The only good things I can say about this spot is its location and its Brunch staff. The evening bartenders are rather rude and refused me service even though I waited about a half hour, in a haphazardly long line for a drink. It's an establishment that performs well in the afternoon and daytime however acutely lacks management in the evening to keep bartenders in-check. 2/5. read more

This is a mixed review. We went on a Sunday early afternoon, prior to going to a UC Basketball game. Had a short wait for a table - no problem. Here is the rest of the story. Service - 1 star at best. Waitress was great and tried to help, however problem was we waited a real, real long time for our food. They just were not staffed to handle the big Sunday group. Wound up at a table for 4 and we sat with 2 other guys. When they brought the food for these other 2 guys, they asked for some silverware and were told, it would be a few minutes, since they are still doing the dishes. Really, how can you run out of silverware. Kitchen was woefully behind. Service rating is for the kitchen staff, not our server. She was great. Food - 4+ stars. We shared a burger and fries, and the chicken salad sandwich. Burger was excellent, only issue was that the size of the burger and the burger bun were out of proportion. Either make a bigger burger or use a smaller bun. Wanted cheese on our burger. How can you not have mozzarella. Chicken salad sandwich was out of this world. Prior to ordering the sandwich we asked for a quick sample of the salad. Waitress was glad to bring us a taste. Don't like chicken salad swimming in mayonnaise. This had just the right amount of mayo. Chicken salad sandwich is served on great bread, with cheese and bacon. Need to go back during the week to try some other items. On Sunday, they has a limited menu and serve up some special breakfast skillet items (while we did not order these, they did look good) So, averaging the food versus the service, came up with barely 3 stars. read more

I have only been there for a happy hour so far and I must say this is a huge step up for short vine. The decor and architecture is beautiful, they have large garage doors so that the whole place feels open and airy when they are open. As for the drinks, they have some great specials for happy hour and they usually have a appetizer special as well. On the day i was there it was 2 dollars off and drafts and $3 for the nachos - I didn't get the nachos, but they looked enormous and full of toppings. The next time i come in i will be ordering those! Probably about half of their drafts are local with the usual suspects accounted for. This is an absolutely great place for a happy hour if you work anywhere in uptown. I will be back to try their food, everything looked great that came out. The bartenders were very freidnly as well. read more

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Seriously?! Came in at 1pm on a Sunday for after-brunch beers. Restaurant half full, 1 other customer at the bar chowing down on his brunch. Counted 6 employees behind the bar and 4 employees on my side Rolling Silverware and chatting. After 7 minutes a girl cleaning shelves asked if I've been helped, I said no and ordered a draft beer. She said she'd have to "find" someone to do that and left... 8 more minutes and I finally get a sub-cold and flat beer. Step it up L19!!! As a former bar mgr, my eyeballs are bleeding read more

This place is very cool...we came here before a FC Cincinnati game. .it was packed ...but we met the owner and she was amazing! She helped us get a table. Game day specials for food. .typical bar food like burgers and wings. We'll be back soon! Thanks for the great customer service! read more

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Decided to give this place a whirl. It's in the location of the old Zino's Resturant up on short vine for all us old timers who remember Place is pretty cool bar staff is super super nice. They made out first time a blast! It's just a college bar/Resturant We thought the best appetizer was the Bosco bite stuffed cheese soft pretzel bite the marinara sauce was amazing They kept pimpin the ghetta fries which were just OK I think if they would trade out the sour cream and use a white breakfast gravy on them they would be phenomenal My partner got the raging Cajun burger and it was really good I got the bow wow burger it was just OK the goat cheese they use is really musty instead of creamy Over all we really like the place and they seem like they have some really good happy hour deals so I will be trying it out for happy hour for sure read more

Ladder 19 - Bow wow burger - American Near Me - Cincinnati, Ohio

Ladder 19 has a lot of promise! I stopped in just for a drink, so have no opinion on the food and really service, but it was surprisingly dead on a Thursday night. They were asking everyone if they were going to eat in hopes of closing the kitchen a bit early I assume, not a great sell walking in the door. The owner or manager was offering discount drinks to kill a keg, doesn't seem like the type of place that would do that and we weren't really interested. Hope they find a way to do well, there is plenty of opportunity given their location and branding. Not sure if or when I will return, but saw they have bottomless mimosas and Bloody Mary's, is that May rope me and some girlfriends in to give it another try! read more

Visites this place while on business---recommended by hotel bar tender. The concert behind the place is very unique. I travel a lot and have never seen any place like it. Moreover, the customer service was great. I ordered the Bow-Wow with fries, and just as the description of the entre read... No bun is needed, in fact you won't even miss it. Please visit, enjoy and drink well my friends. read more

