likely never heard before, and that just might steer you in the right direction. tornlightrecords.com

Best Green-ChartreuseForward Cocktail

Chartreuse, the centuries-old herbal spirit made in France by Carthusian monks, leads the way on classics like the

Last Word. But Sundry and Vice have added a touch more mystery to the Prohibition-era cocktail in their Green Carnation by subbing Luxardo with absinthe. The rosewater rinse walks your nose through a garden before you taste the little green fairy, so make sure each sip starts with a sniff. sundryandvice.com

Best Brewery for Breastfeeding in Public

Listen, sometimes you just gotta whip it out, moms. In the warmer months, Fifty West Brewing Company looks like a summer camp for kids and grownups alike. The familyfriendly (yet legitimately cool) atmosphere means most patrons don’t give a shit if you’re feeding your newborn while you keep an eye on your oldest playing in the sand. Plus, that notorious breastfeeding appetite will be more than satisfied by their famous burgers and shakes. fiftywestbrew.com

Best Local Orchestral Rendition of Frank Zappa and David Bowie Tunes

Looking to perhaps be provocative and avant-garde, Kentucky Symphony Orchestra presented “An Orchestral Puzzler,” a program featuring some of Frank Zappa’s difficult new music compositions like “G-Spot Tornado” and “Pentagon Afternoon.” These compositions were alternated with

Music & Nightlife

passages from Philip Glass’ “Low” symphony and “Heroes” symphonic ballet, based on compositions by David Bowie and Brian Eno. In his remarks, the conductor seemed a little worried that the audience at Northern Kentucky University might find the programming weird (he needn’t have worried). At intermission, attendees discussed every Zappa concert they’d seen going back to the 1960s. kyso.org.

Best Free Mimosa Selection While You Get Your Nails Done

Mimosas taste better when they’re free. They taste even better when someone is glamming up your nails while you sip. The talented nail techs at Paint Nail Bar in Florence are masters at keeping your glass full while applying trendy, long-lasting manicure finishes. They even havespooky purple mimosas with edible glitter during Halloween. But be warned: Halloween mimosas (or really any in excess) will make you a lot more spendy at their stocked retail space during checkout. paintnailbar.com

Best Wedding After-Party Bar

Those who have gone through the marriage machine know that picking an after-party bar is a crucial task. Lost & Found in Over-the-Rhine has late-night food, like grilled cheese made with bread from Allez Bakery, perfect for soaking up that cheap wedding wine your guests guzzled in

Torn Light Records | Photo: facebook.com/tornlight

Music & Nightlife

your honor. Speaking of booze, their Drink the Rich cocktail made with dark chocolate and coconut milk will satisfy those who missed the reception cake. And Lost & Found’s DJ will keep your guests dancing, so it will feel like your wedding never stopped. lostandfoundotr.com

Best Wine-Bar Patio to Pretend You’re in France

Not that anyone would ever want to leave Northside, but tucked behind The Loon wine bar is a patio perfect for pretending you’re somewhere else. The brick patio and wrought-iron gate feel straight-up Parisian under the twinkling lights and sounds of the occasional live music inside. You can sip some of the best wine in the city on the enchanting patio as you gaze at the candy-colored historical homes that dot Moline Court. theloonwinebar.com.

Best Place to Catch an Americana Concert

With its restored jewel box of an intimate auditorium, historic Memorial Hall has caught on with fans of rootsoriented Americana music, and there are several promoters presenting such shows there. Two presentations really stood out in 2022. JBM Promotions’ June show with Nick Lowe and Los Straitjackets had a packed house dancing to his clever and joyful, melodically upbeat songs. In October, at a concert that was part of the Memorial Hall Society’s own Longworth-Anderson Series, an acoustic Marty Stuart and the Fabulous Superlatives presented exquisitely tuneful, sometimes tender and sometimes red-hot songs for another packed house. memorialhallotr.com

Best Bar for Hosting Your Kid’s First Birthday Party

Admit it, a first birthday party is more for the parents than the kid. It’s like a second baby shower, except Mom can actually drink this time, so why not have the party at a bar? Enter Queen City Radio. The sprawling Over-the-Rhine bar has a private room you can rent for just about anything, including a cake smash. Parents will love the frozen bourbon slushies, and babies will love the white noise of bar chatter and DJ-spun beats. Pro tip: Ask your guests to take the streetcar or park in the nearby Washington Park garage; both are just a skip away from QCR. qcrbar.com.

Best Bar with Wall-to-Wall Exposed Brick

There’s exposed brick, then the exposed brick at Milton’s Prospect Hill Tavern. Warm brick adorns this old-as-hell

The Loon | Photo: facebook.com/theloonwinebar

Memorial Hall | Photo: CityBeat Staff

beer-and-shot bar from all sides, making you feel like you’re in a true-blue Midwestern dive. You can’t help but feel like you’re in a movie when playing pool surrounded by brick and branded neon — it’s downright cinematic. The backdrop makes Milton’s perfect for meeting an old friend for drinks or even sipping alone with a book (or a CityBeat). facebook.com/miltonstheprospecthilltavern.

Best To-Go Batched Cocktail

Even the best at-home bartenders would struggle to replicate Somerset’s ube margarita, but luckily they don’t have to. Somerset started selling batches of their iconic purple margarita in January for guests to take home. Pineappleginger tequila is balanced with lime, agave and ube tincture for a tropical, easy-drinking stunner. They even offer a version without alcohol that tastes beautifully convincing. It’s hard to turn down having a drink in Somerset’s immaculate atmosphere, but sometimes there’s just no place like home. somersetotr.com

Best Action Figure of a Music Legend

Need an unusual gift for a music lover or Cincinnati fanatic? Legendary funkateer Bootsy Collins is forever immortalized as a super-cool action figure. Created by collector toy company Super7, the figure features the famous bassist wearing his jumpsuit and funky glasses, SpaceBass in hand. Bonus: You can cut out your own Bootsy-esque glasses from the packaging. super7.com

Best Dive-Bar Bingo

This ain’t your great-grandma’s bingo-hall bingo — this is magic-marker, packed dive-bar bingo with tallboys and taxidermied goats. The Hub OTR has been hosting bingo for about a year, with Jordan “Jordy” Ellehorst spinning the cage of tiny balls every Tuesday night. Players who are getting close to a win call out ”biscuit!” and the traditional “BINGO!” victory cry is replaced with “kiss me daddy!” You’re not going to walk away rich, but winners can easily cover their bar tab. totallythehubotr.com

Best Patio to Bum a Cigarette

For those who didn’t plan on having a cigarette tonight but found themselves swept away by the $2 domestic beer and karaoke at Arlin’s Bar & Restaurant on Ludlow Avenue, this back patio’s got you. The Arlin’s patio is never not full, but it always has room for one more. A dozen regulars (and sometimes their dogs) hold court on the shaded patio weekly, always ready to share a story and cigarette if need be. Just remember the etiquette to offer a beer for bumming a smoke. facebook.com/arlinsbar

Best Espresso Martini That Actually Uses Real Espresso

If you take your espresso martini seriously, you must start with people who take their coffee seriously. That’s why the best place to order an espresso martini in town is at 1215 Wine Bar & Coffee Lab on Vine Street. Their classic espresso martini uses freshly and expertly pulled espresso, not cold brew like some slackers. And their “Top Model” cocktail is a perfect espresso nightcap, with Baileys, Kahlua, Tito’s and dark chocolate. 1215vine.com

Best Perfect Manhattan

A Perfect Manhattan isn’t just some eye-roll-inducing way to say where you lived once — it’s a specific drink, and one that the Hearth Room in Downtown knows well. The variation is simple yet important to enthusiasts, using equal parts dry and sweet vermouth to make the balance, well, perfect. The Hearth Room’s swanky-yet-homey atmosphere is similarly balanced for an overall perfect place to have a perfect Perfect Manhattan. bromwellshearthroom.com.

Best Old-Fashioned to Drink Alone in a Crowd of People

While bourbon, bitters, sugar, citrus and a cherry may be the only company you need, it’s still nice to be surrounded by chatty tables, friendly staff and the steamy winter windows of Longfellow in Over-the-Rhine. Longfellow has long reigned supreme for the quality of their old-fashioned, but their X factor is what makes one feel totally at ease sipping alone on a busy Friday night. longfellowbar.com

Most Fashionable Bartender

To pin down Anthony Buchanan’s style would be like trying to hold 10 squirmy kittens at once. Attend happy hour at Milton’s or Liberty’s Bar & Bottle Shop in Over-the-Rhine and you’ll understand — blending genres and genders, textures and timelines, Buchanan tells a color story with every outfit that perfectly reflects his endless interests. Platform boots and shades a la Elton John are balanced with upcycled silhouettes of a bygone tailored time. The best part? He’ll spend the entire conversation complimenting your fit, which is the true sign of style.

Best Music Video Filmed in a Local Pool

Have you been looking for a Wes Anderson-like music video featuring synchronized swimmers? Who wouldn’t? Luckily, Cincinnati-based singer and songwriter Mol Sullivan created that exact thing. In late summer 2022, Sullivan filmed the video for her single “Deep End Dive” at Over-the-Rhine’s Ziegler Pool and featured the RhineStones Synchro Swim Team, fluidly gliding around her as she played a white guitar in the water. The video perfectly captured a summer feel with shots of Sullivan donning a variety of red, white and yellow outfits as she ate popsicles, hot dogs and ice cream. instagram.com/mol.sullivan

Bootsy Collins | Photo: Provided by Super7Com

Reader Picks

ACUPUNCTURE PRACTICE

1. Caldwell Family Wellness

2. Cincinnati Acupuncture

3. Alliance Integrative Medicine

ADULT TOY STORE

1. Hustler Hollywood

2. Pure Romance

3. Dusty’s

ANTIQUE STORE

1. Ohio Valley Antique Mall

2. Flamingo Haven Antique Mall

3. Wooden Nickel Antiques

ARTS & CRAFTS CLASSES

1. Cincinnati Art Museum

2. Clifton Cultural Arts Center

3. Silk Road Textiles

ARTS & CRAFTS SUPPLIES

1. Indigo Hippo

2. Michaels

3. Hobby Lobby

AUCTION HOUSE

1. Everything But The House

2. Caring Transitions

3. 513 Auctions TIE

4. Auctions by Maggie TIE

AUTO DEALER (NEW VEHICLES)

1. Jake Sweeney Automotive

2. Jeff Wyler Automotive Family

3. Marshall Ford

AUTO DEALER (USED VEHICLES)

1. Jake Sweeney Automotive

2. Beechmont Ford

3. Marshall Ford

AUTO REPAIR SERVICE

1. Tire Discounters

2. Jake Sweeney Automotive

3. Donovan’s Auto & Tire

BANK

1. Fifth Third Bank

2. Chase

3. PNC

BARBER SHOP

1. Bellevue Barbershop

2. Bishops

3. Clifton Barbers

4. Erik Binford

5. Hugh’s Barber Shop

6. Martin’s Barber Shop

7. Mariemont Barber Shop

8. G. Salzano’s Barber Shop OTR

9. Gil’s Barber Shop

10. Heid’s Barber Shop

BED AND BREAKFAST

1. Weller Haus Bed, Breakfast & Event Center

2. Gaslight Bed and Breakfast

3. The Clifton House Bed & Breakfast

BICYCLE STORE

1. Montgomery Cyclery

2. Reser Bicycle Outfitters

3. Spun Bicycles

BIRTHING/MATERNITY CENTER

1. Good Samaritan Hospital

2. The Christ Hospital

3. Bethesda North Hospital

BOOKSTORE (NON-CHAIN)

1. Joseph-Beth Booksellers

2. Roebling Point Books & Coffee

3. The Friends of the Public Library Warehouse

Thank you

We’re proud to be voted Cincinnati’s Best Credit Union.

