Cheap drinks, walking distance from the medical school, and a casual atmosphere made this bar a staple in my life for two years. Check out the shuffle board table and the darts. They also have a large patio upstairs and host pig roasts and beer festivals, which are a lot of fun. Did I mention cheap drinks, and they have a happy hour.
Review Source:I don't find Fries to be too dive-y. It's a good place to grab a beer with a group of friends. They have a great selection of beers, as well (draft and bottled). Oftentimes, they grill out and have live music. Definitely prefer coming here in the nice weather seasons, because the patio area is huge and nice to hang out in.
One reason I really like Fries is because the crowd is always so varied. It's not like a lot of the bars in the Clifton area where the majority of patrons are college students. There's always a range of ages and it doesn't cater to one "crowd."
And, you can't  beat the variety of bar games! Pool, shuffleboard, darts, and sometimes cornhole!
I'm not cool enough for this bar, and neither are you. Or maybe I'm just grumpy because I'm hungry and this place doesn't serve food. At least they have potato chips.
It's an old neighborhood place with a large couple of rooms on the main floor, a small room with pool tables on the second floor, and a large patio on the second floor. The patio is always filled with smoke, and it's usually easy to find a spot at a picnic table. If you're into interesting beers, it's a fine place to get some fun selections at their rotating tap. There are also a large number of bottled selections. The beer prices are moderate.
The bar has an old, decaying feeling fitting for the neighborhood. It's a mess, but when you're here, it's *your* mess, and that's OK. I'm giving it two stars because it's only trying to be two stars. The people that go to it want a two-star bar. And that's OK too. If you're looking for a two-star bar, this one gets four stars.
UPDATE: I've decided my star ratings need to be put on a curve, based on the type of establishment. This is a two-star-class bar. But like I said above, it gets four stars for that.
On a typical Saturday night at Fries, if you scan the crowd downstairs and upstairs and even outside you will notice cute college girls, a big amount of people from culinary industry, some people overdressed for this bar and more.
My friends and I try and make this our stop on Saturday night after spending the entire day in the kitchen. We all meet upstairs by the pool table and just play pool and shoot the breeze about things that happened at our restaurants. The bartenders are very cool and easy to look out and make some great drinks.
The jukebox is also very good and old school. It is a fun college bar and I enjoy going there almost every Saturday.
I cannot believe it took me this long in my life to go to Fries Café!
And after my first tryst with this homey dive bar just over a month ago, I've since returned. That says a lot -- seeing that I've never been one to frequent Clifton bars -- but having recently partaken on a Holi-dive Bar Crawl in that area, I got to experience Fries in all its lovely dive-bar glory.
There's something very comfortable about this particular place; perhaps because it is located in what feels like an historic home. But unlike historic times, there are flat screen TVs to accommodate the standard sports fan. Additionally, drink prices are reasonable.
I will definitely be back. Again and again.
A non drinking writing a review about a bar? C'mon man. Well I will say this is obviously more than your standard bar. I am a fan of the table games and the open feeling Fries offers. Too cramped inside? Take a strolls upstairs and walk out onto their "backyard" filled with tables and lights. Great place to meet up with friends and talk all night.
Review Source:Fries has so many things going for it.
Fries is only slightly divey. So get off their backs other reviewers.
Out door patio: Its large, fenced (good for dogs which they allow), has mellow holiday lights all around, sometimes makes amazing food out there (mostly weekends, but check their site), bonfires, and a stage. Its dreamy and wonderful.
They change their taps a lot. Their taps are always really tasty and interesting.
Joe the Bartender is really good at making up drinks. And he has cool hair.
Now the ladies bathrooms aren't the best but they aren't the worst either. I have been in the main floor men's bathroom and it is gross.
I think either they're your thing or they're not. But ya gotta come try them out!
