The 21 Hottest New Restaurants in Cincinnati Right Now

Nolia

1405 Clay St., Over-the-Rhine
Nolia opened April 19 and is Cincinnati’s newest Southern-style restaurant, serving unique dishes inspired by Chef Jeff Harris’ upbringing in New Orleans while still staying authentic to himself rather than to his hometown’s traditional cuisine. Situated in the space formerly occupied by Please (famous for its selfie-friendly bathroom and James Beard Award-winning chef) the dining environment is upscale yet approachable, offering a menu stacked with dishes like delectable smoked chicken and Alabama white sauce, cider-stewed collard greens, redfish court-bouillon and much more. All of the side dishes are vegan and, while you should not expect them to play ragtime or serve hurricane cocktails in novelty cups, their drink menu will truly laissez les bon temps rouler, non?

Alcove

400-1410 Vine St. in Over-the-Rhine
MadTree Brewing has opened a multi-level Over-the-Rhine bar, restaurant and event space called Alcove. MadTree describes Alcove's main bar and restaurant as containing "a large bar, light-filled lounges, dining areas and an intimate private dining room for small groups." The space also features a "lush outdoor patio space for lounging and dining." The food menu is focused on farm-to-table dishes created by chef Stephen Williams of Bouquet Restaurant and Spoon: Kitchen and Market. The drink menu features housemade cocktails — utilizing herbs grown in that aforementioned greenhouse — and MadTree’s own brews will be on tap at the three bars located throughout. From a design standpoint, Alcove is stuffed with live greenery from Urban Blooms in every corner, creating a secret-garden-like feeling with living feature walls. In the event loft on the third floor, there's even a massive chandelier made of ferns.

La Cantina

326 E. Eighth St., Downtown
The former Cheapside Cafe space downtown has gotten new life thanks to local Crown Restaurant Group (Crown Republic Gastropub, Losanti, Rosie’s Cocktails & Pies). It is now home to La Cantina, a restaurant offering a self-described mix of “contemporary, authentic Mexican cuisine and cocktails.” La Cantina started as a pop-up at Crown Republic Gastropub in July of last year. The menu there featured dishes including elote, Baja fish tacos and chicken mole, and the full restaurant offers similar inspiration. The cocktail program focuses on mezcal and tequila, featuring more than 50 agave-based spirits. La Cantina also carries Mexican coke, Topo Chico and horchata.

Mama’s

621 Main St., Covington
Covington’s Main Street — the heart of historically designated MainStrasse Village — boasts one of the best assortments of restaurants in Greater Cincinnati. A lion’s share of credit for that abundance goes to a restaurant group informally known as Otto’s Restaurant Family. MainStrasse residents Emily Wolff and Paul Weckman opened Otto’s in 2003. That was their only restaurant for more than 10 years, but since 2015 Wolff and Weckman have added popular Mexican eatery Frida and two casual spots at opposite ends of the commercial strip of Main Street: The Standard and Larry’s. And now the duo has Mama’s on Main, which opened in March, bringing traditional, pasta-oriented Italian fare to the neighborhood. If the difficulty getting a weekend reservation is any indicator, Mama’s has been a gold-plated hit right off the bat.

Soul Secrets

1434 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine
Entrepreneur Candice Holloway is bringing a taste of her grandmother's cooking to Over-the-Rhine. Holloway officially opened Soul Secrets, a Southern-style comfort food eatery, on April 30. The fast-casual restaurant focuses on soul food with a menu that includes family-recipe fried chicken, fried fish, cornbread, collard greens, hoppin' John and mac and cheese, plus a selection of meat-free dishes like vegan salisbury steak and vegan pot pie. Brunch will launch this summer with items including shrimp and grits and chicken and waffles.

Decibel Korean Fried Chicken

922 E McMillan St., Walnut Hills
From humble beginnings come great things — especially when we’re talking about Decibel Korean Fried Chicken. Brought to Cincinnati by the crew behind Dope! Asian Street Food, Decibel is the city’s first Korean fried chicken joint. The outfit now has a storefront location in Walnut Hills, adjacent to Esoteric Brewing, but Decibel launched in 2021 as an unnamed fried chicken pop-up in the Kroger On the Rhine food court, where the Dope! stall already was seeing great success. For the uninitiated, Korean fried chicken is an airier, crispier iteration of Southern-style fried chicken. Gone are the browned crunchy bits that stud American fried chicken; instead, Korean fried chicken is sheathed in a lightly golden-brown crust. Biting into Korean fried chicken might be best described as shattering that crust, and the crunch is outrageous.

