The Top 81 Places to Eat Near Lily's
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A hay wagon rolls you out to the pumpkin patch, where you pick your own and pay by the pound on the way back. Irons Fruit Farm is an old-school u-pick operation outside Cincinnati, and come fall it draws families who treat the whole afternoon as the event. The apple cider alone is reason to linger at the main building after. A small tip: if your toddler proves uncooperative, the pumpkins near checkout have no idea.
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Rank 20. Phoenician Taverna
Lebanese
Complimentary housemade pita arrives warm at this Lebanese restaurant in Mason, and it sets the tone for everything that follows. The mezza menus run long enough that most tables over-order on appetizers before the kebabs and shawarma ever arrive, which is its own kind of problem to have. The owner has been known to stop at every table with pairing advice, then greet returning guests by name. Come without a hard stop time.
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Dorothy Lane Market is a gourmet grocery store that Dayton has kept to itself for years, and Cincinnati finally got its first location. The butcher shop has a dry-aging chamber you can actually see, the cheese selection is serious, and there's a wine bar tucked in if you need a reason to linger. Bring a tote bag and a budget, because you will not be leaving with just one thing.
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- The New York Times 22 of the Best Bakeries Across the U.S. Right Now
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Nominee · Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker · Elaine Uykimpang Bentz
- Bon Appétit America's Best New Restaurants
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Rank 23. The Aperture
Live-Fire Middle Eastern
- USA Today Restaurants of the Year
- The New York Times The Restaurant List
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Emerging Chef · Jordan Anthony-Brown
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Rank 26. Sebastian Bakehouse
Bakery
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Rank 31. Annie Oakley’s
Cocktail Bar
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Rank 33. King Pigeon
Cocktail Bar
A medical-grade centrifuge sits behind the bar at this East Walnut Hills cocktail spot, which tells you something about the ambition level before you've ordered. The menu changes twice a year and follows the adventures of a small pigeon, which sounds precious until you're drinking something clarified by milk-wash or cryo-concentrated into a flavor you can't quite name. The kind of place where the science is real and the whimsy is, somehow, also real.
- Cincinnati Magazine 2025 · Mad Scientist Cocktails · Best of the City
- Cincinnati Magazine 2024 · Bar Mascot · Best of the City
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Rank 35. Tiki Tiki Bang Bang
Tiki Cocktail Bar
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Lucky the Leprechaun sings lead, the Trix Rabbit covers keys, and BuzzBee holds down the drums, all from a stage called the S.S. Minnow, inside a grocery store. Jungle Jim's in Fairfield has several animatronic acts scattered through the aisles, but General Mills had this cereal mascot band built specifically for the store, and it draws the biggest crowd, which tells you something about Cincinnati.
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Fabric lovers, Silk Road Textiles in College Hill is your answer to the great JoAnn's void. This independent fabric shop carries an impressive range of ethically sourced textiles from around the world, whether you're sewing a garment or reupholstering a sad armchair. The staff actually knows their stuff, and regular in-store classes cover sewing, quilting, crocheting, and more, so beginners have no excuse to stay stuck on YouTube tutorials.
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Rank 46. Starlight Doughnut Lab
Dessert
A doughnut shop in Norwood where pimento cheese, hot honey, Parmesan, and crushed red pepper can all end up on the same pastry. The vegan brioche dough is the constant, chewy and sturdy enough to hold whatever combination the team feels like trying next. Regulars like Butter & Salt anchor the case, while a rotating monthly menu swings further out. The savory side is where things get genuinely strange, in the best possible sense.
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Rank 49. Tickle Pickle
Dessert
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The Crystalary is a fine mineral gallery in Mt. Lookout where smoky quartz from Switzerland shares shelf space with vintage Cordey China figurines. The team behind it has spent decades sourcing high-quality crystals and minerals for serious collectors, and the curation shows. It's the kind of shop that makes you realize you've been underestimating rocks your entire life.
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Rank 52. Vinology
Wine Bar
A wine and bottle shop in Mt. Lookout where the charcuterie board quietly steals the show. You pick your meats and cheeses, and what arrives is a full spread of crackers, dried fruits, fig jam, nuts, and mustard, arranged like someone cared. Tinned seafood and a baguette with imported French butter round things out for anyone who showed up hungrier than planned.
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Rank 55. Cincy Crab
Seafood
Cincy Crab is a seafood boil spot in Springdale where the whole point is eating with your hands, bibs and all. You pick your seafood by the pound, choose a sauce, and it all arrives with corn, sausage, and potatoes in a bag you basically attack at the table. Ohio is a long way from any coastline, but the place doesn't seem to notice. Cincinnati Magazine named its seafood boil the city's best in 2024.
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Rank 57. Annata Wine Bar
Wine Bar
Warm booth seating, a patio with live music some nights, and servers who can actually talk you through the list make this Evanston wine bar feel more like a neighborhood living room than a tasting room. Whites, reds, rosés, and cocktails share menu space with charcuterie and flatbread pizzas, so a glass rarely stays lonely. The kind of place where a quick drink tends to turn into a longer evening without anyone minding.
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Rank 63. Iris Read
Natural Wine Bar
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Rank 64. Cincy Café
Yemeni Middle Eastern
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A flat ten-dollar cover gets you unlimited play across 15,000 square feet of classic cabinets, pinball machines, fighters, and Japanese rhythm games, with Magic: The Gathering tables if you want to really commit to the night. The bar runs video-game-themed cocktails, regular tournaments draw serious competitors, and nobody's rushing you out. Cincinnati Magazine named it a Gamer Paradise, which tracks.
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Scratch-and-sniff stickers, Oilies, washi tape, and journals fill this small Wyoming storefront that a mom opened as an antidote to screen fatigue and a reason to sit down with her kids. It's a specialty sticker and stationery shop, the kind of place that triggers an involuntary memory of your childhood sticker album within about thirty seconds of walking in.
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If your back aches after every ride, BioWheels is the kind of bike shop that actually figures out why. They use motion capture technology to analyze how you move while you're riding, then dial in your fit accordingly. It's surprisingly technical for something you supposedly already know how to do. The crowd is serious cyclists who've finally decided to stop suffering in silence and do something about it.
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A vegan cheese shop born out of one founder's frustration that everything else about going plant-based was fine, but the cheese was terrible. She started making her own, and now the Madisonville shop carries nearly thirty varieties, built on cashew, almond, and pea protein bases and ranging from Gouda to ranch dressing. Products also turn up at Findlay Market and Nosh if you're not heading to Bramble Ave.
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Rank 77. Mr. Gene’s Dog House
Chicago-style American
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Rank 78. Chili Miso Udon, Café Mochiko
Japanese Noodles
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