Let’s face it: As kids, sometimes we just do not inherit our parents’ talents. And that’s okay. But when business owners or organization leaders hand the reins to their kids, it could spell disaster (or just changes customers don’t care for).

This sparked a discussion on the Cincinnati subreddit this month where user trbotwuk posed the question: “What kids inherited the parents’ Cincinnati business and ruined it?” What followed was a list of restaurants, businesses and even sports teams these redditors felt were damaged by keeping them in the family. Keep scrolling to see some of the places they mentioned.

“Mike Brown” -u/I_am_from_Kentucky & u/Hershey78 “Anybody mention Mike Brown?” -u/KaleidoscopeLow8084 “Agreed. Small aside: it seems like his daughters are trying to reverse the ship a bit. (Not a MB fan in anyway, but trying to be objective). But 100% spot on regarding Mike Brown.” -u/BedaHouse “You could also say Katie inherited and improved it.” -u/Keregi “Eh, the jury is still out on Katie. It definitely helps that the team lucked into getting Joe Burrow at the same time as a regime change. We’ll see how this success lasts.” -u/THECapedCaper “A bit? I mean, Mike Brown sucks as an owner overall but there’s no way his daughter and granddaughter (who’s awesome, btw) take over without him realizing his own archaic 20th century pre-free agency shortcomings, even if it took him 3 decades and most of my liver to get there. So while there’s not a huge ceiling to the hyperbolic criticism that can be leveled at Mike as an owner, let’s not engage in reverse hyperbole here either against his brood, for much like Mike is an apple that fell far from the Paul Brown Football Family IQ Tree, Kate and Elizabeth seem to be a closer fall so far. I mean shit, we went to the Superbowl two seasons ago and narrowly lost, narrowly lost in the AFCN champ game last year and like clockwork, the early season .500 football team is waking up again. I waited 30 years for ONE playoff win, I am an embarrassment of football riches now, my cup overfloweth.” -u/warthog0869 Photo: Aidan Mahoney
Jeff Wyler “Jeff Wyler, his family and his businesses can go fuck all the way off. I will ride public transportation in Cincinnati before I step on to one of their lots ever again.” -u/oldshitdoesntcare “Def Jeff Wyler.. they suuuuuuuuuuuuuck” -u/Jackn_my_peepee Photo: Google Maps
Phil Castellini and the Reds “Where ya gonna go?” -u/Murky_Crow “Even when they get good players I’m not convinced they’ll make the most of them.” -u/0ttr “Look what the Castellinis did to the Reds. This used to be a Baseball town. Now some die hard fans I know say they do not care about baseball anymore. Worse, their kids strongly dislike watching baseball. I haven’t gone to a game in years even though our family used to have season tickets. At work no one talks about baseball anymore. come to think of it, are games every on TV anymore? No one I know even watches them on TV. Anyway, thanks to the Castellinis, the Reds will become the 4th or 5th most popular team here. Behind Xavier Basketball, FC Cincy, Bengals, maybe UC teams.” -[deleted] Photo: Anders Saling
“Swallen’s” -u/Cincinnative13 & u/Ramzulo “Swallen’s. Went downhill after the old man let the kids get outside [investors] and consultants involved. RIP.” -u/Villimaro “My Dad hated it there after his kids took over.” -u/Ruysmom7 “You knew things had changed, not for the better, when they made the decision to open the stores on Sunday. Slow, steady, ride downhill from there.” -u/xverdb Photo: Firesign/Flickr
LaRosa’s, July 2021 2411 Boudinot Ave., Westwood Photo: Google Maps
“Montgomery Inn” -u/insanecrossfire “Definitely decline with Montgomery Inn. We most likely won’t go back again. Very sad. Lots of great memories there. Nostalgia can’t fuel us anymore.” -u/ParticularEmploy1137 “We used to go back in the early 90s for everyone’s birthdays. So four times a year we were usually at Montgomery Inn for dinner and then a couple more times with the family we were really close with. Their food is nostalgic to me, especially the BBQ sauce. Some people don’t like it for being too sweet, but I still buy it to put on fries at home and to dip kettle chips into. Either my tastes have changed (they have, but some foods that have always been okay are still okay to me) or their quality has dropped. The last time I was there the ribs had the bitter creosote taste you get from smoking meat with too much smoke which was weird because I thought they weren’t smoked. I haven’t been since a birthday for my dad about 3 or 4 years ago and really don’t have any plans to go back. If I’m going for BBQ in going to Pig Candy, Lucius Q, Just Q’in or even staying close to home and waiting for one of my favorite BBQ food trucks to be nearby.” -u/SafewordisJohnCandy Photo: Paige Deglow
