I recently visited a friend that lives in the neighborhood, and as I was driving up to his home, I was in total awe of how charming and nostalgic-feeling his community felt. Tucked away from the hustle and bustle of Cincinnati, technically in Covington, KY, MainStrasse has everything I would want and need in a place to call home. For starters, the vibrantly painted brick homes left me oohing and ahhing as we walked up and down the streets. Tack on all the amazing flower boxes and Pride flags waving proudly and you've got yourself a warm and welcoming village. The area was also very walkable and I really loved being able to take a quick stroll up the street for tacos or breakfast. They have a community pool, a good sized park, tons of cute restaurants, boutiques, and various shops. It's honestly like straight out of a storybook. I will definitely be paying this adorable village another visit soon and I suggest you do too! read more

This is such a charming neighborhood tucked within Covington, KY, and walking distance to all of the action and one of my favorite hotels, Hotel Covington. I'm a sucker for historical markers and this area is full of them as well as beautiful esplanades. I also enjoy the overflowing window boxes on the shops in the summertime. My last visit to MainStrasse Village featured dinner on the sidewalk accompanied by great people watching. This neighborhood is filled with shops, salons restaurants and bars and can easily be reached on foot from Covington's main street. read more

When I discovered that there was a Yelp page for Mainstrasse Village, two questions came to mind: 1) How did I not know this page existed? and... 2) How do you begin to write a review of your home? Living in Mainstrasse has been awesome. I feel close to the pulse of the city, but far enough away from all the hustle and bustle. Living in OTR was great in my 20, Mainstrasse has been perfect for my 30s. I love that I can walk to shops, bars, a park, to downtown, to Newport... Everything feels at my fingertips. Mainstrasse is charming and quirky. Don't leave without snagging a Brussels sprout taco from Frida, gandering at the obscurities from Hail Dark Aesthetics, grabbing some popcorn at Grammy's Sweet shop, or grabbing a drink on the Yonder rooftop. I love Mainstrasse and I'm super proud to call it home. read more

I have called Mainstrasse Village my home for soon to be 7 years, and I truly love where I live. The community has changed so much for the better in the past seven years and I have loved seeing the transformation. I love the walkability of the Village. There are now such a wide variety of restaurants: from gourmet, to burgers, to tacos, and bar food. It is wonderful to see the small shops continue to be successful and to see new ones join them. One of my favorite things about living in the Village is the festivals: Maifest, Oktoberfest, and Goetta Fest. I think they do a fantastic job of showcasing how wonderful Mainstrasse Village is. I am proud to be a resident of this neighborhood. read more

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An interesting area that is full of character. Architecturally, the area is full of sights. Park along the street (most of the main streets have metered parking,) and take a stroll through the area. Lots of small local businesses. Many hidden gems that are not hidden to the residents. For many people who live here, it is a close knit community. A friend who lives here knows her neighbors, knows the businesses; knows her community. They help support eachother; they lookout for eachother. Various community festivals throughout the year. One of the biggest is Oktoberfest. The whole community is a buzz of activity. People from all around the tri-state area come. With Cincinnati having the largest Oktoberfest outside of Munich, much of that energy spills over into this area with a rich German heritage. They also have festivals in the summer and winter. Due to COVID the X-mas activities were considerably toned down this year. The tree lot that is usually in the center of town was moved to the parking lot adjacent to the IRS building. The move was to help prevent crowding, and promote social distancing. read more

I enjoy Mainstrasse every time I'm there, whether I'm inside or outside. It has a good variety of different businesses - restaurants, bars, a coffee house, a few tattoo places. So what if that doesn't make it 'authentically' German? It's fun to walk or sit around and people watch, day or night. There seems to be a festival just about every other weekend during the summer, not to mention the big 'uns... Mardi Gras, Maifest, Oktoberfest, Goettafest, World's Largest Yard Sale. Favorite bars: Cock & Bull and Strasse Haus if I'm outside, Zazou and Zola if I'm inside. Best unique place for cheap eats = Lime Taqueria. Avoid: Pachinko (trashy crowd) and Cosmo's (charges cover). read more