Heyday

1527 Madison Road, East Walnut Hills
This new burger joint in East Walnut Hills is sizzling with promise. Hailing from the owners of O Pie O, Heyday opened in the former pie cafe location on April 6. Owner Lou Ginocchio tells CityBeat in an email that Heyday will serve up a simple menu “using high-quality ingredients with employees who get the respect they deserve.” Guests can dine in or carry out flattop-smashed burgers and a side of Heyday’s unique hand-cut, dry-cured fries. Guests can also indulge in burgers and all of the fixings in the restaurant's dining room, patio space or across the street at The Growler House, where they can order the full Heyday menu and get it delivered to their table.

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 features smoked wings plus loads of sandwiches, tacos, platters and sharable options that feature house-smoked meats.

Bandito Park + Cantina

3543 Columbia Parkway, Columbia Tusculum
Bandito Food Park + Cantina, developed by Yolo Restaurant Group, opened in December. Yolo — made up of Ed Biery and local restaurateurs Trang Vo and Tobias Harris (of Lalo) — calls Bandito a “one-of-a-kind restaurant and event venue featuring an atmosphere that expresses an outer parklike celebration complete with fun food and beverages offered to match.” To accomplish that vibe, the interior of Bandito features a bar, a “container-like counter” and vintage trailer where guests can order food, picnic tables, fake turf floors and string lights. The menu includes tacos, burgers, chicken, hot dogs, salads, bowls and homemade salsas and sauces served up by executive chef Antonio Anaya.

Café Alma

6111 Montgomery Road, Pleasant Ridge
Health-focused Mediterranean restaurant Café Alma recently opened its doors in the former space occupied by Molly Malone's Irish Pub in Pleasant Ridge. The cafe creates delicious but healthy dishes by using high-quality ingredients packed with good flavors. Breakfast offers everything from a build-your-own omelet to four different options of the Middle Eastern breakfast favorite shakshuka. Heading into lunch, they have salad and sandwiches all packed with fresh ingredients. Café Alma also offers a full bar that features items like the Eddie Colada and the Molly Malone, an homage to the building's previous occupants made with coffee, Irish whiskey, cane sugar and topped with whipped cream. If you're looking for something non-alcoholic, grab one of the cafe's many imaginative coffees like their creamy Nutella latte.

Genki Ramen

3200 Vandercar Way, Oakley
The popular Japanese-style ramen restaurant now boasts a third location in Oakley. The small chain's newest location opened in April. Genki is expanding quickly, having opened its first location in Mason in June 2020 and the second in West Chester in November 2021. Stop by any of the spots and choose from over ten different types of ramen —like their shio paitan, which consists of an enticing blend of chicken broth, kikurage mushrooms, bamboo shoots, fish cakes, a soft boiled egg and barbecue pork.

Ford's Garage

2692 Madison Road Suite 115, Norwood
This Florida-based beer-and-burger chain with a tie to Henry Ford — as in the Ford Motor Company — recently opened in Rookwood Commons & Pavilion. Ford's Garage, based out of Fort Myers, Florida — where Henry Ford had a winter home — is an official licensee of the Ford Motor Company and plays off that aspect by channeling a "1920s service station/prohibition bar" vibe. The menu is focused on black angus beef burgers. According to the restaurant, the burgers are dressed with "natural aged cheeses, fresh toppings, and sauces on artisan buns branded with the Ford’s Garage logo."

Green District

33 E. Sixth St. (in the Fifth Third Center lobby), Downtown
Louisville-based build-your-own salad chain Green District is jumping into the Cincinnati market with a splash (or a crunch — whatever sound salads make). In July, Green District announced they would be setting up shop on Fountain Square — their first location in Ohio. That restaurant opened Jan. 11. But the company has also signed leases to open storefronts in two other area neighborhoods in 2022: Clifton and Blue Ash. The chain’s menu includes a handful of signature salads, plus wraps and bowls. You can also build your own from a selection of more than 50 ingredients and 12 Green District dressings. The menu also features salads with a local lean, like the 513, made with Grippo’s-spiced barbecue chicken, romaine, red cabbage, carrot, tomato, pickled jalapeno, cheddar, crispy onions, a barbecue drizzle and ranch dressing.

