The Establishment

My wife and I had the opportunity to visit The Establishment with another couple for a quick Sunday meal prior to heading downtown for a concert that evening. The pros: We were quickly seated on the back outdoor patio - the outdoor heater made it a pleasant experience. Our meals were good - my fried chicken sandwich was a very generous piece of chicken cooked and seasoned well. A good proportion of chicken to bun. My wife's loaded nachos were ok - we added chicken with an upcharge, but the chicken was lacking. The Philly cheesesteak sandwich and Cobb Salad that our friends got looked amazing and we were told were very good. The cons: Service was extremely slow. The place wasn't too terribly busy (plenty of empty tables outside), but each time we would order a round of drinks, they would come out about 10 minutes later. Our waitress was eating at the bar during service and was chatting it up with the bartender. That may have been why things were so slow. All in all, a decent place for a bite to eat....but be prepared to wait for your server.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Establishment is an absolute gem in Cincinnati! The atmosphere strikes the perfect balance between classy and comfortable — ideal for a night out with friends or a date. The staff are friendly, attentive, and genuinely make you feel welcome. The food and drinks are top-notch, with great attention to detail in both flavor and presentation. You can tell they take pride in creating an experience, not just a meal. Whether you’re stopping by for dinner, cocktails, or just the vibe, The Establishment never disappoints. Highly recommend!

I was just in The Establishment. I called ahead to make sure they were open due to the snow storm. The guy answering said "yes, we opened at 2, come on in." I walked there from my hotel. I sat patiently for 15 minutes. The bartender, guy in his 40s maybe with glasses and a mustache ignored me completely. He helped all others around me. I said nothing to him, I did nothing wrong. I am a 60 year old man, I was wearing a Xavier sweatshirt. I said to the guy next to me, "did I do something wrong?" He said no and just laughed. I finally said "I'll take a beer" as he gave refills to the guys next to me. Again he just ignored me. I wanted to have some dinner and drinks and watch the game. It was bizarre. I did nothing wrong and said nothing, and was prepared to spend $$$ on dinner and drinks. So I walked back to my hotel. A very weird experience, that bartender is a complete rude jerk. I did nothing wrong.

I felt profiled while picking up a to-go order. Apparently they have an issue with people stealing service and I guess that excuses their lack of hospitality. I’ve never patronized this place previously and will not in the future. I understand trying to “mitigate your losses” but respectfully that’s not my problem. I’ve never stolen service in my life, had every intention of paying for my order and did! For more context, my wife placed an order over the phone and was told it’d be ready in 15 minutes. I had just finished at work and came to pick up the food more than 15 minutes from the time of placing so figured it’d be ready. After struggling to find a parking spot I left my car running so my heat could kick in and thought I’d be in and out but that wasn’t the case. Ultimately I felt very uncomfortable and profiled. I hope they can solve their issues with theft but also develop discernment on how to treat honest paying customers regardless of how they may seem to their workers.

The Establishment’s menu does a great job luring you in with extravagant words promising a tasty and satisfying meal. The Hot Honey Chicken Biscuits do a great job of proving the exact opposite. The biscuits were hard and dry - as was the chicken. The atmosphere and service was good

I hosted a work event at the establishment and the staff was nothing but amazing. I coordinated the event with John over email and he was very accommodating and quick to respond which is great for someone like me who matches that energy. We originally planned on being on the patio but the heat wave drove us indoors, the staff was quick to get our party situated and set up with no time at all. The food was delicious, the beverages were refreshing and I am definitely planning on being a repeat customer ! Thank you all for an amazing experience

Pretty nice little place with decent prices. I ordered a grilled cheese with no tomato and fries for the side. The grilled cheese was great, good bread and cheese blend. The fries were incredible though, top tier. I heard the tater tots were good too, but I highly recommend trying the fries. We sat outside and had some issues with the roof overhead dripping on us and some gnats and hoverflies taking interest in our table, but that's just a part of eating outside sometimes. Parking may be limited, there was no lot that we found, but plenty of free street parking nearby. I can definitely see myself eating here again some time.

