CityBeat | November 26, 2025

VOL. 28 | ISSUE 50

SKYLINE CHILI

PHOTO: MAYLEA SALMON

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

ASHLEY MOOR-MAHONEY

DIGITAL CONTENT EDITOR

KATHERINE BARRIER

STAFF WRITER

MADELINE FENING

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

HAIMANTI GERMAIN

GRAPHIC DESIGNER ASPEN SMIT

CONTRIBUTING CRITICS

THEATER CRITIC:

RICK PENDER

DINING CRITIC:

PAMA MITCHELL

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

BRIAN BAKER

JASON GARGANO

SARAH WALSH

CONTRIBUTING

PHOTOGRAPHERS

HAILEY BOLLINGER

RON VALLE CATIE VIOX

DISTRIBUTION TEAM

TOM SAND

STEVE FERGUSON

BIG LOU HOLDINGS

DIGITAL OPERATIONS COORDINATOR

ELIZABETH KNAPP

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

GUILLERMO RODRIGUEZ

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

CHRIS KEATING

NEWS

Despite Landslide Loss, Mayoral Candidate

Cory Bowman May Be Considering Another

Bowman’s message about his failed bid for mayor shifts from the podium to the pulpit.

BY SARAH WALSH

“ I believe we’re going to see some amazing surprises on Tuesday,” Republican candidate Cory Bowman — the first of his party to make it through a Cincinnati mayoral primary since 2009 — told his congregation at the West End’s River Church on Sunday, Nov. 2. “I believe that we’re going to see people shocked at what God can do in an election in this city.”

Two days later, voters delivered a second record-setting win and another four-year term for his opponent.

The Associated Press called the race less than 45 minutes after polls closed. The final tally came to a landslide of 78% for the incumbent mayor, Democrat Aftab Pureval. It was a standout result on a strong night for Democrats across the country.

Even supporters who attended Bowman’s election results party in the West End told CityBeat they came to demonstrate solidarity and had not anticipated a win.

Still, standing before parishioners again on Nov. 9, the pastor and coffee shop owner took a victory lap.

“God told us to do it,” he said of his

candidacy, which he announced after attending the second Trump inauguration with his paternal half-brother, Vice President JD Vance. “He didn’t tell us to do it and then [say], ‘This is what’s going to happen at the end.’ He just said, ‘Will you do this?’ And he needed a yes or no from us, right? And we just said yes. … We fulfilled that.”

Because of their interactions with Cincinnatians on the campaign trail, added Bowman’s co-pastor and wife, Jordan Bowman, “there’s people who were going to Hell before that are not going there anymore.”

The River Church Cincinnati, where the Bowmans address a regular Sunday morning congregation of around 40, is one of 22 affiliated River Churches operating across the country. Each is ministered by students of conservative Floridian megapastor Rodney HowardBrowne, who runs the original River Church in Tampa Bay, Florida.

Howard-Browne’s teachings include condemnation of homosexuality, claims that the planet’s major institutions are run by Rockefeller-affiliated “Lucifarians” and insistence that Hollywood is

rife with Satanist cannibals. Bowman has not espoused these beliefs, but he has hosted Howard-Browne in Cincinnati and echoed his teachings on faith healing, the belief that physical or mental healing can be achieved through the power of prayer.

Both of their churches resisted COVID-19 restrictions in 2020, encouraging members to attend in person despite stay-at-home orders and hundreds of thousands of new COVID cases each day.

In the River’s charismatic evangelical tradition, God offers “supernatural provision” of health, enlightenment and material comfort for the faithful and generous — an unlimited triumphal ascent.

Bowman claimed on Oct. 5 that his own experience of supernatural provision has seen God furnish him with cars, money, guitars, vehicles and audio equipment for the church. He told congregants on Nov. 2 that he’d seen people cured of life-threatening illnesses after campaign events.

“We’ve been able to pray for people to see a miraculous healing in the middle of a campaign event,” he said. “And they’ve been healed of stage four cancer.”

Run

So how does a gospel of provision handle a 56-point rout?

It might claim another victory that’s harder to quantify. Bowman has, framing the campaign in terms of attention and awareness.

It might cast the unsuccessful run as the prelude to a future campaign. Bowman’s post-election comments suggest he’s considered it.

His loss underlines a century of waning Republican influence in the Queen City, once a stronghold for the GOP, and highlights the risks of running with ties to the increasingly unpopular Trump administration — no matter how hard the candidate tries to nudge national politics offstage.

Running on ‘red meat’ in a blue county

No set of odds ever put Bowman in range of victory.

Hamilton County has broken blue in every presidential election since 2008. The people of even-bluer Cincinnati have not elected a Republican mayor since Prohibition.

Closer to the candidate: Vance, a Cincinnati resident, would have lost his 2022 Senate bid to Democrat Tim Ryan if Hamilton County spoke for the state.

Bowman has never held public office. He had never voted in a city election or campaigned for any position before this year. He emerged from May’s nonpartisan mayoral primary with 12% of the vote to Pureval’s 82%, edging into the general as the stronger of Pureval’s two challengers. (The other, Republican Brian Frank, got 4.5% of the primary vote.)

Records show the Pureval campaign out-fundraised and outspent Bowman’s campaign 6-to-1 between the primary and the end of June, the most recent date for which online data is available. Bowman’s largest campaign contribution during that time came from a private citizen with a New Jersey address.

If Bowman had any path to unseating Pureval, Xavier University political science professor Mack Mariani told CityBeat, it would have come from discontent around the city’s handling of Downtown safety concerns through the summer and fall.

“The environment should have generated some level of traction,” he said.

Starting in the summer, a string of highly publicized violent-crime incidents — most prominently a July 26 street brawl that went viral after far-right influencer Libs of Tiktok posted a video clip on X — provided a locus for targeted criticism of Pureval’s leadership.

Bowman seized on it, centering his campaign around support for increased, less-restrained policing and blaming the incidents on “trickle-down incompetence” from City Hall. The issue netted him an endorsement from the Cincinnati Fraternal Order of Police and multiple appearances on Fox News.

“Officers fear that they cannot do their job,” he told Fox News host Will Cain in August. “This is a deep issue coming from City Hall, that we don’t need to respect our cops, we don’t need to support our cops, we don’t need to support law and order.”

The crime angle was still a long shot for winning local support, according to Mariani.

Doubling down on it, rather than using it as a gateway to other issues, may even have damaged Bowman’s chances among voters who bristled at seeing Cincinnati become a negative talking point in the right-wing mediasphere.

“It’s red meat for Republicans,” Mariani said. “[But] urban voters see it as sort of a dog whistle for racial division and things like that. Democrats and independents are not going to be sold on voting Republican on this issue alone. And the crime issue became so overwhelming, and it took up so much space, that it actually crowded out other issues.”

And Pureval used the TV appearances to land hits of his own, accusing

Bowman of running a vanity campaign that exposed his inexperience.

“He has not taken the campaign seriously, not showed up in the community,” Pureval said at the Oct. 9 mayoral debate. “He has spent more time on Fox News running down the city that he ultimately wants to lead. That is not how you lead the great city of Cincinnati. ”

The contest’s quick, decisive finish spoke to Bowman’s failure to win a local audience. About 70 people attended his election results party — among them students from the tiny God’s Bible College in Mount Auburn; Juan Coz, a selfdescribed “Trump-publican”; Maurice Cobb, a local right-wing content creator who posts under the handle @realwolfhatfacts; and a West End community activist named Tree.

“My mind will be blown if Cory wins,” Tree admitted.

In a private post-results phone call referenced by both candidates, Bowman congratulated Pureval on his win, and Pureval invited him to City Hall for a future discussion about his ideas for Cincinnati government.

“[Bowman] was very classy to call me,” Pureval said in his victory speech. “He conceded the race, and I offered him the opportunity to work together to make Cincinnati even better.”

“The first thing that [Pureval] said was, ‘I want to get together for a scheduled meeting with you, and I want to hear your ideas and your opinions about what we can do to better the city,’” Bowman said.

