As 2025 winds down, CityBeat is looking back at the delicious stories that made up Cincinnati’s food scene this year. From what can happen when small businesses step in to feed those in need to the return of a few of the Queen City’s most beloved dining destinations, iconic food collaborations and one sad tale of the rise and fall of a diner chain, here is the food news that fed us in 2025.
Skyline Chili and Graeter’s Make a Food Baby
In January, the most Cincinnati food news ever was officially announced: two iconic Cincinnati brands — Skyline Chili and Graeter’s Ice Cream — were having a baby, and its name was Skyline Chili Spice Ice Cream (imagine that on a birth certificate). Rumors of the brands’ relationship were proven true; in October 2024, someone posted a screenshot of a new Skyline Chili-Graeter’s Ice Cream listing on Kroger’s website, UPC and all, to the Cincinnati subreddit. Cincinnati social media lit up with the speculation of this treat, with both supporters and detractors of the rumor. At the time, Graeter’s communications team wouldn’t confirm or deny the rumors of this tasty collab, but did say “something cool was in the works” between them and Skyline. As for the ice cream, it featured Graeter’s smooth, French pot ice cream combined with Skyline Chili’s signature spice mix and oyster crackers, for a sweet and salty blend. It sold out almost immediately, but did make a comeback in October in honor of National Chili Month.
Photo: Philip Heidenreich
Ludlow Bromley Yacht Club Rises From its Watery Grave
“We’re coming back baby,” owners of Ludlow Bromley Yacht Club (LBYC) wrote in a Facebook post in January 2025 — more than five years after it served its last meal. The restaurant and bar was forced to close in October 2019 after being struck by a barge on the Ohio River early one morning. The navigator had fallen asleep at the wheel, according to the Coast Guard, and the barge caused significant damage and sent six nearby boats and part of the marina adrift on the river. LBYC officially reopened in late May, where it once again serves up delicious pub food, cheap drinks and tropical vibes.
As most of the Greater Cincinnati Frisch’s restaurants were making their exit in late 2024 following a contentious eviction case, a team of Frisch’s senior managers acquired several of the chain restaurant’s locations, as well as future branding rights. However, in early 2025, Big Boy Restaurant Group, which is based in Michigan, decided to reopen several of the shuttered Frisch’s restaurants under new branding: Dolly’s. The first restaurants opened in March, but the concept sparked a lawsuit from the new owners of Frisch’s and prevented Big Boy Restaurant Group from using its name in the region. In October, Big Boy Restaurant Group said the litigation remained unresolved and it was still unable to operate under the Big Boy name in Southwest Ohio, prompting it to close the six Dolly’s restaurants it opened in Greater Cincinnati in 2025.
Greater Cincinnati Restaurants Step Up to Offer Free Meals for SNAP Recipients
As the federal government shutdown of 2025 inched into November, the USDA announced it wouldn’t release SNAP benefits until the shutdown ended, impacting about 42 million Americans who rely on the safety net to feed themselves and their families each month. As it became clear those benefits would be delayed — and an already-strained network of food banks and pantries in the area tried to figure out how they would fill in the hunger gaps — several local businesses stepped in to ensure no one, especially children, went hungry. Places like By Golly’s, The Works Pizza, Greek to Me, Pickles & Bones BBQ and more announced they would have free meals for kids until the shutdown ended. The Cincinnati & Hamilton County Library reshared its information on which branches had free after-school meals, and other businesses like coffee shops and bookstores collected donations and dedicated a day to donating proceeds to food banks and pantries. In November 2025, these local businesses proved food is love and exemplified what it means to be part of a community and why we need to take care of one another.
Salazar Restaurant Reopens in Downtown Cincinnati
It was a moment many local diners had been waiting for: Chef Jose Salazar’s eponymous restaurant, Salazar, made its official return to Cincinnati’s culinary scene in November. Salazar announced in December 2023 that he would temporarily close the restaurant, formerly located on Republic Street in Over-the-Rhine, to move it to a bigger space. And in 2024, he shared that he signed a lease at a much larger space on the ground floor of the former Saks Fifth Avenue building — now the headquarters of Paycor — on Fifth Street downtown. The new restaurant space offers 7,300 square feet, or five times the space of the Republic Street location, with expanded seating, three private dining rooms and enough space to host private events for up to 50 people. As for the menu, Salazar says he’s still working with local farmers and artisans and makes fresh pastas and other items in-house. There will be more emphasis on seafood, but you can still find many former favorites, including the “lil fried oyster slider.”
This story is featured in CityBeat’s Dec. 24 print edition.
This article appears in Dec. 24-Jan. 6.