Empower Media Marketing “Empower media marketing. It was one of the city’s biggest marketing agencies, built up over 30 years. Mom gave it to her idiot son who sold it earlier this year to an out-of-town Ken and Barbie couple who hate Cincinnati in general and OTR (where they’re headquartered) in particular. The results have been disastrous. The turnover is so bad that they sent a cease and desist to P&G, threatening them for “poaching” former employees. I’m sure P&G is very scared. And there’s little chance they stay in Cincinnati.” -u/potroastfanatic “Glad this made the list. Reality tv trash took it over and fumbled the bag instantly. Couldn’t have happened to a less capable duo.” -u/SweetManbrosia Photo: Empower Media Marketing/Wikimedia Commons
”The Comisars and Maisonette” -u/MissHellaCool “They murdered all of the family’s restaurants! Bulldozed Chester’s that was historicity gorgeous. So sad. Now it’s just a stupid car lot.” -u/ginger-blue “First thing that came to my mind. What a shame.” -u/Cincytraveler Photo: Google Maps
“Cincinnati Milacron” -u/HiHoCracker “This right here. My grandfather, father and both my brothers worked for Milacron. I saw the decline in real time through their eyes.” -u/NYSetDesigner “Is that really much of a surprise, though? It was never a huge player in the industry past the ’80s. They also didn’t do a great job of keeping up with the state of things. I don’t know if that was the kids’ fault or just a confluence of the market overall shrinking with heavy industry leaving the country.” -u/jacobobb Photo: Mesa Serikali
Rent a Canoe and Float Your Cares Away Along the Little Miami or Whitewater River Come summer, Cincinnatians flock to the Little Miami or Whitewater Rivers to canoe (the Ohio isn’t super paddler friendly). And there’s plenty of businesses to rent gear from. Experienced solo paddlers can visit Green Acres Canoe (10465 Suspension Bridge Road, Harrison, greenacrescanoe.com), which rents out single-person sit-on-top kayaks to those over 13 years old. Families, including pets, can rent from the Fort Ancient location of Morgan’s Canoe and Outdoor Adventures (5701 OH-350, Oregonia, morganscanoe.com), which offers a 3-mile bike trip with a walk back on the Little Miami Bike Trail. Or Loveland Canoe & Kayak (174 Karl Brown Way, Loveland, lovelandcanoe.com), a dog-friendly and family-friendly outfitter that offers easy floats past historic Loveland Castle. Photo: Savana Willhoite Photo: Savana Willhoite
Holtman’s Donut Shop 9558 Civic Centre Blvd., West Chester This Greater Cincinnati-based donut chain might already be familiar to Cincinnati residents, but it’s still worth stopping at their newer location further up I-75 to grab one last sweet treat before heading back down to the city. The family-owned bakery sells yeast and cake donuts made the old-fashioned way, but with a modern twist. Re-experience your favorite childhood cereals on top of a Fruity Pebbles or Lucky Charms round or indulge in a Maple Double Bacon pastry. They even sell a Oreo vegan donut for an animal-product-free sugar high. ASK FOR: A S’mores donut, which features a housemade glob of marshmallow perched on top of a chocolate and graham cracker-coated yeast donut. Photo: Jesse Fox Photo: Jesse Fox
“Izzy’s” -u/Working-Chemistry473 “Nobody’s said Izzy’s… I’m old enough to remember when the old man ran the one store downtown. Once he died and they expanded, it went downhill. Potato cakes are still good, but sandwich is super small and they wanna charge an arm and a leg.” -u/BullshitPickle Photo: Google Maps
Grote Bakery “Grote Bakery, I think? I remember the former bakery in Westwood turning into the campaign office for someone in the Grote family, and eventually I heard all the bakeries were gone. I grew up around the corner from the Westwood store. Good donuts and great cookies.” -u/PrettyCoolBear “Yes. The owner, Len left it to his sons and it didn’t end well…obviously.” -u/Human-Scheme-3632 Photo: Google Maps (4163 Hamilton Ave. was the former site of the Northside Grote Bakery; now Northside Tavern)
Mr. T’s Pizza “It’s probably not well known but Mr. T’s Pizza like 20 years ago, his son took over and it closed within months.” -u/Dog_the_unbarked “Holy shit. I grew up around the corner from there and low key forgot they ever existed.” -u/mobleshairmagnet Photo: Polina Tankilevitch/Pexels