Always love coming here! The staff is super friendly, and always wants to ensure you have the best experience. Grace was especially amazing. Food was great, didn’t have to wait long. The seasonal cocktails were so creative and unique, 10/10 recommend!

I went here the other night for a drink with a friend. It was awesome. We wanted to sit inside to get away from the hot weather which ended up great because the bar was fairly empty when we got there. We each got the espresso martini flight. To say it was good is an understatement. They give you 3 mini martinis, one with vodka, one tequila, and the last with bourbon. I think the bourbon was my favorite. The concept was so unique to me and they all tasted delicious and were perfectly made. Our bartender was very nice, and the rest of the staff would make sure that we were always being checked on or taken care of. They were super friendly. The music was great and it was a really nice night. Highly recommend.

0 Star If you're into extreme waiting as a sport, this is your place. It took a casual 40 minutes for our server to return for our second round of drinks/food -- which I assume is standard here, because no one seemed remotely concerned. When she finally floated back over, she took orders from exactly two people at our table and then just... walked away. No "I'll be right back," no "hold on one sec," not even a dramatic sigh. She vanished like we imagined the rest of the table. My friends had to hunt her down and she still is (currently typing this as we're waiting). At this point, I wasn't sure if we were at a restaurant or participating in some kind of social experiment about patience and disappointment. Either way, 10/10 would not recommend unless you enjoy being ignored with style.

The atmosphere was great. Nice music selection, sports on, a solid bar. The food was good and better than your average bar. The menu had a lot of variety! I'd go back to try something else

This is a major "bro" hangout spot but service is great and fast. Good variety of drinks. French fries are delicious!

When it's the last warm, sunny mid-October Sunday of the season, find your way to The Establishment patio to enjoy both football and al fresco dining. While the menu is bar food, they were happy to swap out grilled chicken on the Nashville Hot and offered several delicious salads, plus Beyond Burger substitutes for any burger. They also have a 0% alcohol beer and some pretty good beverages. From the crowd, it's apparent this is a favorite stop for friends and families with young children, which adds its own level of entertainment.

My friend and I decided to try this place after thinking they had trivia on Wednesday. Turns out it's on Thursday unfortunately. We had a couple of things to share. The Capri sandwich was way too vinegary that was very unfortunate. It could have been so much better! Fries were good but you could tell that the amazing fish and chips that they said they offered were frozen. Mozzarella sticks were really good. A swing and a foul ball when it comes to the food so far. Might try some other stuff next time. Good service though and we were thoroughly paid attention to. Ambience was fine for the most part. Just a neighborhood bar kind of place.

Burger Week 2023 new to us place! We picked out The Establishment to try for Burger Week. It's a place I've passed a few times and had been meaning to check out, so I'm glad we got to try it. I did love that they have a lovely patio that is dog friendly! First come, first serve seating here, so just keep that in mind. I like the decor of the bar and inside area, but the outside looked really inviting if it was a little cooler on the day we went. They have a number of events and things going on, so I have a feeling we will be back for some of those things (like trivia and happy hour!). We were greeted right away and found a table where our waitress was quick to bring us drinks and take our order. We ordered the Southwest Burger and they had a gluten free bun for me (husband got regular, of course), so I was excited about that. So far, this was easily the best burger we had for Burger Week. Southwest Burger: tortilla strips, green peppers, red peppers, jalapenos, onions, chipotle aioli, white American cheese and an angus burger patty. Everything was just the perfect combination! The downside is once we got our food and we had servers check on us a few times, suddenly they just... disappeared. We were waiting and waiting to pay our check. They were a little busy on the patio, but didn't seem SO busy that someone couldn't have checked on us after checking on us 3-4 times while we were eating. I found that to be a bit frustrating, but we will definitely give them another chance because I did like the overall feel of the place and the menu had a lot of options for me.