This place is beautiful. It sat empty for so long. I haven't been inside for 20 years. The remodel is so beautiful. There's little hints of the original firehouse it used to be. It was called zino's on vine when I was in college. It was a little fancier back then. If my drink had more alcohol in it for the $25 I paid, I would've given it more stars. A great perk was $1 draft beers. There was a ton of young college students there. We got there about 9 p.m. A little before all the college students arrived to hear the dj play at 10. They have a pool table and a fireplace, kind of off to the side. Upstairs is a small area where a DJ plays and two dart boards. They also have a juke box, the new digital kind, with good music on it. The DJ was playing some old stuff for such a young crowd. No one was dancing. They were really just yelling or socializing. They do ID people after 10. It was a super cool place! I'd like to go another time to try the food everyone says is so good. I was glad to find the quaint area upstairs. It has three balconies, maybe where the fireman poles used to be. The single bathrooms are really pretty too. I'm just excited I was able to visit a place with old memories for me. Nostalgic. read more

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Ladder 19 has boomed in popularity thanks to their drink deals. Perfect place to drink, but regarding food, better pick another place. I went there for brunch and waited an hour for the simplest plate and was very disappointed when my tiny sloppy plate arrived after such a long wait. My waitress was absent from our table most of our "meal", other waitresses noticed and we're trying to help us while our waitress was MIA. Conclusion: go there for their cheap drinks, if you're okay being surrounded by college students, I don't suggest stopping there for brunch the day after. read more

Ladder 19 - Captain Skillet - American Near Me - Cincinnati, Ohio

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I had some friends come into town last weekend and this was by fad the best brunch in the city of Cincinnati. It reminded me of the brunch scene in Chicago. Lively music, great mimosas, and good food. I believe we were here for about three hours. The owner, manager, and wait staff were fantastic. I had the Laddee Up! HEAVEN! Needless to say I got more than my money's worth. The food was great! read more

Ladder 19 - Ladder Up with Eggs over well. - American Near Me - Cincinnati, Ohio

Honestly the worst service I have ever received. We arrived, sat at the bar, and waited for one of the bartenders to come take our drink order. We waited approximately 20 minutes for someone to take our order for 2 cocktails, and then another 10 for them to make it. Except they only made one of the drinks. We had also asked for menus - however they could only manage to make the one drink before abandoning the bar and the remainder of our order. After another 10 minutes we were finally able to flag down another bartender who then made the other drink and brought menus. 10 minutes later we ordered an appetizer and 2 entrees. We waited about 30 minutes for our food, which was brought out all at the same time. Don't appetizers usually come out before the meal?? While we were waiting, we were eventually able to order 2 beers (we were not about to try ordering cocktails again) after our glasses had been empty for about 15 minutes. As we were eating, those were emptied and we asked for 2 more which never came. Overall, terrible experience. I never would've imagined such bad service from a restaurant. The food was pretty good, but definitely not worth it based on the experience. read more

Love this spot nestled near the UC campus on short vine. It is an old firehouse and has such great character and charm. I could see myself here hanging out playing some pool and drinking some awesome priced beer..oh wait I'm doing that as I write this!!! We had the goetta bacon fries with the ragin Cajun burger and the beer cheese burger. THESE BURGERS PATTIES ARE KILLER. I would sell my first born for one, if I had a first born. Definitely coming back!! read more

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I've been to the bar at ladder a few times, but last week I went for brunch for the first time. I went with a huge party of 18 kids and parents, and the ladder staff was unbelievably nice and accommodating for us. The older blonde lady was beyond exceptional and more than amazing at getting us everything we needed. And our waitress Evelyn is incredible at her job and so on top of things the entire (excessive) 3 hours we were there. And for food: delicious! I ordered the veggie skillet and it was ridiculously good and filling. A few at my table ate the donut burger, which I was eyeing with envy my whole meal. We all got bottomless mimosas and blood marys down the whole table, and the $19 bottomless and breakfast deal is absolutely worth it. Will definitely be back for brunch again soon!!! read more

Overall, I hope to be back... The menu offers a very good variety with special touches. The burgers looked amazing and the whole portion salads were very large. I've heard the white chicken chili and cornbread are INCREDIBLE... I had the lunch special chicken salad club, which was good, esp. for $7. Unfortunately, while the staff was super nice and busy we were put in a situation where we had to remind the staff we had not yet ordered (after maybe 15 mins). Which, honestly wasn't a huge problem. What was disappointing is that the person we notified was clearly a supervisor or owner and this person spoke harshly to her staff in front of us (the waitstaff were seriously doing the best they could, that was obvious) and then returned to our table and "apologized" saying she just "didn't understand" why we hadn't been waited on instead of simply apologizing or asking if we needed anything else. It was a little uncomfortable, I felt like the staff was being put in a negative light and they were working so hard! I also saw that all of those serving complementary brownies did not use tongs or napkins to move the brownies from the pan to the serving dish. Didn't strike me as super appealing. read more