Two days later, in an interview with progressive influencer Brian Tyler Cohen, Pureval’s tone was less conciliatory: “We’ve had some public safety challenges that my opponent tried to cynically take advantage of. MAGA kind of descended on my city trying to make us afraid of each other.”

The meeting had not been scheduled when CityBeat spoke to Bowman on Nov. 9. Pureval’s team had not responded to a CityBeat message about the meeting at publication time.

The MAGAphant in the booth

Although Bowman says he has no remaining plans for 2025 except to hunt deer and celebrate the holidays, he alluded to a possible future candidacy in his concession speech on Nov. 4 and his sermon on Nov. 9.

It was his “first” run for office, he repeated several times; more than once he mentioned that high-profile Republicans were trying to get in touch with him.

“You know, the night of the election, one of my two older boys said, ‘Dad, does this mean that you’re not going to be mayor?’” he told his parishioners. “I said, ‘Not right now.’”

A failed bid for office can certainly

become a lilypad to a successful one, Mariani said, provided the candidate runs well on their way to losing. Former Rep. Brad Wenstrup, the 2009 Republican candidate for mayor, lost that election 54-45 to Democrat Mark Mallory. Wenstrup won an Ohio House seat in 2012 and kept it for 13 years.

However, Mariani predicted Bowman’s record-setting loss would cut against him in the eyes of potential future backers.

“There’s value in raising your name recognition,” he said. “There’s value in building a fundraising base so that you can run for something else, whether it’s state legislature or congress. The challenge for Bowman is the 80-20 loss. I think very few people would have thought that he would lose that badly.”

And if Bowman were to mount another campaign, he would still be running in his brother’s shadow.

Bowman has described Vance as a role model, posted photos of himself at MAGA rallies and referenced Trump with approval at the River Church. As a candidate, however, he skirted direct questions about Vance, Trump, immigration and the MAGA movement.

When Pureval pressed the association, as he did during their debate, Bowman’s usual response was to insist it was immaterial.

“We can’t copy and paste national politics when it comes to these city elections,” he repeated — in church, to the New York Times, at the debate and on the night of his loss — when probed on these topics.

Bowman also demurred at an Enquirer question about LGBTQ+ rights and protections, which have been condemned by his home church and curtailed by the Trump-Vance administration.

Vance, for his part, endorsed Bowman with a tweet in the primary but stayed silent on Election Day, did not donate to the campaign and did not vote in either May or November.

But the vice president’s name was still a focal point of the election. It attracted supporters, drew criticism and boosted the Cincinnati mayoral race to national attention. Right-wing broadcasters like Fox News and Newsmax invited Bowman on air several times; NBC’s Late Night host and frequent Trump critic Seth Meyers took a jab when he lost.

“I didn’t even know [Vance] had a half-brother,” Meyers said on Nov. 5. “This is like finding out Kristi Noem has a twin sister who ran for mayor of the Overlook Hotel.”

“[If Bowman runs again,] he’s going to generate a ton of turnout on the other side” because of the Vance connection, Mariani said. “And you don’t often want a candidate who is likely to generate that level of negative feedback

from the opposing party. You want a candidate who’s going to kind of lull them to sleep.”

Cincinnati’s century of Republican decline

On Nov. 9, 1921, the Enquirer reported that Republican city auditor and minor league baseball player George Carrel had been “Swept Into Office” by a thenrecord-breaking majority of 53% — 25 points short of Pureval’s win on Nov. 4, 2025.

Queen City Republicans routed Democrats up and down the ballot that year. Their success was bolstered by the popularity of Ohio-native Republican President Warren G. Harding and an efficient, hard-handed local Republican apparatus.

The establishment of a new city charter in 1925 transformed the mayoralty, making it a rotating position shared by members of City Council until 1999. Under this system, council members would select ten Charterites, nine Republicans and nine Democrats for mayor.

And in the 73 years between Carrel and the next public mayoral election, cultural, ideological and demographic shifts honed and then entrenched a Democratic edge. Every Cincinnati mayor elected since the return of public elections has been a Democrat.

“As you start to lose, you don’t have any elected officials anymore,” Mariani said. “Organizationally, that gets hard, right? There’s nobody out there leading your banner. There’s no Republican organization to knock on doors to hand out sample ballots and to identify your voters. The advantages start to amplify. Success breeds success and failure breeds failure.”

A wide-ranging 2024 survey by Pew Research found that modern Democrats enjoy a distinct advantage among city dwellers, renters and Black voters — major overlapping portions of Cincinnati’s Venn diagram.

And when Pureval-Bowman ballots went out this year, local Republicans were in a position as unfavorable as their 20th century counterparts’ had been favorable.

The Republican president was Donald Trump, sporting a -18% approval rating and heading a shut-down government. Democratic voters had mobilized in pursuit of state- and city-level offices across the country. The Hamilton County Republican Party no longer enjoyed total dominion over its territory.

Bowman’s campaign was especially disadvantaged by the candidate’s inexperience and ties to Vance, but national currents can sweep even a more-trained, less-provocative candidate out of the race, Mariani added.

Liz Keating, a Republican Cincinnati

City Council alum who outraised all 20 of her competitors, fell about 9,000 votes short of reclaiming her seat.

“She’s the ideal candidate, in many ways, for Republicans,” he said. “And even she wasn’t able to break through in a much lower-level, lower-stakes game [than the mayoralty].

“It may be that, in fact, any Republican would have been crushed because Democrats are very mobilized — in part by national elections, in part because the Democrats do a good job of organizing, and in part because this has become a much more Democratic city than we even realize, especially in an off-year election.”

CityBeat asked what would need to change for a Republican to become mayor of Cincinnati.

Mariani laughed.

“Probably a larger realignment of the electorate,” he said. “It would certainly require some larger sort of change in people’s thinking about what they want. I don’t see, in the short term, much hope for Republicans to reverse the trends that we’re seeing. ”

‘This isn’t the end’

Another of Bowman’s favored expressions, alongside the adages about copyand-paste politics and “trickle-down corruption,” is this:

“Government isn’t meant to take care of you. Only God can take care of you.”

It’s an unusual sentiment for a wouldbe public servant. In the weekend before the election, he elaborated: “If the medical system fails you, God’s healing power will step up. If the world’s financial system fails you, God’s economy will step up.”

And if you lose your race for mayor?

Addressing his congregation after the loss, Bowman described the failed campaign as a territorial expansion, referencing the Book of Isaiah.

“[Isaiah] calls you to expand, and he says it’s time to expand and enlarge the area of your tents,” he said. “And that’s what we did.”

He and his wife selected their own successes from the seven-month run toward defeat — prayer meetings and conversations with neighbors; attention from national media; partnerships between the River Church and other faith organizations; and the aforementioned references to saved souls and cured cancer.

The Bowmans said they plan to capitalize on their new connections by participating in meal, toy and coat drives over the holiday season, which coincides with the church’s five-year anniversary.

Cory Bowman had scheduled a deerhunting trip to “vent the aggression” left over from the campaign.

“We know that this isn’t the end,” he told his parishioners on Nov. 9. “This is just a start.”

In church, at least, his audience responded with enthusiasm.

Sinclair Acquires Stake in E.W. Scripps, Signals Hostile Takeover

BY MADELINE FENING

Aconsequential takeover of America’s local broadcast industry may be on the horizon in Cincinnati.

Sinclair Broadcast Group, the conservative-leaning owner of 185 TV stations across the country, announced Nov. 17 it has acquired an 8.2% stake in the E.W. Scripps Company.

Scripps is headquartered in downtown Cincinnati, overseeing 61 local stations across the country, including local ABC affiliate WCPO (Channel 9, or “9 News”).

Maryland-based Sinclair, one of the nation’s largest local media companies, owns two local stations: WKRC-TV (Channel 12, or “Local 12”) and WSTR-TV (Channel 64, or “Star 64”).

Critics sounded the alarm during

President Donald Trump’s first term when a revived regulatory loophole allowed Sinclair — known for requiring local stations to play “must-run” segments on conservative national politics — to buy up more stations and reach 72% of U.S households, exceeding previous federal limits on media ownership.

