Somerset OTR
139 E. McMicken Ave., Over-the-Rhine
Slated to open this summer, this literal urban oasis will transport visitors across the globe once they walk through the entrance gates. The forthcoming bar features a vibrant jungle atmosphere, with eclectic decor and unique seating throughout the space. Somerset will have two bars — a conservatory bar and a lounge bar, as well as an herb garden, space for a food truck and an outdoor cinema wall, according to their Instagram.
Photo: Facebook.com/somerset.otr
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Bebo’s Burgers + Frappes
29 E. Court St., Downtown
From the team behind Lalo, BEBO’S opened in mid-June in the space formerly occupied by Dope!, Hop Ping Pig and Lalo on the recently revitalized Court Street. The eatery specializes in gourmet burgers and decadent frappes. The menu offers 12 burgers and sandwiches, ranging from the simple Old Fashioned burger with American cheese, LTP, onion and mayo to the more extravagant Crzy Rich Asian with provolone, gojuchang sauce, sweet pickled carrots, caramelized onion, mushroom and kimchi. They have a vegetarian chickpea patty for the non-meat-eaters. Frappes range from the Elvis with chocolate, banana, peanut butter and sugar cookies to Tea Time with Thai tea, cinnamon and Asian cookie sticks.
Photo: Hailey Bollinger
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Gulow Street
1614 Hoffner St., Northside
Northside will soon welcome a new addition to the neighborhood.
Gulow Street — set to open at the end of June — is a cozy yet sophisticated bar and restaurant located at the corner of Hoffner and Gulow streets (the establishment’s namesake). Gulow Street’s food menu is small but mighty, offering seven dishes ranging from breakfast to dinner, with stand-out items including sesame noodles, a pimento-stuffed breakfast sandwich, rigatoni bolognese and a cheeseburger. The cocktail menu sports four craft cocktails ranging in spirits from bourbon and vodka to gin. The bar/restaurant will also have a dog-friendly patio.
Photo: Alex Mouch
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Pig Candy BBQ Kitchen
5901 Kellogg Ave., California
Local couple Paul Montgomery and Christina Goehrig opened their restaurant Pig Candy BBQ on March 26, but the idea has been marinating for a little over half a decade. Montgomery and Goehrig bought the Kellogg Avenue building in which the restaurant sits — near Dead Low Brewing and the Lunken Airport bike path — five years ago. Built in 1913, it served as the local California, Ohio jail for many decades. Pig Candy specializes in smoked, barbecued meats with pulled pork, smoked and sliced turkey and grilled bone-in chicken thighs on the menu. Certain dishes have a Mexican-influence, like the pulled pork posole, barbecue quesadilla and grilled salsa; Montgomery says that each of these are his brother-in-law’s father’s recipes. The name “Pig Candy” comes from their specialty: a fluffy gluten-free waffle pressed with pulled pork and topped with peach maple glaze. Unlike some other barbecue joints, though, Pig Candy offers alternatives for those with dietary restrictions, including housemade vegan goetta and gluten-free waffles.
Photo: Provided by Pig Candy BBQ Kitchen
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Copper and Flame
1115 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine
Pour-your-own-drink concept Copper & Flame opened in the former Rook OTR space on June 3. The bar boasts 68 different taps of draft beer, plus craft cocktails and wine — all priced by-the-ounce and poured by the individual. Co-owner Kathy O’Connell says this concept allows customers to explore new styles of drinks and try as little or as much as they want. But don’t expect to see familiar brews — Copper & Flame is highlighting rare beer varieties that you likely won’t find on draft lists around the neighborhood. Just load money onto an RFID card when you enter and use that to buy your drinks.
Photo: Facebook.com/CopperandFlameotr
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Stellar Food Company
6663 Salem Road, Anderson Township
Fans of Stellar Street Eats soon can stop hunting down the food truck’s next location online, because the eatery-on-wheels is expanding with a static brick-and-mortar in Anderson Township. Operated by husband-and-wife duo Ashlee Rose and Ryan O’Neil, Stellar Street Eats is known for its burgers, wraps, steak sandwiches and cult-favorite pimento cheese. In fact, it’s been named one of the top three Best Food Trucks in CityBeat’s past three Best Of Cincinnati issues, and was in the top three Best Overall Burgers and Best Local Snack this year (for that pimento cheese).