Stopped here on the way back from UC medical. Thought we would give Oakley a try. This bar came highly recommended. Located on a very busy street. Parking is limited. Great local vibe. Bar is very comfortable. They have about 7 to 8 beers on tap and a full cocktail menu. Craft beer as well as your domestics. They do have a food menu, but we only stopped for a couple beers, They do have a large patio that look very nice. The interior bar seats about 10 to 12. Staff and bartender seems friendly enough. Will definitely stop again when in the area. Nothing mind blowing, but not a bad local dive.

Great place for a casual hang out or a happy hour. Service was fine, and the quesadilla I had was fantastic. Would love to come back for a trivia night.

Pop over often for lunch. Food is good. Nothing fancy. Service can be good or bad depending who you get. My biggest issue is the music.. it's too loud and it's not a club. Sometimes I wanna get work done and it's so loud I can't even hear my phone or the person seated w me. Some chill music would be enjoyable. Save the bumping house music for the evening.

Walking into this bar felt like stepping into a time capsule curated by someone whose last memory of fun was a 2010 middle school dance. Haven't heard tragic lineup of Macklemore, Ne-Yo, B.o.B x Paramore with "Airplanes", since I was hiding my first boner while grinding with Caroline Beahr. And then--just when I thought it couldn't get worse--a remix of Travis Scott's "Goosebumps" made me get up and walk out. What really pushes me over the edge was the eerie vibe. The bar was packed, yet somehow it felt lonelier than a truckstop on 95. Everyone around us seemed too polite--or too numb--to acknowledge the sonic war crimes blasting from the speakers. That Ohio-brand niceness, the kind where people smile while silently suffering, hung in the air like Hollister cologne over cat piss. I feel like I got MK ultra'd in there but specific to my kind of hell.

The Establishment is one of my favorite places in the city for a casual drink or trivia. The staff is always polite and attentive (huge shout out to our girl Maddie!!) I come on Wednesday nights regularly for trivia and always have a good time. The food is good (tots are amazing) and drinks are inexpensive. I love the black pearl cocktail. Seating is plentiful inside and outside. They have a beautiful patio as well as outdoor area with turf, a fire pit, and TVs. If you're in the Hyde park or oakley area, highly recommend checking this place out! When you come, make sure to ask for Maddie as your server! She is amazing!

Food is great. Service was excellent. Vibe is so cool. Hands down one of the best Nashville Hot chicken sandwiches I've ever had.

Busy sports bar for the Oakley yuppie crowd. Food and drinks are fine. Service is kinda slow but mostly due to staffing. The folks working there bust their butts to serve their customers.

Great atmosphere, delicious food, and excellent service! TVs everywhere, cold drinks, and the wings were amazing. Will definitely be back!

the staff was so amazing and attentive! very clean, drinks were delicious and nice outdoor area :) thank you Alex + staff we will definitely be back. make sure to try the summer 75 w/ house made syrup

We had a terrible experience. First, we came there and it wasn't busy at all. We kept having to go to the bar to get drinks and could not locate our waitress. Then we were waiting for 20 minutes to order food without a waitress in the area. We went to the bar to ask if we could order and they said it had to be from a waitress. Finally a waitress came to wait on a table of 10 people next to our group, in the middle of her taking their order I asked if we could put in food next and she said okay give me a second. Never came back and another 20 minutes later came back with that tables food and told me the kitchen was closed for an event so we wouldn't be able to put in food for another 1.5 hours. The worst experience and staff was not nice.

If you are looking for a comfortable place to grab a cold beer and some delicious food, The Establishment is a great option. I recently visited and had a seat at the bar, where I was met with friendly service from the staff.The Establishment offers a variety of beer options which were cold and refreshing. I ordered the chicken quesadilla which was full of flavor and was the perfect amount for my appetite.While parking can be a bit challenging, The ambiance is great, and you can just sit back, relax and enjoy your drinks and food without feeling rushed. Overall, The Establishment offers great food and friendly service in a comfortable atmosphere. I would definitely recommend this place!