I have some serious love for Mainstrausse Village. There are lots of tiny bars that make for a great night of bar hopping, each with their own variety of patrons and music. I love when they close down the streets and allow drinks to be taken from bar to bar. Not to mention just how much it has done for Northern Kentucky in general. This is a must see for visitors to the Cincinnati/NKY area. GO NOW!! read more

We stayed one day and one night in this perfectly quaint and walk able area at the end of our visit to Ohio/Kentucky. We were lucky enough to come during Oktoberfest and enjoyed the music and food. If you have a chance to visit anywhere near here stay in the area (check airbnb there are great inexpensive options to stay right in the village and park your car...you won't need it). There are several restaurants (anything you could want for breakfast, lunch or dinner), great shops and bars. Try the Old Kentucky Bourbon Bar and sit on the patio (thank me later) :)! The village is close to Cincinnati and there is also a great park nearby (maybe a mile away). read more

Mainstrasse Village is a spectacular part of americana... *German*-americana! It's quaint with the small town feel during the day, but once the sun sets the bars get busy and there is fun to be had! I was going to give this a 4-star review but the reason why it gets bumped up to 5 is because of the parking situation. I've never, ever, ever paid for parking in Mainstrasse, nor have I ever struggled to find a decent parking spot - even during Covington's Oktoberfest celebration. Now that you can't smoke in Kenton County, I also won't smell like an ash tray leaving a bar! That's a win in my book. read more

So tiny compared to the Glier's Newport on the Levee Goetta Fest! The amount of craft booths was larger than the number of food booths. And, many of the food booths weren't even serving goetta! I remember reading somewhere that at the Glier's Fest each booth is required to serve at least 1 goetta item. This is what leads to amazing tasty creations like the Busken Goetta Doughnut and the Papa John's Goetta Calzone. Just doesn't seem fair that booths can get away with not serving anything goetta at a festival for goetta! I tried the Philly Goetta Sandwich ($5). Disappointing... the taste of the goetta was totally covered by the mountain of processed cheese product that it was slathered in. The Goetta Hash from Taste of Belgium ($5) was far closer to 5 stars- Fries covered in goetta, onions, peppers, and a fried egg. I could totally see this on their menu at the restaurant. Unfortunately, the food highlight of the day was 24 flavors of soft serve from Piper's Cafe. I went on Sunday and found plenty of seating and walking around room. Free parking was offered at the IRS lot about 4 blocks away. I will be skipping this festival in the future to spend my dollars and calories on the one in August in Newport. read more

Great Food, great service, and a nice atmosphere. We ordered the homemade potato chips with BBQ as an appetizer. Great choice. Went perfectly with the craft beer. My husband ordered a burger with a pretzel bun and fries. I ordered the chicken Caesar salad. Both were delicious. We were very happy with how fast our food came out and it was fresh, hot and delicious. read more

MainStrasse Village Goettafest - Chicken Caesar salad and Cheese Burger on a Pretzel Bun - Community Service/Non-Profit Near Me - Covington, Kentucky

I've lived here for about 2 months now. It's exciting to have so much within walking distance! I'm anxious to see what it's going to be like during all the festivals I've heard about. I mean, sure it's not always awesome at night to live here. It can be super annoying to be woken up night after night by obnoxious drunken people leaving the bar. But nothing a little yelling out the window and/or Benedryl can't fix. Overall though, I love the feel of the neighborhood and can't wait to be more of a part of it. read more

Came here during Oktoberfest when I was visiting the Cincinatti, OH/Covington, KY area. Very fun! Being there during their Oktoberfest, everything was a flurry of action. Tons of street vendors, food booths and more! Quaint, cute architecture. Fun lively atmosphere. I loved it! I hope I get to come back soon! read more

Many restaurant, shopping, and bars to choose from! My favorite is Oktoberfest festival! Mainstrasse village is unique and intimate.

