After having dinner at the Rookwood and practically closing them down, the staff suggested Tavern on the Hill to continue our night. Our criteria: drinks, not a ton of noise, and fewer college students.
The recommendation was solid on those fronts this Saturday night, though it did get a bit loud near the end. My only negative comment might be that we chose a poor location on a cold night where the door was constantly opening to serve pizza to drunk kids. But hey, if that kept them outside, it was ok by me. (Yeah...apparently I'm old and grumpy these days...)
This place didn't knock my socks off, but it also wasn't crowded, loud, or put on like some other locations in Mt. Adams. I'd come back. Maybe not as a sole or primary destination, but if I was in the area and looking for something more low key and down to earth.
This place is pretty average in general but the service is slow and not overly friendly. Â The menu posted outside the door is not the same menu that was presented to me at the table. Â I don't know if it was because it was Sunday brunch/lunch time or not but I would rather have had the posted menu because it had better sounding choices. Â In any case, I opted for the fluffy orange french toast with breakfast potatoes. Â Call me crazy or uninformed but I was hoping for orange-y flavored french toast. Â Instead it was pretty basic french toast with hard and crunchy crust. Â The breakfast potatoes were good but there wasn't anything special about them. Â My boyfriend had a burger with cajun fries. Â The fries were out of control spicy but I am kind of a wimp. Â He seemed to like the burger. Â Besides ourselves there were only two other occupied tables but our waitress seemed disinterested and it took a bit to get our food. Â Not overly impressive but maybe it is better during dinner and late night?!
Review Source:Decent option if you've opted to brave the parking/traffic disaster that is Mount Adams.
Service is quick and positive, crowd is not as Mt. Adams-y (if you know what I mean) as some other places, and the old school game tables (PAC-MAN!) are pretty sweet!
Mostly positives, I'd go back again with friends, but I could take it or leave it.
This is your basic bar. Â I went there for the trivia night which was really fun but packed. Â I have not tried the food there, but the menu seems like your basic bar food and it is pretty inexpensive. Â Not the place I would would go to on a normal basis, but it is a great inexpensive night if you want to play trivia.
Review Source:I live in Mt. Adams so I frequent the restaurants up here because you can't really beat a 2-block walk. At Tavern, the food is average. The pizza is really good, but everything else is just your typical bar food.
The major problem I have with this place is the service. You will find better service at any other establishment in Mt. Adams. Nearly every time I've visited, it's taken 5-10 minutes for a waitress to even come to the table and give us menus. After that, the staff rarely checks on you -- it's one of those places where you want to just order everything at once so that you get it all in a decent amount of time. Also, don't count on your drink getting refilled too often unless you've ordered alcohol.
Rarely have I seen any of the staff smile. None of them look like they actually want to be there; it's like waiting on you is a huge burden. During every visit, I've had a conversation with whoever I'm with about this because it's so blatantly obvious.
So, the reason I went for two stars here instead of one is because the food is OK, and I'll get carryout so I don't have to deal with any of the waitresses. If you want bar food and a pleasant experience in Mt. Adams, take a trip across the street to Longworth's.
I ordered the standard chicken tenders and was just about as pleased as you could be with them. Fresh chicken, not overly breaded. It came with a side salad too, which I'm a huge fan of.
I didn't try the fried myself, but having to pick between garlic, cajun and original (I think?) definitely shows me that this isn't your run-of-the-mill bar food. Apparently the garlic fries will stick with you the entire rest of the day if you eat them!
I typically come here with my friends when I visit Cincinnati and have always had a great time. I love the round, semi multi-level bar!
I was going to Mt. Adams Pizza when I saw a sidewalk message stand that said "$9.99 16" pizza with 2 toppings". I stopped in. Â It'd been a couple years or so since I'd been in there, and it had been redone. Â Got a sports bar kind of vibe now, not Jazz club. Â I thought I'd had their pizzas before, but apparently not. Â This thin crust pie was really quite terrible. Â I forced 1/2 of it down, and the other 1/2 sits in my fridge, and will probably remain until it is pizza jerky and thrown away. Â Bad crust, worse sauce (waaay too much oregano), worst sausage. Â Should be 2 stars, but I gave it a 3 star rating because it actually does have a comfortable feel inside, and the guy next to me had a spaghetti/meatball feast in front of him that looked worthy of a rating upgrade. Â I won't write this place off for the future, but I definitely won't get the pizza again.
Review Source:This is the closest thing to a dive bar you're going to get in Mt. Adams ... meaning it's still nice, but not "Mt. Adams nice."