Decided to give this place a shot for the last day of taco week. It's a great place to check out the football games or to hang with friends. It has a very large indoor and outdoor eating area, complete with a nice fire pit in the back. Though the place was pretty busy, I was able to get service very quickly and the staff was attentive. Lots of TVs to catch the games, so I chose to hang on the large patio. I'm giving it three stars because there wasn't anything exceptional about the visit. The margarita was watered down and the fries weren't quite as loaded as the description would imply. The tacos, though not a regular menu item, were actually very good, but oddly could only be served in orders of 3. I would definitely return here for drinks and hanging with friends but probably would not eat.

Hello to the Upper side of the Nati a nice neighborhood bar. The up side is it very clean has great out side seating the prices are reasonable the food was a little above average. The down side the Staff seems lost and confused we had to ask a lot of questions and we had to ask to be served when we sat with 5 feet of the bar while the 5 employees behind the bar appeared more excited about everything but service.

This is a great place, always have a fantastic music playing and not the same boring stuff. Buffalo chicken dip is soooo good and the staff has been so friendly every time I've been in there. Great atmosphere outside. Love this place.

Are you looking for a fun environment with good food? Well, you have found it and recommend coming. The staff is very friendly, has a great atmosphere (or vibe), and the food was excellent. If you are looking for an inside table, outside table, or a seat by the fire pit, The Establishment is your place. One of the many items ordered was the Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich was fantastic and filled with flavor. The tater tots were perfectly cooked. Unfortunately, a few of the popular menu items were unavailable. However, the staff made up for this with their very friendly service. I would definitely recommend whether you are a young adult, with your family, or by yourself looking for a fantastic place for a drink.

A bit underwhelming and nothing really special here. I was told their tater tots were popular but when my friends got their food, the tots were lukewarm/cold. My burger was okay and the E sauce was fine. Service wasn't great though it was a busy evening. You seat yourself which might hinder the dining experience of getting proper service. Burgers are overpriced (single cheeseburger is $16 and a double cheeseburger is also $16, odd). Apps are about the same price as an entree.

Burgers are amazing!!! One of the best I've had in the Tri-State.. Parking kinda sucks but don't let that keep you from finding a way into this place!

Came here for burger week and their Southwest burger was great. I ordered the burger without cheese, but the burger was served with cheese on it. Which is fine and it happens. I was disappointed when the server took it back to the kitchen and the kitchen staff just peeled the cheese off and served it to me again. There was still bits of melted cheese on the burger. Service was really slow. It took them about 15 minutes to clean a table for us to sit at.

Came for Cincinnati Burger Week and sat outside. It has a beautiful and spacious outside patio that is covered with clear lining so you can still get all the sunshine in on a clear day. The waitress was very nice and helpful and fast when it came to taking our order, but then she disappeared for 30min and no one checked on us in the meantime. I know restaurants are very understaffed so it very well could have been that. I'm giving the restaurant 3 stars mostly bc there was nothing really remarkable about it. The burger was good, but literally had one pickle and 3 pieces of a diced onion. The battered fries were good but didn't have any seasoning that made the stand out. Same with the coleslaw. We ordered a pitcher of mimosas, buuuuut the pitcher is definitely a lot smaller than the standard size. Again, everything good, but nothing striking either way.

re-discovered The "E" St. Patrick's Day weekend and have been back multiple times since. Very nice outdoor space for the Oakley area, buckets of beer are cheapest we've found and service is always top notch. Food always looks good, team very helpful and attentive.

Trivia night was so fun! Our service was something to brag about. Maddie kept checking up on us even as we moved inside because of rain. (Trivia kept going as there's an inside as well as outside under an awning) I got food to go and I know their wings are good! Great place to check out for a chill night

I want to give a HUGE kudos to the staff at Establishment. Especially Brandon and Olivia! They had a party of 40 plus people. The kids weren't being watched by their parents. There were so many kids running around with no shoes, unattended. They were throwing gravel, the jenga pieces and the connect four pieces EVERYWHERE! We even had gravel thrown at us. The parents weren't watching the kids what so ever. The staff was sooooo patient. I would have lost my shit. They had to clean up after the party bc the parents didn't even bother. They left the place in shambles. Brandon and Olivia were still calm and composed. Still tended to all of their other customers and didn't seem frazzled. They both deserve a raise after that mess!

