23 Dog-Friendly Cincinnati Patios You Should Visit Before the End of Summer

Rosedale

208 E. 12th St., Over-the-Rhine
When Neons closed in 2016, people were devastated to lose “OTR’s backyard.” Then, 4EG — the entertainment group behind Lackman, Mount Adams Pavilion, Igby’s and more — announced they’d be taking over the space. After some upscale renovations, they reopened as Rosedale in January 2018. It’s a little more classed up than comfy-old Neons but has retained the former’s focus on craft cocktails… and the giant, dog-friendly patio (now with brand new seating).
Photo via RosedaleOTR/Facebook

Darkness Brewing

224 Fairfield Ave., Bellevue
Friends Eric Bosler and Ron Sanders were avid homebrewers before expanding their passion for creating strange and tasty beers in Darkness Brewing in Bellevue in 2016. The microbrewery focuses on the dark and unusual — like their Man on the Moo milk stout with lactose or Witch Head Nebula red IPA with beets — served in a community-minded taproom. Man’s best friend is allowed on the patio as long as they are on a leash and off the tables.
Photo via darknessbrewing/Facebook

Washington Park’s The Porch

1230 Elm St., Over-The-Rhine
With a great view of the dog park, The Porch at Washington Park is the spot to go after your furry friends are tired out after a day of play. The Porch features a full bar, as well as local beer like Taft’s Ale House, Rhinegeist, Christian Moerlein and Fifty West. The Porch is open daily, but be sure to check their website as the hours change seasonally.
Photo via WashingtonParkOTR/Facebook

Streetside Brewery

4003 Eastern Ave., Columbia Tusculum
From their taproom/brewery along Eastern Avenue in Columbia Tusculum, Streetside Brewery blends craft and community. With beers like their milkshake blonde Cereal Milk and a red velvet donut stout collaboration with Holtman’s Donuts, this brewery has developed a niche for having your cake and drinking it, too. The taproom frequently hosts food trucks and programmed events. Well-behaved dogs are allowed inside and on the patio.
Photo via streetsidebrewery/Facebook

Brink Brewing Co.

5905 Hamilton Ave., College Hill
Good beer is about the people, the stories and the experience, according to Brink’s co-founders John and Sarah McGarry. The taproom’s communal table sits 20 and a brick wall stands covered in framed photos of the customers and community. There are no policies against pets, so feel free to bring a four-legged friend with you inside and outside. They even hosted a cutest #brinkdog contest on their Instagram this past summer, highlighting their favorite canine customers.
Photo via BrinkBrewing/Facebook

Queen City Radio

222 W. 12th St., Over-the-Rhine
The historic Queen City Radio building has been turned into a well-manicured full-service bar and outdoor beer garden. The bar serves rotating taps of local, regional and national beer, canned and bottled brews, wine, a small cocktail program and boozy slushies. Garage doors create indoor/outdoor space, weather permitting, and there’s an onsite food truck. Their expansive patio is the perfect place for a furry friend to keep you company while you enjoy good drinks and good weather. Or bring them inside.
Photo: Patty Salas

Gypsy’s

641 Main St., Covington
With a welcoming, dog-friendly atmosphere, Gypsy’s is perhaps most well known for their fully stocked bar and large craft beer selection on draft or in bottles and cans — you can find a drink special for under $4 on any weekday (including $2 Jameson and $3 drafts). Watch your favorite game on one of several TVs or enjoy their back patio equipped with fire pits and giant Jenga.
Photo via GypsysCovington/Gypsys

Hang Over Easy

13 W. Charlton, Corryville
Hang Over Easy is Corryville’s perpetual brunch and bar stop that claims to be the place to cure a hangover or keep the party going. Opt for a “morning after” dish like the Menage a Trois, aka three slices of French toast, and a good, basic bloody mary or mimosa. Dogs are allowed on the spacious patio.
Photo via lexi_lou_whoo/Instagram

