20 Kid-Friendly Cincinnati Spots Where Parents Can Get a Damn Drink

Rhinegeist

1910 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine
A large brewery and event space in historic Over-the-Rhine (housed in an old Moerlein bottling plant) producing hoppy and sessionable ales. The brewery offers games like ping pong and cornhole. Taproom is 21+ after 8 p.m. on Thursday-Saturday nights and rooftop is always 21+.
Photo: Hailey Bollinger

Brink Brewing

5905 Hamilton Ave., College Hill
This College Hill brewery is loaded with features that encourage interaction, including a 20-seater community table, reclaimed-wood bar and a gigantic Scrabble board that’s very popular with patrons after a few pints from the brewery’s wide-reaching tap list, or with kids who want something to do while their parents sip and chat. Head to the bathroom to see more than three decades’ worth of collected beer labels.
Photo: Hailey Bollinger

Rotolo

1 Levee Way, Newport
Newport's Axis Alley recently reopened as Rotolo, an all-ages entertainment hub that offers bowling, bocce ball, billiards, air hockey, giant checkers, giant Connect Four, and giant Jenga — and more. They also offer a full bar and kitchen.
Photo via Facebook/RotoloNewport

Dewey’s Pizza

Multiple locations
This popular pizza chain offers a slew of creative pies — from barbecue chicken to a Killer Veggie — plus a nice selection of wine and local brews on tap. Each location also boasts large windows to see into the kitchen, allowing guests to watch their pizzas being made. Kids are encouraged to watch as cooks roll and hand-toss dough, add ingredients and put the finished product in the oven; adults are more than welcome, too.
Photo via Facebook.com/DeweysPizza

16-Bit Bar+Arcade

1331 Walnut St., Over-the-Rhine
16-Bit has more than 50 free arcade games and a tasty selection of celeb-inspired cocktails for you to slurp down as you relive your childhood nerdy nostalgia sans the quarters. You play for free if you’re drinking, and things go kid-friendly from noon-5 p.m. every Sunday during Shorty Day. Check out booze-free drinking options like the Little Mermaid with orange and pineapple juice and grenadine.
Photo: Patty Salas

Kenwood Theatre

7815 Kenwood Road, Kenwood
This locally owned state-of-the-art theater screens everything from commercial to indie to foreign films. Tickets are only $5 on Tuesday (some restrictions apply) and on Thursdays the theater offers $3 beers until 9 p.m. The bar offers plenty of local, domestic and craft beers, as well as wine and spirits.
Photo via Google Maps

Taft’s Brewpourium

4831 Spring Grove Ave., Spring Grove Village
Taft’s Brewpourium is in an old streetcar warehouse and serves New Haven “apizza” — a crispy and coal-fired version of Neapolitan pizza. The space is industrial, big and very family-friendly; you’ll see plenty of kids and parents camped out at the interior picnic tables any time you visit. There’s also a fun game area with options like Pop-A-Shot in the back if you don’t trust your kids with the weighted table shuffleboard pucks.
Photo: Hailey Bollinger

Red Balloon Cafe + Play

6200 Montgomery Road, Pleasant Ridge
Pleasant Ridge’s Red Balloon Café + Play is a one-stop destination for baby care, play time and to grab a quick meal. While the menu has a number of kid-friendly options (cheese sticks, turkey cubes, freeze-dried strawberries), parents are welcome to let the playroom take the kids off their hands for a while and dine solo on scratch-made meals. They also offer wine, beer and mixed-drinks.
Photo: Brittany Thornton

Darkness Brewing

224 Fairfield Ave., Bellevue
What started as homebrewing experimentation between friends led to the opening of Darkness Brewing. The spirit of adventure is still quite alive in the Bellevue taproom, located just down the street from Party Source. Their specialty is dark beers, but they offer a variety of different brews ranging from pale ales to golden imperial stouts and session ales. Aside from their brews, Darkness has a wide variety of board and card games, live music, a petite art gallery and a food truck located right outside the building. Have a brew while the kiddos play.
Photo: Hailey Bollinger

MadTree Brewing

3301 Madison Road, Oakley
MadTree’s massive 10,000-square-foot beer garden is a fun family hangout — and in the winter, the patio is tented and heated. With 32 MadTree-exclusive taps, ambient lighting and an industrial brick façade leftover from the building’s factory days, there’s more than enough space to accommodate all the beer-drinking, cornhole-playing, dog-loving humans that hang at MadTree on the regular.
Photo: Phil Heidenreich