At GECU, we are people helping people, and appreciate your continued trust and confidence as we are dedicated to Improving the Quality of Financial Lives.

We’ve served as a locally based financial institution focused on the interests and needs of those in our communities, including locally based businesses and non-profits.

Discover why we’ve been named the Best Credit Union in Cincinnati. It’s a different experience. One that’s better!

CAMERA STORE

1. Dodd Camera

2. Western Hills Photo & Hobby

3. PROCAM Photo & Video Gear

CANDY STORE

1. Aglamesis Bro’s

2. Schneider’s Sweet Shop

3. Esther Price

CAR DETAILER

1. Spick and Span Car Wash and Detailing

2. Carriage House Car Wash

3. Jake Sweeney Automotive

CAR WASH

1. Mike’s Carwash

2. Spick and Span Home, Window, & Auto Cleaning

3. Carriage House Car Wash

CARPET CLEANING

1. Spick & Span Home, Window, & Auto Cleaning

2. Widmer’s

3. Stanley Steemer

CARPET STORE

1. Bush Flooring

2. McSwain Carpet & Floors

3. Big Bob’s Carpet

CATERER

1. Vonderhaar’s Catering

2. Funky’s Catering Events

3. The Delish Dish

CATERING (RESTAURANT)

1. Eli’s BBQ

2. City Barbeque

3. Gomez Salsa

CBD RETAILER

1. Kentucky Botanical Co.

2. Hemptations

3. Ohio CBD Guy

CD/RECORD STORE (NON-CHAIN)

1. Everybody’s Records

2. Shake It Records

3. Torn Light Records

4. Friends of the Public Library Warehouse

5. Phil’s Music and Memories

6. Plaid Room Records

7. Black Plastic Records

8. Jet Age Records

9. MetaModern Music

10. Morrow Audio

CELL PHONE SERVICE PROVIDER

1. Verizon

2. AT&T

3. T-Mobile

CHILDREN’S CLOTHING STORE

1. Once Upon a Child

2. Sage & Scout

3. The Spotted Goose

CHIROPRACTIC PRACTICE/CLINIC

1. Mt. Lookout Chiropractic

2. Oak Hills Back & Neck Care Center

3. Thrive Chiropractic

CLOTHING CONSIGNMENT

1. Snooty Fox

2. Once Upon A Child

3. Clothes Mentor

COMIC BOOK STORE

1. Queen City Comics and Card Company

2. Friends of the Public Library Warehouse

3. Shake It Records

COMPUTER/IT SERVICES

1. Nerd Patrol

2. Micro Center

3. Geek Squad at Best Buy

COSTUME SHOP

1. Cappel’s

2. Talk of the Town

3. Kintimit Costumes

Shops & Services

CRAFT BEER STORE

1. Jungle Jim’s International Market

2. The Party Source

3. Country Fresh Farm Market

CREDIT UNION

1. General Electric Credit Union

2. Kemba Credit Union

3. Wright-Patt Credit Union

DANCE CLASSES

1. DANCEFIX

2. Cincinnati Ballet Academy

3. Movement Emporium

DAY SPA

1. Woodhouse Day Spa

2. 501 Salon & Spa

3. Mitchell’s Salon & Day Spa

DENTAL PRACTICE/CLINIC

1. Bellevue Family Dentistry

2. A.J. Marck

3. Vita Dental

DERMATOLOGIST

1. Dr. Tiffany L. Pickup

2. Dr. Mona Foad

3. Dr. Stephanie Sayles

DRIVE-THRU MARKET

1. Trotta’s Pizza & Drive Thru

2. Big Daddy’s

3. Miami Market

DRY CLEANER

1. Widmer’s Cleaners

2. Tide Cleaners

3. Atlas Dry Cleaners

ELECTRONICS REPAIR

1. Micro Center

2. uBreakiFix

3. A-HI Computers & Electronics

EYEWEAR STORE

1. Warby Parker

2. LensCrafters

3. Wing Eyecare

FINANCIAL PLANNING SERVICE

1. Fidelity Investments

2. The Rosselot Financial Group

3. Fifth Third Bank

FINDLAY MARKET VENDOR

1. Eli’s BBQ

2. Blue Oven Bakery

3. Pet Wants OTR

4. Colonel De Gourmet Herbs & Spices

5. Silverglades

6. Three Leaf Crafts

7. Eckerlin Meats

8. Harmony Plant Fare

9. Makers Bakers Company

10. LK at Findlay Market

FLORIST

1. Adrian Durban Florist

2. Fort Thomas Florist

3. Benken Florist Home and Garden Center

FRAME SHOP

1. Michaels

2. Hobby Lobby

3. Fabulous Frames & Art

FRESH SEAFOOD STORE

1. Jungle Jim’s International Market

2. Lobsta Bakes of Maine

3. Luken’s Poultry, Fish & Seafood

4. K&J Seafood Co.

5. Costco TIE

6. Sen by Kiki TIE

7. The Fresh Market

8. Humbert Meats

9. Seafood Station

10. Redden Fine Meats & Seafood

11. Whole Foods Market

FUNERAL HOME

1. Hodapp Funeral Homes

2. Dobbling, Muehlenkamp-Erschell Funeral Home

3. T.P. White & Sons

FURNITURE STORE

1. IKEA

2. Furniture Fair

3. Bargains and Buyouts

4. Arhaus

5. Nadeau - Furniture With a Soul

6. Algin Office Furniture

7. Crate & Barrel

8. HighStreet

9. Habitat for Humanity ReStore

10. Cincinnati Open Box Outlet TIE

11. Home Emporium TIE

GARAGE DOOR COMPANY

1. AE Door & Window

2. Overhead Door Company of Greater Cincinnati

3. PDQ

GENERAL CONTRACTOR

1. Hyde Park Painting & Carpentry

2. Build It Brothers

3. Dallis Designer Homes

GIFT SHOP

1. Cincinnati Art Museum

2. I Love Cincy Shop

3. MiCA 12/v

4. indigenous, a handcrafted gallery

5. Cincinnati Museum Center

6. Ten Thousand Villages

7. Village Junction

8. The Collective

9. The Friends of the Public Library shop

10. Metallic Giraffe

GREEN/SUSTAINABLE GOODS STORE

1. Kentucky Botanical Co.

2. Hemptations

3. The Green Store

GROCERY STORE

1. Kroger

2. Jungle Jim’s International Market

3. Trader Joe’s

HAIR REMOVAL SERVICE

1. WAX Cincinnati

2. Mandell-Brown Plastic Surgery Center

3. European Wax Center

4. Woodhouse Day Spa

5. Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa

6. Milan Laser Hair Removal

7. Black Rabbit Salon

8. Salt + Light Salon and Spa

9. South Beach Wax

10. Kassandra Berry Nail and Beauty Spa

HAIR SALON

1. Bishops Haircuts

2. 501 Salon & Spa

3. Strands of Glory

4. Wild Honey Salon

5. Melissa Hargis Hair

6. High Five Salon

7. Parlour

8. Alba Salon & Spa

9. Salt + Light Salon and Spa

10. Le Salon

HANDYMAN

1. Hyde Park Painting & Carpentry

2. Tom Sweitzer

3. Mr. Handyman of Greater Cincinnati

HARDWARE STORE

1. Ace Hardware

2. Home Depot

3. Northside Hardware

HEALTH FOOD STORE

1. Whole Foods Market

2. Jungle Jim’s International Market

3. Trader Joe’s

HOME ACCESSORIES STORE

1. Habitat for Humanity ReStore

2. Artichoke

3. Flamingo Haven Antique Mall

HOSPITAL

1. The Christ Hospital

2. Cincinnati Children’s Hospital

3. Good Samaritan

HOTEL

1. 21c Museum Hotel

2. Hotel Covington

3. Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza

HOUSE PAINTER

1. Hyde Park Painting

2. Smith and Metz Painting

3. Dadstasks

HVAC COMPANY

1. Apollo Home

2. Tom Rechtin Heating & Air Conditioning

3. Schneller Knochelmann

INSURANCE AGENCY

1. State Farm

2. The Cincinnati Insurance Company

3. USAA

INTERIOR DESIGNER

1. Lori Daniels

2. Pear Tree Interiors

3. David A. Millett

JEWELER

1. Richter & Phillips

2. Schwartz Jewelers

3. Cleves and Lonnemann Jewelers

LANDSCAPING

1. Natorp’s Nursery Outlet

2. Native Roots

3. Tepe Landscaping

LASIK SURGERY CENTER

1. Cincinnati Eye Institute

2. LasikPlus

3. Midwest Eye Center

LAW FIRM

1. Treleven & Klingensmith

2. Keating Muething & Klekamp

3. Taft Stettinius & Hollister

LAWYER (INDIVIDUAL)