Photo: Provided
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Yuca
700 Fairfield Ave., Bellevue
Jeremy Faeth, co-owner and executive chef of popular Covington brunch restaurant Cedar, plans to open his second restaurant, Yucca, in Bellevue this summer. The eatery will take over the space formerly occupied by Fairfield Market. This new Latin-American restaurant will be open for breakfast, brunch, and lunch, serving items like The Hangover, Cedar’s most popular dish. In The Hangover, you will find two sunny side-up eggs laying on a bed of spicy chorizo and homemade potatoes with pico de gallo and avocado on top. All of Yuca’s recipes are made from scratch with locally sourced ingredients.
Photo: Francisco Huerta
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Tallstack Sammies
3428 Decoursey Ave., Latonia
From the brains and cleavers behind Butcher Betties’ “retro meatcentric brand” comes Tallstack Sammies, a shop offering super tall Montreal-style smoked meat sandwiches. What is “Montreal-style smoked meat,” you ask? According to Wikipedia, it’s a Kosher deli meat similar to pastrami featuring salted, cured, hot smoked and steamed brisket. The new eatery is slated to open in July and is attached to Pandemonium art gallery, bar and live music venue.
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OLLA
302 W. MLK Jr. Blvd, Covington
The folks behind Covington’s Gutierrez Deli opened OLLA on June 1. The eatery serves up Mexican-style street food. The menu is stacked with tacos, burritos, nachos and “Guti fries,” with nine different meat/veggie options (including birria) to choose from, plus a couple of entrees, sides and drinks — both alcoholic and non.
Photo: Facebook.com/OllaCov
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Rosie’s Cocktails & Pies
300 E. Seventh St., Downtown
While temporarily closed due to a car accident involving the restaurant, Rosie’s is slated to reopen mid-July. From the team behind Crown Republic Gastropub and Losanti, this East Coast-style pizza spot takes over the space formerly occupied by Money Chicken. Rosie’s features a unique style of pizza made with house dough, which is then layered with cheese, toppings and sauce on top — creating a light and crisp pizza from the crust to the center of the pie. Ingredients are either made in-house or sourced from Ohio-based businesses. They also offer a selection of craft cocktails, wine and beer.
Photo: Hailey Bollinger
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Bee’s Barbecue
5910 Chandler St., Madisonville
Bee’s Barbecue began as a pop-up in 2017, offering craveable smoked meats at Oakley Wines and the currently-defunct Dutch’s Larder in Hyde Park (local chef Brad Bernstein will reopen the space this summer). But, from the beginning, owner Brendan “Bee” Hague knew he wanted a brick-and-mortar location. In 2019, he found the storefront on Chandler Street — previously home to Jojo’s Chicken & Fish, a pizzeria and a candy shop — and has been paying rent on the space ever since.
The restaurant officially opened in April and serves up smoked brisket, pulled pork, turkey breast, Cincinnati hot links, ribs and black pepper Lockhart, plus a range of sides.
Photo: Provided by Bee’s Barbecue
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The Pitch Cincy
1430 Central Parkway, Over-the-Rhine
Soccer-themed sports bar The Pitch Cincy, located directly across from the recently renamed TQL stadium, opened before the first home match of FC Cincinnati’s 2021 Major League Soccer season in May. Housed in the former two-story Metropolitan Baptist Church space, the bar boasts artificial turf on the ceiling, a second-floor scarf wall and a 9-foot-tall wall of 4K TVs (there’s another 50 TVs spread throughout the bar). And from the coveted rooftop patio, patrons can almost see into the FCC stadium.
Photo: Facebook.com/thepitchcincy
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Pearlstar
1220 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine
Nashville-based restaurateur Terry Raley is bringing Pearlstar oyster bar to Over-the-Rhine this summer. According to 3CDC, the restaurant will include a 2,000-square-foot courtyard area with “outdoor seating alongside two bocce courts, a 100-foot storefront, a wood-fired grill and wood-burning oven.” The kitchen will offer East and West Coast oysters, ceviches, crudos and tartares, along with wood-grilled burgers and steak sandwiches.