Fifty West Production Works

7668 Wooster Pike, Columbia Township
Fifty West has turned a stretch of Wooster Pike into its very own playground with the original brewpub location, Fifty West Production Works (home to six sand volleyball courts), Fifty West Canoe & Kayak and Fifty West Cycling. All of the brewery’s brands are geared toward building community through shared experiences, which include drinking craft beer and getting outside. It’s all about an active lifestyle, says brewery co-owner Bobby Slattery. And that includes doggos. The Production Works property is completely dog-friendly inside and on the patio, but across the street at the brewpub, no dogs are allowed due to poisonous grapes which grow on the property.
Photo via FiftyWestBrewingCompany/Facebook

Braxton Brewing Co.

27 W. Seventh St., Covington
Braxton prides itself on loving beer and innovation, but their real soft spot is for dogs. Employees dole out treats and lots of belly scratches for any pup that visits the taproom or first-floor patio. Cross the river for the Revamp India Pale Ale, stay for the canine haven. The taproom and brewery serves more than beer and spirits: it’s also a cultural landmark thanks to its widespread success. The taproom opens at 8 a.m. Tuesday-Friday as a public workspace, serving Carabello coffee. And pets are welcome — just make sure they’re out by 9 p.m. on weekends. Pets are unfortunately not welcome on the rooftop patio.
Photo: Hailey Bollinger

13 Below Brewery

7391 Forbes Road, Sayler Park
Named for its location 13 miles “below” Cincinnati, this space is right on the Ohio River and boasts 13 taps behind a 20-seater bar. With a corner pub-vibe, their small-batch beers can be enjoyed with friends, family and dogs — or in the beer garden during warmer weather. Pups are allowed inside the taproom and out while their owners sample brews like the Fernbank Czech lager.
Photo via 13BelowBrewery/Facebook

Lucius Q

1131 Broadway St., Pendleton
Named after Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, Lucius Q’s is one of Cincinnati’s premiere barbeque joints. Their delicious menu features locally-sourced meats and bread local bakeries. The bar features an extensive bourbon collection and bartenders eager to whip up classic southern cocktails or pour you a local craft beer. The indoor area is a spacious two-story open seating arrangement with modern-industrial styling. The outdoor patio is generously-sized and dog-friendly so feel free to bring your pooch with you to sample Lucius Q’s barbeque.
Photo via LuciusQ/Facebook

Keystone Bar & Grill

313 Greenup St., Covington
This neighborhood joint offers a variety of tasty comfort food, like huge plates of pasta, a rockin’ quesadilla menu, build-your-own-burgers (including turkey or veggie options) and weekend brunch. But where it really shines is its macaroni and cheese menu: nine specialty selections of ooey, gooey carbs smothered in tasty dairy and named after famous bands, like the Fleetwood Mac with mozzarella, pesto and tomato. The Covington location allows dog owners to bring their furry friends along, permitting they stay in the ample-sized outdoor dining area.
Photo via KeystoneBarCovington/Facebook

Mecca OTR

1429 Walnut St., Over-the-Rhine
This hip OTR hideaway is a welcoming hangout for those interested in no-frills drinking, L.A. vibes, vinyl tunes and free popcorn. Find the main courtyard entrance tucked away down 15th Street, and cross the big-ass gravel patio, past colorful street-art murals, a panoply of rainbow lighting and a plethora of communal seating to enter a world of hanging plants (in summer the patio is decked out in greenery as well) and the most creatively decorated — dare we say selfie-ready — bar bathrooms in the city. Dogs are always welcome, as long as it’s not too crowded; nobody wants to see stressed-out doggos. Mecca has water bowls, poop bags and sometimes treats on hand for furry guests.
Photo: Brittany Thornton