This is now my favorite place by UC. Stopped in tonight for dinner, and had a choice of just about anywhere to sit. Friday night at 6:30 is clearly not one of their busiest times. To our delight(and hungry tummies) we were greeted immediately and decided to sit at the bar. The bartender, Mario did a great job making us feel welcome but it was the owner, Lori that really made the experience. She was personable and was happy to share her restaurant with us. She even brought us a sample of these sweet and spicy pickle slices. So yum. Mario recommended a cider that was just right right amount of refreshing and Lori recommended the white chicken chili. I chose to get it in the bread bowl. This chili was definitely hearty and the bread bowl was warm and chewy. My son got the spicy chicken sandwich with fries and really enjoyed the tangy-ness of the sauce. The portions were large as well. Both our meals plus the beer came to just over $20, which in my opinion is a pretty good dinner deal. As I said at the beginning of my review, this will be my new go-to. read more

Great space, staff, and food! I was expecting typical bar quality food but it was so much better than that. We got wings (honey BBQ) and fries and they were fantastic. Way more food than we expected to get for the price. I went to a private party there with about 60 people on Friday and it was a great space to reserve because there was plenty of room with a variety of tables and plenty of bar access. The pleace was still able to seat and serve other people that were not with the party in other parts--there are many different spots of varying size within Ladder 19 for different occasions. The party was catered there and the food was great for snacking and they reserved a keg. Really need to come back for their brunch! Parking is my only headache with clifton but there is a lot behind the building. We were able to park around the corner for free. read more

Hung out at the ladder to kill time before a show at bogarts. I was pleased with the drinks and the food wasn't anything mind blowing. My waitress was busy talking to a table full of guys, but I can't expect much being at a restaurant on UC's campus. My friend and I split the Hydrant and it was really good. That's the huge blue drink. We also got fried pickle chips which are a favorite. Overall I think I would only go back for drinks. The atmosphere is cool, half inside, half outside. I didn't do much exploring as I didn't have a lot of time. Definitely try the hydrant if you have someone to split it with!! read more

Ladder 19 - The Hydrant is ridiculous - American Near Me - Cincinnati, Ohio

I was in town for a dirty head show at Bogarts. We decided to grab some food before and came across this place. When walking in the the place was playing dirty heads music so I was geeked. There's not many things on the menu but what is there was fantastic. The fries were the best. A must get. The chicken dip was great with house made chips. The service was fast. At the end we were given twizzlers. If going to see a show I definitely recommend stopping in. read more

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Wish I could review their food, but our waitress forgot about us after bringing our beers. We sat for thirty minutes watching her clean tables, and seat new guest and take their drink and food order. We had to go to the bar to pay our tab because she didn't even come to bring our bill. That's all I can say for this place, unfortunately. read more

New place on the Clifton block! Impressive menu, beer collection, attentive staff. Liked their appetizers a lot. read more

Ladder 19 - Menu - American Near Me - Cincinnati, Ohio

For those of you who live on the Corryville side of campus you know Ladder 19 all too well, but for those who never venture over to Short Vine- you should try it sometime! Ladder 19 is the new bar to go to on Short Vine area; with 15 beers, Fireball Whiskey always on tap, a shot wheel and their specialty drinks that are known to "extinguish" your thirst- this bar is the new place to go especially if you are Greek! With amazing drinks inside of this unique, fun, comforting atmosphere you can't forget about their food. Known for their specialty burgers, and their "Fireman's Brunch" on Sundays with bottomless mimosas and bloody marys, Ladder 19's food is anything but forgettable. Sure, their burgers are good and their brunch is delicious but my favorite thing on their menu is the "Bacon Goetta Fries": a pile of crispy fries, topped with bacon, goetta, melted cheddar, and ranch dressing. read more