Been coming to Mainstrasse for a while now, mostly to cruise through to Newport on the Levee or for Mardi Gras. I can say I've never had a bad time there. :) Lots of bars within short distances and plenty of food and entertainment to be had! You're so close to either downtown Cinci or Newport so you can't go wrong either way! :) There's also a lot of awesome shops ready to be checked out, big bonus is they are LGBT friendly too! :) read more

I'm staying at the Marriott Riverfront and wanted to go out at night on foot to good restaurants. I was thrilled with what I found. Then they had ladies night and all the shoppes were open and I could take presents home. My only complaint is the shoppes closed so early, but the restaurants and people I met into the village were wonderful was exactly what I needed. read more

I'm not sure if things were different since I attended on Sunday rather than Friday or Saturday, but things were pretty low key. There were the typical craft vendors as you see at most all the Main Strasse festivals. There were food vendors of course, but unfortunately not many were serving goetta. I was hoping to see goetta used in surprising ways, but everything was pretty standard. I'm hoping for Goetta creativity next time. read more

I always have a great time when I come to this part of town. They always put on a great Mardi Gras and Oktoberfest. It is the place to bar hop in Northern KY because of all of the bars in one place. Some of my favorite bars in in that area. There are also some great food places. Never have had a bad time here. read more

An intentional sausage party! The Goetta Fest was cool. A chance to savor a food I'd only heard of several years ago. Visiting family and friends is always fun. Tried the fried Goetta balls. Last time I'll do that. Too greasy and unappetizing after taste. But the crafts were nice and it was on the Mainstrasse, my favorite area in Greater Cincinnati. And being 1 of 10 minorities there was even more fun! (Psych!) Actually wasn't bad at all. Same time next year. But no sausage and no balls. read more

Nom Nom Goetta. I'm obsessed. When I lived in Chicago I would buy 5-10 logs at a time when I came home to visit and brought them back with me to freeze and introduce my friends to it (they all loved it) MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM. I thought they did a good job with the festival this year. Great live bands, tons of creative goetta stylings (including a goetta corn dog and goetta mac and cheese .... stellar) They also had a good selection of other eats (a whole pig roasting, soft serve, gyro's and such) and great local businesses/artists selling their goodies - we picked up a baby corn hole set!!!! So cute for kids. It was a gorgeous weekend to be out and about - bring your plastic mugs from previous Main Strausse festivals to fill up! Plenty of tables/seating - at least for the day time crowd - if it gets busier at night then it would be lacking. Hopefully you got to experience it this year and if not there's always next year and Newport's version later in the summer :-) Get your goetta! read more

This area is really trying to turn around and attract a larger audience. They have a really good Mardi Gras celebration. And some of the new restaurants and bars that have opened have given it a bit of a face lift. I'd love for it to continue to succeed and get back some of the business lost when the other side of the river was developed. read more

Sister was in town and she's fanatical for all things German, so we had to stop by this little town. We walked around (using an online walking tour she found) and admired the pretty architecture. Wandering took us into some not so nice areas, but we soon found our way back. The highlight was the clock tower, which on the hour (or 2 minutes after the hour, as we found out...we thought initially it was broken) has a mechanical rendition of the story of the pied piper of Hamlin on display. My 2 yo was entranced and then upset that we couldn't make it play again immediately. He loved it! Yes, the clock tower show is short, but super cute and totally out of the ordinary. If you're in the area or want to spend a nice morning or afternoon walking and then stop for some coffee/lunch, I'd totally recommend MainStrasse. read more

Wow no mention that there Octoberfest and MayFest are some of the best festives in the city! Come people lets get out there.

The web developer made this place look super cute but it really isn't all that. We had lunch at Wertheim's, it was just OK. There looked to be some sketchy areas of this little town and some very happening bars, but that's about it. read more

sorry, naming a place with a german name doesn't cut it. we walked by the irish bar, pizza, french, neuvo a taco bar and still and didnt see a place with german food..... where we did eat was ok at best. we did appreciate the outdoor music. read more

mainstrasse village goettafest is the best goettafest of all!!! my husband and i used to go every father's day. we always had the best food and beverage there. there are vendors selling jewelry and artwork also that is original and sells at a very good price. i like to buy presents for friends and family while i am there. the music is very entertaining and the park is dog friendly. even though my husband has past, i still go every year and at least eat 2 orders of goetta balls in his honor! they are fantastic! read more