Sinclair’s recent hefty purchase of Scripps shares came with a declaration of “a possible combination” of the companies, according to regulatory filings, which mention a “transaction could be completed within nine to 12 months.”

According to the filing, Scripps has engaged in “constructive discussions” about a potential combination with Sinclair “for several months,” but Scripps’ reaction to Sinclair’s filing signals

disagreement.

“The company’s board has and will continue to evaluate any transactions and other alternatives that would enhance the value of the company and would be in the best interest of all company shareholders. Likewise, the board will take all steps appropriate to protect the company and the company’s shareholders from the opportunistic actions of Sinclair or anyone else,” reads a Nov. 17 press release from Scripps.

Sinclair makes clear in its filing that a less-than-friendly takeover of Scripps is still on the table, noting that Sinclair “reserves the right” to take actions like buying more shares, attempting to influence the board directly, etc., in order to merge the companies.

From SNAP to Subsidies, the Latest in Washington’s Spending Fight Looms Over Ohio

BY MADELINE FENING

The record-breaking 43-day government shutdown finally ended on Nov. 12. The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) announced Nov. 13 that all eligible households will be issued their full November Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits “promptly.” While uncertainty is finally lifting for those approximately 1.4 million SNAP recipients, a new concern is on the horizon for another population of Ohioans.

A legislative package that ended the government shutdown leaves out any clear decision on the expiring Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits, also known as enhanced premium tax credits or subsidies, that make private health insurance more affordable for nearly 20 million Americans and 530,000 Ohioans.

With open enrollment for 2026 coverage well underway, subscribers may wait until December when the U.S. Senate votes on the future of the subsidies. Even if a bill makes it to the House, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has not committed to holding a vote as many House Republicans want the subsidies to expire. Then President Donald Trump would have to sign off — Dems do not have great odds.

“We submitted 12 amendments to this budget to address healthcare, food assistance, tariffs. Every single one was rejected,” said Rep. Greg Landsman (OH-1). “I can’t let down the 32,000 people in my district now facing skyrocketing healthcare costs.”

What could happen to healthcare in Ohio?

Health care research nonprofit KFF estimates the monthly cost of health insurance could more than double for most people who rely on the subsidies in the Health Insurance Marketplace, also known as healthcare.gov. Just like how an employer pays for part of their employees’ monthly health insurance cost, the subsidy is a monthly discount paid by the government for insurance plans purchased through the marketplace.

“That’s what’s being discussed right now is taking away that contribution,” said Kate Schroder, president and CEO of Interact for Health, a regional nonprofit that seeks to advance health equity. Schroder explained to CityBeat that broad swaths of Ohioans get their health insurance on the marketplace, and 90% of Ohio’s enrollees get a subsidy. People making between 100%

and 400% of federal poverty guidelines are eligible for the subsidy — a family of three making between $26,650 and $106,600 a year would qualify.

“The folks that are using the marketplace and currently receiving the subsidies tend to be small business owners, entrepreneurs, farmers. They’re individuals that aren’t receiving health care through an employer,” Schroder said. “It cuts across all demographics — rural, urban, suburban — and it does exclude those that are part of Medicare and Medicaid. It does tend to be a lot of individuals who are working in smaller or entrepreneurial places.”

One of those local entrepreneurs is Jennifer Lynn, a licensed mental health counselor with her own private practice in Cincinnati. She’s been using the Health Insurance Marketplace since 2024 while she works part time to take care of her toddler. Making less than $40,000 a year, she was able to sign up for a plan that, with the discounts for her dependent, cost her $0 a month in premiums. But that doesn’t mean her healthcare is totally free.

“The coverage is not, like, fantastic by any means,” Lynn told CityBeat. “I still paid $600 bucks out of pocket this summer for a biopsy on a mole.”

Without the subsidy, Lynn’s monthly cost for premiums will go from $0 to $244, in addition to her high out-ofpocket care. She said she knows selfemployed therapists whose monthly premiums could reach $1,600. For Lynn, giving up an additional $244 a month will not be easy.

“We’re kind of in this gray area of, like, everything’s fine right now, but,” she said. “We’re working class, under $100,000 with a three person household.”

Ripple effects

Because so many of those who use the Health Insurance Marketplace don’t have the option of employer-provided healthcare, Schroder said the loss of subsidies could mean the loss of their healthcare entirely.

“In the absence of subsidies, it’s likely that a large number of folks would not be able to afford insurance on the marketplace, and we would have an increase in the uninsured rate, and that has a burden on all of us,” she said. “It increases our health care costs. And what it does for families is it often means there’s no preventative care.”

Since 2010, plans under the ACA have been required to offer access to no-cost preventive care, including immunizations, well-baby and child visits, cancer screenings, depression screenings, fall prevention for seniors, and much more. The ACA’s preventative care guarantee almost vanished this year when The Supreme Court heard a case challenging the requirement. Dozens of patient organizations and professional medical societies filed a joint amicus brief in the case, pointing to studies that show access to no-cost preventive care greatly increases the likelihood that patients will seek routine preventative care.

“When you’re not able to do the preventative care that you could do with insurance, you wait until an issue gets really bad,” Schroder said. “Then you’re seeking care and it costs more and it’s more damaging.”

Without health insurance — or with less money in your pocket for co-pays — Schroder said care for ongoing health issues like asthma or diabetes also goes down.

“It is especially, especially hard for individuals and families that have chronic conditions where that ongoing care and access — whether it’s insulin or blood pressure medication — who need consistent access to manage their chronic condition,” she said. “In the absence of insurance, you are unable to take the medication at the regular times, conditions worsen and

it gets more expensive. You also see this in something like cancer.”

Then there’s the interpersonal impacts. Schroder points out how the stress from losing healthcare can reverberate through families and cause more harm.

“It’s a huge stress on families, and so it leads to other factors,” she said. “Whether it’s increased substance use or smoking, we often see that associated when there are rises in stress within families and communities. The downstream effect that that has on the children in the family. Like, we live in community, we live in houses with multiple members, and so when parents lose health insurance, it creates a cascade.”

As a mental health care professional, Lynn sees that cascade, not just in the communities she serves, but in the industry she represents.

“The fact that health care workers themselves, therapists, can barely afford health care is just pretty hard to wrap our heads around,” Lynn said. “I feel like a lot of people are starting to see that our entire health insurance landscape is really just paying towards avoiding medical bankruptcy. I think it’s an uphill battle, but we are so far from it that any movement to push the needle towards making it more affordable, accessible, consistent across the board is just, it really is life or death at this point for so many people.”

The Senate is expected to vote on the ACA subsidies sometime in mid-December.

When your family and friends visit you in Cincinnati, you want to show the city off. And there may be no better way to get a feel for the Queen City than through its food and drink scene.

Whether you want to take your out-of-towners to try our version of chili at a local parlor, experience a spot like Arnold’s Bar and Grill — which is well over 150 years old — or confirm just how amazing Graeter’s ice cream is, there’s an iconic spot in every corner of this city to enjoy a good meal and drink.

The following list includes the oldies but goodies, as well as newcomers that have been getting national praise. Keep scrolling to see some of the restaurants, bars and dessert spots that make Cincinnati stand out.

Wildweed

With a penchant for non-traditional pastas and sauces and some cool and funky artwork, Wildweed offers an experience highly praised by national food publications. Maybe your family read about Chef David and Lydia Jackman’s Over-the-Rhine restaurant in Bon Appetit or the New York Times and is excited to try dishes like the Honey Nut Squash Doppio Ravioli, with crab apple, lemon quark, treviso, preserved lemon and aged gouda, or the Spiced Trout, crafted with nduja sausage, sweet potato, “3 sisters” succotash and brown butter. You can dine in the main dining room, or book the chef’s counter for a unique experience that blends Wildweed’s culinary creations into a story of food and place. While you’re there, be sure to take time to appreciate the murals created by local artists. 1301 Walnut St., Over-the-Rhine.