1. John Treleven

2. Nick Klingensmith

3. Scott Knox

LAWN SERVICE

1. Oasis Turf & Tree

2. LawnScapes

3. Tepe Landscaping

LIGHTING STORE

1. Menard’s

2. IKEA

3. Habitat for Humanity ReStore

LINGERIE STORE

1. Knickers of Hyde Park

2. Victoria’s Secret

3. Hustler Hollywood

LIQUOR STORE

1. The Party Source

2. Jungle Jim’s International Market

3. Liquor Barn (Formerly DEP’s Fine Wine & Spirits)

LOCAL INDIE CRAFT MARKET

1. The City Flea

2. Art on Vine

3. Pendleton Art Center Final Fridays

4. Crafty Supermarket

5. WestSide Market

6. Essex ArtWalk

7. The OFF Market

8. Second Sunday on Main

9. Ludlow Flea and Craft Fair

10. Westwood Art Show

Shops & Services

LOCAL INDIE CRAFT MARKET VENDOR

1. Fern

2. Three Leaf Crafts

3. Stitches & Sass

LOCKSMITH

1. Larry’s Lock, Safe & Security

2. Acme Lock

3. Mr. Lock Security

MALL/SHOPPING CENTER

1. Kenwood Towne Centre

2. Rookwood Commons/Pavilion

3. Crestview Hills Town Center

MANICURE/PEDICURE

1. Ambiance Nail Salon & Spa

2. Spruce Nail Shop

3. Deluxe Nails Salon & Spa

4. Mitchell’s Salon & Day Spa

5. Organic Glow Skincare and Spa

6. Kassandra Berry Nail and Beauty Spa

7. Salt + Light Salon and Spa

8. MK Nails

9. Creative Culture Nails & Makeup LLC TIE

10. Prism Nail Lounge TIE

11. Alba Salon & Spa

MARTIAL ARTS STUDIO

1. Club MMA

2. Cincinnati Taekwondo Center

3. Patten’s Martial Arts TIE

4. Mt. Washington Taekwondo TIE

MASSAGE THERAPY PRACTICE/CLINIC

1. Woodhouse Spa

2. 501 Salon & Spa

3. Caldwell Family Wellness

MEDI SPA

1. Mandell-Brown Plastic Surgery Center

2. Livio Med Spa

3. HerMD

MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARY

1. Sunnyside Medical Marijuana Dispensary

2. Verilife Dispensary

3. Zen Leaf Cincinnati (formerly Have a Heart)

MEN’S CLOTHING STORE

1. BlaCk OWned OuterWear

2. Cincy Shirts

3. Romualdo

MOTORCYCLE/MOTORSPORTS DEALER

1. CinCity Harley-Davidson

2. Metro Scooter

3. Queen City Harley-Davidson

MOVING COMPANY

1. Two Men and a Truck

2. All My Sons Moving & Storage

3. Leaders Moving

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT STORE

1. Willis Music/Buddy Roger’s Music

2. Baroque Violin Shop

3. Third Rock Music Center

NEIGHBORHOOD SHOPPING DISTRICT

1. Rookwood Commons/Pavilion

2. Kenwood

3. Bellevue

NEW STORE

1. Bookery Cincy

2. The Collective

3. Stitch Yarn Studio

NURSERY/GREENHOUSE

1. A.J. Rahn Greenhouses

2. Natorp’s Nursery Outlet

3. Burger Farm & Garden Center

OBGYN

1. TriHealth Women’s Services

2. Planned Parenthood

3. The Christ Hospital Obstetrics and Gynecology

OUTDOOR/OUTFITTERS SHOP

1. REI

2. Bass Pro Shops

3. Cabela’s

4. Roads Rivers and Trails

5. The Benchmark Outdoor Outfitters

6. Sierra

7. Sportsman’s Warehouse

8. Delamere & Hopkins

9. Vance Outdoors

10. Schack’s Yaks LLC

OVERALL BOUTIQUE (LOCAL)

1. Cincy Shirts

2. BlaCk OWned OuterWear

3. Kismet

4. Kentucky Botanical Co

5. The Collective

6. MiCA 12/v

7. Rose & Remington

8. The Native Brand

9. Coda Co.

10. Homage

PAINT STORE

1. Sherwin-Williams

2. Ace Hardware Clifton

3. Woods Hardware

PAPERGOOD STORE

1. Joseph-Beth Booksellers

2. Indigo Hippo

3. M. Hopple & Co.

PAWN SHOP

1. Ted’s Pawn Shop

2. Facet Jewelry, Music and Pawn

3. The Castle Jewelry

PEDIATRICIAN

1. Anderson Hills Pediatrics

2. Pediatric Associates of Cincinnati

3. Muddy Creek Pediatrics

Shops & Services

PEST CONTROL

1. Scherzinger Pest Control

2. Affordable Pest Control

3. ACE Exterminating TIE

4. Pinnacle Exterminating TIE

PET ADOPTION/SHELTER

1. Cincinnati Animal CARE

2. SPCA Cincinnati

3. Stray Animal Adoption Program (SAAP)

PET BOARDING/DAYCARE

1. Animal Care Centers of Cincinnati

2. DogTown

3. Red Dog Pet Resort & Spa

4. PetSuites

5. Puppywood Pet Resort

6. Camp Bow Wow

7. Animal Ark Pet Resort

8. Allie’s Walkabout TIE

9. Puppy Camp TIE

10. The Pet Spot

11. Doggie Paddles LLC

PET GROOMING

1. Applehead City Pet

2. Wüf Pet Spa

3. Muddy Mutts Grooming

PET SUPPLY STORE

1. PetSmart

2. Pet Wants OTR

3. PetPeople by Hollywood Feed

PHARMACY

1. Kroger

2. Yost Pharmacy

3. Walgreens

PHOTOGRAPHER

1. Catie Viox

2. Cincy Phil

3. Josh Kramer

PHYSICIAN/HEALTHCARE PRACTICE

1. TriHealth

2. The Christ Hospital

3. UC Health

PIERCING STUDIO

1. Beelistic Tattoo

2. Skincraft Piercing & Tattoo

3. Hybrid Image

PLACE TO BUY ART

1. Pendleton Art Center

2. Summerfair

3. Fabulous Frames & Art

PLACE TO BUY SNEAKERS

1. JackRabbit/Fleet Feet

2. Queen City Running

3. Tri-State Running Company

4. Corporate

5. Sole by Style

6. Buckeye Running Company

7. City Gear

8. Sole Revival

9. UNheardof

10. Goodwill

PLACE TO BUY YOUR ENGAGEMENT RING

1. Richter & Phillips

2. Schwartz Jewelers

3. Monmouth Jewelers

PLACE FOR AN ADULT’S BIRTHDAY

1. Top Golf

2. Toyko Kitty

3. MadTree Brewing

PLACE FOR A KIDS BIRTHDAY

1. Cincinnati Museum Center

2. Parky’s Farm

3. Super Parties TIE

4. Dave & Buster’s TIE

PLANT STORE

1. Fern

2. Natorp’s Nursery Outlet

3. A.J. Rahn Greenhouses

PLASTIC SURGERY

1. Mandell-Brown Plastic Surgery Center

2. McKenna Cosmetic Surgery Center

3. The Plastic Surgery Group

PLUMBING COMPANY

1. Apollo Home

2. Jolly Plumbing

3. Zins Plumbing

REAL ESTATE AGENT

1. Tiffany Brogden

2. Jordan Nicely

3. Nick Foltz

REAL ESTATE BROKERAGE

1. Sibcy Cline

2. Keller Williams Realty

3. Pivot Realty Group

RETIREMENT COMMUNITY

1. Maple Knoll Village

2. Twin Lakes

3. Marjorie P. Lee

SHOE REPAIR

1. Mt. Lookout Shoe Repair

2. D & P Shoe Repair

3. Clarence Howell Shoe Repair

SKIN CARE SERVICE

1. Mandell-Brown Plastic Surgery Center

2. Mona Dermatology

3. 501 Salon & Spa

SMOKE/TOBACCO SHOP

1. Jungle Jim’s International Market

2. Hemptations

3. High on the Hill

SPORTING GOODS

1. Play It Again Sports

2. Dick’s Sporting Goods

3. Koch Sporting Goods

Shops & Services

TAILOR/SEAMSTRESS

1. Peppe Ramundo

2. Janet Morris

3. Trevor Furbay Bespoke

TANNING SALON

1. WAX Cincinnati

2. Palm Beach Tan

3. Planet Fitness

TATTOO SHOP

1. Tattoo Designs by Dana

2. Skincraft Piercing-Tattoo

3. White Whale Tattoo

4. The Decorated Body

5. Flying Tiger Tattoo

6. Got Ink? Studios

7. Red Dragon Tattoo & Piercing

8. Pretty In Ink

9. Barber’s Electric Tattoo

10. Crying Heart Tattoo

TAX SERVICE

1. H&R Block

2. The Tax Man

3. Orcutt & Company CPA

TEA SHOP/SELECTION

1. Churchill’s Fine Teas

2. Jungle Jim’s International Market

3. Coffee Emporium

THRIFT SHOP

1. Society of St. Vincent de Paul

2. Valley Thrift Store

3. Goodwill

4. Peppermint Pig Thrift & Gift

5. Snooty Fox

6. Legacies Upscale Resale

7. Building Value

8. Just Her Size Consignment

9. Five Sisters Consignments

10. Discovery Shop

TIRE STORE

1. Tire Discounters

2. AAA | Bob Sumerel Tire & Service

3. Donovan’s Auto & Tire

TOY STORE

1. King Arthur’s Court Toys

2. Coolest Toys on Earth

3. Jungle Jim’s International Market

TRAVEL AGENCY

1. AAA

2. Debbie Boyd, Travel Happy Agency

3. Brown’s Tours and Travel

TREE SERVICE

1. Back Tree Service

2. Madison Tree Care and Landscaping

3. The Canopy Crew LLC

TUTORING CENTER

1. Academic Tutoring, LLC

2. Becca’s Book Box

3. NKY Tutoring - ACT Math Prep

URGENT CARE

1. Christ Hospital Urgent Care Red Bank Rd.

2. Bluegrass Urgent Care

3. CareFirst Urgent Care - Beechmont

VAPE SHOP

1. Cincy Vapors

2. Lefty’s Tobacco Plus

3. Galaxy Vapors

VETERINARY CARE

1. Noah’s Ark Animal Clinics

2. Animal Care Center

3. Grady Veterinary Hospital

VINTAGE CLOTHING STORE

1. Casablanca Vintage

2. Talk of the Town

3. Down to Mars Vintage Ltd.

WEDDING CAKES

1. The BonBonerie

2. Tres Belle Cakes

3. Servatii Pastry Shop & Deli

WEDDING DRESSES

1. Bridal & Formal

2. David’s Bridal

3. Hyde Park Bridal

WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY SERVICE

1. Steph Keller Photography

2. Bird & Rose Photography

3. Jessica Wiggins Photography

4. Eleven:11 Photography

5. Bambino International

6. Hailey Bollinger Photography

7. Megan Noll Photography

8. Tonya Cook Photography

9. Carly Sue Photography

10. Adam and Keli Photography

WEDDING RECEPTION HALL

1. Hotel Covington

2. Bell Event Centre

3. The Madison Event Center

4. Drees Pavilion in Devou Park

5. The View at Mount Adams

6. Urban Artifact

7. Lake Lyndsay

8. Oscar Event Center

9. The Summit Hotel

10. Clovernook Country Club

WEDDING VENUE (INDOORS)

1. Cincinnati Art Museum

2. Hotel Covington

3. The Bell Event Centre

WEDDING VENUE (OUTDOORS)

1. WoodBottom Quail Farms

2. Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden

3. Cincinnati Nature Center

4. Lake Lyndsay

5. French Park

6. Pinecroft at Crosley Estate

7. Drees Pavilion in Devou Park

8. Cincinnati Art Museum

9. Carriage House Farm

10. The Inn at Oneonta

WEDDING VIDEOGRAPHER

1. Pinelight Films

2. Steph Keller Photography

3. Harmon Films TIE

4. Squirrel Films TIE

WINDOW COMPANY

1. Gilkey Window Company

2. Renewal by Andersen

3. Champion Windows

WINE SHOP

1. Jungle Jim’s International Market

2. The Party Source

3. Liquor Barn (Formerly DEP’s Fine Wine & Spirits) TIE

4. Marty’s Hops and Vines TIE

WOMEN’S CLOTHING STORE

1. Kismet

2. Rose & Remington

3. The Native One

Cheers, Cincinnati.

