This Interactive Map Shows All the Outdoor Street Dining and Bar Spots Across Over-the-Rhine

The City of Cincinnati has created a novel program — the Reignite Cincy: Temporary Outdoor Street Dining Program — that allows bars and eateries to expand their outdoor seating capacity into sidewalks or streets to accommodate the Responsible RestartOhio sector-specific health and safety guidelines for restaurants.

All restaurants permitted to expand their dining areas are responsible for setting up and maintaining their outdoor spaces themselves, adhering to all state and local health department requirements regarding COVID-19, ensuring they comply with ADA and liquor license regulations and making sure they do not impede the response time of local fire or police. 

Some of these street and sidewalk closures will remain in effect for up to 90 days. 

This cool interactive map the city has created shows users which streets have been closed and for what business. You can zoom in or out and click on the red boxes to get information about a specific closure. 

For example, let’s make our way over to 1401 Republic and 14th Street. It says there’s a full street closure for Salazar. At 1437 Vine St. and 15th Street, there’s a partial lane closure for Sacred Beast. 

Now, some of these aren’t fully informational. Like at 14th and Race streets, there’s a big red box that just says full street closure without restaurant or bar info. Or it says there’s a closure by 1213 Vine St., but doesn’t say that’s for Bakersfield.

Based on this map, it looks like these are the spots taking advantage of outdoor expansions in OTR right now (the map doesn’t seem to include Clifton or the East End or The Banks): Taste of Belgium, Pepp & Dolores, Taglio, The Hub OTR, Bakersfield, Krueger’s Tavern, Abigail Street, Senate, A Tavola, The Mercer, Salazar, Pontiac, Low Spark, Sundry & Vice, Lost & Found, Sacred Beast, Maize, Taft’s Ale House and Lucius Q.

(Ohhh they added Urbana Cafe in Pendleton since we checked yesterday.)

The city also provides a list of street closures (minus the associated restaurants):

Over-the-Rhine

• Broadway – closed between 12^th and 13^th streets (2-way traffic provided between 13^th Street and Grear Alley to maintain local access)
• 14^th Street – closed between Race Street and Republic Street and closed between Republic Street and Vine Street (Republic Street will remain open)
• 15^th Street – closed between Vine Street and Republic Street and closed between Republic Street and Race Street (Republic Street will remain open)

Clifton

• Telford Street – closed between Ludlow Avenue and Shiloh Street (2-way traffic provided between Shiloh Street and the parking lot to maintain local access)

East End

• Wenner Street – closed between Riverside Drive and Babb Alley

Businesses who want to apply for the Reignite Cincy: Temporary Outdoor Street Dining Program can do so online at cincinnati-oh.gov. And businesses who wish to apply do not just have to be located downtown or in Over-the-Rhine — the program is for restaurants across the city. Full details for applications are available at cincinnati-oh.gov.

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This article appears in May 6 – Jun 14, 2020.