arnold's bar & grill

arnold's has been one of my favorite places in cincinnati owing mostly to its unique history.  it used to have a wait.  given the resurgence of downtown we thought it might be interesting to revisit the place since otr was packed and did so to celebrate a friends birthday.  $120 later i think arnold's should go back to simple american fare.  i  ordered what sounded like a very tasty salad special that was quinoa and chicken breast on a bed of lettuce featuring a sesame styled dressing.  my wife chose another salad special featuring salmon.  
the chicken breast salad was so devoid of chicken that when the waitress came by for the perfunctory "how is everything?" i had to tell her that there was but one 3/4 inch piece of chicken in the whole salad when it was advertised and artfully described as otherwise.  to her credit i was supplied with approximately 1/4 cup of chilled, boiled chicken to gussy up my salad.  the salmon feature at least did have a piece of defrosted salmon but it looked defrosted and plunked along with  the kale.  it did, it had that plunked look.
long and short, the history of the place is great.  the menu uses way too much license with the english language.  my dish and my wife's seemed assembled, and assembled poorly at that.  it is not worth my money to return when for the same price i can go uptown to otr and get thoughtful, carefully prepared, fresh cooked fare for the same price.  i will come back to arnold's, maybe for a beer, but never again for food.  this was the second time in too short a span of time to be treated to a microwaved/tractor-ovened dinner carelessly flung together, then tagged with a premium price.  guys, go check out the competition!

most of the time, i love to eat at arnold's. it has great ambiance but can get quite crowded. that's to be expected. on several occasions, i went there specifically to get a hot pretzel only to be disappointed because they had run out of them....again. i usually stick with the appetizer menu, but this last time i branched out to the main dinners. first the appetizers....i recommend the fried green tomatoes, the fried deviled eggs and of course the pretzel with bourbon beer cheese. the wings that we ordered were swimming in grease. they were almost inedible. i wouldn't order them again. the main dishes...chicken and waffles had a delicious maple syrup and the hot sauce was quite spicy. the flavor was good but i am sensitive to spicy things so i only sampled my friend's dish. he enjoyed it. the waffle was light and the battered chicken was also. he thought that the waffle was better than taste of belgium's but the fried chicken was not. i had the blueberry fried chicken with brie and walnuts. unfortunately, i didn't see any walnuts on my plate and the mashed potatoes were as cold as ice. the chicken was warm so i was afraid to send the food back because i did not want the potatoes to be microwaved, so i just suffered through them. the dish was pretty good but didn't seem worth $20. overall, i love this place but there is definitely room for improvement. i will be back of course to try again, but i might just stick with the appetizers and keep my fingers crossed that they have not run out of the pretzels and beer cheese. parking is on the street or across the street in a paid parking lot. the cost varies with the current events going on in town.

i’ve been to arnold’s bar & grill many times before, but most of the time i am just there for drinks. sometimes that’s just for a quick drink with a friend at the inside bar, or other times it’s for several while watching a band play on the covered outdoor patio. i recently had the opportunity to sit down for a meal before going to a concert downtown.

cool place to meet up for dinner downtown. as other reviewers have noted, the food is pretty much just okay. it's mostly american fare with quality and taste coming in a step above bar food. what they do have is a very cool courtyard in the back to eat in. also, the beer selection is nice.

i'd recommend if you're in the area and looking for a nice place to get a beer and converse with friends.

cool place, great live music, extensive beer and bourbon selection. food is a bit pricy. tomato basil soup was delicious. fried green tomatoes needed more kick. blueberry chicken was unique and really good.

best food and live music! the ambience is just awesome . easily the best bar and grill in cincinnati area. a must go to for the historic feel too.

we went last night for a date night and while i really enjoy the patio seating and live music, i just wasn't that impressed with the burger.  i remember it being better.  the fries were nice and crunchy.  we also had the hungarian beef soup and although we enjoyed it, the soup tasted much like a simple minestrone.  great service and nice atmosphere, but the menu just doesn't impress when compared to the prices.

used to be one of my favorites after work, or just hanging around downtown. clearly, the ambiance of the oldest bar in cincinnati is neat (no tvs, live music most nights). service is good and prepared to handle downtown time needs (seeing a show, lunch break etc). the food is my only current reservation. the menu has shifted a lot in the past two years. they have effectively cut out vegetarian burgers (which is too bad they had a great one), and last time i was there they didn't have the turkey needed for their self promoted famous hot brown sandwich, on a friday night going into a holiday weekend. that said, the food that we did end up ordering was well prepared, and tasted great, but i am currently uneasy about recommending them until the kitchen/menu changes level out.

