Taste of Cincinnati All Winter Long is a new program facilitated through the city and the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber Foundation that has provided $4 million in grants to Cincinnati bars and restaurants to help them through the winter months of the pandemic.
Specifically geared to those food and drink establishments within city limits, the initiative gave away $17,000 grants for full-service restaurants and $8,500 grants for bars and limited-service restaurants to “sustain the city’s restaurant economy and retain jobs in the service industry throughout the 2020-2021 winter season,” per a release.
“As temperatures have dropped and patrons are moving to indoor, socially-distanced dining and drinking, Cincinnati’s bars and restaurants are in critical need of our support. The City of Cincinnati and the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber Foundation are excited to provide these grants and we ask that everyone support local eateries and pubs, all winter long, whether dining in, carrying out, drive-thru or delivery,” said Mayor John Cranley.
And after all the numbers are in, 272 local bars and restaurants received funding support from the program.
Here’s a list:
In order to get a grant, restaurants and bars also had to craft “creative promotions” to drive customer traffic.
For example, Arnold’s Bar and Grill is offering half-off happy hours, Boomtown Biscuits & Whiskey is taking 10% off your bill if you mention Taste of Cincinnati All Winter Long, Brown Bear Bakery is giving away a free coffee (or tea) with any pastry purchase, HomeMakers Bar is offering 10% off cocktails, Salazar is offering 10% off to all dine-in guests, and more. (So far there’s 268 deals listed on the website.)
You can check out all the deals at tasteofcincinnati.com.
“We know there’s light at the end of the tunnel but our businesses, specifically restaurants and bars, continue to find creative and innovative ways to journey through that tunnel. These Taste of Cincinnati All Winter Long grants will help fuel imagination and sustain employment as we look to warmer and brighter days in spring and summer of 2021,” said Jill P. Meyer, president and CEO of the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber.
Get more details and find a map of restaurants (coming soon) at tasteofcincinnati.com.
This article appears in The Holiday Issue.