Ghost Baby

For a uniquely Cincinnati experience, take your visitors into an underground beer tunnel-turnednightclub. Ghost Baby is located several stories below Vine Street in a 170-year-old lagering tunnel formerly used by Champion Brewing (beer was aged and cooled in lagering tunnels before refrigeration). The historic, dimly-lit space, which had been vacant since the 1850s, features soaring ceilings with stone archways and opulent decor. Check out The Rattle Room for a happy hour or impromptu meetup and order a cocktail from the ornate bar designed after a baby’s rattle, or book your reservation for The Den, a speakeasy-esque lounge where you can enjoy drinks and live music. Esquire also named it “One of the Best Bars in America” this year. 1314 Republic St., Over-the-Rhine.

Arnold’s Bar and Grill

To give visitors a taste of Cincinnati history, there’s no better spot than Arnold’s Bar and Grill, the Queen City’s oldest continuously operating bar. Serving up food and drinks since 1861, Arnold’s is the oldest continuously running tavern in town, complete with dark wood walls, vintage memorabilia and a bathtub rumored to have been used to make gin during Prohibition. A Cincinnati classic, it serves up a nice range of bar-and-grill-style options — wings, sandwiches and burgers, plus vegan and gluten-free options — at bargain prices. Enjoy a local draft in the outdoor beer garden and almost daily live music. It

was also once named one of the best bars in America by Esquire magazine.

210 E. Eighth St., Downtown.

Camp Washington Chili

Named one of the “10 Best Restaurants in Cincinnati” by USA Today, there’s no question as to why Camp Washington Chili has been operating since 1940. The diner is the quintessential chili parlor of days gone by with its classic mid-century sign out front, dining counter inside and photos and newspaper clippings along the wall. In addition to the amazing chili, which won an “American Regional Classic” James Beard Foundation Award in 2000, the menu also includes burgers, grilled chicken, hot dogs, fries, coleslaw and salad — something for everyone, plus it’s the only restaurant open 24 hours a day (except Saturday and Sunday).

3005 Colerain Ave., Camp Washington.

Zip’s Cafe

Zip’s Cafe was founded in 1926 and is nearing its 100th birthday. With meat delivered daily from Avril-Bleh and “simple but fresh” toppings, Zip’s classic burgers are grilled on a flat top, which cooks them in their own delicious fat. If you’re looking to expand your palate beyond the classic Zip Burger — once named the best burger in Ohio by Food & Wine magazine — the cafe offers specialties such as the Flying Pig, topped with shaved ham and bacon, or the popular Girthburger (named by former Cincinnati Bengals punter Pat McInally), topped with a butterflied grilled mettwurst. 1036 Delta Ave., Mt. Lookout.

Somerset

Your guests will get two vacations in one: Somerset offers a lush oasis that brings to mind faraway places. Tucked away in Over-the-Rhine, the bar features a greenhouse bar, outdoor garden, a converted double-decker bus that serves up a rotating selection of food pop-ups and decor from around the world. Indoors, there are two bar spaces, one being the plant-filled conservatory and the other located in their cozy lounge. Outside, you can enter the garden through a set of antique gates from India where you’ll find tropical plants, unique seating nooks and imported pieces from co-founder and creative lead James Fisher’s collection, as well as the collections of his friends and family. It’s the perfect place to recharge and bask in the worldly ambiance while enjoying a delicious drink from Somerset’s one-of-akind cocktail menu, all without leaving Cincinnati. 139 E. McMicken Ave., Over-the-Rhine.

Nolia

Bringing New Orleans-style flair and fare to Overthe-Rhine, Nolia offers an upscale, yet approachable, experience that will wow both locals and visitors. The exposed brick and bold floral wallpaper add a bright and airy feeling to the intimate setting, and the rotating, seasonal menu features innovative and delectable plates that add modern twists to classic Southern flavors. To drink, the bar can mix up one of Nolia’s signature cocktails like the Sweater Weather

(vodka and house-made pepper brine) or The Postcard (dark rum, falernum, pineapple, tamarind cardamom syrup and lime). Nolia also has a selection of red, white, sparkling and dessert wines, as well as mocktails.

1405 Clay St., Over-the-Rhine.

The Golden Lamb

Wow your out-of-town guests by taking them to the oldest restaurant and bar in the Greater Cincinnati area. Golden Lamb was opened in 1803 by Jonas Seaman, originally from New Jersey like many early Ohio settlers. In a time when many couldn’t read, businesses were often marked by symbols that represented their names — in this case, a golden lamb. Present-day, the historic hotel and restaurant in the heart of Lebanon has served 12 presidents and an array of other famous figures. The menu offers a range of American fare, ranging from fried chicken and roast turkey to burgers and grilled cheese. The attached Black Horse Tavern is a more casual dining spot on the backside of the hotel that serves specialty cocktails and the same delicious menu as the main dining area.

27 S. Broadway St., Lebanon.

Longfellow

Longfellow is the Over-the-Rhine version of a dive bar. Cool crafted cocktails include selections like the Spruce Goose, with barrel-aged gin, honey, lime, bitters and tonic, and a fun pay-it-forward board menu allows you to buy drinks for friends, strangers and crushes. If you’re hungry, try the Scrap Sandwich, featuring slicer scraps, lettuce, grain mustard, butter and pickled shallot on a baguette. 1233 Clay St., Over-the-Rhine.

Sotto

A classic when you need a cozy spot, Sotto offers a rustic Italian dining experience in a basement trattoria. Located under sister restaurant Boca, this Tuscan-inspired spot calls to mind a wine cellar with its low lighting, wooden ceiling beams and rough brick walls. It also offers one of the most ravedabout culinary experiences in Cincinnati. The menu offers handmade pasta (the short rib cappellacci is a bestseller, and for a very good reason), a selection of antipasti like bread, salads and grilled octopus, and Secondi options with big-ticket items like the Bisteca Fiorentina, a grilled Creekstone porterhouse steak, and the Scottadito — a Rocky Mountain lamb rack. But make sure you save room for dessert, because the ricotta donuts wrap up the meal on a sweet note. 118 E. Sixth St., Downtown.

Northside Yacht Club

Fresh off an appearance on the Food Network’s Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, Northside Yacht Club is a gastropub that’s a little bit naughty nautical, a little bit rock ‘n roll. The restaurant and bar is known for many things, but one of those is its inventive menu of over-the-top, indulgent dishes (almost always offered with a veggie/vegan option). Kick your feet up and

chill with a drink and a plate of something greasy and delicious: The landlocked yacht club serves up handcrafted classics like sandwiches, burgers, wings and fries, but with a twist, as well as vegan and gluten-free options. They also have an extensive craft cocktail list — including their infamous peanut butter tequila shooter — as well as brunch on the weekends. 4231 Spring Grove Ave., Northside.

Pompilios

This restaurant has been offering classic family Italian food for generations, and you can’t go wrong with any pasta dish or the homemade lasagna. Founder Colonel Pompilio was also the first to secure a liquor license in Kentucky after Prohibition ended, so it has an extensive bourbon list at its attached bar, Colonel

Pomp’s Tavern. Visitors can also see an iconic piece of cinematic history: the payphone Tom Cruise used in the toothpick scene in Rain Man, which was filmed in the restaurant. 600 Washington Ave., Newport.

Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse

Why not treat your visitors to a little bit of opulence? Located in the heart of downtown Cincinnati, right next to Fountain Square, Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse is one of Cincinnati’s premier restaurants, offering a menu of some of the finest steaks, sushi, drinks and desserts in the city. It’s also attracted numerous celebrity guests, including Joe Burrow, George Clooney, Kevin Hart, Spike Lee, Lionel Messi and more. 505 Vine St., Downtown.

Gold Star Chili

Gold Star Chili began in 1964 when brothers Dave, Charlie, Frank and Basheer Daoud bought a hamburger restaurant in Mt. Washington. Having watched his mother pick out spices at the market as a boy in Jordan, Dave decided to draw on that experience and seek out the best spice suppliers, tweaking their chili’s original recipe until it was something completely unique. The brothers changed the name of their restaurant to Gold Star Chili in 1965, and it’s since grown to nearly 20 locations across the Greater Cincinnati area. The chili’s still made in small batches and its recipe is carefully guarded, having only been entrusted to three people. Today, you can now get it not only on coneys and spaghetti, but also on Gold Star’s delicious burgers and fries. They also offer vegetarian chili, swapping out the beef for Beyond Meat, and both classic and “hellacious” (spicy and delicious) chicken sandwiches.

