Margarita Madness At The Purple People Bridge : May 17th

Celebrate Cinco de Mayo With a Bar Crawl at The Banks

Six bars at The Banks will offer food and drink specials, and La Fórmula mariachi band will perform live at the plaza.

Apr 29, 2024 at 3:32 pm

The Stretch's Cinco de Mayo special Photo: facebook.com/thestretchcincy

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Cinco de Mayo is bringing a Sunday full of festivity and good food and drinks to The Banks in downtown Cincinnati this weekend. To mark the holiday (a celebration of the Mexican army’s defeat of France at the Battle of Puebla during the Franco-Mexican War in 1862), six bars at The Banks will be taking part in a special bar crawl.

The Cinco de Mayo Bar Crawl is happening on Sunday, May 5 from 4-9 p.m., following the Flying Pig Marathon. Participating bars will offer food and drink specials, and attendees can catch a live performance on the plaza from La Fórmula mariachi band from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Guests will also be able to take advantage of the DORA and enjoy beverages both indoors and outdoors.

Participating bars include:

Fishbowl at The Banks (141 E. Freedom Way)
Holy Grail (161 Joe Nuxhall Way)
Jefferson Social (101 E. Freedom Way)
Killer Queen (180 E. Freedom Way)
Tin Roof (160 E. Freedom Way)

The Stretch (191 E. Freedom Way) will also be participating, with its special running from noon to midnight Sunday. Pacífico beer will be $5 and margaritas (take your pick of strawberry, grapefruit, wild berry, mango or pineapple) will be $8.

Participants can pick up a free Cinco de Mayo passport at any of the participating locations. If you get your passport stamped at all six spots, you’ll be entered for the chance to win $350 in gift cards.

Learn more about the bar crawl at thebankscincy.com.

Slideshow

It's Not Summer Until You Eat at These Greater Cincinnati Spots

Moerlein Lager House115 Joe Nuxhall Way, The BanksWith a come-as-you-are atmosphere, a relaxing biergarten and a stunning view of the riverfront and Roebling Bridge, Moerlein Lager House is a prime stop before or after a Reds game or just to enjoy a summer evening. The restaurant and microbrewery’s menu features New American-style eats with German influences, like the shareable pretzels and beer cheese, the German sausage platter entree and the Zincy Style Bratwurst. Along with its line of Moerlein beers, the restaurant also offers plenty of elevated bar-fare-style shareables, a variety of burgers and sandwiches and upscale entree offerings like the filet mignon or salmon Oscar.

Graeter’s Ice CreamMultiple locationsIt’s not a Cincinnati summer until you make your way to a Graeter’s. Not only does the ice cream parlor offer unique flavors – especially its legendary Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip – but the ice cream itself is uniquely crafted. Graeter’s still uses the French pot method of its founder, resulting in a creamy ice cream base that’s leveled up with the addition of gourmet chocolate, which is poured over the churning cream to make a shell that artisans then break up to create the gigantic chunks you know and love.

Top of the Park506 E. Fourth St., DowntownFor a stunning, nearly-360-degree view of downtown Cincinnati and its riverfront, plus some amazing craft cocktails, snag the elevator in the lobby of The Phelps hotel and take it to the very top where you’ll find one of the best rooftop bars in the city. Top of the Park is intimate, with plenty of comfy seating, including a glass bar top where you can sit with your drink and enjoy the bird’s-eye view. Grab a Rooftop Lemonade (Ketel One Citroen, muddled strawberries, fresh lemon juice and wild berry simple syrup) and toast to an amazing summer.

Senate Blue Ash1100 Summit Place, Blue AshSummit Park’s Senate features delicious glammed-up hot dog creations, plus appetizers like oysters, poutine and roasted marrow bones. The eatery offers an expansive outdoor patio that overlooks the park where you can sip on beer, wine or craft cocktails.

The Root Beer Stand11566 Reading Road, SharonvilleThe Root Beer Stand has been delighting summertime guests since it first opened as an A&W Root Beer Stand in 1957. The now-family-owned restaurant makes secret recipe root beer (available by the jug) using water from the property’s 280-foot-deep well. But also, don’t miss out on the food: The secret recipe chili for the eatery’s famous foot-long coney dogs is to die for.

Cabana on the River7445 Forbes Road, Sayler ParkThis Margaritaville-esque oasis on the river will make you feel like you’re on vacation with their neon palm trees out front, sand volleyball courts, multiple walk-up bars where you can grab a drink while you wait for a table, and just overall Jimmy Buffett vibes. While all the seating is technically outside, the best seats aren’t underneath the awning, but on the lower deck closest to the river. The menu is similar to what you’d find at a beachy restaurant – fish tacos, burgers, chicken sandwiches and shareables – but they also have some great salad options as well as the Cincinnati touch of metts, brats and franks. We also highly recommend a margarita while you’re there to 1) complete the aesthetic and 2) because they’re delicious.

Putz’s Creamy Whip2673 Putz Place, WestwoodSummertime means it’s also time to hit the local creamy whip, and one of those creamy whips has been serving up smiles in a cone every summer for nearly 90 years. Putz’s Creamy Whip has been in the family since the day Constantine and Anna Putz opened their first trolley car walk-up ice cream window in 1938. The Putz’s as we know it — now in a square concrete structure just down the hill from Mt. Airy Forest — is a scoop of summer nostalgia. Not much about this place has changed over the past several decades. Of the current generation, Putz descendant Mindy Borgman has been cranking out cones at the creamy whip for the last few decades — all on the same Electro-Freeze machine. Another tradition? Putz’s is cash-only. Despite the hoopla about the vintage ice cream machine and vanilla soft serve, the pineapple sherbet is a must. It is creamy like soft serve and tangy to boot. “Face cones” are also a hot commodity at Putz’s. The soft serve cones are adorned with Necco wafer ears and crunchy googly-eyed candy.

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About The Author

Katherine Barrier

Katherine Barrier is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati’s journalism program and has nearly 10 years of experience reporting local and national news as a digital journalist. At CityBeat, she oversees the digital and social media strategies, edits web and print content and writes for the dining and arts...