Road trip! Cincy style..

[timmae]

For any with knowledge of Cincy...

My wife and I are visiting the Cincinnati this coming Sun/Mon/Tue. We are staying across from Fountain Square.. I already plan to do a walking tour through the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood as I am amazed at what I saw when we first visited last week (we stayed downtown for a night on our way through to Dayton). I am thinking about taking in a Reds game on Monday night... what are the best seats? There seems to be available tickets in almost every section so I just want to see if there are better seats than others. We also plan on stopping by NewRiff distillery to grab some bottles for the bar back home. Any other cool bars/brewpubs in the area? Other architectural items that are must see?? Thanks in advance.

[rowech]

Kings Island if you have a day to spare.

[rowech]

Newport Aquarium is pretty awesome as well.

[NobodyHere]

Get the Chili

[Butter]

Reds game on a weeknight: Buy $5 upper deck seats, then move down and sit anywhere in the lower bowl. Anything along the first base line is preferred, as that has the best view of the video board. Third base line a little further up has best views of the river and into Kentucky.

Yard House or Moerlein Lager House near the stadium are both pretty good.

[timmae]

Awesome stuff... Will probably do a reds game. May walk over to Newton across the suspension bridge also. Moerlein Lager house is right there... I may do that Sunday night when the crowds have died down a bit.

[CrimsonFox]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

Get the Chili

Go to Skyline Chili, not yucky gold star.

Go at least 5 times.

Order a 3 or 5 way (5 is you like onions and beans)
Garlic bread with cheese
side greek salad
coney with everything

[cougarfreak]

Rockbottom Brewery is a cool hang out. Close to fountain square. If you like ice cream, there's a local phenom called Graeters, they have a place on the square as well. Local steakhouse, downtown called Jeff Rubys. It's pricey, but it's good eating.

[Scoobz0202]

I've always enjoyed sitting in the sun/moon deck at Reds games. It's their right field seats. Catch a lot of sun, great view of the left field scoreboard for stats and what not.

They have built up a lot of entertainment right around the stadium which is nice. I still prefer walking across the river over to the Covington/Newport area. My favorite bar to stop at is Beer Sellar. It's on a floatilla right next to one of the bridges and when you sit on the outside deck during sunset it offers a great view of Cincinnati. Their beer selection is excellent. It is a total dive bar, though, and sometimes the service can be mediocre. Keep in mind that it smells like cigar and cigarette smoke as Kentucky still allows inside smoking, but I only go there to sit on the deck anyways. The view and beer selection is what keeps me coming there. I always try and stop at Strong’s Brick Oven Pizzeria in Covington as well. Great food and fun location as it is inside a very old house. I do think they are closed on Mondays, though, if you would want to stop before a Monday Reds game it wouldn't be possible.

If you are driving, you may want to check out Party Source as well. It is right by the area of Covington that you would be walking around if you crossed the bridge, but it is a absolutely huge store with everything from party supplies to all the beer and liquor you can imagine. I always stock up on liquor there as it is dirt cheap compared to Ohio due to taxes in Kentucky. Beer isn't that much cheaper, if at all, but liquor definitely is. Just a fun place to walk around, too.

Edit:
Party Supplies Online | Buy Alcohol Online | The Party Source

They have a search so you can search for anything you may want to see if it is a lot cheaper than what you get in Chicago to see if it is worth a trip for you.

Double Edit:

I admittedly haven't explored the local brewpubs/breweries of the Cincinnati area like I should, but one local beer that we get up here in Dayton is Rhinegeist. Their Truth (IPA) is really good and one of my go-to pick ups. I can't vouch for their actual bar, but that would be a brewery I have been wanting to check out.

[timmae]

I will be in Dayton all day Monday for meetings so any downtown lunch spots would help as well. Thanks for all of the ideas..

[Warhammer]

Originally Posted by timmae

I will be in Dayton all day Monday for meetings so any downtown lunch spots would help as well. Thanks for all of the ideas..

I love the Dublin pub. Haven't been there in a while though. Coco's is solid as well.

If you are east of downtown, and have a place to take the food back to, the Burrito King on Valley Ave is the best Mexican I've ever had. The place is a dump, but the food is incredible. Place is run by a Mexican family that relocated from SoCal to get their son away from the gangs. Great people and great food.

Also, speaking of Cincy Chili, I had great Cincy Chili in Reading, PA. The Cheeky Monks Brewing Company have their own style that is great. You can definitely tell the cinnamon is in there, but it is not overpowering, plus they drizzle sour cream on top (not a fan of sour cream in general) and it just flat out works.

[CrimsonFox]

Originally Posted by timmae

I will be in Dayton all day Monday for meetings so any downtown lunch spots would help as well. Thanks for all of the ideas..

If you're going to Dayton you MUST stop by Second Time Around on...Brown I think near UD (very close to downtown)

Best used game/movie/music store ever . The prices are still dirt cheap on lots of stuff. HUGE selection.

Fun place!

[timmae]

Do they have vinyl??!!!

[PilotMan]

The OTR area has been rejuvenated and is the new upstart night spot. There are quite a few new drinking establishments in that area right now.

Stubhub is my go to for any pro baseball games, especially for Reds games.

The zoo is top notch.

If you like sushi, a restaurant called Mr Sushi is right around the corner from fountain square and has half price every day after 4. I was trying to talk the wife into going there later today, even.

Can't think of anything else right off the top of my head.

[korme]

Luckys in the Oregon District has some stellar food

[Butter]

Originally Posted by korme

Luckys in the Oregon District has some stellar food

It's salmonella-rific!

[korme]

Whatever, I'm not going to let that incident tarnish my opinion on it.

[CraigSca]

Was in Cincinnati on Tues/Wed. Went to the ballgame Tuesday night, was my first time a Great American. Weather was beautiful - had a really good time. Had a "hot met" at the park - had no idea what a "met" was and I confused the checkout person by asking. Oh, also had a turkey leg from the Montgomery barbecue place.

Hit Skyline during the day (second time I've had it). Had a 4-way (not a fan of beans). First time I had Skyline I loved it, this time it was only ok.

Wednesday attended the businessman's special in the CBTS pavilion. Another good game, but pretty detached watching a game through a window in an air conditioned atmosphere. Had a better view on the TVs inside the pavilion.

All in all a pretty fun trip.