Voodoo Brewing Cincinnati — Restaurant in Cincinnati

I went to Voodoo during Cincinnati Wing Week to check out this new spot between OTR and Downtown. Tl;dr: They have potential but also there are a surprising amount of nuisances and issues to fix.

As someone who has lived in this area for a decade and visited nearly every bar and brewery in the city, I can confidently agree with what others have said that their prices are way above market, a good experience is soured by overpriced items... you can see this by how many reviews the owner has responded to trying to defened the prices. Instead of being defensive, fix the prices!

Overall, Voodoo was a smooth experience, but there a lot of small kinks that need to be worked out which hold it back from being a higher rating experience today.

Wings - The wings are pretty good. They were the highlight for me. They really need wet wipes for the wings. Some of those sauces are so sticky and the napkins are kinda thin / just okay.

Drinks - I had a batched maple manhattan. Overall above-average drink, but prices here were a high ($13) when something like this is $8–10 elsewhere in OTR (that's ~40% higher here). I probably would take a group elsewhere for batched cocktails if they keep prices that high. The bartender said it was barrel-aged, online says it's just batched or barreled (not aged), it would be nice to be clear which one is right.

Prices Not Listed - You've really gotta put the beer and cocktail prices on the menu! "Never show a customer the prices for the first time only on the receipt!"

Prices Surprises - No one likes seeing and agreeing to one price upfront and then finding higher prices on the receipt. They have hidden upcharges that are not listed on the menu or even ever mentioned in person (celery or carrots and ranch or bleu cheese with wings is standard... that should not be a silent upcharge, come on...).

Those are: The wings on the menu are $7 (wing week special) and $9, but on the receipt at the end they were actually $8.50 and $9.50 with upcharges for bleu cheese and carrots and celery. None of the upcharges were disclosed anywhere or mentioned by the bartender — you never want a customer to learn something for the first time at the end. They should disclose the upcharge if there is going to be one or not so that in the first place like everyone else in wing week. There are mentions everywhere to scan a QR code to see the entire menu. But the QR codes are only on the tables, none at the bar. There is a wall behind the bar, but it has no prices, no IBUs, no descriptions of the beers or seltzers at all... Also the online menu is wrong — there are items in the online menu that aren't on the paper menu and vice versa. The drinks menu has no prices for the batched cocktails. People want to know if these are going to be $7 or $15 or somewhere in-between and if it varies by drink. None of this info is available anywhere... how do you open a bar / restaurant and forget to put the prices on the menu? I took a full star off alone just for hiding the prices and making people play guessing games there.

Service at the bar was friendly but not attentive. Even at about half capacity, I had to flag down the bartender multiple times just to get water while it sat empty for 5+ minutes and having to ask for a refill. There are only maybe 20 seats at the bar. This is a standard thing... I can't think of another bar in the area that doesn't proactively going around and topping off water when it's 80+ degrees or having a self-serve water station.

If they fixed these basic issues (disclosing the prices upfront, letting you know in advance of any upcharges or scrapping the annoying common ones, putting the QR codes on the bar, having descriptions of their actual beers) they could be a better experience. This is tablestakes stuff in OTR; while we're a few blocks south here technically, the expectations are still the same. As it stands, there are just too many operational issues to recommend it to people right now though.

Food: 4/5 Service: 2/5 Menu & Pricing Issues:...

I was initially excited to come in as I found the place on Instagram and saw that they had Singo and Karaoke on a Tuesday night. Perfect for a meetup right? The space is open with community tables with many bar seats and various sized tables. Despite the advertising, the Karaoke Jock informed me that there was no Singo and only karaoke for the evening. Bummer. I ordered three of their chicken tendies as they were promoted for a dollar with a side of coleslaw and was charged almost $14. The bartender’s response? I didnt know I could ring it in as a side. Pretty suspicious when the customer orders a la carte and the difference is nearly half the cost. Just as suspicious as the bartender attempting to pre authorize $25 to hold my tab. NO restaurant or bar I have ever been to does that so between the two occurrences just cashed out. That makes it easy for an employee to modify the transaction and pocket the difference for a tip. I was also interested in doing a flight of beers to try their variety. How much? I was told that it depends on the beer with no prices on their sangria flights. Many breweries have established prices for their beers and flights which none were posted and even the prices on the menu are small or faint which would be haphazard for someone elderly or impaired. Due to my due diligence, a $22 tab was reduced to $14.99 for the below meal. This makes me concerned for potential customers and is why I was inclined to write this review. Also, huge slices in a coleslaw you are placing in a 3.5 oz cup is a turn off. The tendies were huge and worth the price however the garlic parmesan sauce was like oil, garlic and grated parm and the cajun ranch had a semi watery consistency but held onto the chicken and didn’t get much of the cajun, more of the flavor from the ranch packet used to make the sauce. My suggestions would be not preauthorizing $25 on your customer’s cards, clear price signage and establishing clear prices for your alcoholic beverages. Keep in mind This place has been open less than a year. This comes from a hospitality professional of 20 years who was disappointed and...

BrewCouple here with a brewery review Voodoo Brewery, Cincinnati! This was a fun brewery stop. Love love love the beer cheese and the beer mustard for the pretzel. Kudos! The pretzel was crusty on the outside and soft and a bit chewy on the inside. The beer mustard was delicious! We had a unique pizza that had several meats and I can't remember its name. I felt like the crust was premade perhaps. We love pizza and appreciate all kinds but would like it to be elevated by having a crust like previously described pretzel. Something more artisanal.? I started with a small pour of a porter so memorable I can't remember the name that was eh ok. Hubby had the Banana Hammock a banana/coconut spontaneous brew as explained to us later, that had a great coconut nose and flavor as well. The banana was subtle in the background, light with a nice body. It was delicious! All in all it was a good experience just not great. Service was friendly and the bartender stopped by the table to chat about the beers with my hubby so that was a nice little bonus for us.. This location had just opened a month earlier per said bartender and we gave him our feedback as well. Would I see them out again? Probably not but definitely would pay attention to the spontaneous brews that happen well... spontaneously! That's the...