There are no bells or whistles here - it's a bar, plain and simple. TVs for sports, tables and benches for sitting at, a menu full of cheap pub items (burgers and sandwiches and so on.) I was there for lunch on a weekday and it was empty as it could be, but I've heard it gets crazy on the weekends ... just as everything does in Mt. Adams.
The burger I got was fine, nothing amazing. It was the Rattlesnake burger, which came with spicy cheese and jalapeno peppers. Again, it was a decent burger and fries but nothing overwhelmingly awesome.
I hear there pizza is better. Next time I will get it for sure.
Our waitress was apathetic and seemed bored. Not a big surprised on a dead Monday afternoon, but still, a little kindness might have been appreciated. Not even a smile?
You have to deal with Mt. Adams parking, in which to say, there is none. Try to find a spot on the street but if you drive around once and start to go crazy, just pay the $2 and park in the garage right next door.
This was a down-the-road middle experience for me. Nothing amazing, nothing that would have me go out of my way to try again, but if I somehow found myself here, I wouldn't mind it.
Above average bar food, what more do I really need to say? They have a fine selection of beer, but nothing that special (but what else is new, Cincinnati doesn't seem to have the ability to support a really unique beer selection). Anyhow, we started off with the Garlic fries, which were very good if you like Garlic. They were freshly fried enough that the chopped bits of garlic stuck to the outside of the fries. Just what I like. Mmmmm.
Additionally, we did end up with a pizza. If memory serves, this was an original with the addition of sausage. That is to say: Olive Oil, Mushrooms, Kalamata Olives, Roasted Garlic, Tomato, and Goat Cheese. It was very tasty but after two beers and all those damned fries, I wasn't really up for a ton of food so we ended up taking home half the pizza. It eats well cold; what can I say? In the end, I go to the tavern not for the food, not for the beer selection but for the location/atmosphere. If they had the rest that would be a bonus, but frankly it's just a decent large sized bar in Mt. Adams, which is it's own reason for going.
Tuesday Trivia nights are the main reason I come to TOTH. Even though I am by no means a trivia buff and rely on my teammates 95% of the time, I can't pass up the very slight possibility of winning a discount on some nicely spiced Cajun fries. Or perhaps the garlic fries with real minced garlic sprinkled on top, ready to satisfy your taste buds and offend the nostrils of your companions for hours to come. Nice and thick-cut, yet light and crispy in texture...my mouth is watering right now. They also have pizzas, salads, and sandwiches here. I tried one of the sandwiches last time and it was pretty good too. But not as special as the FRIESS...mmmm....Moving on, I have also been here just to sit around and chat with friends over a drink or two. I'd say the atmosphere is nothing special, maybe just the fact that it's more sports bar than dive bar. If I wanted a more "exciting" night in Cincinnati with a larger, younger crowd though, I'd definitely head over to Longworth's or Pavilion.
Review Source:I guess it depends what you are looking for. Â We were planning on hitting Blind Lemon and sitting outside, but they were packed so we ventured to find someplace else where we could "sit outside." Â
Tavern on the Hill was nice for this in the fact that all their windows were open and you could sit by the window and enjoy the outside air while still being inside the bar. Â The drink prices were fairly reasonable and they were not jam-packed-crowded at any point from 9p-1a which was really plesant. Â I would say the average crowd's age was a bit higher for Mt. Adams in the high 20s low 30s.
The staff was super friendly and responsive and the pizza looked pretty good, however I did not have any.
The one thing I did like a lot about Tavern on the Hill was the people watching. Â Sitting in the window and watching all the craziness at Longworth's without actually being there was fun and non-claustriphobic.
Yeah, I'll go with pretty good on this one. You can definitely pick much worse spots to go to. The burgers/sandwiches are above average. The pizza is allright but they have crazy good garlic fries. Just don't expect to hang out with anyone else after you eat those garlic fries. Seriously, your garlic breath will kill vampires in alternate universes. Your spouse might leave you. But it would probably be worth it.
Review Source:One of the most under-rated restaurant/bars. Â Amazing menu with impressive sounding appetizers and sandwiches. The magnet for me is their terrific pizza! Â Excellent crust, soft and slightly sweet and pastry-like. Â Closer to NY style than Chicago style or thin crust. Â
Friendly service, fun atmosphere. Â I make it a point to come here monthy (at least). Â Great place to go in Mount Adams. Â Absolutely recommend for happy hour, dinner, or late night munchies.
Down side: Â Parking (lack thereof) Â But not enough to keep me away!
Although I had a mediocre experience at Tavern on the Hill and am determined to never return, I will say the pizza deserves a star. It was hot, cheesy, greasy and exactly what I needed at that moment in time. Pizza saves the day, yet again. Now, read on.
