The Oak Tavern — Restaurant in Cincinnati

I have been coming to Oak Tavern for years & never had any issues until yesterday which is why I am not giving this place a 1 Star for what happened. My experience there yesterday has changed my opinion of this place and I don't think I will be returning;

I got my beer from the inside bar and immediately went out to the back patio. I walked up to the outdoor bar area and before I could even say a word the bartender behind this bar snapped at me "This bars closed" in a short tone. I replied "Ok, I already have my drink. I was going to ask if you had an android charger I could put my phone on for a bit as it's dead and I need to request a Lyft." Without even looking, she said no and I took a seat nearby to finish my beer. I'm not sure if maybe the three staff members behind this bar didn't care that I could hear them or maybe they didn't realize I was within ear shot but as I sat there drinking my beer I listened to them make fun of several customers out on the patio, especially one customer in particular. It was so mean. It makes me wonder if they have said stuff about me before when I've been there. I did call them out for their behavior as I was leaving. It was really disappointing to have this happen because I always liked this bar before this ugly incident and I hope the GM will take this to heart and consider the integrity of the people being hired.

Word to the Wise Oak Tavern Staff: If you're going to say mean things about the patrons, don't do it within ear shot of one of...

Had been meaning to try this place for a while as I've only heard good things about their wings. Finally visited this past weekend and had a relatively good experience. It's actually a pretty small, humble sized dining and bar area. The patio is where it's at, most people choose to eat outside. Service was a little slow at the bar, and they weren't even busy. But I wasn't in a rush or anything so it really wasn't a big deal. We ordered the sampler platter as an appetizer and of course tried the wings. The fried pickles were amazing, some of the best I've ever had. I would go back just for those. The wings were served differently than what I'm used to. Instead of cooking them in the sauce, they smoke and grill them and just give you a tray with all of their different sauces to add as you wish. While I really enjoyed the different approach to how they were prepared, I gotta say I like the traditional way much better. I like my wings cooked in sauce I guess. But tons of people like it this way and I can understand why. They had a nice smoky flavor. Would recommend to...

I won't lie. The food was AMAZING. However, the service and atmosphere were lacking. Yes, it was a busy Saturday night, so I'll give them some wiggle room. When you walked in, the music was loud, not just a normal sports bar loud but have to use your phone to text the person directly next to you because you are completely unable to hear ANYTHING. Being a restaurant as well as a bar, there should have been some sort of table service. Instead, everything was ordered through the bar. It was so loud in fact I had to type out what I wanted and physically hand my phone to the bartender so they could put my order in. The food came out quickly, which was great, but after that, there was no one to even stop back to make sure it was correct. It was just a drop and go. It wouldn't have mattered though because once again the music was excessively loud. Maybe another night it would have been different? With how good the food is I'm sure I'll give it another shot but hopefully that time I won't have to use my phone to communicate...