Eating out in Cincinnati: beers with a view at The Banks

Pretzels from the Moerlein Lager House.

Onion rings.

Smoked sausage with apple sauerkraut and sweet potato chips.

I’ve been having fun exploring the city where I grew up. It’s been seven months since I last visited and almost eight years since I lived here, so there’ve been a lot of changes in my absence. I’m loving all the development along the Ohio River in the area now known as The Banks. I was always kind of envious of all the development along the Kentucky side of the river and wondered why Cincinnati didn’t do the same. But at long last, things are happening on the northern side of the Ohio.

The Banks includes the space between the Reds and Bengals stadiums. There are restaurants, bars and parks with a stage, bike trails and fountains to run through. And the views of the river and Suspension Bridge are fantastic. (I’ll share some photos of this tomorrow.) On Wednesday, we went to the Moerlein Lager House, a restaurant and brewing company that’s sandwiched between the stadiums and overlooks the Ohio River. The building’s architecture is fantastic and is designed to provide good views of the river and the stadiums.

As for the beer itself, the Christian Moerlein Brewing company began in 1853 in Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine neighborhood and their beers were popular until prohibition put a stop to brewing. Brewing began again in 1981 and is now done on site at the restaurant. I tried the Moerlein Exposition Vienna Lager and found it was pretty tasty, as were the appetizers we sampled, including soft pretzels, onion rings and a hot dog with sweet potato chips. Yum.And way to go Cincinnati!