OMG Kaylie is freaking amazing. She was personable and energetic. we initially came in for just a drink but end up having dinner. John was also a phenomenal personality and we loved the teamwork and enjoyment of being here. We will be back

Not sure if I'll be back... Googled a few places and came across this one . It's fairly close to home so decided to give it a try. Food took forever to come out ....You could tell they were pretty busy given it was the weekend-no prob . Taste was good...not extraordinary or anything just good. Also, so happened their systems went down resulting in waiting around another 10-20 minutes only to be told they can charge the card later because they didn't know when the system will be back up and running... We decided to pay cash because I wasn't comfortable with leaving for my card to be charged later , and got home to find out card was charged anyway-- the incorrect amount at that . No receipt was given (systems were down). Hoping this falls off and I don't have to dispute with bank ... **Update**** Not only did the charges not fall off. I stayed seeing random charges pending all through the weekend and finally one posted. I called on Saturday where I gave my name and number and was told a GM would contact me--That is yet to happen. I won't be back

Looking for a happy hour spot or date night spot? Look no further! The establishment has a great selection of craft beer and food. During the week they run different specials, and on Wednesday they host trivia! My boyfriend and I got a few apps and drinks while playing trivia! It was a great time, and I could not get enough of the spicy cheese curds! Can't wait to come back!

The food is okay and the service is good, but my god does this place have the worst music of any bar I've ever been to. Their touch tunes machine is turned off, so don't expect to hear anything you want to hear unless you love shitty house music or the lowest rated sound cloud rapper of the month. The good news is they turn it up so you can't hear the person next to you! My standards are low for music at a bar, but my god this is awful. Just go to Spotify, and hit play on the pop music radio - it isn't that hard. There's a time and place for the worst deep house you've ever heard, and it doesn't fit the vibe of this bar at all. Just go to RPs next door and save yourself the headache. Every time I come here, they're playing the same shitty music. My goodness.

The food was good. I had a Cobb salad with grilled chicken. Grilled chicken was perfectly cooked. Nice size salad. My hubby had the quesadilla which was packed with flavor. Probably the best I've ever had. I think the other reviews mentioning slow service is spot on. This was our first time. When we walked in there was no signage if we needed to wait for table or seat ourselves. There were 5-6 servers/bartenders standing behind the bar and not one of them greeted us or picked up on our confusion as to how we get a table. We just started walking around and went and sat on the patio. We asked the bartender on the back side by the patio if it was okay to sit out there. She said sure, someone will be out. We waited 15 min. Nobody. Finally we came back in and sat at high top by bar. Still we sat. And there were maybe 4-5 other tables with people as a point of reference. Finally I walked up to bar to ask if we are to just order that way as opposed to having a server. Adam, who is fairly new, graciously got right on it and took great care of us during our visit. But I have to be honest, if you want to attract new customers and be the place people want to come back to then consider retraining your serving staff. There were a few that cared more about socializing with each other than actually making any money waiting tables.

The food and drinks were delicious. But the table service was a little slow. I would highly recommend the loaded tater tots and the "Oakley breeze". They have Trivia on Wednesdays too which was a lot of fun!

A regular spot for us, all the food we have had on the menu has been great. Good beer and bourbon selection. Mix of bar style seating and regular seating as well as two large patios. Plenty of TVs. Can be a bit loud but I think you would expect that from a place like this. Service is usually pretty good but sometimes it can be slow to get the check. Food always comes out in a timely manner.