Great beer selection and truly one of a kinda bar/restaurant in the Clifton Neighborhood of Cincinnati. Â Very close to University of Cincinnati campus. Â
I took part in the Y'all Good Jamboree they held out in the backyard area of the bar. Â The sound was good, the bands were great and the comedy was at least half assed (because it was me). Â Thanks to the ownership for allowing such a great event to happen and I hope to be part of it next year!
Also, special shout out to Huck and The Rumpke Mountain Boys for getting me on the bill!
Fries Cafe is, as some people have mentioned, a dive bar. But it's not dirty, it's not sketchy, and it doesn't feel dangerous. So I'll add that up to a win.
What does it have? It has a nice, neighborhood bar feel. It has pool tables. It has shuffleboard, which is a rarity in these parts. It has and excellent beer selection, and sometimes it has food on the grill outside. Oh, and it has outdoor seating.
If you want to hang out and not pay too much and maybe watch a tiny bit of the game on the TV above the bar (no, the view of the TV won't be good, but it's enough for casual score-glances), then I'd say go for it. They have keg tapping events every now and then which are a good time, and you probably won't leave any worse than you came in. If I lived within stumbling distance I would be there, well, probably a lot.
Reasons to come to Fries:
1. You want to choose from a decent selection of moderately priced beer.
2. You want to hang out outside on the patio with friends.
3. You want to drink in a pretty typical college bar atmosphere.
Reasons not to come to Fries:
1. You want to drink somewhere where the toilet seat is clean. And the bathroom floor is clean. And where there are clean paper towels. This is not Fries.
2. You don't want to run into an ex, a friend of an ex, or a bunch of people you probably don't like. This is Fries.
3. You want to be served quickly. This is not Fries.
This bar is okay...I'm over it.
I know this post will sound like I'm a fanboy, but Fries is the best beer bar in Cincinnati, period. As a home brewer and beer aficionado, I take pride in finding a bar with an outstanding selection. Fries has about eight beers on tap, with everything rotating out quickly - often within a day. A solid two coolers of quality bottled beers, too. Beers sold by 12 oz pours and pitchers. Food can be brought in from outside places; two pizza joints are within 200 yards. Normally $3.50 to $4 per beer. The bar has darts, Golden Tee, bar shuffleboard, and pool tables discreetly placed in building. The building is a bit of a dive bar with worn wooden floors. There are a couple of TVs. Lastly, Fries also has a beer garden/outside area w picnic tables and the occasional fire ring for chilly nights. Live music on occasion, too. There are other good places for taps in Cinci - Dilly Deli, Â aliveOne, Tellers, The Comet, Nicholson's - but Fries is my favorite.
Review Source:Fries Café is a dive bar. Everything about it is a dive bar. The inside is a dive bar. Somehow, the outside patio is a dive bar. It's a dive bar through and through - and I enjoy it.
Go through its tiny, tight door and its dark - not mood-lit sweet dark, but just dark, like the windows just gave up. Walk left and you enter the bar area, which is basically plastered with wood. Not classy wood, but old, solid wood - wood that's been there for a while and is able to stand the test of time. That's basically how everything in this bar feels - old and sturdy and awesome.
They've for a nice selection of beers for a decent price. Nothing amazing but nothing annoying either. Most likely, if you're open to a few favorite drinks, you'll find something you enjoy.
If you skip the bar area and walk up the stairs, you come to floor two - home of a pool table that's always in use by a regular and the outside patio ... no, patio might be too classy a description. How about: outside slab of concrete with tables and chairs found at garage sales across Cincinnati. There are metal ones and wooden ones and broken ones and everything in between. Part of this outside area is covered, and part isn't. If it's sunny and you're dying, try to nudge people out of the way and go for the shade.
There's also a stage where I once saw people do comedy and have never seen used since. I'm sure it is - just not when I'm there.
And now that I think about it, this place is called a café, but I'm not sure they do food. Every time I've gotten something to eat there, it's been from a food truck outside. If they do food, they're not advertising it well ... or maybe it's just a terrible name.