Northside Yacht Club

4231 Spring Grove Ave., Northside
A loosely nautically themed and ironically landlocked Rock club from two local music and mixology veterans, the Northside Yacht Club is all fun. The cocktails — served by tattooed bartenders in the vein of Sailor Jerry — are masterful, made with fresh juice, fruit and herbal garnish. The tropically themed and navy-inspired drinks are served in Tiki glasses and deceivingly potent. Lay down a base layer with a bar-food menu that features satisfying items like house-smoked wings, poutine with duck fat gravy and vegan lentil chili fries. If you’re feeling mean, bring your dog to the patio to watch you eat any of the above (except maybe the lentils; dogs probably don’t like lentils) and don’t offer them any.
Photo: Kellie Coleman

Fries Café

3247 Jefferson Ave., Clifton
At more than 90 years old, Fries is a laid-back dive-bar legend near the University of Cincinnati. Appealing to everyone from UC students taking a break from exams to Cliftonites and downtown professionals, the first floor features a draft bar with a focus on craft beer and a popular old-fashioned shuffleboard table. The lower level features two billiards tables and the top floor has more darts and billiards with access to the seasonal patio. The uncharacteristically large outdoor space (at least for Clifton) has a covered portion and deck, live music stage, cornhole sets and plenty of seating. Bring your pooch with you: Dogs are allowed inside and outside as long as they are on a leash (and you clean up after them).
Photo via FriesCafe/Facebook

16-Bit Bar+Arcade

1331 Walnut St., Over-the-Rhine
Calling all button smashers and pinball wizards: 16-Bit has more than 50 free arcade games and a tasty selection of celeb-inspired cocktails for you to slurp down as you relive your childhood nerdy nostalgia sans the quarters. If you want to drink like an adult while you act like a kid, try a cocktail like the Lisa Frank (vodka, watermelon Pucker, pineapple rum, fruit punch and an Airhead) or a Patrick Swayze (gin, simple syrup, lime, ginger beer and mint). Dogs get drinks, too, with branded water bowls featuring sayings like, “Buzz, your girlfriend, woof.” Pets are allowed outside on the patio as well as indoors during the day, as long as the bar isn’t crowded. Bonus points if your pooch knows how to do any Mortal Kombat fatalities.
Photo via 16BitBar/Facebook

A Tavola

1220 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine / 7022 Miami Ave., Madeira
Armed with a pizza oven from Naples, Italy, A Tavola strikes a resounding chord of authenticity while redefining the perfect pie. Their playful selection of signature pizzas — such as the Fig + Prosciutto or Sausage + Sage — is a blend of the familiar coupled with the exotic. Whet your appetite with their wagyu meatballs, handmade with wagyu beef, tomato sauce, ricotta and garlic bread, or share a plate of tagliatelle al ragu. Their quaint first-come, first-served patios at both locations permit pets, but only service animals may accompany their owners indoors.
Photo via ATavolaBar+Trattoria/Facebook

MadTree Brewing

3301 Madison Road, Oakley
With 32 MadTree-exclusive taps, ambient lighting and an industrial brick facade leftover from the building’s factory days, there’s more than enough space to accommodate all the beer-drinking, cornhole-playing, dog-loving humans that hang at the 10,000-square-foot outdoor beer garden on the regular. The garden is both tented and heated in winter and allows pets year-round; just remember to enter the garden directly instead of through the main entrance if you plan on bringing a furry friend. There’s also plenty of space to drink and hang indoors if you come without fido.
Photo: Phil Heidenreich

The Video Archive

965 E McMillan, Walnut Hills
Named in honor of the video rental store where director Quentin Tarantino once worked, The Video Archive is a video store that doubles as a speakeasy, like a Blockbuster with a back-alley bar. Upon entering, you’d think you’ve arrived at an indie flick shop, until you discover the secret door — opened by selecting a specific VHS movie from the shelves — that leads you to the booze room with Tarantino-themed drinks. Dogs and Reservoir Dogs are allowed inside and outside in the shared patio with Just Q’in.
Photo: Hailey Bollinger