You have excellent taste.

Thank you for again voting us BEST Jeweler & BEST Place to Buy Your Engagement Ring. We could go on about what makes us the best - how we have the largest selection (in the entire tristate), how we always ensure our clients get the best price possible (ever try to negotiate with online retailers?), or how our after service care is a remarkable 6-star experience, promising your special pieces are well cared for long after your purchase - but really, anyone can say those things. So, we prefer our clients do the talking for us...

“Five PLATINUM Stars!”

We have a team of 20 at Richter & Phillips Jewelers and consider ourselves lucky that everyone is talented, caring, passionate and genuinely dedicated to upholding our standards of offering Cincinnati a remarkable experience. No matter if you have your goto specialist or it’s your first visit, you can expect to be welcomed into our shop like an old friend. But, you don’t need to take our word for it. Browse our 1,200+ 5-star Google Reviews and make your own decision. And, when you’re ready, we are here for you!

“very PERSONABLE!”

What’s new for ‘23?

Drinks & Diamonds - It’s what we know best! So it feels like a natural fit to introduce the newest member of The Richter & Phillips fam, Molly Wellmann.

From special events at our shop to venturing around the city uncovering Cincinnati’s finest Hidden Gems, 2023 is going to be filled with all things Drinks & Diamonds - and we can’t wait to take you along for the ride.

@RichterPhillips | @RichterPhillips_Watches

Molly Wellmann, Drinkmaker & Storyteller | Eric Fehr, GIA Gemologist, President

Photography: Houston Raef

Services

Staff Picks

Best Place to Bargain Hunt for Used Paperbacks

The Friends of the Public Library — a nonprofit arm of Cincinnati Public Library — has used paperbacks galore for just $1 at the organization’s used bookstore and warehouse. The selection, especially when you’re on the hunt for mass-market paperbacks, is outstanding and covers every fiction genre. Whether you’re looking for a few of those ’80s romance novels with a bare-chested Fabio on the cover or you’re trying to make your way through Joanne Fluke’s Hannah Swensen mysteries (with recipes!), chances are you’ll find what you’re looking for — along with a few other books you’ll probably have to make room for on your reading list. cincylibraryfriends.org

Best Greenhouse That Feels Like Wandering Through The Secret Garden

If you want to hide from the world amongst nature without actually being, you know, in the elements, A.J. Rahn Greenhouses in Spring Grove Village is the way to go. In the ’60s, the Rahn family became known for their highquality flowering plants —and still carry on that legacy today with rows and rows of flowers and hanging plants no matter the season. It’s easy to spend a leisurely weekend morning or afternoon wandering among all the flora and mentally calculating if you possibly have more space for yet another hanging basket (or seven). Don’t forget to say hello to Cali the greenhouse cat, who often can be spotted snoozing by the flowers. ajrahn.com

Best Place to Breathe Briny Air and Pretend You’re at the Beach

Close your eyes and breathe in the salty air. Feel your body relax and listen to the sound of the waves. No, you’re not in the Bahamas — you’re in Westwood, but it genuinely feels like you’re near the ocean at By the Sea Salt Therapy. Salt

therapy, or halotherapy, is a wellness remedy that helps some people breathe easier, alleviates stress and anxiety, and even provides better sleep. At By the Sea in Westwood, you’ll sit in a beach chair and kick back while a halogenerator pumps superfine, medical-grade sodium chloride through the air. You’ll walk away feeling refreshed, relaxed and invigorated. By the Sea also has a wellness boutique on site where you can buy bath and body goods, skin-care products, essential oils, diffusers and more. bytheseasalttherapy.com

Best Place to Have Your Pet Pampered Better than Yourself

Pets are family, and taking care of them is a form of selfcare for owners, too. Mr. Nigel’s Salon Care for Pet Hair really rolls out the red carpet for its four-legged clients. Mr. Nigel’s pairs your pet with a stylist, who takes care of him or her for the whole visit. Some of the luxurious menu items include a blueberry facial, hemp shampoo and a grapeseed oil pad and nose application. Mr. Nigel’s, an upscale, full-service pet hair salon named after owner Michelle Goldfarb’s goldendoodle, is basically a puppy palace and a mini-getaway for your beloved animal — who really deserves a break from all the stress of being the glue that holds your life together. mrnigels.com

Best Shopping Center for Wandering Aimlessly All Afternoon

Sometimes you need to pre-game at individual national stores before hitting the cacophony of a mall, and Kenwood is just the place to do it. The TJ Maxx-MarshallsHomeGoods-Michaels combination on Kenwood Road are the best beacons to the bang-for-your-buck shopping strips that dot the entire area. Who doesn’t love thumbing through the giant rug rack at HomeGoods, feeling all the soft blankets at TJ Maxx, smelling the candles at Marshalls or scooping up cake-decorating supplies at Michaels? Dangerously close to one another, these stores give “window shopping” a whole new meaning and put you into the right frame of mind for the money suck that awaits in the department stores at Kenwood Towne Center. marshalls.com.

Best Women-Only Tourism Company for an Adventure with Your Gal Pals

Boys, keep out! Explorer Chick has women-only tours all over the world, but they call Cincinnati their home. With trips ranging from backpacking in the Grand Canyon to glamping in Belize, the tours focus on exploring new places and getting your heart and blood pumping for adventure.

Shops & Services

The website makes it easy to book — sort tours by where you want to go and what kind of experience you want to have. Up for hiking? Rappelling? Surfing? All three? Click on those options and see where Explorer Chick can take you. And if none of your gal pals can go with you, don’t worry; it’s super-easy to bond with and befriend the other badass ladies on your trip. explorerchick.com.

Best Fitness Studio for Bouncing on Bungees

If you’re looking for a low-impact, high-intensity workout, the bungee classes at Fly Bungee Fitness in Loveland can help you soar to new heights. Fly Bungee Fitness reps say their workouts offer 70% lower impact than traditional workouts do and are designed for people of all abilities. Beginners will start with the SimpliFLY class and can graduate to the intermediate ModiFLY or level-three IntensiFLY when ready. Fly Bungee Fitness also offers Bungee Blast, aerial and dance classes, and their bungees and harnesses

are professional and high quality to ensure your safety throughout the workout. flybungeefitness.com.

Best Handspun Alpaca Yarn to Elevate Your Next Knitting Project

Those who love knitting or crocheting with yarn made of natural fibers know there are a few benefits to choosing alpaca yarn over wool. Alpaca fleece tends to be warmer. It’s also lighter, stronger and more resilient than wool — plus it’s a more environmentally sustainable option, especially when you buy locally from Sunburst Valley Alpacas, a small farm on the West Side. Sunburst Valley has a small herd of alpacas they source their fleece from, which they sell through their online store. Not only do they offer raw fleece, but Sunburst Valley also has natural and dyed batts and skeins of handspun, natural and hand-dyed yarn. All dyes are heavy-metal free, and the yarns come in a variety of colors (the farm also can custom dye a skein so you can seamlessly finish that cozy blanket or trendy hat pattern).

If you want to skip the crafting process, the farm also sells handcrafted hats, socks, ear warmers and fingerless mitts made from their own alpaca yarn.

sunburstvalleyalpacas.com.

Best Mobile Bookstore for Grabbing a New Read on the Go

You’re out running errands, thinking about how you need to get your hands on the new novel you saw on BookTok, and suddenly an aqua VW truck bearing the words “The Book Bus” rolls past you. It’s a sign! You’ll find the bus at a pop-up with its canvas rolled up to reveal several shelves of books, including that one you’ve been itching to get your hands on. Cincy Book Bus not only helps you find your new favorite read — owner Melanie Moore also uses her profits to buy children’s books to build up low-income classroom libraries so kids can discover the joy of reading, too. And when this fabulous mobile bookstore isn’t traveling around town, you can find it parked at its new home, the Book Bus Depot in Sharonville, a brick-and-mortar bookstore — the best of both literary worlds. the-book-bus.square.site

Best Inclusive Gardening Experience

Eric Boltz was paralyzed from the chest down after he was struck by a car in 2015. Boltz’s wife, Yvonne, decided to take her husband’s recovery diet into her own hands and source nutritious food and herbal medicines herself. Seven years of farm work later, the Boltz family now owns and operates Boltz to Nutz Farm, a wheelchair-accessible, raised-bed market garden in Loveland. The couple sells their products through an online service that connects customers with more than 80 local farmers, artisans and chefs and delivers the farmers’ products twice weekly. And now the Boltzes are moving into their next phase — offering adaptive cooking classes and retreats. boltz2nutz.com

Best Indie Makeup Boutique

If you want to explore beyond mall makeup stores or are looking to up your shelfie game with some new, independent and ethical beauty brands, Launch Party is a perfect one-stop shop in Over-the-Rhine. The coral-colored shelves are lined with everything from makeup, skin care and genderless fragrances to 10-free nail polish, coldprocessed scalp systems and fun accessories, all from small businesses — including local ones. Items are hand-picked by owner Brit Cochran, a globe-trotting professional makeup artist with a passion for thoughtful and unique beauty products. Visit the store for in-person education and guidance, or shop online; each product features icons

Sunburst Valley Alpacas | Photo: facebook.com/sunburstvalleyalpacas

that indicate traits like whether it is vegan, eco-friendly, women owned, cruelty free or has a social impact. The store also provides full ingredient lists and brand info. With a goal of representing and celebrating the beauty of people of “every race, gender identity and age,” Launch Party’s products reflect the same ethos: to create a feel-good — and look-good — experience. shoplaunchparty.com.

Best Hot Spot for Hypebeasts

Covington’s Sole by Style is a sneakerhead’s paradise. The streetwear boutique is stacked with floor-to-ceiling shelves showcasing the best and rarest shoes. Find sought-after styles like Travis Scott x Air Jordan Black Phantoms, a New Balance collaboration with JJJJound, a pair of Cactus Plant Flea Market Nike Dunks decked out in Swarovski crystals and a $12,000 pair of Jordan 1 Fragments. Every color combo, texture and taste are represented. Need a pair of furry Grateful Dead Bear Nikes? Sole by Style has them in orange, green or yellow. Want some Imran Potato Caveman Slippers? Head here. And you don’t just have to stop at your feet; cover the rest of your body with clothing from brands like Chrome Hearts, Supreme, Off-White and Louis Vuitton. Every item is authenticated, and the shop itself is

like a premiere shoe shop in New York or LA (minus the around-the-block lines). And while Sole by Style is always selling, they also buy, trade and consign. solebystyle.com.