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Never had a bad experience here until yesterday. For context this occurred after the food service closes and it turns into a full bar. My friend was trying to help someone who had a seizure next to us and was asked by a bouncer what to do. As she was helping, a female bartender arrives to block people off from coming over to the scene. Someone who was related to the person having a medical emergency arrived and tried to get down to him but the bartender hit him in his face. She then proceeded to try to kick my friend out for helping the guy and when my friend asked to to wait so she could make sure the guy regained consciousness, she was punched in the face by this same bartender. Then the bartender turned to me and dug her nails into my arms (leaving bruises) and pushed me backwards. The other bouncers then began to grab my friend and I and called us multiple names including b****. As other patrons began to step in, they were physically attacked by the staff as well. One staff member did approach me and said the bartender would be thoroughly investigated and dealt with but I'm sure he only said that so we would leave. This is disgusting behavior and completely unwarranted. read more

This place is literally awful, I am 21 years old and some how got denied from this bar when I literally know 19 and 20 year olds that were in there drinking. Apparently if you aren't a minor they won't serve you. Also the bouncer was a dick, refused to scan my valid ID and said he could point out everything wrong with my ID. Never thought that being 21 years old would get me denied from a bar but I guess this bar just cares about providing alcoholic beverages to underage students. read more

My wife had a specific request yesterday for Mother's Day. It was a breakfast skillet from here. We checked their hours on Google, Facebook and their own website. All 3 said they were open. I called before leaving and it just rang nonstop. I thought it's Mother's Day, they must be really busy. I drove over to the location and it's closed! read more

If you're looking for an affordable brunch with unlimited mimosas this is definitely your spot! For $19 you get unlimited mimosas and one if their scrambler options. The scramble is no pushover, it's very filling and quite tasty. Also, our waiter made sure our mimosas were never empty. Slightly limited with food options but affordable and tasty. read more

My husband and I went to this bar for the first time this past weekend to watch a UC basketball game. The vibe was great, but definitely a college bar with a young crowd. The space was big and open, with a large street patio. There's also an upstairs with another bar and some seating. There of course is a full bar, with lots of daily drink specials! Perfect for watching a sports game! They also have a menu with a variety of food, including brunch! My husband and I tried an assortment of brunch items on their menu and were pleasantly surprised! There are several "hash" items- basically a variety of different tater tot options, all were delicious! They have pancake sticks as well that were amazing! The menu pricing was typical, about 9-11$ per meal. Worth checking out if you're in the area, a great sports bar! read more

Nice place, busy as crap! $4 can of beer.....! I hope the tall dude with the hat on backwards flirting with the bar tender the whole time isn't splitting tips cuz he's worthless! read more

My husband and I came for Burger Week and both ordered the featured "Ragin' Cajun" burger. I got the vegetarian version, while he stuck to the regular meat version. Both of us loved the burgers. The taste was amazing and we both kept saying "man, that was good" on the way home. There were tons of toppings on both versions, without overpowering the patty. The only thing we didn't like was how sloppy they were. We don't mind sloppy food, but there was so much liquid coming off these burgers that the bottom buns were downright spongy and wet. I think it was coming off the mushrooms, so other specialty burgers may not have this problem. Service was slow, but the place was very busy due to Burger Week. The overall atmosphere was nice -- not too loud while still being energetic. And the firehouse decor is great! Overall, we had a great time and plan on coming back to try some of their other food. Hopefully it's just as tasty, with a little less mess! read more

So, the first time I arrived at Ladder 19, I embarrassed myself. My new boss and I were meeting several colleagues from other organizations there for a networking lunch on a Friday. We arrived at 11, found a parking spot, and walked right in....only to be told that Ladder 19 didn't open until 11:30. Luckily for us, the staff didn't mind us having a seat for 20 minutes or so until the doors officially opened, but boy was my face red! Even more luckily, the food at Ladder 19 was worth the wait. Ladder 19 fully embraces its Cincinnatian heritage: their appetizers feature the ubiquitous Bosco Bites and bacon goetta fries; items that the folks back in Pittsburgh wouldn't even think of. However, the majority of Ladder 19's menu is made up of bar-food standards: burgers, chicken sandwiches, and various salads. I was fairly pleased with my choices at Ladder 19: an order of Bosco Sticks and a crispy chicken sandwich. The food was prompt, even for a large group of hungry prospect researchers, though nothing really blew me away. Standard bar food, with a few Cincinnati twists. This is one of the rare restaurants that I'm giving a high rating, but I'll probably never go back. I'm in Cincy rarely enough that I always want to try new places while there, and while Ladder 19 doesn't disappoint, there wasn't much to set it apart for me. If you go. you'll likely enjoy. No disappointments here! read more

By far one of the worst restaurant experiences I ever had. Staff seemed to not care whether we were there. Only a couple waitresses had any kind of interest or skill. Food took forever and wasn't worth it. BF said his burger (does not come with a side and one was not offered when ordering) was ok but our wings and my brunch skillet were practically inedible. We noticed other customers were struggling with service as well. Do not bothering visiting this restaurant if you like good service or food. read more

I LOVE LADDER, atmosphere is amazing drinks are fat. girls are top notch andddd they gave out free Jell-O shots!! FUCK MARTINOS!!!