Tavern on the Hill is your average mid-size bar in Mt. Adams complete with flat screens to watch the game. Â On a chilly, rainy night it seemed like the perfect alternative to Longworths, Mt. Adams standard pick-up/tailgating bar. While scantily clad co-ed's waited in line across the street, I was seating myself and digging into the yummy piece of pizza described in the paragraph above.
However, before I dug into said pizza I had to wait at the bar for my cocktail. No problem here until Hurricane Make-out stormed up to the bar. A couple attached at the mouth/tongue/tonsils were having an epic make-out session, one suitable for a steamy onscreen love story...or a drunken hook-up. I'm not one to hate on love but when you're knocking into me and the bartender, doorman, and servers walking by say NOTHING, I cannot come back to your establishment. Now, I don't mind people standing next to me, even so close that we may touch. I lived in Boston, there is no such thing as personal space. This was aggressive and they should have been warned or even kicked out of the bar. But, like I said, this went on for almost 10 minutes, everyone watched in awe and the bar staff did nothing.
Oh, and my drink was weak. I can safely say there was more alcohol being swapped in Hurricane Make-out's spit.
My expectations for Tavern on the Hill were very simple. I needed to watch a football game.
I was in Cincinnati on business and had lunch at the Mt Adams Bar and Grill down the street. My beloved Buffalo Bills were about to kickoff at 1pm, and after being directed there as a NFL Sunday Ticket spot, I scampered down.
Despite ...
1) entering at 12:58pm for a 1pm kickoff
2) requesting a table for four
3) needing a TV changed to the least-popular matchup of the day
4) waltzing in at the same time the hometown Bengals game was starting
... all of my needs were met immediately. The owner gladly changed one of the larger flatscreen TVs to the game I requested, a table was found for us, and a pretty good bucket special (5 Millers for $12) was presented immediately.
The service was great, beer was cold, and the game, while disappointing to watch, was immediately presented to me. Not much more I could ask from a sports bar. I would happily go there again to watch a game.
I'm a huge fan. Â I work in the office next door and am usually a once-per-week regular for lunch. I wouldn't go here week-in/week-out if the food wasn't outstanding. Â The hamburger is fresh, juicy, and grilled to perfection. Â I also recommend their appetziers -- especially wonton mozzarella sticks, which are good for you in an "oh so bad for your health but oh so good for your taste buds" kind of way.
It does get a little noisy during the lunch rush, but that's to be expected. I can still come in by myself or with my team, have a meeting, or sit and read the paper. Â Tavern on the Hill feels like "my place."
Ask for Bob or Joe. They will take care of you.
go to this place for the pizza.
Burger: 2
I ordered my burger medium but it came just medium well. It was flame grilled which gave it a nice char and crust outside but ultimately it was overcooked and just dried out. seemed hand formed but was kind of small
Bun: 3
sesame seed bun, grilled to toast. not much wrong with it, but the char gave it somewhat of a bitter taste
Toppings: 3
gorgonzola cheese, leaf romaine, tomatoes, red onion, all crisp and fresh. some sort of flavored mayo, but i dont really know what the flavor was, unidentifiable. the cheese was better than good. $5 only gets you a base burger and each topping is .75 which is kind of a rip.
Accoutrements: 2.5
the fact that they have garlic fries is awesome, since nowhere else in town besides red robin has them (that i know of), too bad they werent very good. the pickle was ok, the sierra nevada was flat and $5. too much for 16oz
Atmosphere: 2
small neighborhood bar, plenty of tvs, its not great, not bad. service was tepid ad best, and if you're not a regular here dont expect much friendliness or attention.
Overall: 2.5
Average. Just what i was thinking as i ate. I never expect much on $5 burger night, but this was a real let down considering the place wasnt crowded and i knew they had garlic fries. They have pizza and all kinds of other food here, you're better off just sticking with that stuff. but like i said this is kind of a regulars only place so dont expect a friendly welcome either.
I can't believe I didn't know this place served pizza by the slice for so long. Â All those late night cravings gone unfulfilled! Â Admittedly, it's nothing special, but it's cheap and immediate and seductive; it sits in a heated case in the bar, taunting your taste buds which taunt your mind which gives in far too easily because your inhibitions are somewhat reduced.
They have a decent selection of beer and wine to facilitate said reductions, and the atmosphere is always warm and welcoming, mostly because it's a small venue. Â Not a place to mingle at all, it's usually populated by a handful of groups looking to chat around the tables or the bar.
Or the pizza chamber.
Be sure not to get it confused with the Hillside Room next door, which is far more refined and will turn up its nose if you try to order a slice of plain cheese pizza, especially at the undignified hour of 1 in the morning on Saturday. Â How uncouth.
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