Best Vet for Dogs and Cats

Yes, obviously veterinarians are animal doctors who cater to house pets like dogs and cats, but Whiskers and Paws Animal Hospital in Kenwood takes that concept a step further: It has literally built out its office to feature two separate waiting rooms — one for felines and one for canines. This is a physical manifestation of veterinarians/ owners Dr. Kevin Rebrovich’s and Dr. Carrie Ellis’ dedication to being a certified fear-free and cat-friendly facility. Both have undergone additional training and ongoing education to make sure the vet experience is as stress free as it can be — for pets and owners — and Whiskers and Paws is recognized by the American Association of Feline Practitioners for their commitment to care for cats. The practice was also recently accredited by the American Animal Hospital Association, certifying excellence across more than 900 standards of quality; less than 15% of veterinarians in North America are AAHA certified. The recognition is unsurprising as Whiskers and Paws is the new(ish)

practice launched by Ellis and Rebrovich, two highly respected and beloved longtime local vets who excel at compassionate care. The office offers services ranging from standard checkups and vaccinations to surgery, diagnostic imaging, dentistry and even acupuncture. And it is decked out in modern farmhouse decor, with a mini fridge and coffeemaker for those waiting for appointments. All of this adds up to the entire team at Whiskers and Paws creating the most considerate vet experience for pets and people. And we truly appreciate them for it.

whiskersandpawshospital.com

Best Compassionate Spa for Those Undergoing Cancer Treatment and Their Caregivers

Crystal Grace launched Grace + Grit Spa after a message from God changed her life. Dealing with depression, anxiety and PTSD after a personal tragedy, she decided to get a facial as an act of self-care. The rest, as they say, is history. Grace + Grit aims to serve by offering affordable services — massages, facials, craniosacral therapy, reiki, waxing — to fortify and embolden people to be able to live

Boltz to Nutz Farm | Photo: Provided by Market Wagon

Shops & Services

extensions. It’s warm, quiet, calm and smells amazing. The highly trained staff will give you the brows of your dreams — especially if you aren’t quite sure what that looks like. They’ll help shape and color them to best fit your face, all while you lay back and relax. 501salon.com.

Best Place to Name Your Price on Pre-Loved Furniture

Packed to the gills with gorgeous, quality furniture, Recycle Cincinnati is every thrifter’s and vintage furniture lover’s dream. Recycle Cincinnati sells a variety of pre-owned furnishings, from appliances, TVs and decor to antique furniture and one-of-a-kind items, like a Wurlitzer piano or 1970s pinball machine. You can browse their Facebook pictures, then call and plan to see your favorite pieces in person at practically any time you want. Love something but wish it functioned a bit differently or came in a different color or finish? They can make that happen, too. recyclecincinnati.com.

Best Place to Paint and Stain Your Cabinets on the Cheap

Aside from feeling like a total badass who hangs out in warehouses, wandering the treasure trove that is Cincinnati ReUse Center can also serve as the ultimate DIY inspiration. The Cincinnati ReUse Center sells an impressive assortment of new and used building materials, like kitchen and bathroom cabinets, sinks, appliances and furnaces. Whatever you need, they’ve got it. Most impressive, though, is their room of paint and stains from quality brands at insanely good prices — perfect for a cheap upgrade to your cabinets. reusecenters.org.

Best Way to Channel Your LowBudget Inner Martha Stewart

their best, healthiest and happiest lives. The entire team of therapists and estheticians is dedicated to providing healing and restorative treatments, including for those undergoing cancer treatment as well as their caregivers. Grace + Grit’s “What Love Does” initiative provides spa services at no charge to those navigating the cancer journey. The spa’s website offers several ways to participate: Warriors can request services, people can nominate others, and the public and professionals can donate dollars or time to the cause. graceandgritskin.com.

Best Eyebrow-Shaping Experience

Despite Gen Z’s attempt to bring back the over-plucked, 1990s thin-brow aesthetic, healthy, thick brows will always be in style. And the estheticians at 501 Salon & Spa are experts in beautifying your eyebrow hair. Being dyed, waxed, plucked and chemically fluffed is not always a super pleasant experience — especially the plucking and waxing part — but this Aveda salon makes it as enjoyable as it can be. Services are performed in the upstairs spa, where you also can get a massage, facial and even lash

Located in Pleasant Ridge, the adorable little shop Scrap It Up is a cross between a recycling center, a thrift shop and a craft store. Since it opened in 2017, the volunteer nonprofit under the umbrella of the Kennedy Heights Arts Center has served as every crafter’s dream (and every hoarder’s saving grace), selling gently used artist, office and jewelry supplies, among other items. Whether you’re into quilting, knitting, painting or scrapbooking, if it’s craft adjacent, you can find what you need and donate what you don’t at Scrap It Up. scrapitupcincy.org

Best Wedding-Dress Alterations

No one tells you that altering your wedding dress can cost as much as the dress itself, but it doesn’t have to with Rhonda Russell in Southeastern Indiana. Russell’s lifetime

Recycle Cincinnati | Photo: facebook.com/recyclecincinnati

of experience meticulously customizing the most delicate wedding gowns is worth more than one could ever calculate, but she charges just a fraction of what other tailors and seamstresses typically do. But what makes working with Russell an unforgettable experience is her genuine excitement for your wedding day. When she says she wants pictures of your final look, she means it. facebook.com/rhondarusselldesigns

Best Wedding-Hair Team

Your bridesmaids have been by your side through thick and thin, so they all deserve to feel gorgeous standing by your side on the big day. The ultra-hip High Five Salon in Over-the-Rhine is one of the rare salons that can expertly style bridesmaids with a variety of hair textures. Part of the process is in the prep — stylists often consult ahead of time with each bridesmaid to pick a style that works. Come wedding day, they’re as prepared as a French brigade, so you know you can trust that everyone will be on time for pictures. highfivesalon.com.

Best Bookstore to Find a One-of-a-Kind Used Book

While there are plenty of great used bookstores in Cincinnati, Duttenhofer’s Books stands out as a particularly special one. An unassuming storefront on West McMillan Street in Clifton, Duttenhofer’s has a wide selection of used books at very affordable prices. The bookstore has an excellent selection of poetry, art, local history, philosophy and plenty more — it’s nearly impossible to leave emptyhanded. If you don’t happen to find exactly what you came for, you’re certain to walk away with something new and exciting — perhaps a beautiful coffee-table book full of glossy Cézanne reproductions, or a first edition of your favorite novel. At the very least, you can always grab a few free, handmade bookmarks from the counter. duttenhofers.com.

Best Store for Magical and Mysterious Goods

Looking for a place to take witchy out-of-towners or spend a magical afternoon? Take a chance on Hierophany &

Shops & Services

Hedge in Covington. You can’t miss its Pike Street storefront, which has an anachronistic, 19th-century London feel. Its display windows beckon with magical ephemera, books, stuffed animals and other unique finds. The interior feels much the same even down to its co-owners, the pseudonymous Coil and Augur, who are masters of enchantment. Surrounded by items coined as a bespoke arcana, shoppers can find handcrafted wands, tarot cards, gems, candles, herbs, necklaces and more. It’s rare that a store is like stepping into another realm entirely, but Heirophany & Hedge has created that experience.

hierophanyandhedge.com.

Best Reason to Get a Manicure

It’s the distinct scent that makes you confront the girl in line at Kroger with, “Did you just go to Spruce?” The massively popular nail salon near Findlay Market is known for its outlandish nail art, but the shop’s cuticle oil and hand lotion also has die-hard fans. The combination is downright angelic — notes of bergamot and lavender float up from your glistening hands as if you were an expensive

Hierophany And Hedge | Photo: Hailey Bollinger

Shops & Services

candle. Thankfully, you don’t have to lose the iconic scent and moisture the next day, because Spruce sells the goods in small and large sizes, perfect for your purse or a spot by the bathroom sink. And during the holiday season, Spruce has tons of other goodies to snatch up for yourself or for those on your list. sprucenailshop.com

Best New Bookstore for Japanese Comics

Whether you’re a fan of Japanese comics or just of greatlooking, super cool bookstores, College Hill’s Manga Manga will be a treat. Beautifully designed and furnished by owner C. Jacqueline Wood, with comfortable seating and lighting, it’s a place to see and be seen. It also hosts book clubs and will buy used manga. mangacincinnati.com

Best Retail Fitting Room for Feeling Like Gisele Bündchen

The Most Beautiful Thing in the World Is … is the name of the boutique on Vine Street, and it has a fitting room that puts you into the top-model headspace. Soaring white sheets of canvas encircle you while an ultra-stylish associate curates an armful of looks from international designers. A pair of heels sit ideally by the mirror, ready to serve as a style amenity, making you feel like a superstar on a go-see.

You may not be the fresh new face at New York Fashion Week, but you’ll believe you are with all the one-on-one attention given to you, emboldening your “it” girl inside. Who says Cincy can’t be a fashion capital and you its muse? themostbeautifulthingintheworldis.com

Best Newcomer Hairstylist

Industry Salons, located in the heart of Newport, Kentucky, is the newest and best one-stop shop for all things hair. As the Southeast Hairstyling Awards 2022 Best Newcomer Award Winner, Industry Salons’ Tori Brumer specializes in everything from effortless color to bridal and editorial work, changing the hair game by using only the best vegan, cruelty-free and naturally derived products. Every haircut comes with a courtesy shoulder massage (if you so choose … but why wouldn’t you?). The salon studio is reason enough to stop in for a consultation, boasting complimentary beverages, exposed brick, natural light and blooming plants that will leave you feeling rejuvenated and centered. industrynky.com

Best Book Specialist

Emily Webster of Roebling Point Books & Coffee in Covington and Newport, Kentucky, is the kindest, most knowledgeable and helpful book specialist. While the inventory at the shops is heavily informed by the community, the staff also has a big impact on what goes on the shelves.

There’s always a special section on the mantle in the main room of the Covington location that has smart, entertaining options on pointed subjects. Whether it’s a topic involving Black History Month, women’s rights or a specific author, the options are carefully assembled and offer various approaches to the subject. Webster not only manages that special section, but takes into account demand from customers and rotates new and old books accordingly. Next time you’re in search of a book, consult Webster or the shelves of Roebling Point Books & Coffee first. Webster is full of recommendations and a lot more personable than Amazon. roeblingpointbooksandcoffee.com.