Multiple locations.

Skyline Chili

Skyline has been one of the pioneers of Cincinnati chili since it first opened in 1949. First founded by Greek immigrants, the chili parlor pours the Queen City staple over spaghetti or hot dogs and tops it with a mound of cheese, oyster crackers, and — depending on your taste preference — onions and beans. Also available are chili burritos, fries, potatoes and vegetarian chili, which is made with black beans and rice.

Multiple locations.

The Aperture

The Aperture is the real deal, a first-rate addition to our city’s dining firmament and the perfect spot to take guests looking for well-crafted, high-quality Mediterranean-inspired dishes. Not downtown or in Over-the-Rhine, The Aperture is located in the center of Walnut Hills, enriching the up-and-coming neighborhood with a palate-thrilling splash. The restaurant says its menu focuses on three pillars — intention, balance and focus — and critical thought is put into every component of each dish. The menu features a selection of mezzes, or small plates like charred eggplant, swordfish skewers and lamb ribs. You can also try the pasta and grain options, like the Gnochetti + Rabbit, or go family-style and split a lab shank, grilled branzino or dry-aged pork chop.

900 E. McMillan St., Walnut Hills.

Blue Jay Restaurant

This homey Northside diner has been owned and operated by the Petropoulos family since 1967. Stepping inside is almost like stepping back in time with the row of cozy booths, wood paneling on the walls and the dining counter. The menu features classic breakfast and lunch dishes that come in generous portions, as well as Cincinnati-style chili in a bowl, on coneys or as ways. Out-of-towners will be excited to learn they could be sitting in the very booth where Nicole Kidman and Colin Farrell sat in the 2017 movie, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, or Robert Redford and Sissy Spacek in 2018’s The Old Man and the Gun.

4154 Hamilton Ave., Northside.

Cafe Mochiko

You can take visitors to Cafe Mochiko, which also recently appeared on the Food Network’s Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, for one of their delicious pastries (the ube halaya croissant is heavenly), but this Asian-American cafe is also a cozy spot for dinner. The menu offers laidback yōshoku-style fare (Western food reinvented in a Japanese way); try the Karaage (Japanese fried chicken), served with karashi mayo, the Chili Miso Udon (sweet and spicy miso, charred negi, shiitake mushroom and crispy garlic) or one of the weekly ramen specials, which, if you’re lucky, could be their famous Cincinnati chili-style ramen. 1524 Madison Road, East Walnut Hills.

LaRosa’s

Buddy LaRosa started his pizzeria in 1954 with only $400 and his Aunt Dena’s pizza recipe. Now, LaRosa’s is arguably the best-known pizza chain in Cincinnati. Branching out beyond pizza, the 60-plus restaurants across Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana also serve calzones, hoagies, pasta dishes and salads. For dessert, try the Cheesecake Scoops or triple-chocolate brownie. Multiple locations.

Montgomery Inn

World famous for its ribs, Ted and Matula Gregory’s Montgomery Inn has been a staple in Cincinnati since 1951. Matula’s secret-recipe sweet and tangy

all-natural barbecue sauce dresses the handspiced, slow-roasted and custom-broiled ribs and is featured on everything from barbecue spring chicken and pork chops to Saratoga chips. 9440 Montgomery Road, Montgomery; 925 Riverside Drive, East End.

Aglamesis Bro’s

This classic 1900s ice cream parlor has been wooing foodie visitors from all around the country with its unblemished reputation for quality for generations. The location in Oakley has remained virtually unchanged since it opened in 1913, with its chic Tiffany lamps and a marble soda fountain, offering just the right amount of nostalgia as you sit at the counter with a dish of ice cream or Italian ice (try the pink champagne flavor).

3046 Madison Road, Oakley; 9899 Montgomery Road, Montgomery; 304 Main St., Hamilton.

Graeter’s Ice Cream

It’s not a trip to Cincinnati until you make your way to a Graeter’s. Not only does the ice cream parlor offer unique flavors — especially its legendary Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip — but the ice cream itself is uniquely crafted. Graeter’s still uses the French pot method of its founder, resulting in a creamy ice cream base that’s leveled up with the addition of gourmet chocolate, which is poured over the churning cream to make a shell that artisans then break up to create the

gigantic chunks your guests will love. Multiple locations.

Servatii

For dessert, your guests have tried Cincinnati’s ice cream; now it’s time to try the baked goods. Servatii is a German- and European-style bakery that’s been crafting delicious pastries, donuts, cookies, cakes, pretzels, bread and more for over 60 years. You’ll often find desserts in its cases that are harder to come by elsewhere — things like eclairs, tortes and cannoli. All Servatii’s recipes are authentic, and they’re even a peanut-free bakery for those with allergies. Multiple locations.

The BonBonerie

Speaking of desserts, your visitors can’t leave Cincinnati without trying The Bonbonerie’s famous opera cream torte. The cake has been this bakery and tea room’s signature dessert for over 30 years. It features a double chocolate chip cake filled and iced with a rich vanilla opera cream, which is then covered in a chocolate glaze and shavings of Belgian chocolate and topped with white chocolate buttercream rosettes and hand-cut white chocolate diamonds. It’s worth a trip to Cincinnati all on its own, but you should also visit for their Afternoon Tea services, featuring 15 different types of specialty blended teas and an assortment of finger sandwiches, desserts and scones. 2030 Madison Road, O’Bryonville.

ARTS & CULTURE

Arts & Culture Briefs

The latest arts & culture stories in Greater Cincinnati

BY CITYBEAT STAFF

American Sign Museum Celebrates 25 Years With New Book

BY KATHERINE BARRIER

The American Sign Museum in Camp Washington is celebrating a milestone anniversary, and, in honor of the occasion, it’s also releasing a new book.

The first iteration of the American Sign Museum began in 1999 in the basement of the Signs of the Times magazine office when museum founder Tod Swormstedt began his collection. Over the next 25 years, the museum grew into a 40,000-square-foot facility that houses more than 100 years of signage and tells

December CityBeat Music Club Celebrates Cincinnati Musicians

BY CITYBEAT STAFF

In November, CityBeat launched the CityBeat Music Club, a monthly event that celebrates music from both national and local musicians.

The CityBeat Music Club is like a book club, but for music lovers. Each month, members listen to two albums — a national album and an album by a local musician — and discuss them at the CityBeat Music Club meetings.

Along with discussions about each album, the musician or band behind the local album will also be present at that month’s meeting to discuss the inspiration and story behind the album. The next CityBeat Music Club will take place on Dec. 3 from 7-8:30 p.m.

the story of an often-overlooked part of American history. The collection is also the most comprehensive display of signs in the country.

To mark the 25th anniversary, the American Sign Museum is releasing American Sign Museum: Celebrating 25 Years, a book that both traces the museum’s history and the stories of signage in America.

“From an idea in founder Tod Swormstedt’s brain to the #3 Pop Culture Museum in the country, the story of the

American Sign Museum is a story of ingenuity worth telling. This beautiful compilation is a wonderful celebration of the often-overlooked impact signs have had on American culture,” David Dupee, the American Sign Museum’s director, said in a press release.

Work on the book began in November 2024. It’s authored by Sam Roberts, the editor and publisher of BLAG (Better Letters Magazine), the world’s only print and online publication dedicated to the signpainting trade, and designed by Kathy Kikkert, the author and designer of Hollywood Signs: The Golden Age of Glittering Graphics and Glowing Neon. Local photographer and educator Natalie Grilli provided the photography.

“The American Sign Museum has inspired me visually for over a decade, long before I became its neighbor, and this book feels like a marquee tribute to that influence. Working on this project was a full-circle moment, blending my love of storytelling and art with a place that buzzes with warmth like home,” said Grilli.

American Sign Museum: Celebrating 25 Years will be available in the museum’s gift shop in time for the holiday season. You can also pre-order a copy by visiting americansignmuseum.org.

at Alien Records, located at 1207 Vine St. in Over-the-Rhine. The club will be hosted by CityBeat Editor-in-Chief Ashley Moor-Mahoney and CityBeat music writer Brent Stroud.

