Incline Public House — Restaurant in Cincinnati

Journeyed over to this neat little spot to visit some friends from out of town.

My spouse and I really enjoyed the location, although street parking was somewhat of a pain... it wasn't too bad compared to other big city street parking I've encountered. We didn't have to pay for the parking, so that was a plus!

The view is AWESOME! There's a cool little sitting area on some greenery right next to the venue as well as a little sitting area on some cobblestone brick under a tree up closer to the street. Both areas have a great view of the city below! SUCH a cute little area for pictures, so... we just HAD to get a few!

The wait wasn't too long for a party of 4 so we hung out in the cobblestone sitting area until a table was ready. COVID precautions were in place with plastic seating separaters in place and everyone had masks on, so we had no concerns about exposure.

The service wasn't super quick, but adequate. Attentiveness and friendliness probably a 3.5 our of 5. That being said, I usually like my drinks served a little more promptly, especially since we ordered draft beers which only take a second to pour, BUT ... it was super busy and I also understand the waiters are also at the mercy of the bartenders, so I try to be understanding on that front.

The food came out in a decent amount of time. The hubs got the braised shortrib grilled cheese and I got the fish sandwich. The grilled cheese was a HUGE hit. My only beef with the fish sandwich was the bread.... why rye?... The fish itself was BOMB, so I ended up just taking off the bread and asking for more coleslaw and eating the fish by itself with the coleslaw, which was pretty dang good if you ask me!

I proabably couldn't give an accurate depiction of the ambiance of the place since it was all plastic'ed up and COVID precautioned throughout. Even with that though I could tell that it's a rustic and cute little venue. I just WISHHHHHHHHH that there were tables outside on that greenery to the left of the venue and even up on the cobblestone sitting area would be cute... although that might not be their property... it's probably not. BUT... in the summer... if they could get tables on some of that greenery or a beer garden out there or something... OH MAN would that be nice on a breezy summer evening.

Overall, this place is really cool! & if I'm ever in the area again I will definitely be making a reservation to sit outside of the patio overlooking the scenery as long as it's not too hot or...

They advertise having gluten free options so we decided to give them a try. Asked the hostess if they had a gluten free menu and she said no. Asked if the menu was marked with which items were gluten free and she said our server would be able to assist us. After we were seated I asked our waiter which menu options were gluten free. He informed us that they had gluten free bread for the sandwiches and a gluten free crust for the pizza. I inquired further about which sandwiches or pizza would be able to be made gluten free and he said if an item had gluten they just wouldn't include it when they made the meal which was horribly unhelpful to say the least. Tried one more time and asked specifically if any of the appetizers or sides were gluten free and this dude just stared at me for 5 seconds straight and then turned to my partner and asked if he wanted anything to drink and straight up ignored my question. Literally no allergen information anywhere so you can't even order a salad because you have no idea if they just won't put dressing on it if it's not gluten free. I like surprises as much as the next person but I really don't want to order a tantalizing sounding sandwich just to end up with some gf bread topped with lettuce because they removed the gluten items. They do just remove it too, my order was supposed to have fried onions so I asked if they would be replaced with regular old onions instead and he kind hmmhhmmm'ed at me which i thought was a yes but turns out it was a no. They just removed the crispy onions. I paid more money for the gluten free option to get less food. My better half said his food was pretty good and the view was phenomenal so if you don't have any dietary restrictions and money to burn then give this place a try, otherwise stick with places like Fretboard and their affiliate restaurants because they're absolutely amazing and care about making sure everyone has a great dining experience. The price is not worth the service here, our waiter was nowhere to be found from the time he took our order until the time he slapped the check on the table and then he hovered around trying to get us to leave so he could seat the next tip $$$ in line waiting to eat even though I still had a plate of the blandest food...

We were stopping in Cincinnati as we made our way home from visiting 15 National Parks over 5 months. Wanting to see some of the city, our interest was piqued by the views of the city we saw that the Incline Public House offered. We were not disappointed. We called ahead but they don’t accept reservations nor can you get your name on a wait list. We were told there would be a 25 minute wait. No problem; we killed some time driving through some of the neighborhoods on the Kentucky side of the city first, which are filled with beautiful examples of turn of the last century homes and public buildings. We were enthralled by the feeling of the sense of community that the neighborhoods exuded. Covington looked really nice and we almost stopped there to have dinner at one of the many sidewalk cafes that sprinkle the neighborhood, but, my husband was over ruled since I really like a restaurant with a view. It seems like parking can be an issue there but since we arrived closer to 7:30, the dinner rush was on the decline and we found a parking space in their lot. After adding our name to the waitlist (25 min wait), we got a cocktail at the bar and sat outside enjoying the war air and the view of Cincy from a elevated bluff that overlooks the city. We only waited about 10 mins & were seated on the patio with a phenomenal view. The view was very romantic, the food (very tasty Philly cheesesteak, a house salad with a large hunk of salmon, & a quadruple layered slice of chocolate cake ) was delicious and the price was very reasonable. We had no idea that Cincinnati was so picturesque and filled with such a hip vibe as well as delicious eateries. We are planning to return, perhaps to catch a football game. (Go Ravens!) Server was very nice. We were late diners, and we felt a bit neglected since we didn’t see our server for long stretches at a time and had to listen to staff banging chairs around as they cleaned up at the end of the night, hence 4 stars...