Sacred Beast Diner 1437 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine This modern Over-the-Rhine diner opened with much hype in 2018 and has been a brunch staple in the trendy neighborhood ever since. "Simple food. Taken seriously" is the motto for Sacred Beast. The menu is a collection of chef Jeremy Lieb's favorite things which run the gamut from literally the best French-style omelet in town—fluffy, soft and full of goat cheese and piquillo peppers— to a "Diner Breakfast" with scrambled eggs, maple-glazed pork belly and lemon ricotta pancakes and a double burger with Dijonnaise, onions and pickles. Photo: Hailey Bollinger

Sacred Beast is one of the restaurants that will be able to expand under the new initiative Photo: Hailey Bollinger

In a press conference on Friday, Mayor John Cranley announced that some streets in downtown, Over-the-Rhine and at The Banks would close to help local restaurants expand their outdoor seating capacity.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced that restaurants may open outdoor dining starting May 15, as long as they can comply with sector-specific health and safety guidelines — including social distancing. Indoor dining, following those same guidelines, can restart May 21. And many Cincinnati restaurants have been anxious to figure out the best way to do this.

“Many of the great restaurants in our city, which have helped sparked the great renaissance of our city, are in much smaller spaces. And so expanding outdoor spacing is going to be vital to them having a financial way forward through this crisis,” Mayor Cranley said during the press conference. “And frankly, let’s face it, we’ve been stuck at home for a long time and as the weather gets nicer, it sure would be nice, safely, to enjoy some of our great restaurants outside.”

He then announced that the city will be closing some streets and lanes near restaurants so they can expand their outdoor seating into the sidewalk or street. 

Joe Rudemiller, vice president of marketing and communications for 3CDC, then spoke about his company’s efforts in Over-the-Rhine.

Rudemiller said they are looking at shutting down 25 locations — a mix of streets and parking lanes — to provide additional space for restaurants and bars to expand. He mentioned closing down a portion of 15th and Vine streets, near Sacred Beast and Pepp & Dolores, as well as parking lanes on Vine Street, spots on Walnut Street — by Boca and Sotto — and on Main Street, as well as by Findlay Market. 

“A lot of the main thoroughfares where you would expect there to be a lot of restaurants,” he said.

The restaurants themselves will be responsible for adding their own tables and maintaining social distancing as well as other sanitization practices. 

Owners of several restaurants and bars, including those from Sacred Beast, the Thunderdome Restaurant Group, HomeMakers bar and Taste of Belgium, came up to say how thankful they were for this initiative and how the additional seating will not only provide them with an ability to make more of a profit but also protect the health and well-being of guests and their staff, some of whom have been nervous to return to work.

Mayor Cranley said if other restaurants in different neighborhoods throughout the city were interested in pursuing options like this, they should contact Kelly Carr at 513-352-3486 or kelly.carr@cincinnati-oh.gov as a point of entry into the conversation.

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

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