At the December edition of the CityBeat Music Club, we will be discussing

City of Cincinnati Debuts Pink Trash Truck, Pink Packer

BY CITYBEAT STAFF

In a social media post, the city of Cincinnati revealed one of its newest ventures — and it’s definitely sure to turn some…heads.

On Nov. 13, the city of Cincinnati unveiled the Pink Packer, a hot pink trash truck with the Cincinnati skyline printed on its side. The truck is designed by Greater Cincinnati Water Works graphic designer Christina Lipps and GCWW administration specialist Casara Anthony.

“Meet our newest trash truck, the Pink Packer,” the city said in a Facebook post. “There’s nothing really different about it from other trash trucks, except the fact that it’s HOT PINK! The Pink Packer has officially been added to our daily trash routes, so you may see it in your neighborhood.”

“It will also make appearances at City events that focus on keeping Cincinnati clean and litter free,” the post continued. “We hope you enjoy seeing it as much as we do.”

While many Facebook users were both enthusiastic and perplexed (“Crime, potholes, but we got ourselves a pink garbage truck. You can’t make this stuff up,” one user commented) about the newest addition to the trash truck fleet, others were quick to notice the interesting name the city gave to a truck designed to carry large loads…of trash.

“Instantly thought of breast cancer awareness then my mind went in the gutter,” a user commented.

“I’m entirely too immature for ‘the pink packer,’” commented another.

“Did you even ask just one 12 year old boy,” asked another. “I feel like this could have been avoided.”

“But we’re gonna stay silent and not celebrate all the other trucks?!?! Why? Because they are called Load Master?!?!?! JUSTICE FOR THE LOAD MASTERS,” reads another comment.

Others saw the trash truck as the city’s newest trans icon.

“#transrights,” one user commented.

“The Pink Packer is my drag name,” commented another.

At the very least, the Pink Packer ensures Cincinnati’s trash service is now decidedly well-equipped.

THE BPM, the latest album from Cincinnati native Sudan Archives, and Non-Person by Cincinnati band Vacation. The band’s principal songwriter, guitar player and vocalist Jerry Westerkamp will be present to talk about the record, how it came along at a pivotal

time in the band’s career, his many other projects and involvement in Cincinnati’s music scene, as well as a new project he’ll be debuting this December.

Participation in the CityBeat Music Club is free, but you must register by visiting bit. ly/3JWg2uW first in order to attend.

FOOD & DRINK

Similar Names, Similar Logos, Big Headache: Why a Viral Firing Hit the Wrong Cork N Crust

Cork N Crust co-owner Deborah Hill says she just wants to ensure Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky diners know recent negative reviews do not reflect her restaurant.

BY KATHERINE BARRIER

On Nov. 10, Bellevue pizzeria and wine bar Cork N Crust were gearing up for another busy Cincinnati Pizza Week, ready to offer diners their $10 special along with the friendly hospitality it’s known for. However, a couple of negative reviews of the restaurant appeared on Google just as Pizza Week started, surprising the team.

“Yall should really learn how to treat your own staff with respect and dignity,” one reviewer left, alongside a one-star rating.

Another one-star review read, “It’d taste a lot better if the food wasn’t made with a fragile male ego. All the employees out on the floor were very friendly and attentive. 10/10 service! But, whatever is going on in the back/ kitchen, needs to be re-evaluated ASAP. Do better, thanks!”

While negative reviews are just part of owning a restaurant, Cork N Crust co-owner Deborah Hill said those

two reviews seemed out of place. She couldn’t think of an instance in her restaurant that would have prompted comments about treating staff poorly or “fragile male egos.”

“We were shocked when we first saw these. I mean, we are really proud of our good customer service and our reputation. And so when we started getting these reviews … it didn’t even make sense, you know what I mean? What are they talking about?” Hill told CityBeat. “My concern was, this is Pizza Week, and we’re counting on a good Pizza Week. And if you look at our reviews right now, there’s two one-star reviews that are terrible, and I was just afraid we would not have a good Pizza Week.”

Hill responded to the first reviewer, assuring them Cork N Crust treated everyone with dignity and to reach out to her via email so she could settle the matter and figure out what had happened. It wasn’t until a third

& Crust, stating, “Got fired last week for asking for my paycheck,” followed by a screenshot of an alleged text exchange between her and Newport News Cork & Crust owner Chef Michael Johnson.

Gagliardi wrote, “Hey chef hope your day is going well, is there any chance I can come pick up my check today before 6? I’m able to be there around 330 I just wanted to ask first.”

negative review was left that she was able to connect the dots:

“Here an extra 5 Stars – People who are saying the staff was disrespected and fired is writing reviews on the wrong place. The actual place is (Cork ad (sic) Crust Newport News), not this business so I recommend anyone coming here to write a bad review of the situation they saw online to find the right business. Thanks,” wrote a reviewer named Imran Aboulhaf.

A case of mistaken identity

Cork N Crust had been mistaken for another restaurant of a similar name — Cork & Crust in Newport News, Virginia. The negative reviews had seemingly been meant for the Virginia restaurant, but what started it all?

A search on the social media platform Threads will bring up a post made on Nov. 9 by user Anjuli Gagliardi (@ricansopretty), a former employee at the Newport News Cork

To which Johnson replies, “When we talked about a good time of day to pick up checks what did I say?”

“You said when it’s slow but a simple no would’ve sufficed. Have a great day!!” Gagliardi wrote back.

“I said any day after 8pm. But you don’t listen. It’ll be on your check for Friday and also you are fired,” replied Johnson.

Gagliardi’s post garnered over 18,000 likes and 4,200 comments on Threads and led to backlash of angry comments and reviews meant for the Newport News restaurant that ultimately spilled over to Cork N Crust in Kentucky, as well as to the Cork & Crust Italian Mediterranean Kitchen in Harrington Park, New Jersey.

On Nov. 14, Johnson posted a video to Cork & Crust’s Instagram page, issuing an apology to the public.

“There’s a lot of misconception behind this and stuff like that. I’m going to explain that the best that I can. I had a moment of unprofessionalism where I fired somebody

over text message. Now, on our dayto-day operations, I’m not normally someone who is hot-headed; I’m not normally someone who gets mad or upset or dwells on things. I just had a moment where, honestly, I felt like I was getting trolled. And if that wasn’t the case, that wasn’t the case. If it was, it was; whatever it is, either way that it goes, I had a moment of weakness and I’m able to reflect on that, which I have been over the last week, is that I’ve been reflecting on the fact that I lost my temper,” Johnson says in the video.

Gagliardi responded to the video on Facebook, writing, “Imagine apologizing to the PUBLIC for firing an employee who asked for their check. THEN deleted all the comments and blocked me on Facebook because he knows he’s wrong and lying.”

When social media-driven backlash such as this happens, it’s not uncommon for businesses with similar or identical names to take some of the heat from angry reviewers. However, Hill feels like there’s another reason the waters were muddied between her restaurant and the one in Virginia.

A tale of two logos

Hill shared with CityBeat that she was aware of the Cork & Crust in Virginia for about a month before the negative reviews were posted. After Cork & Crust in Virginia opened in February of this year, Hill said she started getting orders and phone calls meant for the Virginia restaurant.

“We’ve had a couple situations where people have called to place an order with us, and then they said something that wasn’t on our menu,” Hill said. “And I looked him up. And I’ll be honest with you: I was quite

surprised to see their logo. It looks shockingly like ours that I paid a lot of money to have put together for us.”

While Cork N Crust in Bellevue and Cork & Crust in Newport News share a similar name and pizza-and-wine concept, Hill says their logos are also nearly identical: same wine bottle, same wine-filled “O” and same pizza pie missing a slice.

“That was our logo that we put together. We added the little pie thing on the logo. We paid a person to design that for us. So I was shocked when I saw that … but just kind of thought to myself at that time that it’s in a different market, you know?” Hill said. “But then this, when this happened this week, I felt a little bit differently about it. I was just very concerned that it would reflect on us.”

