The team behind Cincinnati’s monthly Sunday Tea Dances opened an LGBTQ+ nightclub called e|19 near Findlay Market in Over-the-Rhine, so you can party like it’s Sunday all week long. e19bar.com.
Best Of Cincinnati Music & Nightlife (Reader Picks): Cincinnati's best music and nightlife picks as selected by CityBeat readers
Reader Picks
Best Overall Bar/Club (Not Brewery/Taproom)
Best Bar/Club (Northern Kentucky)
Best Bar/Club for Live Music (Local Bands)
Best Bar/Club for Live Music (National Acts)
Best Beer Selection (Bottles & Cans)
Best Bourbon Selection (Retail)
Best Hard Seltzer/Sparkling Spirit
Best Place to Drink While You Wait for a Table
Best Of Cincinnati Music & Nightlife (Staff Picks): Cincinnati's best music and nightlife picks as selected by CityBeat staff
Staff Picks
Best Place to Party Like It’s Sunday
Best Inadvertent Patio Movie Sing-Alongs
Best Li’l Sebastian That Isn’t a Mini Horse
Best Book About Cincinnati’s Music History to Come Along in 2020
Best Member of The National to Win a Grammy for His Work on Taylor Swift’s folklore
Best Place for a Casual Gathering If You Don’t Have a Backyard
Best Worst Name for a Pumpkin-Flavored Beer
Best Basic Pumpkin Spice in a Can
Best Holiday Bar Pop-Up to Wear Your Worst Ugly Christmas Sweater
Best Socially Distant Concert on Wheels
Best Gift to Northern Kentucky’s The Lodge Recording Studio
Best Petite Pendleton Cocktail Escape
Best Very Specific Happy Hour Gimmick
Best Makeover for MainStrasse’s Pachinko
Best Jazzy Wine Bar with a Focus on Female and BIPOC Winemakers
Best Sold-Out Local Reunion Concert We Hope Happens Eventually
Best New Tiki Bar with a River View
Best Local Brewery Making a Beer Alternative That Isn’t Hard Seltzer
Best Over-the-Top Alcoholic Milkshakes
Best Cover Song Performance Organized by Cincinnati Children’s Hospital
Best Brewery Expansion Across the Ohio River
Best Local Front Porch Happy Hour Movement To Go National
Best Online Cocktail Class with its Own DIY Kit
Best Blend of Interpretative Composition and Historic Spaces
Best Beer Collaboration to Use Turkish Coffee
Best Brewery That Hosts Its Own Farmers Market
Best Funky Cocktail Kits You Can Make at Home — with a Playlist to Boot
Best Over-the-Rhine Craft Beer and Bottle Shop
Best Way to Turn America’s Largest Oktoberfest into a Socially Distant Celebration
Best Use of a Theater Marquee During a Pandemic
Over-the-Rhine’s Wodka Bar was the only one of the two dozenish bars across the country praised by Esquire in their most recent “Best Bars in America” list to be located in Cincinnati. Food & Drinks editor Jeff Gordinier wrote of the cocktail lounge, “The very existence of a bar devoted to vodka feels like a rebuke to all the bartenders who’ve scoffed at the spirit. But this spot takes the defiance a step further, offering shots of vodka infused with (among other things) mangoes and peanut brittle.” And, of course, plenty of pierogi and other Eastern European eats. wodkabarotr.com.
This winter, Longfellow crafted and bottled their own amaro, a popular herbal digestif, for purchase and in special themed snack packs. They also began making their own line of cocktail bitters, infused with chamomile and coriander, which fans can get to-go. longfellowbar.com.
1. Village Tavern
2. The Monkey Bar & Grille
3. March First Brewing
1. Northside Yacht Club
2. Tillie’s Lounge
3. The Comet
1. Below Zero Lounge
2. Arnold’s Bar and Grill
3. 16-Bit Bar+Arcade
1. Streetside Brewery
2. Latitude’s Bar & Bistro
3. Mount Lookout Tavern
1. Crazy Fox Saloon
2. Southgate House Revival
3. Old Kentucky Bourbon Bar
1. Knotty Pine Rock Club & Tiki Bar
2. The Crow’s Nest
3. Blue Note Harrison