Best Place to Find a

‘Joe Shiesty’ Shirt

Cincy Shirts has long been a place for residents of the Nasty ’Nati to find duds to represent their loyalty to their hometown. But as the “Bungles” started playing more like the Bengals again, Cincy Shirts — with its stores in Hyde Park and Fort Mitchell in addition to an online shop — also became a place to nab high-quality, timely fan shirts. They even had a shirt featuring tight end Hayden Hurst before any major sports merch retailer. But the quarterback is always the star of the show, and Cincy Shirts’ wild, graphic “Joe Shiesty” tops are the real moneymakers. As of press time, the online store features no fewer than 15 tributes to No. 9. cincyshirts.com

Best Instagrammable Wedding Venue

Couples who are over cookie-cutter, blank-canvas venues should consider embracing the maximalist Somerhaus design. Every inch of the event space in Over-the-Rhine is dripping with something beautiful, strange and unique — perfect for making long-lasting photos extra memorable. Of course, the space comes from the minds behind Somerset, so the wild, dreamy loft has everything from vintage kimonos to a pink Jeep. The configurable space allows you to walk down the aisle under a canopy of plants and a giant wooden canoe, meaning you won’t need to pay for an expensive decorator. Add it to your list of venues to explore. Your photographer will thank you. somerhaus.space

Best Make-Your-Own Floral Bouquets

If you’re going to an event around the city and you know Daisy Jane’s Flower Truck will be there, run to this adorable refurbished vintage vehicle. While the selection of flowers changes depending on what’s in season, there’s often an assortment of beautifully made bouquets ready

Somerhaus | Photo: Dani Parsons

to go or a well-thought-out floral bar where you can make your own unique arrangement. Mix and match your favorite flowers to your heart’s delight or ask the staff for help if you’re feeling stuck. If that’s not enough to convince you, these flowers tend to last for weeks as long as you give them fresh water. Daisy Jane’s has online ordering and subscriptions, too, but heading to the truck is the best way to experience the business. daisyjanesflowertruck.com

Best Sale for Stocking Up on Houseplants

A home full of plants keeps the blues away. Plant purveyor Fern has helped Cincinnatians keep their thumbs green since opening in 2013. And its flagship location’s bi-annual sale –– one in spring and the other in autumn –– in College Hill is the perfect place to stock up on plants, buy that fiddle-leaf beauty you’ve been eyeing or snag new accessories. Get your tote bag ready: The sale has a devoted following. Keep an eye on their social media (@ fernshopcincinnati) for date announcements. New to plant parenting? Don’t fret: Fern’s staff is happy to provide plant care tips, tricks and know-how. Along with the College Hill storefront, Fern has a second location in Walnut Hills. fern-shop.com

Best Indie Bookstore for Obscure Finds

Covington’s Conveyor Belt Books opened its doors in 2022, and since then, the used bookstore’s shelves have been full of eclectic, curated finds that feel hand-selected with care. Co-owned by Brandon DiSabatino and Shelbi Schindler, Conveyer Belt has everything from first or rare editions and French literature to horror paperbacks and a robust arts and poetry selection. With a pot of coffee often brewing, groovy 1970s-esque wallpaper and several cozy seating options, including an outdoor patio, Conveyor Belt’s space also encourages visitors to kick back and leaf through their finds. This hidden gem deserves its flowers. instagram.com/conveyor_belt_books.

Best Place to Find Your New Look on a Budget

Do you want to dress like a Band-Aid or a Mad Man? Will you go formal or ultra casual? Whatever your answer, you’ll find what you need to match your vibe at Casablanca Vintage. It smells like an old bookstore, is more colorful than anywhere in the city, and boasts sizing and staff that are both overwhelmingly inclusive so no one feels unwelcome. casblancavintage.com.

Fern | Photo: Hailey Bollinger

Reader Picks

BARRE

1. Body Alive

2. Pure Barre

3. barre3

BENGAL (CURRENT)

1. Joe Burrow

2. Sam Hubbard

3. Tee Higgins

BIKING TRAIL

1. Loveland Bike Trail

2. Miami Whitewater Forest

3. Lunken Airport Bike Path

CLIMBING GYM

1. Climb Cincy

2. Climb Time Oakley

3. RockQuest

COACH/MANAGER (PRO/COLLEGE)

1. Zac Taylor (Cincinnati Bengals)

2. Pat Noonan (FC Cincinnati)

3. Sean Miller (Xavier University)

FC CINCINNATI PLAYER (CURRENT)

1. Nick Hagglund

2. Brandon Vazquez

3. Luciano Acosta

GOLF COURSE (PUBLIC)

1. Devou Golf and Event Center

2. Blue Ash Golf Course

3. Aston Oaks Golf Club

HEALTH CLUB/GYM

1. Body Alive

2. YMCA

3. Planet Fitness

HIKING TRAIL

1. Cincinnati Nature Center

2. Mt. Airy Forest

3. Loveland Bike Trail

4. Ault Park

5. Miami Whitewater Forest

6. Sharon Woods

7. Winton Woods

8. Devou Park backcountry trails

9. East Fork State Park

10. Bender Mountain Nature Preserve

JOGGING ROUTE

1. Loveland Bike Trail

2. Smale Riverfront Park

3. Wasson Way

OVERALL ATHLETE (LOCAL)

1. Joe Burrow

2. Sam Hubbard

3. Rose Lavelle

PERSONAL TRAINING/CROSSFIT GYM

1. ProForce Sports Performance

2. Strength Beyond the Weights

3. Trilogy Fitness Systems

PICKLEBALL COURTS

1. Sawyer Point Park

2. Fifty West Brewing Company

3. Dulle Park

PICK-UP BASKETBALL COURT

1. Oakley Park

2. Blue Ash Recreation Center

3. Mt. Echo Park

PILATES STUDIO

1. Body Alive

2. Shellates Studio

3. Pilates Center of Cincinnati

PLACE TO CAMP

1. Red River Gorge

2. Hocking Hills State Park

3. Winton Woods

PUBLIC POOL

1. Sunlite Pool (Coney Island)

2. Ziegler Park

3. Kings Island

RED (CURRENT)

1. Joey Votto

2. Jonathan India

3. Tyler Stephenson

RUNNING/BIKING EVENT

1. Flying Pig Marathon

2. Queen Bee Half Marathon

3. Thanksgiving Day Race

SOCCER FACILITY

1. Soccer City

2. Town and Country Sports Health Club

3. Wall2Wall

SOFTBALL FIELDS

1. Schmidt Boat Ramp and Ballfields

2. Riverside Park

3. Westside Sports Park

SPORTS BETTING

1. Barstool Sportsbook at Hollywood Casino

2. FanDuel Sportsbook

3. Betfred

SPORTS COVERAGE

1. 700 WLW-AM

2. FOX Sports Ohio

3. WCPO-TV

SUMMER CAMP

1. Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden

2. YMCA Camp Ernst

3. Clifton Cultural Arts Center

TEAM (AMATEUR/SEMI-PRO/MINOR)

1. Cincinnati Rollergirls

2. Florence Y’alls

3. Dayton Dragons

TEAM (COLLEGE)

1. University of Cincinnati football

2. Xavier University men’s basketball

3. Ohio State University football

TEAM (PROFESSIONAL)

1. Cincinnati Bengals

2. FC Cincinnati

3. Cincinnati Cyclones

TENNIS COURTS

1. Sawyer Point Park

2. Camargo Racquet Club

3. The Club at Harper’s Point

VOLLEYBALL COURTS

1. Fifty West Production Works

2. Knotty Pine Rock Club and Tiki Bar

3. Cabana on the River

YOGA STUDIO

1. Body Alive

2. Embra Studio (formerly Modo Yoga)

3. Sage Yoga Hot

Staff Picks

Best Place for an Impromptu High School Reunion

The night before Thanksgiving is notorious for running into old high school pals and frenemies, for better or for worse. But instead of dealing with the inevitable encounters at a crowded bar, consider heading to Heritage Bank Center for a Cincinnati Cyclones game. With all the hockey action to bond over (“Hit ’em!”) and plenty of room to spread out (or even hide before run-in number two happens), Thanksgiving Eve in the old hometown becomes way more tolerable. And if talking to the former quarterback or yearbook editor still makes you cringe, at least you’ll have $2 beers to keep you company. cycloneshockey.com.

Best Reminder of Sports Magic

On Aug. 11, a nice game of baseball was all that mattered. MLB’s Field of Dreams game — which pays homage to the 1989 Kevin Costner film of the same name — between the Reds and the Cubs brought out plenty of magical moments in Dyersville, Iowa, that made players and fans alike marvel about baseball’s ability to transcend almost everything. From the pre-game moment when Ken Griffey Jr. walked out of the cornfield and asked his father Ken Griffey Sr. to “have a catch,” fans in the stands and watching from home were caught up in the sport’s magic. The players followed in throwback uniforms inspired by the 1919 and 1929 seasons, respectively, paying homage to historic teams that came before. Sure, the Reds lost to the Cubbies. But

The Cincinnati Reds at the MLB Field of Dreams game| Photo: twitter.com/reds

for a few glorious moments before first pitch, the intense, competitive players on both sides visibly became like kids again, beaming while reminiscing about tossing a ball around to their best friend or a family member in the backyard. reds.com

Best Life-Changing Support for an Opponent

On Jan. 2, Paycor Stadium was uncharacteristically, chillingly silent. That was the moment Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest after a routine play during the first quarter of a game with the Bengals, just seconds after colliding with Cincinnati wide receiver Tee Higgins. Hamlin collapsed to the ground and underwent nine minutes of CPR on the field as teammates and more than 60,000 fans openly wept and prayed. Field medical staff quickly transported Hamlin to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center’s level 1 trauma center, where he was intubated. For about a week, UC medical staff provided around-the-clock care for Hamlin as worried fans regularly held vigils outside the hospital. Today, Hamlin is on the road to recovery, thanks largely to UC caregivers. Though he hasn’t yet been cleared to play — and may not for a long time — Hamlin has credited Cincinnati doctors with saving his life and changing his outlook on his situation. uchealth.com.

Best Waterfall Hike

There’s no need to drive far if you want to hike to a waterfall in Ohio. Great Parks’ Sharon Woods in Sharonville is home to several along its Gorge Trail. This moderate-level, out-and-back trail stretches about 0.7 miles one way, with hikers setting out at Sharon Lake. Follow the creek to spot several small waterfalls and notice the alternating layers of shale and limestone rock in the gorge. These rocks are filled with fossils that date back to the Ordovician period — about 450 million years ago. greatparks.org.

