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

Porch at Washington Park

1230 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine
Head over to Washington Park and enjoy a selection of local beer, seasonal cocktails, canned wine and more. The bar offers seating on the porch or on the lawn, so BYOB (bring your own blanket). Tables and heaters are located under the covered patio for when the weather isn't cooperating. Kids can enjoy the massive lawn and playground at the park and for dog parents out there, Washington Park offers a dog park for pups to play and get their zoomies out.

Bridgeview Box Park

1 Levee Way, Newport
Bridgeview Box Park, a cluster of small food, drink and shopping vendors, is open year-round, but the best time to visit is when the weather is nice. The establishments are housed next to each other in shipping-like containers — hence “box park” — and are interspersed among a common outdoor area. The breezy space overlooks the Ohio River and city and features turf lounge areas, string lights and outdoor games like corn hole and giant Jenga.

Fifty West Brewing

7605 Wooster Pike, Mariemont
Fifty West has tons of activities for kids to enjoy, like several sand volleyball courts, cornhole and pickelball, plus an ice skating rink in the winter. The brewery hub also has a Burger Bar serving up a menu of bread-and-butter diner specialties like classic cheeseburgers, flat-top hot dogs and loaded crinkle cut fries. Don’t miss the 12 specialty burgers named for the 12 states that U.S. Route 50 runs through. Grab a house-made root beer or orange soda to wash it all down, or choose from a wide range of Fifty West canned, bottled or draft beers.

Purrfect Day Cafe

25 W. Eighth St., Covington.
For your animal-obsessed kid, reserve a 50-minute session to cuddle with kitties in Purrfect Day Cafe’s cat lounge room. Roughly 15-20 adoptable cats hang out in the lounge room, and all can be interacted with. Grab a snack like the "Paw-Pcorn" or "Purr-Etzels" and a drink— they offer up a variety of beers, wines and cocktails like the "Purrfect Meowmosa."

Pins Mechanical Co.

1124 Main St., Over-the-Rhine
Pins is full of fun and games for both kids and adults, including duck pin bowling, ping pong, foosball and pinball machines. There are 36 beers on tap and loads of imaginative cocktails for the adults — plus mocktails for kids and anyone not drinking. Customers can also head over to Goodfellas Pizza down the street and bring it into Pins.

Dead Low Brewing

5959 Kellogg Ave., California
Dead Low Brewing is located within walking distance of Coney Island and Riverbend Music Center. The massive space features a taproom, beer garden and kitchen. They serve up beer, cider and seltzer brewed on-site, as well as a made-from-scratch food menu featuring burgers, sandwiches, pizza, wings, and salad; there's also a dedicated kids menu and several vegetarian options.

The Wicked Pickle

123 Railroad Ave., Loveland
The Wicked Pickle, located along the Loveland Bike Trail, is an amazing spot to sip on a drink, eat some barbecue and watch bikers on the trail. This dog-friendly establishment has live music, a full bar and a menu stuffed with delicious items that feature their house-smoked pork. The little ones can enjoy a kid's menu with classic items like griddle cheese, sliders and key lime pie for dessert.

Madtree Brewing's Oakley Taproom

3301 Madison Rd., Oakley
MadTree’s massive 10,000-square-foot beer garden is a fun family hangout. With nearly 50 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.

Rhinegeist

1910 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine
Aside from serving up delicious ales, Rhinegeist also offers games like ping pong and cornhole. The taproom is 21+ after 8 p.m. on Thursday-Saturday nights and the rooftop is always 21+.

Kings Island

6300 Kings Island Drive, Mason
At one of the largest amusement parks and water parks in the Midwest, there are plenty of thrill rides, family-friendly rides, daily live shows, water slides and traditional carnival games to keep the entire family entertained for hours. Alcoholic beverages are available at various hubs around the park, including the Bier Garten, Coconut Cove Bar (located in Soak City) and the Miami River Brewhouse.

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.

Vinoklet Winery

11069 Colerain Ave., Colerain
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.

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. It's the perfect place to sip your beer while the kiddos play.

Kenwood Theatre

Now located at 5901 E. Galbraith Road, Suite 200, Kenwood
This locally-owned state-of-the-art theater screens everything from commercial to indie to foreign films. The bar offers plenty of local, domestic and craft beers, as well as wine and spirits.

Eli’s BBQ

3313 Riverside Dr., East Side
Eli’s has a great outdoor space with areas for kids to run around and have fun, plus picnic tables for dining, both in the sun and the shade. Celebrate a spring afternoon with a cold brew and some delicious barbecue like their pulled pork sandwich with a side of jalapeño cheddar grits and baked beans. Bring your own beer and enjoy the warmth by the river.

Cartridge Brewing

1411 Grandin Road, Maineville
Head down to the banks of the Little Miami River where Cartridge Brewing sits inside of the historic Peters Cartridge Factory. Their menu features shareables like nachos and pretzels with beer cheese, plus pizza, sandwiches and more. While you're there, be sure to grab a cocktail or one of their house-made brews. The brewery sits right along the Loveland Bike trail, making it the perfect stop while taking your kids on a ride.

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. Pro tip: Head to the bathroom to see more than three decades’ worth of collected beer labels.

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.

Warped Wing Brewing

5650 Tylersville Road, Mason
Dayton-based Warped Wing Brewing Company opened its Mason location in February. The 13,000-square-foot location — in the former Brazenhead and Basil's on Market space — features a large taproom with many of Warped Wing's popular beers, like the Trotwood Lager, and collaboration with Mason-based Sonder Brewing, Ryesing Tides. The food menu will make any hungry kid happy with tons of junk food options like smoked wings, loads of sandwiches, tacos, platters and sharable options that feature house-smoked meats.

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 where you can grab a bite and a drink and sit back while your kids play at the enormous playground.