This story originally appeared in our August 19 – September 1, 2026 print edition. Check out the edition online here and find where you can get a print edition near you here.
Luis Ildefonso Saucedo Lomeli has been behind the bar for more than a decade.
He’s currently the manager at the Overlook Lodge, a rustic neighborhood bar themed after the iconic horror movie “The Shining,” located in Cincinnati’s Pleasant Ridge neighborhood at 603 Montgomery Road.
It’s a career Lomeli never thought he’d have, but he wouldn’t want it any other way.
“The creativity, the freedom and the openness” are gifts, he said.
Lomeli grew up in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, which is about 300 miles north of Mexico City.
When he was young, his grandfather Ildefonso Jesus Lomeli Fernandez — one of his biggest inspirations — made sure he developed a palate for the good things in life.
“He would say the best pleasure in life is to eat good,” Lomeli said, “(and) to drink good.”
His grandfather’s advice has been a throughline in his life.
When Lomeli was just 17, he chose to travel and work in Canada instead of going to medical school in Mexico. After spending some time in the Great White North, he found himself back in his home country, this time studying the culinary arts at Universidad Autónoma de Baja California. When he graduated, he bounced around different kitchens and resorts.
He fell in love with cocktailing while working at a big vacation destination near Playa del Carmen. Resort bartending was more about speed than quality, but “I enjoyed it more,” he said.
He eventually worked his way up to managing a gin and tequila bar in Mexico, but he felt stuck. The ownership made the big bucks, but Lomeli would never get the chance.
In Mexico, Lomeli said it is very common for people to travel abroad and send money back to their families. So that’s what he did.
Lomeli landed in Cincinnati with a plan to stay for a few months, leave and go work in Spain, but that quickly changed when he met his now-wife, Emily.
“She’s a Cincinnati girl,” he said.
They’ve been married for five years, just about as long as he’s been working for the bar’s owner, Jacob Trevino.
Many industry veterans often hop around between bars. But, Lomeli found success working his way up within the organization. The culture, in large part, is what’s kept him coming back.
“It felt like it was a good place where I could fit in … like I wouldn’t feel weird,” he said.
As an immigrant, Lomeli said it can be difficult to find a place where he can feel normal and not like an outsider of sorts.
“It’s 100% more welcoming than a lot of other places where I’ve been,” Lomeli said.
Bartending gives him the opportunity to keep the flavors of his home close at hand.
“I miss it a lot of the time,” he said. “You can bring all ingredients, say, from your hometown into the cocktails and make a story from there. Cacti and prickly pear are grown in my town. You can bring them into a cocktail, it’s super simple.”
His proud Mexican heritage isn’t the only inspiration for his work. An idea can take shape from a song, the weather, a type of glass or even just one ingredient, Lomeli said. For example, Room 217, which is currently on the cocktail menu at the Overlook Lodge, was born through Lomeli’s love of the animated American sitcom “King of the Hill.”
Character Dale Gribble famously said “Boil up some Mountain Dew, it’s gonna be a long night.”
“I ended up making a Mai Tai with the Mountain Dew syrup,” Lomeli said.
Creating weird drinks is fun and all, but when he’s not working, Lomeli is “studying the classics.” You need to know the rules to be able to break them, he said.
The spirit world is a humbling space, Lomeli said. There is never a dull moment and the opportunities to learn something new are endless. Right now, rum is his obsession.
“It’s so different everywhere you try it,” he said.
Tiki cocktails are his new passion, after attending a recent convention.
Lomeli’s long-term goal is to open his own bar. Right now, he loves the idea of opening a Tiki bar somewhere where the weather is really cold.
“In the middle of the winter you can go into this Tiki bar and it’s like you’re on an island,” he said. “It’s like an escape for people.”
In the meantime, he’s curating a momentary escape from reality for Cincinnatians at the Overlook Lodge. And even if he doesn’t serve you, he’s had a hand in anything you’ll order off the menu.
Monkey Business
- 1.5 oz Malort
- 0.5 oz Doctor Bird Jamaican rum
- 0.75 oz lime juice
- 0.5 oz pineapple
- 0.5 oz orange juice
- 0.5 oz falernum
- 0.25 oz orgeat
- 1 bar spoon of allspice
- Shake everything with ice, serve over fresh crushed ice in a big rocks glass. Garnish with a mint sprig.
This story is part of CityBeat’s latest cover package celebrating the people behind Cincinnati’s cocktail scene. Meet more of the city’s standout bartenders and read the full story here.
This article appears in August 19 – September 1, 2026.