Best College Football Whiplash

Luke Fickell surprised a lot of Cincinnatians when he announced in November that he was taking the head football coach position at the University of Wisconsin, pretty much effective immediately. Over six years, Fickell had become the University of Cincinnati’s winningest coach. Naturally, the rumors about who might coach the Bearcats began, and among a variety of big names, it even seemed like two-time Super Bowl champion and former Cincinnati Reds outfielder Deion Sanders legitimately was considering the position. But just a week after Fickell left (taking some of his coaching staff with him), the Bearcats

coaxed University of Louisiana’s coach Scott Satterfield to Cincinnati to lead the team into the Big 12 Conference. gobearcats.com

Best Season-Over-Season Team Improvement

Cincinnati’s pro soccer team had a banner 2022 season, including its first-ever MLS Cup postseason berth, a postseason win against a higher seed and a club record for consecutive scoring games. FC Cincinnati went 12-9 with 13 draws in the regular season, clinching its spot in the playoffs with a win over D.C. United during the final game on Oct. 9. The Orange and Blue followed that up with an MLS Cup playoff victory against the New York Red Bulls, with the postseason coming to a close on Oct. 20 with a playoff loss to Eastern Conference top seed Philadelphia Union. Along with several team and individual honors, the 2022 season also marked the first time that Cincinnati did not finish in last place in the Eastern Conference and was a vast improvement over 2021. By all indications, 2023 could be heading in a similarly positive direction, with head coach Pat Noonan’s team winning a season opener for the first time ever in February. fccincinnati.com.

Best Record Set, Broken and Set Again by a Roller Coaster

Last May, the Beast at Kings Island broke its own record for being the world’s longest wooden roller coaster. Previously, the Beast’s track measured 7,359 feet long, but it expanded to 7,361 feet during maintenance and renovations before the start of the season. “When you look at roller coaster records, they’re being beat all the time,” Kings Island vice president and general manager Mike Koontz said in a press release at the time. “But there’s one record that no park in the world has been able to beat for more than 40 years, until now, and that’s the record for the longest wooden roller coaster.” visitkingsisland.com

Best Sports Ranking That Means Absolutely Nothing

There’s data to “prove” everything these days. Some of it — like COVID-19 studies or water safety reports — is useful. Other bits … er, not so much. But, boy, it’s sure nice to know that Cincinnati has hot athletes, isn’t it? The Queen City proved that it was full of lookers when a popular app deemed not one but two of Cincinnati’s men in uniform among their sports’ respective top hotties. Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow was kind of a shoe-in for being the

FC Cincinnati | Photo: Ron Valle

most handsome at his position, but Reds manager David Bell being among the cutest MLB skippers was a delightful surprise. Is Greater Cincinnati Water Works adding a secret ingredient to the water?

Best Long-Overdue Sports Tribute

There’s a new spot where Cincinnati boxing fans can go to reminisce about one of the city’s greats. In October, officials unveiled a bronze statue of World Heavyweight Champion boxer Ezzard Charles in Ezzard Charles Park — renamed from Laurel Park — in the West End near TQL Stadium. Charles, who grew up in Cincinnati, was known in the boxing world as the Cincinnati Cobra and was considered one of the world’s greatest fighters. He finished his career with 95 wins, 25 losses and one draw and was inaugurated into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990. Charles died in 1975, but thanks to the statue, he remains ready to strike. cincinnatiparksfoundation.org.

Best Fan Chutzpah Ahead of Big Drama

Reds fans weren’t happy. Reds players weren’t happy. And many of the 2022 season’s woes ultimately could be traced

Sports & Recreation

back to team ownership and the front office. The Reds’ 2022 payroll was about $114 million, a downgrade (from $135 million in 2021 and $140 million in 2020) that clearly affected the season’s record and championship potential. In 2022, the Reds racked up 100 losses for just the second time in franchise history. The losing also kept more people away from the ballpark, with the team experiencing its lowest season attendance since 1984. None of this was news to Cincinnati fans, who have long bashed owner Bob Castellini, even banding together before opening day to raise more than $4,000 for a billboard urging Castellini to sell the team to someone who would invest in winning, or at least in a legitimate playoff push. One fan even said he wanted to, um, defecate in a truck the team was giving away as a prize. The I-75 billboard and fans’ growing lack of trust elicited a sharp response from Phil Castellini, the Reds’ chief operating officer and Bob Castellini’s son, who told 700 WLW-AM that Cincinnatians essentially just had to deal with it when the team repeatedly refuses to pay for productive veteran players. “Where are you going to go?” Phil Castellini asked on air. He later walked back his comments, but the damage was done and Reds fans refused to be silent. reds.com

Best Unexpected Wrestling Throwback

For Bengals fans, this year’s AFC championship loss still stings. There were plenty of big moments in the game — including KC’s five sacks on Joe Burrow, the Bengals’ multiple penalties and some questionable officiating — but it was a post-game interview that sent all social media platforms aflame and pushed people to Google “What’s a ‘jabroni’?” Holding up KC’s trophy during an on-field interview, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce shared some thoughts about Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval’s repeated jabs at Kelce’s team and city. “Hey, I’ve got some wise words for that Cincinnati mayor: Know your role and shut your mouth, you jabroni,” Kelce shouted on the NFL’s national CBS broadcast. Though “jabroni” has been around since the start of the 20th century, the term — which means “stupid, foolish or contemptible person” or “loser” — found a renaissance in the 1980s and 2000s thanks to insults from professional wrestlers Iron Sheik (born Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri) and The Rock (Dwayne Johnson), respectively.

Ezzard Charles statue | Photo: Provided by Cincinnati Parks

Cincinnati Rollergirls | Photo: Jason Bechtel

Best Return to the Rink

Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, Cincinnati missed out on hard-hitting roller derby action for two and a half years, but the Cincinnati Rollergirls skated right back into our hearts during the fall. Derby matches typically are scheduled in the spring, but the team’s members said they wanted to return as soon as possible with pre-season bouts. CRG, which was founded in 2005, shares a motto of “Be annoying! Be loud! Be a menace!” during bootcamps. That will be put to the test during the regular season, which spans the spring and summer. Get ready to throw some ’bows, Cincinnati. cincinnatirollergirls.com

Best Kayaking Spot That’s a Day Trip

Masquerading as a Mini Vacation

Whitewater Canoe Rental in Cedar Grove, Indiana, is the ultimate kayaking, canoeing or rafting spot, with all the elements to make the trip feel vacation-y. Compared to closer options, Whitewater is in the country, so stops along the route are scenic and secluded. When the water is high and fast, it’s a challenging but approachable trek; when it’s slow and steady, the river autopilots you through a tree-lined,

Sports & Recreation

canyon-like path with nothing but open skies above. A shuttle takes you upstream, and you paddle back to home base where you can rent a riverside campsite. They’re well managed but wild enough to make you feel like you’re back-country camping. Some weekends, the campsite hosts local bands, and on holiday weekends it’s always a party. whitewatercanoerental.com.

Best Player Combo

Sometimes being at an FC Cincinnati game is like watching a buddy movie in the best way. Attacking midfielder Luciano Acosta and forward Brandon Vazquez were included in Major League Soccer’s 2022 Best XI selections, marking the first time that FC Cincy players were celebrated among the top 11 players in the MLS. Acosta tallied 10 goals and an MLS-leading 19 assists for the 2022 regular season. Cincinnati’s captain tied for third in the league for goal contributions — 29, a career high — and also led the club in game-winning assists with five. Meanwhile, Vazquez notched 18 goals on the season, a personal career high. He led the league in open-play goals (16), tied for the most header goals (six) and set FC Cincinnati records for goals across all competitions, shots and shots

on goal while becoming the first Cincinnati player to score multiple goals in consecutive games. Together, Acosta and Vazquez became the first pair of teammates with at least 25 goal contributions in a single season since 2018. Both were selected for the MLS All-Star Game during the summer. Name a better power duo, we dare you. fccincinnati.com

Best Mad Dash by a Cincinnati Kid

Queen City native Sam Hubbard is an absolute beast. The Bengals defensive end has been fantastically reliable since being drafted in 2018, but his moves in the AFC Wild Card win over the Baltimore Ravens was one for the history books. Bengals linebackers Germaine Pratt and Logan Wilson knocked the ball loose from Ravens quarterback Tyler Huntley, with Hubbard scooping it up and making a beeline for the Bengals’ end zone. Ravens tight end Mark Andrews sped forward, nearly catching up to the speedy Hubbard, but Cincinnati linebacker Markus Bailey knocked him to the left, allowing Hubbard to continue powering up the field. Hubbard scored a 98-yard touchdown, and the 66,399 fans in Paycor Stadium went into a disbelieving frenzy. bengals.com.

Sam Hubbard (left) and Joe Burrow | Photo: twitter.com/bengals

Pickleball at Sawyer Point | Photo: Provided by Cincinnati Parks

Best Preservation of a Football Team’s Heart

The Bengals changed their minds about letting go of Cincinnati’s hometown hero, and the Queen City’s heart is all the better for it. In December, Bengals signed veteran punter Kevin Huber to its practice squad just two days after waiving him after his slow 2022 season start. Huber has spent 14 seasons with the Bengals and is a Cincinnati lifer in every sense of the word. Even before earning multiple franchise records, Huber was known for his dogged support of Cincinnati, both the region and the football team. Raised in Anderson and a University of Cincinnati grad, Huber was drafted in 2009, and he’s been key to rallying the team to a Super Bowl and teaching newbies how to conduct themselves professionally. bengals.com

Best Reds Player to Make the Most of Rehab Time

A player who has been around for a long time — who consistently produces (even during off years), who coaches and uplifts rookies, who keeps learning and who just generally sets a good example — is a pillar. Drafted by the team in 2002, Joey Votto is that player for the Reds. The man has spent his entire career in a Cincinnati uniform while reaching big-time club and league milestones, stepping up when other players would dip. Hell, he’s a future Hall of Famer, according to multiple baseball experts. But Votto’s aging body finally screamed for help in August, culminating in

Sports & Recreation

season-ending rotator-cuff surgery. That hasn’t stopped him from living his best life, though. As the Reds stumbled to the finish line, Votto frequently was making wisecracks about nipples in the broadcast booth and high-fiving fans in the cheap seats at the ballpark. And during his rehab assignments, the first baseman improved his chess game, honed his social media stories and even predicted that aliens would finally help the team win its first World Series since 1990. We’re as anxious as anybody for Votto to get back onto the field in 2023, but even if he never played again, we’d still be grateful for the chaotic good he’s brought into fans’ lives. reds.com.