Stopped by tonight for food and drinks. Ordered beers and asked for food suggestions - what's good, what are they known for, etc. and server gave us some suggestions. After dropping off our beers, our server disappeared. We drank our beers, and continued to wait. Tried to flag our server down several times as he wandered around the restaurant, emptied trash and checked on the outside patio. I guess we were invisible??? 30 minutes, no service. Finally, we got out our phones and ordered Chipotle. I've never done that before, but we were hungry. Finally a different server stopped by the bar tables so we took that opportunity to pay our bill and left to get our Chipotle. Disappointing. We won't stop in again.

The food was okay. It's typical bar food, nothing special. The patio is really nice and people tend to bring their dogs in the summer. I think it's a great place for drinks and quick bites.

Came by this afternoon and Jag and Nate were excellent. Great service great food 10/10 would recommend to anyone. P.s. Nate makes a mean margarita.

Kaylie was awesome!! she made great recommendations and was very friendly - definitely will be back soon!

Have been coming here for years, and never reviewed, but the service today was insanely good to the point I wanted to leave this. Several servers helped us and they were all amazing. These days service is down hill overall at most of our favorite places (seems like since post pandemic), but here it's been unusually good.

A friend of mine recommended this Bar for good drinks and food, they did not disappoint. I had a couple of Manhattans and a Drake burger. Everything was just perfect. Thanks so much Aria for making my experience Wonderful. Will definitely be back soon.

Bella was amazeballs! She was a terrific server with a wonderful personality! Food and drinks were also really good! We will definitely be back!

Had some pretty bad service at this place recently - this is somewhat to be expected, as we went during a game and everywhere is short-staffed. However, I don't think they clean their tap lines well here, as me and another person both got sick after two beers (we were both drinking the same one). I'm giving two stars, as this place used to be really good. Hopefully, they manage things a bit better here and improve the cleanliness.

First time visitor, but definitely going to be a repeat customer. Trivia night was an absolute blast! The service was incredible! There were multiple servers walking around and assisting - bringing new drinks, taking away glasses. Our main server had great intuition. I had already ordered a drink and was talking to the table about ordering food. Not even a minute later, she appeared at the table saying she overheard us talking about ordering food too. Loved that! I ordered the pretzels and queso. It was so delicious! The pretzels were hot and the perfect combination of soft on the inside and a little crispy on the outside. I ended up ordering a couple more drinks, including a Moscow Mule. Again, service was great. The drinks came out so fast everyone at the table said "whoa that was quick!" at the same time. The game host for trivia was great. He had a clear voice and spoke slowly. Our team won and we got $25 off our tab! So much fun! Highly recommend!

Updated 9/23/19 Woo hoo! The E has received an extreme makeover! The new owners have totally saved this old place. Great new bathrooms, much better layout, TV's that work, a new patio with great furniture, and yummy food as well. This place is no longer a dive, it's family friendly and 100% cleaned up. If you ever hung out there before, you won't believe your eyes, you must go see it! Thank you for saving our neighborhood hangout, we'll be back!

Not prepared for Wing Week. The point is to hop from place to place indicated on the passport. This was our first stop. Wings and our last! One staffer tonight for the entire bar. Also states they only have one fryer. Why the heck would you participate in Cincy Wing Week! Wings were bland and forgettable. The lone staffer tonight was also unfamiliar with the deals for wing week. Checked our bill and she had rang our $5 Makers wrong! When we arrived and asked about specials she did not mention the beer deal that includes fries or tots. We later put an order in that took forever. We'd finished our wings bourbon and beer and decided not to have them. Then she stated we would have to pay extra for it beers. We decided "F-it" we will take those babies to go. Fries are the frozen coated kind and tots seemed over cooked. Ironic cause they were not ready in efficient time. Our server was very short with us maybe she was unable to be kind as she was the only staffer. Bye Ashes!

The the food was great and vibe immaculate, even played great music. Outstanding service as well, shout out to Grace Doyle!!

The E is such a fun place with both inside and outside options. The atmosphere and food are great. If you're a trivia fanatic, they have trivia on Tuesday's or Wednesday' (I forget). The food here is also so good, you just have to wait for a while to get it. However, if you want to come for drinks and fun, highly recommend :)