Sonder Brewing

8584 Duke Blvd., Mason
Sonder Brewing built its brewery and taproom on what was a vacant lot consisting of a 40-foot mound of dirt and a fire hydrant a few miles away from Kings Island. The brewery opened in the fall of 2018 and has a 2,000-square-feet taproom, an outdoor patio which is tented and heated in the winter and a large family-friendly lawn space.
Photo via Facebook.com/SonderBrewing

Vinoklet Winery

11069 Colerain Ave., Bevis
Thirty acres of picturesque rolling hills and ponds comprise the only working winery with a vineyard in Hamilton County. Kids can burn off energy running around and on Friday and Saturday night, dinner gets interactive at the Vinoklet restaurant: Mom and dad get a wine tasting plus a bottle of wine before picking up a strip steak, chicken breast, salmon or other protein to grill themselves, accompanied by a buffet. Kids get a half portion of steak or chicken with their buffet, and those under 5 eat free.
Photo: Catie Viox

Wiedemann’s Fine Beer

4811 Vine St., St. Bernard
Betsy and Jon Newberry are responsible for reviving the Wiedemann's brand and have converted a former funeral home into one of Cincinnati’s most charming brewery/taprooms. With a full kitchen, game room and patio, it’s perfect for families.
Photo: Hailey Bollinger

West Side Brewery

3044 Harrison Ave., Westwood
Overseen by four passionate homebrewers, the taproom offers 20 West Side beer taps, including West Side’s amber ale, common ale, pale ale and more, plus a handful of other local brews, cider, wine and soda. The bar also offers a ton of TVs and games.
Photo: Megan Waddel

Rivertown Brewery & Barrel House

6550 Hamilton Lebanon Road, Monroe
Step into the Barrel House (aka the taproom) and two of the best things in the world are before you: free-to-play retro arcade games and fresh, delicious beer. The 30-tap interior — and 24-tap patio — are family-friendly with a special Barrel House food menu aimed at kiddos under 12. Kids meals come with a drink; Rivertown has their own special house-crafted rootbeer so while mom and dad try a clever peanut butter tiramisu porter, the little ones can feel like they’re drinking something special, too.
Photo: Paige Deglow

GameWorks

1 Levee Way Suite #2130, Newport
This amusement center located at Newport on the Levee offers plenty of arcade games (for adults or kids), pub food and beer.
Photo via Facebook.com/GameWorksNewport

Kings Island

6300 Kings Island Drive, Mason
The largest amusement park and waterpark in the Midwest. There are thrill rides, family rides (like a one-third scale replica of the Eiffel Tower), daily live shows, Soak City Waterpark, the world’s largest animatronic dinosaur park and lots of traditional carnival games. Alcoholic beverages are available at various hubs around the park, including the Bier Garten, Coconut Cove Bar (located in Soak City) and the recently opened Miami River Brewhouse.
Photo via Facebook.com/VisitKingsIsland

Higher Gravity

4106 Hamilton Ave., Northside
These guys really want to help you love beer — so much so that they’ve installed iPads around the store to help you browse their inventory and find your perfect brew. Let their friendly “beeristas” pour you a flight, and don’t leave without visiting their growler and crawler station to take a cold one home with you. Higher Gravity is kid- and dog-friendly, as well as B.Y.O.F. (bring your own food), so bring the whole fam and order in something tasty from one of their Northside neighbors.
Photo: Paige Deglow

The Porch at Washington Park

1230 Elm St., Over-the Rhine
Washington Park's porch is the place to drink away the week’s worries with beer, wine and liquor. While it's technically closed for the season, they open occasionally when the weather warm enough, and have heaters going to stay cozy. Make sure to check out their social media for updates. Kids can play giant Jenga, giant Connect Four or giant checkers.
Photo via Facebook/WashingtonParkOTR

Summit Park

4335 Glendale Milford Road, Blue Ash
This seasonal suburban park not only hosts events like live music and festivals that utilize its 19,000-person-capacity lawn, but also features a 150-foot observation tower, a dog park and four restaurants so you can grab a bite and a drink and then let your kids play at the enormous playground.
Photo: Hailey Bollinger