Best Sport to Grow Exponentially

Pickleball has been around since 1965, but it’s the fastestgrowing sport in 2022, according to a report from the Sports & Fitness Industry Association. It’s a good time for Cincinnati to expand its footprint in the sport, then, as officials announced in the fall that the country’s secondbiggest indoor pickleball facility will open in West Chester in 2023. The Pickle Lodge will feature 17 indoor courts, cushioned playing surfaces, a bar and restaurant and, eventually, five outdoor courts plus a championship court with grandstand-style seating. There’s no need to wait that long for a game, though, because the public facilities at Sawyer Point Park downtown were revamped in September to provide 24 regulation pickleball courts (including three tennis courts and six overlayed courts). There are also new nets, LED lighting and updated restrooms. According to

data from Cincinnati Parks, “In 2021, there was an average of 51.8 players per session; to date in 2022, that number rose to 93.1 players per session.” facebook.com/pbatsp

Best Honors That Were Long Overdue

Patience is a proverbial virtue, but that doesn’t make it any easier to wait for something you know is right. Early in 2023, two former Cincinnati athletes finally were accepted into their respective professional halls of fame after years of anticipation. In January, former record-setting Bengals cornerback Ken Riley finally got the big validation he both craved and deserved, getting the nod for the Pro Football Hall of Fame after more than three decades of lobbying; his son Ken Riley II accepted the call on his behalf, as the great athlete had passed away in 2020. Later in January, the National Baseball Hall of Fame came calling for former Reds third baseman Scott Rolen in his sixth year of eligibility after playing 17 seasons in the majors and helping Cincinnati to a Central Division title. Both will be inducted — Riley posthumously — during ceremonies in 2023.

Best Student Program with Actual National Exposure

No, “exposure” doesn’t pay the rent, but working in partnership with a global sports network might. Students from the media production division at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music work outside

University of Cincinnati media production | Photo: Michael Asher

Sports & Recreation

Rose was honored in Philadelphia for helping the Phillies win the 1980 World Series. But during media briefings at the game, Rose completely dismissed a female reporter’s questions about statutory rape allegations that have dogged him for decades, saying, “It was 50 years ago, babe.” A few months later, he begged yet again for MLB commissioner Rob Manfred to lift his placement on baseball’s permanent ineligible list so that he could be considered for enshrinement in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum; Manfred declined quickly, decisively saying that Rose’s gambling on baseball while serving as a manager still merited a lifetime ban. But perhaps old Pete has brighter days ahead, now that sports betting became legal in Ohio on Jan. 1. In a natural, obvious move, Rose was tapped to be the local face of throwing money at wishes, placing the first legal bet at Cincinnati’s new Hard Rock Sportsbook. CityBeat wagers that Cincinnati will hear more about Rose’s tickets as the year goes on. hardrockcasinocincinnati.com/sportsbook.

Best Pro Fans

the classroom to produce and direct television broadcasts for Bearcats sports that air live on ESPN+. It’s a unique opportunity — no other school in the American Athletic Conference uses student media teams linked to a curriculum to produce live feeds for the network. After just a couple of years, it already has generated jobs for program alums at ESPN, with the Bengals and at other big-name sports media entities. ccm.uc.edu

Best Place for Scrappy Baseball

There’s plenty of good baseball to be had throughout Greater Cincinnati at every level (including that famous big-league team). But sometimes fans want a little bit of quirk with their batting lineups. Quirk abounds at Thomas More Stadium, where the Florence Y’alls play fiery baseball with a hunger that many MLB folks haven’t seen since being drafted. The Y’alls have plenty of game, but as with their Frontier League opponents, Florence’s independent team also cranks up the entertainment value for the fans sitting in the stadium’s 4,500 seats (all of them are close to the action, by the way). There are wacky theme nights, bouncy inflatables and appearances by Y’all Star, the mascot who is, of all things, a water tower. Moreover, ticket prices are more affordable than what you might find

elsewhere, so it’s easy to take in a game (or several) with a group. florenceyalls.com.

Best Oscar-Worthy Moment on Synthetic Turf

Great actors don’t always receive gold statuettes. On Dec. 4, the Bengals beat eventual Super Bowl champs the Kansas City Chiefs 27-24 at Paycor Stadium. Quarterback Joe Burrow and wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase both were outstanding, but safety Jessie Bates may have had the most memorable, suspiciously timed play of the game. As Kansas City closed in on the line in the second quarter, Cincinnati’s defensive subs hit the field late, which could have resulted in a penalty. Ever alert, Bates — previously standing casually — suddenly collapsed while clutching his leg, seemingly in pain, to pull a few extra seconds for the team. During the broadcast, CBS color analyst and former Dallas Cowboys star Tony Romo narrated sarcastically, “That wasn’t fake at all.” bengals.com

Best Bet for a New Year

What a year for “Charlie Hustle.” In August, former Cincinnati Reds manager and utility player extraordinaire Pete

Bengals fans have always been loyal — hell, they stuck with the team through years of horribly depressing seasons before coming soooooo close to a Super Bowl win in 2022. That loyalty is growing even more now, it turns out. On Sept. 29, the Bengals clobbered the Miami Dolphins 27-15 in front of 67,260 fans at Paycor Stadium — the team’s largest home attendance in history, as of press time. Even better: The full Jungle was rockin’ as part of a national “Thursday Night Football” broadcast, so the entire nation had a front-row seat to the black-and-orange display. “Best fans. Where else would you rather be than Cincinnati, Ohio?” head coach Zac Taylor said after the game. Amen. bengals.com

Best Serene Riverwalk

The Licking River Greenway in Covington is two miles of riverside strolling, part of the Licking River Greenway and Trails that aims to connect Covington, Taylor Mill, Wilder and Newport. The terrain is flat with sections of pavement, gravel and grass, and 17 murals decorate the path along the tranquil river, mostly painted on gate wells (waterflow regulators). Despite its central location, the journey feels secluded; there aren’t any major roads nearby, so the sound pollution is minimal and the mildly dense woods create a beautiful canopy. covingtonky.gov.

Best Bengal Who Used to Be an Actor

Long before he donned Bengal stripes, wide receiver Trenton Irwin was a child actor. He quit show business during his freshman year of high school after shooting a

Florence Y’alls mascot, Y’All Star | Photo: Provided by the Florence Y’alls

commercial landed him on the bench the following Friday. He played for Stanford University and then for the Dolphins as a walk-on free agent before eventually finding his way to Cincinnati, where his football skills and contagious grin won Who Dey Nation over. twitter.com/trenton_4

Best Words of the 2022 Baseball Season

“Play ball!” That was music to the ears of fans, players and management alike once MLB teams finally took the field on April 7 after a 99-day pause, delaying the start of the season by a week. The league had been in hibernation since team owners had forced a player lockout after a prior collective-bargaining agreement had expired. The Major League Baseball Players Association and MLB team owners finally adopted a new CBA with slightly better incentives for players, which led to implications for the 2022 postseason as well as the seasons ahead. As part of the deal, there’s now an expanded playoff format that sees 12 teams (six per league) in the World Series hunt instead of 10. Will that help the Cincinnati Reds? Who knows. But the extra playing time means there’s always a chance. mlbplayers.com

Best Baseball Season Played in Vintage Uniforms

The Cincinnati Vintage Baseball Club plays baseball in the style of the pastoral game as it was when the Reds became the first professional baseball team in 1869 — before gloves even were used — with faithfully recreated uniforms and equipment. The club features two teams named after the local rivals of the era, the 1869 Red Stockings and the Cincinnati Buckeyes. They both play spring through fall against other regional teams as well as a few games against each other at parks in the Tristate area with a home base (no pun intended) at Heritage Village in Sharon Woods. It’s a nice relaxing day out amongst the preserved historic buildings in Heritage Village with America’s pastime as it was. cincyvbb.com

Best Unconventional ASMR Video Featuring Local Sounds

Forget rain sounds: Kings Island has an anxiety-busting ASMR video that’s sure to set you off to sleep (or at least make you want a funnel cake). The hour-long video features a large cranking gear pulling the cars on the Beast up its famous wooden hill. “The video that absolutely no one asked for, yet here it is,” the park wrote on YouTube. The steady click of the greasy wheel, the ocean-like waves of screams from thrilled coaster nuts: This is what the Calm app is missing. visitkingsisland.com.

Best Uniform Addition

Routine is good, but most people could use a little change every now and then — especially when it comes to style. The Bengals had a taste of that during the 2021 season with the “new stripes” uniforms, but the gear was missing an updated helmet. That finally arrived for the 2022 season, and the white helmet was exactly what fans had been clamoring for. Beginning this season, the NFL lifted its long-held rule that prohibited secondary or alternate helmets, and the team took full advantage. The Bengals paired the white tiger-striped helmet with a new alternate white “Color Rush” jersey and white pants, all with black stripes and lettering. The look debuted during the Sept. 29 home game against the Miami Dolphins before a recordsetting attendance, and Bengals fans already were sporting replicas of the new unis. bengals.com.

Best Catch at a Reds Game

The Reds’ 2022 season admittedly wasn’t the greatest, but sometimes heroes appear right when you need them. During a home game on April 26, Jacob Kingsley caught a pop-up foul ball while holding his infant son Shepherd, who was strapped to Kingsley’s chest in a baby sling. The ball blooped backwards on the third-base side, where Kingsley nonchalantly reached up with one hand and plucked it from the air as he fed little Shepherd a bottle. It was the play of the game — and probably even the season at that point. Not to be outdone, another fan at Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park caught a ball in his beer cup

about a month later. Both men made the national highlight reels and helped dour Reds fans through a major team drought.

Best Hike Uphill to See the Ohio River Valley

When you’re looking for your hike to get some elevation gains, the Bender Mountain trail system in Delhi is one of the best in the Cincinnati area. The trail starts at the bottom of a ravine and climbs a quick yet steep 469 feet in elevation, according to AllTrails. The entire trail loop is around 2.3 miles and includes some strenuous stretches, including steep slopes and rocky, uneven terrain. But it’s all worth it — at the top, you’re rewarded with a gorgeous view of the Ohio River and Kentucky. Throughout the spring and summer, the hillsides are blanketed in wildflowers, and if you wander far enough, you’ll also come upon a spooky little cemetery, where members of the Darby-Lee family rest in peace. westernwildlifecorridor.org.

Best Spot to Sit in Paycor Stadium

For many fans, seeing a Bengals game at Paycor Stadium feels like winning the lottery. But if you’re buying tickets anyway, splurge on verified resale club seats. While you’re not right on the sidelines, you’re close enough to hear helmets crunch while sitting in rather comfy seats. Depending on the weather, the club-only concessions area is heated or cooled and offers a vibe similar to a mall or airport terminal, making it several degrees better than anywhere else in the stadium. bengals.com.

The Beast at Kings Island | Photo: Paige Deglow

Thank you!

We are honored to be voted as the best real estate brokerage for another year!

The people have spoken and we can’t thank you enough.

Thanks for voting Good Samaritan Hospital, TriHealth Women's Services and TriHealth Physician Partners for “Best of Cincinnati” awards.

TriHealth’s Good Samaritan Hospital has been voted “Best Birthing/Maternity Center”, TriHealth Women’s Services, “Best OBGYN” and TriHealth Physician Partners has been named “Best Physician/Healthcare Practice” by CityBeat readers. We can’t thank you enough for voting for us — TriHealth is your partner for health care.

To learn more, go to TriHealth.com/CareNow. To find a doctor, call 513 569 5400.