Named in honor of the video rental store where director Quentin Tarantino once worked, The Video Archive is a video store that doubles as a speakeasy, like a Blockbuster with a back-alley bar. Brought to you by Gorilla Cinema Presents, the same team behind Overlook Lodge, the Shining-themed bar in Pleasant Ridge, the front 100 square feet of Video Archive is dedicated to rentable grindhouse, indie and cult-classic films, from Disney’s Fantasia toHeathers, all stacked in bookcases. The first hint that things are not as they seem is the man who checks your ID at the door — and then recommends checking out a particular title on the wall. We won’t tell you which videotape opens the secret door into the 1,500-square-foot Tarantino-themed bar; you need to go to Video Archive and figure it out yourself. But once inside, the dark rooms, movies projected behind the bartenders, shattered mirrors and framed photos of Mia Wallace impersonators create something that is delightfully magical. The drinks have names like Mr. Pink, the Texas to Tokyo and Five Dollar Shake, which is ≠≠surprisingly actually just $5, full of alcohol and topped with whipped cream. The Video Archive, 965 E. McMillan St., Walnut Hills, thatgrindhousebar.com.
2. Molly Wellmann (Japp’s)
3. Nonta Perkins (MOTR Pub)
2. Justin Simmons (Sundry and Vice)
3. Bennett Cooper (16-Bit Bar+Arcade)
Popular Northside brewery/venue Urban Artifact attracts a crowd with fresh beer and mostly free live music — it even has a Swing dance night on certain Sunday afternoons, and longtime local favorites the Blue Wisp Big Band perform every Wednesday. Its appeal also expands beyond the expected age range for a “bar.” The brewery has a huge selection of board games and allows kids in with accompanying adults, so some evenings can turn into genuine family affairs, especially on warmer nights, with parents letting their kids run around in the yard between the converted church and the rectory buildings. And you thought the only options for “beer-assisted family game night” were at home or at an overcrowded Dave and Buster’s. Urban Artifact, 1660 Blue Rock St., Northside, 513-620-4729, artifactbeer.com.
Shopping locally is a great way to avoid those nightmarish day-after-Thanksgiving (aka “Black Friday”) sales at the mall or chain retail outlet stores. And if the person you’re buying a present for is a big music fan, Cincinnati musicians are now regularly providing some cool Black Friday options for your gift list. Timed to Record Store Day’s nationwide Black Friday alternative, local record shops in 2016 offered exclusives from local artists like Country singer/songwriter Jeremy Pinnell (who reissued an expanded vinyl version of his stellar OH/KY album) and Wussy (which put out the rare Funeral Dress II acoustic album on vinyl for the first time). Legendary downtown bar Arnold’s Bar and Grill and Neltner Small Batch Records also teamed up for a great local-music holiday compilation (issued on vinyl), featuring Christmas-themed songs by Honey and Houston, The Part-Time Gentlemen, The Tillers and many other superb Roots/Americana acts.