The drinks are always great. The bar tenders tend to be pretty quick even when there are large crowds on game day or at night. They also tend to be really fair in working down the line and making sure they get to everyone as quickly as possible. I stopped in for brunch the other day and had the Captains Skillet with bottomless mimosas. It's such a great deal for what you're paying and everything tastes amazing! My friend got the Veggie Skillet and loved it as well. The mimosas aren't watered down and are half champagne, half orange juice. The servers/bar tenders are always moving around and checking on their customers. Friendly service and in no rush to get you out the door, great bonus. read more

Ladder 19 - American Near Me - Cincinnati, Ohio

We came here due to the fact that they welcome dogs, but the menu was pretty limited. THe buffalo chicken dip was good. We asked for just a plain burger for our dogs to split and were told that the cook was not very nice, but that she would check. She came back and said the cook said OK, but what we got was a burger that was partially cooked and frozen. Like they finish the cooking on the grill when they are ordered - NOT OK. If you are going to welcome dogs then have a little something to back it up besides a water bowl as those little options make a return customer. read more

Ordered burger medium, came out dry and well beyond even "well done". Chips were not good -- some crispy, some soggy, all tasteless. Only positive was that the staff was friendly. read more

Tonight my girlfriend and I had tickets to see a concert at bogarts and we were a bit hungry so we stopped in. The service was quick and the severs were friendly. We ordered Johnny's fried chicken sandwich. The meat's texture was unpleasant. The texture was like biting into a piece of fat or gristle, just gross. We enjoyed the fries and hurried because the show was staring soon. The sandwich was so bad I had to speak with a manager because I felt maybe some feedback might help. I was wrong. The manager came over and first defended it as a best seller. Then he explained, "maybe it was not cooked long enough or it was just a bad chicken breast." He offered to buy us our first round after the concert to make up for it. A nice enough gesture yet neither of us had ordered an alcoholic beverage. I sincerely hope this was a one off experience. Please retrain your management and cooks. Clifton deserves better. read more

I came here before going to an event at Bogart's on a Saturday night. We arrived around 730 and the place was dead, I forgot that for the most part college students aren't out drinking yet for the most part at this time of night. The atmosphere of the place was super cool. At one time it was a fire station (hence the name) but it's seen a lot of places go in and out of there. I specifically remember it being a night club when I went to school at UC and then I was closed down and empty for a while. Anyways, the atmosphere of the place is really cool, well lit and really clean with a decent sized menu. I did not order any food so I cannot comment on that but the service was pretty good since we were essentially the only patrons there. The bartenders were friendly and engaging with us and the beer prices weren't super expensive. 4 Miller lights for $12 isn't bad at all. I'd gladly come back here before another event at bogarts or maybe before a UC sporting event to give their food a try. read more

Cool historic building to check out. Very friendly staff where the bartender will take time to chat with you! Nice drink specials with all around great pricing being close to a campus. Located on a pedestrian downtown neighborhood street. We stopped late afternoon and had a drink and enjoyed ourselves for a decent price! Would recommend. read more

We went here for brunch on Sunday before going downtown to do a scavenger hunt. The host with the most, Corey, greeted us and tried to find us a table, but we had to wait. Gotta say some good words about Corey - big smile, friendly, helpful, gracious, endearing, and so very kind. To boot, the owner, Lori, stopped by to make sure we were being taken good care of. We asked her about the best brunch menu items. She told us her favorites, even said she created the menu herself, taking off one item that was just not spectacular. So, we were seated after about 15 minutes. We ordered the hangover skillet, the chicken chili, and the chicken salad sandwich. The Hangover skillet was just delicious, even though we thought the bbq sauce would be too much, but it was just the ingredient to pull the whole dish together! The chicken chili...we begged Lori to tell us the secret smokey spice, but she's not giving up one hint about it! It's won awards and we now know why! This was my fav and I'm going to try to replicate it! HA! For the chicken salad sandwich, it's a wonder....grilled swirled rye bread, bacon, tomato with the cranberry chicken salad. Every bite just delicious. In this day and age, it's hard to find great service AND great food. We got both. Thank you Lori and Corey for a wonderful experience! We'll see you again soon! Greg and Lisa read more

This place is the best. Great food and even better bartenders and management. We got the veggie skillet and it was delicious. Manager came over to check on us and she was extremely nice. read more