Look, this is not the classiest spot in Cincinnati. It's not even the best bar in Cincinnati. Hell, it's not even a bar I would take visitors to in Cincinnati. However, I come back again and again, because there is something comforting in the fact that this place is never, ever going to change. It is now, and will forever be, a dive bar.
This is a favorite hangout spot for a lot of people I know. Hopefully it's not for the atmosphere, which I agree is extremely divey in that it's smelly and unpolished-looking, but rather for the chance to hang out with your buddies as you shoot pool/play darts/dominate at shuffleboard while you get a good buzz going. The shuffleboard is definitely addicting and there is usually a wait to play on more crowded nights. This place is never really crowded though, unless the med students just finished a block of exams. The people who come here tend to be "older", ie. grad students and up. Yes, that includes me.
One reason I don't love coming here is because there is always (yes, every time I go) this one creeper black dude who sits at a table by the shuffleboard, literally one table away from my group, and just stares at people and things by himself for hours. He wears sunglasses at night sometimes, probably to help him reduce the stalking vibe by a few negligible percentage points. One time my female friend and I noticed that whenever our group left one area of the bar to go to a different area, the creeper would follow, then sit just as close as he had before. As you can tell I have observed him quite a bit, but that's just how much he bothers me. So I would suggest bringing a large group of guys with you as we do :) Come to think of it though, it's always the guys' idea to go. But oh well, somehow it's always a fun time!
Notes:
1) Parking is either on the street, or in the lot directly across from Fries. It's not an actual bar lot but I've never been towed, and it's better than walking down a shady street in the dark.
2) On certain nights they sell really good and juicy burgers upstairs. (I don't remember any fries though, just chips. Ironic?)
Fries (pronounced Freeze) Cafe located on Jefferson ave near the gaslight district is as divey dive as they come. I would have never noticed or known this bar was even here if I had not done a bar search for shufleboard on the Internet.
Fries is a dive but it is really inviting. Their are a couple of rooms that compile what is Fries Cafe. The first door you walk into, which is hard to find if your a newbie, is the hallway which leads to the main bar area or you can go down into the dungeon pool hall. Past the bar room us the shufleboard board room which my party likes to take advantage of. It's an old table with some bumps at the ends but it no doubt gets the job done and makes for a super fun and competitive night.
When it's comes to drink selection Fries has a great beer cooler. They boast on their website about being a beer bar and they live up to it. They have literally a standing cooler of tons of different beers for you to choose from.
Fries does have food I think. Late at night though they have things like chips and peanuts for you to munch on.
If your in town and looking for a good brewski then stop at Fries. The crowd is mature unlike on campus and it is more if a relaxing bar. A worthwhile place to stop at for a drink
Some of my friends think this place smells weird, but I've never noticed. Â Probably because I'm too distracted by the strong drinks, multiple televisions, and pool games going on. Â My only complaint USED to be they didn't accept credit cards, but I've been told that changed! Â Woohoo! Â The open-air atmosphere and occasional bonfire out back are the best.
Review Source:Don't mistake this place for "fries," it's actually "freeze." The crowd is good, normally a bunch of grad students trying to forget how much writing a thesis sucks with some locals peppered in for some good stories. Pool, shuffleboard, etc, but we liked to play cards there most. Really great beer selection.
Review Source:When you think of "dive bars", certain images come to mind. Surly bartender, rowdy crowds, crap beer selection and unclean drinking conditions. Fries Cafe doesn't really fit that mold.
A favorite stop for beer snobs and college drunks alike, Fries has a great selection of beers. If you're looking to get drunk of pitchers of Bud Light while you watch the Bengals lose, it's a good place to do it, with their reasonable drink prices, numerous TVs and friendly atmosphere. However, if you're a little more picky about your beer, this is also a hell of a place to go, as well. With a great selection of locally and no-so-locally brewed beers - plus a bar staff that knows their stuff.
