Court Street Plaza is filling out yet another of its empty storefronts with Brewd, a new cafe that serves both coffee and beer.
The shop, which is slated to open in April, comes from Rodney and Janine De Iorio, two Southern California natives who moved to Cincinnati during the COVID-19 pandemic and have stuck around since.
Brewd will open in the former Almost V’Gan Lounge space, next to Mid-City and Afterlife on Court Street. It will feature locally roasted coffee from La Terza, tea from Churchill’s Fine Teas at Findlay Market, and 18 different local beers on tap from well-known breweries like Rhinegeist and MadTree.
Additionally, co-founder Rodney has created a menu that will pay tribute to the couple’s SoCal heritage, with items like carne asada fries and California-style breakfast burritos sitting alongside typical cafe fare like pastries and sandwiches.
“We wanted to create a place where you could enjoy coffee in the morning and a beer in the evening—a space that would bring people together and turn strangers into neighbors,” said co-owner Janine De Iorio. “We spent a lot of time researching what today’s third spaces are missing, and we’ve been very intentional about creating an environment that will fill that gap.”
The couple has always wanted to open a bar, but hadn’t found the right opportunity until now. Janine worked in marketing and had past bartending experience, while Rodney worked in transportation, but the two were feeling burnt out by the corporate world and looking to switch it up.
Last summer, while visiting friends up in Dayton, Ohio, over Labor Day weekend, their friends joked that the two should buy a recently vacated bar in the Dayton area. The two actually did attempt to purchase the space, and while they didn’t succeed, it “struck a chord” for the two that opening their own space was actually a viable option.
First, the two got with 3CDC to find the right space for their shop in Cincinnati. Next, they came up with the branding for Brewd, which has multiple meanings. Their logo is a cicada, an insect that moves in groups called broods—which sounds identical to “brewed,” as in brewing coffee and beer.
“Everyone in the Midwest knows what a cicada is, right? But cicadas also have some nice symbolism around transformation and community surrounding them,” Janine said. “For us, it’s about being intentional around making these personal connections and building a space people want to hang out in, whether it’s to just play a board game or build a puzzle or attend an activation.”
Speaking of the bar/café’s “activations,” there will be plenty of events at Brewd. For example, the two are hosting their own ‘Profs & Pints’ night, where college professors will host casual, expert-led lectures on interesting topics. Other events coming to the space include book clubs and ‘Barstool Briefing’ nights, which are similar to the ‘PowerPoint Nights’ that have taken social media by storm.
Rodney said his goal for the space is for it to resemble Central Perk, the fictional coffeehouse in the classic sitcom Friends.
“We want people to feel warm and welcomed. It’s not gonna be like the larger coffee conglomerates where it’s a conveyor belt of you come in, you stand, you order, you get out,” he said. “It’s not going to be cold or sterile. We want it to be somewhere where you feel encouraged to stay a while, hang out, get a refill for free.”
Hours of operation will be every day from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., except Tuesdays, which will only have morning service. More information can be found on the shop’s website.