Just Frites

1621 Dana Ave., Norwood
We all know that sometimes side dishes can be the stars of the show and Just Frites knows exactly what's up. The new fry-focused kitchen opened inside of Listermann Brewing Co. in March. The menu sticks to the restaurant's namesake, serving up everything fry-related from plain fries to rotating specials of super-loaded bites like the You’ve Mett Your Match, french fries topped with liquid cheese, jalapeños and Queen City Hot Metts.

Knox Joseph Distillery at OTR Stillhouse

2017 Branch St., Over-the-Rhine
The OTR Stillhouse is a distillery, winery and brewery in one. Located in a former 1890s ice manufacturing warehouse, it’s also home to an entertainment venue with indoor and outdoor space. From entrepreneur Michele Hobbs (who launched PetWants) and partners including Master Distiller Chris Mitchell, a founder and former head brewer of Woodburn Brewing, and Dr. Tom Asquith, who worked as a whiskey scientist for Brown Forman, the in-house Knox Joseph Distillery produces award-winning gin, bourbon and blended whiskey. Describing itself as a “half-acre of relaxation within OTR,” the Stillhouse opened in December. In addition to cocktails, beer and housemade rootbeer and cream soda, the kitchen serves a small menu of smoked and grilled food, including fried tofu, wagyu burgers and bao buns with chicken thighs.

Son of a Butcher

7630 Gibson St., Liberty Township
The team behind Agave & Rye seems to have conquered the eccentric taco world and has now set its sights on steakhouses. The company’s new Son of a Butcher — colloquially referred to as S.O.B. — opened March 1 at Shindig Park, an event space in Liberty Center also helmed by the Agave & Rye team. Yavonne Sarber, founder of S.O.B. and Agave & Rye, tells CityBeat via email that the restaurant is “evolving the stuffy steakhouse into something magical.” Sarber says the look of S.O.B. plays off the same ethos of the Alice-in-Wonderland-meets-Baroque design of the Agave & Rye locations. Sarber says the menu features “something for everyone,” highlighting USDA Prime cuts, wagyu, caviar, shaved truffles and “gold leaf options.” There is a sweet and spicy bacon and blue cheese burger and a chopped salad. For vegetarians, look for cauliflower steaks and black truffle gnocchi.

El Barril Mexican Sports Bar & Grill

940 Pavilion Ave., Mount Adams
El Barril Mexican Sports Bar & Grill opened last fall and takes over the space formerly occupied by Next Chapter. As its name suggests, the eatery is part restaurant — boasting both Mexican street food and bar bites — and part sports bar. The menu ranges from street tacos, piled-high nachos and meat-stuffed burritos to more traditional bar food like loaded burgers, mozzarella sticks and wings. Enjoy your feast in one of three indoor dining areas, or on the first- or second-floor patios

BBQ High Life

3715 Madison Road, Oakley
Oakley Kitchen Food Hall welcomed a new barbecue spot, BBQ High Life, on March 1. Previously based in Goshen, High Life offered carry-out and catering services. Its new menu at the Oakley Kitchen consists of six signature sandwiches and four classic barbecue side options. The eatery serves everything from a classic pulled-pork sandwich to the “Big Red Smokey,” which is made with split andouille sausage and topped with pulled pork and coleslaw.

The Arepa Place

1517 Springfield Pike, Wyoming
Findlay Market favorite The Arepa Place has opened a storefront in the suburb of Wyoming, with its grand opening held Feb. 24. Arepa Place started as a pop-up specializing in arepas at Over-the-Rhine’s Findlay Market in 2016, before expanding into a full storefront there. The new location takes over the space formerly occupied by CWC, the Restaurant. Drawing on her Colombian heritage, owner Isis Arrieta-Dennis says the Arepa Place in Wyoming features the same fast-casual dining style guests experience at the Findlay Market location.

Cantina Agave

4110 Hamilton Ave., Northside
Cantina Agave is a Latin-inspired dining and drinking destination in Northside. Located in the former Taqueria 251 space, the menu includes everything from tacos and margaritas to birria, chicharrones and churros. And, in addition to a massive patio and live music, the restaurant also offers a dedicated late-night menu available everyday until close "while supplies last," they say.