Cork N Crust in Bellevue opened in November 2021 and has used the same two logos designed by Menu Designs in St. Augustine, Florida, since. CityBeat reached out to Johnson for comment on his restaurant’s branding, but has not heard back as of press time.

Hill says she’s not pursuing legal action against Cork & Crust in Newport News, but she would like the negative reviews meant for Johnson’s restaurant removed from Google. She’s escalated the issue to Google, but as of Nov. 17, the reviews remain up.

“I just want to make sure in our area that people realize that those negative reviews do not reflect Cork N Crust Bellevue,” she said. “Cork N Crust is locally owned, family-run and operated. We’re built on hospitality, integrity and consistency. We value our guests and we value our employees.”

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Eats Briefs

The latest food and dining stories in Greater Cincinnati

BY KATHERINE BARRIER EATS

Salazar Reopens in Downtown Cincinnati

It’s a moment many local diners have been waiting for: Chef Jose Salazar’s eponymous restaurant, Salazar, made its official return to Cincinnati’s culinary scene last week.

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. Last year, 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.

“Opening Salazar in a significantly larger space is a transformative step for us,” Salazar said in a press release. “It

Red Leprechaun Launches New Immersive Christmas Pop-Up

Red Leprechaun, an Irish-style pub located at The Banks in downtown Cincinnati, is ringing in the holiday season with a new Christmas pop-up experience.

The Holiday Hideaway is a fullvenue, floor-to-ceiling Christmas takeover, featuring ceiling-hung gift boxes, oversized vintage bulbs, four fully decorated Christmas trees, garland-wrapped beams and thousands of twinkling lights. The team calls it one of the most immersive Christmas experiences in the city, unlike anything else at The Banks.

“Inspired by Ireland’s famous Christmas pub culture, The Holiday Hideaway blends authentic Irish charm with over-the-top festive décor — creating a warm, cinematic environment designed for families, friends and holiday lovers across Cincinnati,” Red Leprechaun said in a press release.

Along with the decor, The Holiday Hideaway will also host weekend events, including Christmas Movie Nights and toy drives. On Fridays in December, beginning at 6 p.m., the pub will play classic, family-friendly Christmas films. And on Saturdays from 5-8 p.m., if you donate a new toy, you’ll receive a $10 Red Leprechaun

unlocks a wide range of possibilities — not only as a restaurant, but as a venue for special occasions, celebrations, corporate events and more. We now have the capacity to host larger gatherings, something that wasn’t feasible before. We’re excited to bring Salazar to life in the Fountain

gift card. Saturdays will also include live music, a visit from the Grinch and a cookie-decorating station.

Red Leprechaun will also be serving up holiday-themed cocktails all season, including:

Deb’s Christmas Cake Martini

Pumpkin Spice Espresso Martini

Declan The Halls

The Grinch

Red Leprechaun, 20 W. Freedom Way, The Banks. More info: redleprechaun.com.

District and look forward to what the future holds in this new space.”

As for the menu, Salazar says he’s still working with local farmers and artisans and will make fresh pastas and other items in-house. There will be more emphasis on seafood, including seafood towers, but the

menu will also feature prime ribeye and familiar favorites from the former space, like the “lil fried oyster slider.” There will also be a large bar for those looking for a more casual night out.

The restaurant’s design was created by Cincinnati firm Indio and features custom Rookwood tiles; modern but warm touches; and art curated by Jayne Menke of Artonomy. Furlong Building completed the buildout.

“There’s incredible momentum in the Fountain District right now, making this the perfect moment for Salazar’s grand opening,” said Christy Samad, executive vice president of Civic and Commercial Space Activation at 3CDC. “We’re preparing to launch the new Elm Street Plaza, which will feature an expanded ice rink, and a full slate of winter and holiday programming is just beginning at Fountain Square. Adding another exceptional dining destination within walking distance of both spaces is a win for the neighborhood and the community.”

Salazar is open Monday through Thursday from 5-10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 4-10 p.m. It’s closed on Sundays.

Sweetgreen Opening First Greater Cincinnati Location Next Month

Ahealthy fast-casual restaurant chain is opening its first location in Greater Cincinnati next month.

Sweetgreen, which offers a menu of customizable protein plates, bowls and salads featuring fresh and wholesome ingredients, will host its grand opening in Liberty Township on Tuesday, Dec. 2. The restaurant is located at 7615 Blake Street in the Liberty Center, and can seat up to 54 people. It will be the brand’s third location in Ohio.

“We’ve felt so much love from Ohio since opening our first restaurant in the state last year,” Christopher Tarrant, chief development officer at Sweetgreen, said in a press release. “Liberty Center gives

us another chance to grow that community, serving real food from local partners like Klosterman’s Bakery.”

The Liberty Center Sweetgreen menu will offer fan-favorites like the Harvest Bowl, Crispy Rice Bowl and Miso Glazed Salmon, as well as the seasonal fall menu, including the Garlic Parm Cauli Bowl and the Chicken Cauli Plate. You can order in-restaurant, online or through the Sweetgreen app, which also offers its own rewards program.

Sweetgreen will host soft openings on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 with limited reservations available on Eventbrite. The grand opening on Dec. 2 will start at 10 a.m. and will include activations from local partners, including a pop-up from Proud

Hound and a seasonal DIY event with Eve Floral Co., as well as Sweetgreen giveaways. All grand opening day gifts and festivities will be available while supplies last until 1 p.m.

Dec. 2 is also Giving Tuesday, and in the spirit of the day, Sweetgreen says, for every meal purchased at the Liberty Center location on opening day, it will donate a meal to Shared Harvest, a local food bank that serves Butler, Darke, Miami, Preble and Warren counties. Starting Dec. 2, Sweetgreen will be open daily from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Sweetgreen-Liberty Center, 7615 Blake Street, Liberty Township. More info: sweetgreen.com.

MUSIC

500 Miles to Suburbia

Even though he’s done with the daily grind, music is never off Ryan Malott’s radar.

BY BRIAN BAKER

There is an entertaining book lurking in Ryan Malott’s memories. For two decades, he was the frontman and creative spark plug for the galloping Americana outfit 500 Miles to Memphis, and he’s always been quick to credit local legend David Rhodes Brown for being the catalyst of the band’s first major evolution, with his pedal steel prowess combined with his years of band and road experience.

In the same vein, Brown’s death from lung cancer in 2022 effectively put the final stamp on 500 Miles to Memphis. Brown had already been diagnosed when 500MTM released 2021’s Hard to Love, and Malott had the sense then that their selfdescribed best album was likely their last.

“That is the loudest and most aggressive album that we’ve done and it’s my favorite,” says Malott over beers at the Northside Tavern. “I love that album. I’m most proud of the lyrical content of it. I really feel like I hit my stride with communication. And it’s loud. And fast.”

Three years ago, at a tribute concert for Brown organized by Malott, Kelly Thomas and Brown’s widow Bobbi Jean Kayser (who herself sadly passed away back in August after her own cancer battle) at the Southgate House Revival, Malott confessed that he was contemplating stepping away from music in order to concentrate on sifting through Brown’s tape archive to identify and release his work. He did just that, creating the Sad Cowboy label and releasing a trove of Brown’s recordings, making his catalog available digitally for the first time.

“I named the label after one of my favorites of David’s songs, ‘The Saddest of Cowboys,’” says Malott. “I created the label in the beginning as a platform to release old Warsaw Falcons albums because they’d never

been released digitally. I went through tons of cassette tapes and stacks of CDs, and some of them were usable and I was able to extract the audio, clean it up and remaster it. I even had a lot of reel to reel masters that I was able to transfer digitally, remix and release. Everything held up pretty well. I was able to keep him alive through that. It was like he was always there. I was having conversations with him through the music, and I was appreciating him as an artist, which I had never done before. I got a bonus year of David.”

With the cessation of the process — save for one last album slated for release in the new year — Malott felt a natural emptiness, as Brown’s absence suddenly became more palpable.

Although 500MTM played a couple of reunion shows, Malott realized that his passion for the band was inextricably intertwined with Brown, and that it was time to close the book on 500 Miles to Memphis.