Photo: 3CDC
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Tuba Brezelgarden
517 Sixth Ave., Dayton
After months and months of financial struggle due to the ongoing pandemic, Tuba Baking Company is finally growing their business, creating Tuba Brezelgarden. This restaurant will be primarily known for its Sawbian-style pretzels, German beers, and German staples that will be featured on the menu such as baked flammkuchen (a German flatbread). Tuba Baking Company hopes to open their new Brezelgarden in mid-late summer of 2021.
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Pensive Distilling Co.
720 Monmouth St., Newport
The recently opened Pensive Distilling Co. draws on Newport’s rich history of bootleggers and bourbon. Their cocktails — including the Derby-inspired julep — are made with bourbon and vodka distilled and bottled on premises. And the food menu includes a selection of sliders named after famous race horses (the American Pharoah comes topped with caramelized red onion, spicy corn salsa and chipotle ranch aioli) and served on local Em’s Sourdough buns. If you don’t want a cocktail, opt for a local beer instead.
Photo: Facebook.com/PensiveDistillingCo
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Oakley Kitchen & Food Hall
3715 Madison Road, Oakley
At Oakley Kitchen, vendors, cooks and partners will call the food hall their temporary home until they are able to create their own brick-and-mortar. Housed within Oakley Kitchen, you will find restaurants like Jimmie Lou’s, La Petite Frite, Khana Gourmet Indian Grill, and many more. These entrepreneurs will be able to use this space as a testing ground to sharpen their skills, recipes and business strategies. Oakley Kitchen opens this June.
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Cork N Crust
710 Fairfield Ave., Bellevue
Co-owners Deborah Rudisell and William Hill are opening wine and pizza shop Cork N Crust in Bellevue’s former Virgil’s restaurant this late this summer. In addition to pies and vino, the restaurant will offer smoked meats, charcuterie boards, scratch-made Mediterranean bites, as well as a full bar.
Photo: Co-owner’s Facebook page
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Crumbl Cookie
3321 Vandercar Way, Oakley
This Utah-based cookie franchise prides themselves on creating the “world’s best chocolate chip cookie.” Founded by two cousins on a quest for the perfect cookie recipe, the brand now has over 200 locations across the nation. Oakley’s Crumbl Cookie opened in May — the first of three slated for the Cincinnati area. In addition to their milk chocolate chip cookie and chilled sugar cookie which are always on the menu, the bakery also offers four weekly rotating cookie flavors. They also have ice cream available. You can even have them delivered to you home.
Photo: Facebook.com/crumbloakley
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Red Feather Larder at Dutch’s
3366-3378 Erie Ave., Hyde Park
Brad Bernstein of Red Feather Kitchen in Oakley (and recently-closed Postmark in Clifton) purchased Dutch’s in the summer of 2020 after partners behind the longtime Hyde Park staple closed the establishment earlier that year. Bernstein plans to maintain a similar business model — excellent eats and drinks, and artisan products so that guests can ::shop like a chef,:: Bernstein told in an interview last August. Dutch’s is slated to open in July.
Photo: Facebook.com/DutchsLarder
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Frosthaus
115 Park Place, Covington
Frosthaus — located next to German-style spaghetti eis cream shop Eishaus — offers a slew of frozen delights, specifically booze-infused slushies. Opt for the rainbow-hued Cov Sunset, with mango, strawberry and mojito; or the Frosé + Cream, with rosé wine, vodka and ice cream. They also offer non-alcoholic frozen drinks, German-inspired salads and sandwiches, macaroni and cheese and flatbreads.
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Baked by Rooted Juicery + Kitchen
113 W. Elder St., Findlay Market, Over-the-Rhine
Vegan-centric juice bar Rooted Juicery + Kitchen is expanding its local imprint with a new storefront in Findlay Market, located in the former Mainwood Pastry space. But this location — called “Baked” — will focus on the titular baked goods. Rooted will prepare and serve housemade baked goods out of this spot, along with menu items found at the other three Rooted locales, including pressed juices, smoothies, toasts, bowls, et al. Baked will also serve alcohol, so you can have a glass of rosé with your matcha latte.
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