Fries has three levels. The lower level has a number of pool tables and dart boards to while away the time with. The middle level is the main bar with one of these mini-shuffleboard-covered-in-sawdust things that I never quite understood the point of or got the hang of. There's also a Golden Tee arcade machine, which I am convinced is required by law in every bar in the country. The upstairs also has a pool table and a few dart boards, but the outside patio is where the awesomeness lies.
Fries in the summer is paradise for beer and music lovers alike. A great stage, lots of picnic tables and regular cookouts (freshly cooked burgers on an open flame for $3, plus fixings and potato chips? Heaven) make for a great relaxing evening out.
And for a "dive bar", things rarely tend to get rowdy. Fries caters to a diverse crowd and it shows. Everyone gets along and there's hardly any "drama" - a nice escape from your regular college bars.
Fries isn't fancy (except for their drink selection), but the staff and atmosphere more than makes up for it. Sadly, it's not the best place to hang out in the wintertime, but other than that, it's one of the best spots in Cincinnati to have a beer.
We debated whether it's pronounced like the food or the frost (it's "Freeze", so I was wrong), but we immediately agreed they do beer right. Â Specialty events are common here - we went for the release of Bells' Oberon - but you'll need to stop in regularly to stay posted on what's coming up because they don't update their website (which also plays obnoxious funk music that I couldn't figure out how to silence). Â Even if it's not an event, you'll be able to find a microbrew - local or otherwise - on tap or in a bottle to quench your thirst without emptying your wallet - nothing regular is over $3.50, and their happy hour lasts until 9.
The decor is old - vintage ash trays, eroded tables, retro beer signs - and it has one of those table shuffleboard games.
They say that "Beer is good food" so I'm guessing their liquid selections are better than the solids.
4 stars. Why? Because it's awesome for what it is, which is a dive bar. Fries Cafe, or The Freeze as it's known to regulars, is located around UC but is definitely not a campus bar. Doubtful that you will find any underagers here. Definitely not a bumpin and grinding dj type bar. The crowd is what could best be described as eclectic. You will probably see a few international students here, a few straglers from the Corinthian, and those who are going to or have graduated from UC and want to chill. Generally, between 20-40 people fill this bar. I have not seen many more than that and I'm talking about peek hours on the weekend. The beer selection corresponds heavily with the crowd. Decent selection of draft beers, though wish they had a Miller or Mich option. A wide selection of specialty beers. The beer prices aren't too bad here, about Cincinnati nondowntown average. The Freeze does have an id checker/bar back guy, which is a plus because he serves the dual purpose of making sure no teenyboppers come in and keeps some of the Clifton crazies out.
Amenities:
Downstairs pool tables: Many pool tables are available, though it has a sort of dungeon type vibe so I have never ventured down.
Upstairs darts: About 3 of them. Old school, no electronic stuff.
Outside beergarden: Probably the most underutilized asset of this bar. Occasionally you will venture upstairs, which rarely occurs cause no one is up there, and you will see a band playing. One night I saw a rockabilly band playing. I'm not the rockabilly type, but give credit where credit is due. They were good and seriously, how many places in the Nati do you get the chance to see a rockabilly band? Awesome.
Jukebox: Golden. A real jukebox by the way. Along with the crowd, the jukebox is the second biggest asset of this bar. A very good mix of tunes. Not a lot of 80's music. Thank God this bar is yet to be patronized by those born around 1990, saw Vh1s I love the 80's, and can't get enough of Journey. Great selection of soul/motown, mix in a little Robert Randolph, some Jack Johnson, a little Dave, Dropkick Murphys and you get the picture.
The shuffleboard table: One of a handfull of bars in Cincinnati to have one of these. Other bars who have one include, the Sunset Pub in Price Hill.
TV's: They have about 5 or so TV's, mostly flat screens. These are generally tuned to whatever major sports event is happening. More often than not, the Redlegs.
Overall atmosphere: It's a dive. The Freeze is at the top of the list as Cincinnati dives go. You get everything that comes with that, the good, the bad and the ugly.
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