Bar: City View Tavern
Address: 403 Oregon St, Cincinnati Ohio, 45202
Score: 8.9/10
Very few times have I ever experienced magic in the air when I walk into a bar. When all the stars align forming the most perfect dive. City View Tavern was a perfect surprise and such a memorable experience. As I was getting dropped off at the bar, the neighborhood that this place was in, was just simply different from all the areas I encountered previously in the city. It had a west coast feel to it. The houses were tall and narrow, yet massive in size and everything seemed to be on a hill. I was once in Cincinnati proper and transported to a whole new side of the city. From the outside of City View Tavern, it appeared to be a normal dive. My perspective on the bar slowly shifted as I entered the front door. The long, narrow hallway to get to the bar, led me with anticipation to what was inside the main door. The hallway had about every beer sign you would want, making the anticipation heighten. Then I entered the door and BOOM, it was right there, the most magnificent dive bar one could create. From all the decor along the walls, to the wood paneling lining the bottom half of the walls, this place was simply bad ass.
The place was just oozing with history, all of the decor was old man, like really old beer signage and other quirks letting off its age. The bar itself was 150 years old this year. It felt right that I came to visit during this year. 1875 is when it was founded if you cannot do that quick math, holy hell this is an old bar. The second oldest bar we have visited to date. I sat down on the vintage Blue Moon bar stools, that were wobbly as can be, but I did not mind. I ordered the tried and true High Life and drank it as I enjoyed the cool Cincinnati breeze. As I was sitting at the vintage black and silver bar top, I was convinced at this point I was going to have to give this place a whale of a score.
To even add to this bar, they had a small patio, seating for about 20, which featured one of the best “city views” (hence the name) that you could find in Cincy. Not much better than enjoying a cold one on a patio during an abnormally cool day in the summer.
Due to the busy day ahead, I only experienced City View Tavern for one pint. At this point you are probably thinking, (similarly to myself) that this is 9.5+ bar. Well here is when I discovered one of the main flaws of the bar. The pricing for beer was far too high. I ordered a high life while my friend ordered a draft summer shandy. The total for these beverages should not have exceeded $10. High life is generally a cheap beer and in my opinion it should be illegal for it to be over $3.50. Even that is pushing it. My High Life clocked in at about $5 with tax and I was gutted. I could not believe that I just paid that for a beer and almost had another. What once was a promising whale score was no more.
While the prices left me disappointed, the bar was phenomenal and despite the beer prices I would go back in a heartbeat. Just because the prices were more than almost all bars we visited in the area, it does not outweigh the rich history that I felt. I look forward to my next time at the City View Tavern, until then, fare thee well.
Decor: Nice decor, refreshing to see a bar have awesome decor without just relying on neon lights.
Price: The worst category by far, this category kept them out of 9 territory.
Service: Bartender was super nice and also was the chef cooking up the sought after food at this establishment.
Atmosphere: I went at noon and the place was pretty full, mostly on the patio because of the weather.
High Life Bottle?: Yep, they had it.
Bonus Points: None, this did feel like a cash only spot, but it was not.