The first LEGO-inspired cafe in Greater Cincinnati — and the United States — is closing its doors after just 15 months in business.
The Brickery Cafe & Play opened at Newport on the Levee at the end of 2023. The concept combined dining, shopping and entertainment in an immersive space that allowed kids and adults to build and play with LEGOs.
Owner Daniel Johnson announced the closure of The Brickery on social media Monday. Johnson cited the Big Mac Bridge closure as the main reason behind the decision to close.
“Maybe you’ve heard the news or maybe you haven’t, but we have come to the difficult decision to close the Brickery, as of today, March 3. Like many other North Kentucky businesses, we were greatly impacted by the bridge closing,” Johnson shared. “We put our whole heart into this thing, and we will be forever grateful to those of you who made it a joy to come to work. We truly enjoyed building with you.”
The Big Mac Bridge on I-471 shut down on Nov. 1 after a fire spread from a wooden playground at Sawyer Point to the bridge, damaging several steel beams as well as a portion of the bridge deck and a sign truss on the southbound side. The fire briefly closed both sides of the bridge; the northbound lanes reopened quickly, but the southbound side remained closed for repairs, snarling traffic on both sides of the river for months.
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Four people — Terry Stiles, Zachary Stumpf, James Hamilton and Kaitlen Hall — have been charged in the fire. Stiles and Stumpf allegedly started the fire and have been charged with aggravated arson. Hamilton and Hall were charged with obstructing the investigation.
The bridge officially reopened a month ahead of schedule on Feb. 8, but many Northern Kentucky businesses said they struggled during the closure and are still trying to recover. Bellevue Mayor Charlie Cleves says he and his team heard from businesses in the community that they experienced as much as a 30% decline in sales from 2023, which they attributed to the unexpected bridge closure.
The problem led to the recent launch of the Bridging Back Business initiative across several Northern Kentucky cities, which is aimed at bringing traffic and customers back to the area.
This article appears in Feb 19 – Mar 4, 2025.