“We did the reunion back in June, which was a benefit for Bobbi Jean, who passed just a few weeks after, and I reunited the Warsaw Falcons and played with them,” says Malott. “It was the first time I’d been onstage with 500 Miles to Memphis in two or three years. I’m up for reunion shows, but after the tour for Hard to Love, it just felt like the right time to stop.”

Perhaps the greater realization for Malott was the amount of time he now had to spend with his family, time that had previously been slated for writing, recording, local gigging and farther flung touring. He found full-time employment and reveled in returning to the home life he had precariously balanced with his band life for so many years.

“All that time investment I was putting into music is going to my children,” says Malott. “Now that limited resource of time is for my wife and kids, where it should be. I’m very lucky.”

Even as his ardor for his own work began to wane ever so gradually, he found that his love of music in general was gaining traction. With Sad Cowboy established as a viable label, Malott sought out artists who could benefit from his wide-ranging experience, in much the same way that he had absorbed similar lessons from Brown. In addition to the Warsaw Falcons material, Malott has subsequently released works by Bandages, Get Wrecked and Veronica Grim (who recorded Malott’s “Straight to Hell,” the last song he wrote for 500MTM that they never used). The rewards of those releases have been two-fold: exposing people to Brown’s incredible talents and to mirror the experiential wisdom that Brown bestowed

upon him.

“I’ll have people message me and be like, ‘Holy shit, I didn’t realize David had these records out. I had never heard this stuff before and I didn’t realize how good David was,’” says Malott. “They’ll say, ‘Thanks for filling me in on this whole Dave thing. I’m going down this rabbit hole.’ And I’m like, ‘Yes! That’s what I did!’’

“Then I started thinking about how I could keep the memory of David alive even more,” Malott continued. “David funded our second album, Sunshine in a Shot Glass; he introduced me to Erwin Musper, who produced it; he gave me a place to live. So I thought, how can I pay it forward? I’m not going to let anyone live in my house, but I’m going to continue this label and selectively record bands for free and help them pursue their careers. Sometimes that means helping them write or throwing on background harmonies or playing guitar; whatever I can do to help them make the best record possible. Then I give them like a kickstart to their career, like, ‘Here’s the contacts you need: You need a publicist; you need to play these festivals,’ and just share this knowledge that I’ve amassed over the years.”

Although Malott has largely set aside his own musical aspirations after a two-decade pursuit, he’s not averse to getting back on a stage for the right offer. Enter former 500MTM guitarist Stephen Kuffner, who called Malott and asked if he would be interested in playing with him at MOTR Pub. Always prepared to help a friend, Malott responded with a semi-rousing

“Sure. Why not?”

“I didn’t ask for any details,” says Malott. “I was just like, ‘What’s the date? What time do you want me to be there?’ He didn’t tell me it’s with Owls of Ohio, his new band that he’s fronting. I found that out online. As far as material, I’ve got some new stuff I’ve been messing around with but haven’t recorded yet.”

An obvious question hangs in the air after Malott has discussed his love of family life and being satisfied with what he’s accomplished with 500MTM and the Sad Cowboy label. Given the right circumstances, would he ever return to music as a career, or was the title of 500MTM’s 2010 album, We’ve Built Up to Nothing, somehow prophetic?

“There are times that I’m like, ‘Nothing is great,’” says Malott with a laugh. “I don’t have any fucking projects on my calendar and I’m fine with that. I have zero responsibilities and stress as far as music goes. Children, day job, wife, home...that is about as much as I can handle anymore. As far as music goes, I’m not really thinking about it.”

And yet, Ryan Malott has songs that he’s been messing around with, and a studio in which to record things he hasn’t recorded yet. And he admitted that he’s inspired by the Clash, and he could start another band, and he could have another project left in the tank. Maybe, just maybe, that kind of math does itself.

Ryan Malott performs with Owls of Ohio at MOTR Pub on Dec. 4 at 9 p.m. More info: motrpub.com.

SOUND ADVICE

STEVIE NICKS

Nov. 30 • Heritage Bank Center Stevie Nicks is still doing her thing. The 77-year-old singer and songwriter has survived a rollercoaster life, more than 50 years of it in the spotlight, becoming one of the most iconic musical figures of the 1970s and beyond in the process. She’s done so despite multifarious issues in her personal life, dramas no doubt exacerbated by her copious use of drugs and alcohol, of which she’s supposedly been free of since the late 1980s. The romanticized era of Fleetwood Mac’s creative and commercial zenith is the stuff of legend (tipping into mythos) — the kind of fame, fortune and indulgence that too often yields ruinous results.

But Nicks and her voice endured, altered by time but still affecting. Then there is her visual aesthetic, which is as much a part of her creative aura as her vulnerable vocal emissions. How many artists have their own Barbie doll? Surreal and oddly appropriate, check this recent press release from Mattel: “From Fleetwood Mac frontwoman to massive solo star, Stevie Nicks is an icon of free-spirited talent and style. The second Barbie doll tribute to the queen of rock is an homage to her Bella Donna era, the album that launched her multiplatinum solo

career.” The doll comes replete with a flowing white dress, top hat and highheeled boots, which Mattel describes as a “hallmark of Stevie’s iconic bewitching boho style.”

Nicks’ current tour, which might be her last, covers her entire career — of course, heavy on Fleetwood Mac hits (“Rhiannon,” “Gold Dust Woman,” “Landslide” and “Dreams”) and her best-known solo work (“Edge of Seventeen,” “Stand Back” and “Stop

Draggin’ My Heart Around”), as well as a couple of covers (most often Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’ ” and The Crickets’ “Not Fade Away”). The recent and upcoming shows were makeup dates after Nicks suffered a fractured shoulder in August 2025, which she describes as “a bad break in every way.” Bad breaks are nothing new for this flawed but resilient woman.

Stevie Nicks plays the Heritage Bank Center on Nov. 30 at 7 p.m. More info: heritagebankcenter.com. (Jason Gargano)

SOUL COUGHING

Dec. 7 • Madison Theater

Soul Coughing broke up rather acrimoniously 25 years ago. Despite rumors that frontman Mike Doughty was open to reconnecting with his mates — keyboardist/sampler guru Mark Degli Antoni, drummer Yuval Gabay and stand-up bassist Sebastian Steinberg — over the last decade, a full-band reunion remained elusive … until 2024 when the original lineup announced a reunion tour to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their debut album, Ruby Vroom

For the uninitiated or those who have forgotten, the off-kilter New York City foursome used jazz-injected, polyrhythmic grooves and Doughty’s sing-speak/beat-poet vocal delivery and acerbic wit to gather a sizable following over the course of three stellar albums (1996’s Irresistible Bliss and 1998’s El Oso followed the debut) before flaming out in 2000. Yet the long layoff didn’t seem to faze them:

The 2024 tour garnered a rapturous response, leading the band to release the simply titled LIVE 2024 earlier this year. The double album features 21 songs from across their genre-jumping discography, including fan favorites “Bus to Beelzebub,” “Is Chicago, Is Not Chicago,” “Casiotone Nation,” “Rolling,” “Screenwriter’s Blues” and “Super Bon Bon.”

Last fall’s successful tour led to another set of shows this past spring, and now they’re back on the road for what they’re calling a “Soul Coughing Still Loves You” tour of the Midwest. All of this is a surprise for longtime fans aware of the various internal dramas that led to their demise the first time around. Curiously, the band has done almost no press since reforming. But Antoni — whose mood-altering keyboard and avant sampling work remain one of Soul Coughing’s secret ingredients — briefly spoke with Medium back in September, revealing how they decided on a set list for the live shows: “We picked songs that were important to us, that we’d always played well. Wasn’t a lot of fussing.” And how are the guys getting along these days? “We’re all being super professional, committed to our shared legacy, appreciating the love shown by our audiences.”

It’s hard to tell whether this vague assessment will lead to even more touring or new songs, but it’s easy to be pleased that Soul Coughing finally reconnected.

Soul Coughing plays Madison Theater on Dec. 7 at 8 p.m. More info: madisontheater.com. (JG)