Casual and relaxing dates are becoming more and more desirable as we find ourselves rushing through crazy work days, school, sporting events and all of the other hectic commitments that make up everyday life. When you’re craving a casual night with good food, a cold drink and conversation with your special someone, you can’t go wrong with dinner at your favorite local pub. Pub food is comfort food, and Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky are lucky to have a wealth of fantastic restaurants with some of the best pub fare around!
Cincinnati and surrounding areas:
- Nicholson’s Tavern & Pub – 625 Walnut St across from the Aronoff Center for the Arts. Scotch eggs, fish & chips and an excellent selection of single malt scotch.
- Senate – With hot dogs like the ‘Trailer Park’ and ‘Hello Kitty 2.0,’poutine and truffle fries — you are sure to find just the right bite to make all of your workday worries disappear.
- Arnold’s Bar & Grill – Arnold’s, Cincinnati’s oldest tavern, has an excellent selection of craft beer, small batch and single barrel bourbons and boasts such menu items as fried green tomatoes, wings, a crab cake po’boy, Yo Mamma’s Burger (which includes goetta) and Marty’s waffles and chicken — talk about comfort food!
- Brew River GastroPub – You might feel like you’ve stepped into a New Orleans pub when you hit Brew River GastroPub! Delicious menu items such as the Shrimp Po’Boy, BrewRiver Burger, Decatur Street ‘Muffaletta’ and Truffle Mac and Cheese will have your taste buds singing.
- MOTR Pub – Loaded fries, soft pretzels with bier cheese, ‘chili mac,’ an excellent selection of tasty adult beverages and great live music.
- Moerlein Lager House – Good beer, a full menu of good food. Onion rings, nachos, fried pickles and soft pretzels – what more can you ask for?
- The Pub at Rookwood – You can’t ever go wrong with the beer-battered fish and chips at The Pub. Then again, buffalo chicken mac and cheese, margherita flatbreads and a tried and true burger all sound amazing too. How to choose?
- Holy Grail – With two locations, you can always find a delicious meal at the Holy Grail. Chili cheese fries, onion rings, ball park pretzels…and have we mentioned the pizzas? Take your appetite, and your sweetheart, and dive in!
- Fretboard Brewing – Good food and great beer are perfect after a long day but so is listening to some sick jams. At Fretboard Brewing you get to do both!
Northern Kentucky –
- Cock and Bull Pub MainStrasse – Cock and Bull boasts an impressive tap list, they offer flights if you’re interested in trying multiple beers, an excellent bourbon list, delicious ginger beer mules…oh, and did we mention the food? Fish and chips, wings, Bavarian pretzels with bier cheese and so much more!
- Keystone Bar & Grill – Yes, they have the typical wings and loaded chips, and they are delicious, but what you really want to go for is the brisket poutine, and most definitely the mac and cheese. They have mac and cheese like no other – Pink Floyd, with bacon and carmelized onions, Buffalo Springfield, with buffalo chicken and bleu cheese and many more. What’s more comforting than mac and cheese?
- Molly Malone’s Irish Pub – You can’t get much more “authentic” than Molly Malone’s when you’re looking for pub food – bangers and mash, shepherd’s pie… The Irish Breakfast. Mussels, fried pickles, wings – they’ve got it all, and a cold brew to help wash it all down.
- Zola’s Pub and Grill – Rumor has it that Zola’s burgers are the best around, and their Cajun cheese fries are pretty tasty too. Plus, MainStrasse is home to many amazing shops and bars – perfect for a leisurely stroll after or before dinner.
We know we’ve missed some great spots, but there are so many fantastic NKY and Cincinnati pubs. Which is your favorite and what should we order?