so i've been knocking burgers off the best burger list all summer and one place on the list is arnold's - the oldest bar in cincinnati - and i was all set for a burger - so off we went!. arnold's is very eclectic - with the art and unique pieces all around. i'd love to go tooling around downtown on this guy!

we stumbled upon this gem by accident. my girlfriend and i took a girls weekend to cincinnati to eat and drink our way through town, and were shocked and dismayed that very few highly recommended places with good beer on tap didn't open until after 4pm on fridays. arnold's was open, so we headed on over and are so glad we did!

we actually stopped twice. the first was friday afternoon. we each had a few local beers and a house cocktail made with alcohol infused by the bartenders there. i had a martini made with house infuse cucumber jalapeno vodka and midori. i am not a martini girl by any means, but it was out of this world. 

our 2nd visit was for a late evening meal on saturday night. the place was hopping, and deservedly so. we split deep fried deviled eggs - these are a thing, and they are mouth watering. we also split fried green tomatoes, done perfectly with pepperjack cheese and pico de gallo. we probably should have stopped there, but we were in town to eat and drink, so my friend had a hot brown and i had a fried bologna sandwich. the sandwich was good and i'd eat it again, but the real standouts were the tomatoes and eggs. 

they also had pumking on tap, which they didn't the day before - it's one of the best pumpkin beers on the market.

others may have mentioned, but arnold's is the oldest bar in cincinnati. it's much more than a bar - though the actual bar itself is gorgeous. they have live music and a menu that is superior to most. do yourself a favor and stop if you're in town!

arnold's is another one of my cincinnati favorite places to go, historic open in 1851 very old school look and feel, i have enjoyed lunch and dinner here and always will be back.
everything on the menu is great from there greek spaghetti, hot brown to the burgers are great.

highly recommend

on 6/20/2015 my dad was refused service. let me explain why.

a year ago, he got really sick. long story short, he's had three brain surgeries and six months of chemotherapy. in order to avoid a long explanation, we usually say that he has brain cancer, but it's actually much more complex than that. no one knows what he has, but his brain is attacking itself and they don't know if it will stop.

as a result of this, my dad has difficulty walking and talking. now let me be clear: it's very obvious that my dad has been ill. he lost his hair from the chemo, and he has visible scars on his scalp from the brain surgeries.

that brings us to tonight. he was at arnold's on a date. it was a good night (so that means he didn't have to use his wheelchair). after having two beers, he was intercepted by the owner on the way back to his table. she told him that they could no longer serve him. he explained to her that he has a neurological disease that impairs his mobility, and she still refused to serve him. so he left.

he called me afterwards and said it was the most humiliating night of his life. i called the owner, and she was completely unapologetic. she said she was "very friendly" to my dad (refusing a disabled person service is diametrically opposed to friendliness) and that drunk people will say anything to get more alcohol. she even had the nerve to say that there were a few things he said that didn't add up.

my dad is disabled. he has the scars to prove it. but apparently he's just a liar like all of the other drunks.

pasta gravina is light and flavorful (great for vegetarians)


-----18 oct, 2014-----

best (non) outdoor seating!. as far as ambiance goes, arnold's does not disappoint. the covered courtyard, history and tradition is rivaled by very few restaurants in the area. the menu is a bit limited, but there is something for everyone - for example, the meatless pasta gravina is light and flavorful, and the charred bourbon cheese is definitely a crowd pleaser (even if it only serves two). the draft and bottled beer selection could use some expansion in stouts/porters - especially as we move into the fall and winter months. even though the beer selection was lacking at this most recent visit, arnold's take on the moscow mule with pumpkin ale was dee-lish! on the whole, arnold's is probably best for a couple, or perhaps a small group of four - unfortunately the limited menu and "small bites" makes sharing appetizers nearly impossible.

authentic experience, great live music, good food & beer selection. on a recent saturday night we enjoyed great live music by dave and the grey dogs, a nice beer selection, both on tap and in bottle, and a solid, well executed menu. the waffles and chicken were better than average and my companion had a sandwich, which she really enjoyed. service was friendly and attentive. i liked the intimate setting and the eclectic mix of people. this place is one of the oldest bars in cincinnati and has real character and charm. highly recommend for a relaxing night of live music, good food and friendly service.

a piece of history.... i like historic places. standing for more than 150 years, arnold's is cincinnati's oldest tavern. allegedly, during prohibition, one of the arnolds made bathtub gin in a bathtub that is still standing. i love outdoor dining on a nice day, and you can eat in a lovely courtyard that was previously used as a stable and carriage house. in my opinion, the food is good and prices are reasonable, but the atmosphere is great.