Cincinnati's Iconic Watering Hole: Bay Horse Cafe

Downtowners who frequent Main St. are familiar with a certain iconic neon sign of the equestrian variety. It's hard to miss: the sign sparks to life in the evening with a deep amber glow, animating with trotting reassurance. It's a flickering testament to Bay Horse Cafe, a watering hole that's moved around a number of times since the 1800s, hitching itself to its final location here back in 1962.

Bay Horse Cafe's neon sign got a much-needed makeover a few years back as the buildings new owners Fred Berger and Lori Meeker began renovations, embracing the bar's history and the potential for its future amid a resurging downtown economy. They gutted the interior, revealing impressive tin ceilings, tile floors and other echoes of the past. The gleaming, refurbished bar was unveiled last year.

Bay Horse Cafe sign

Legend has it that the bar's name changed to Bay Horse back in 1879 shortly after a horse had wondered into the bar to get a liquor-infused bracer, startling and amusing patrons.

In its heyday, Bay Horse Cafe was known for having dispensed more Hudepohl Beer than any other purveyor in Cincinnati. That tradition remains alive today: you can buy "The Hudy Schooner," a 25-ounce glass "fish bowl" filled to the brim with one of Cincinnati's oldest beers, now produced by Christain Moerlein. The bar also offers a number of local favorites, including Little Kings, Rhinegiest, Braxton, Moerlein and various, rotating specialty drafts.

When Bay Horse Cafe reopened its doors in 2017 after a 12-year hiatus, the bar featured a small but efficient sandwich menu, which included five sandwich varieties, each served with a bag of chips and pickle for under $9. The sandwich names cleverly embraced the race horse theme: there was the "Secretariat" turkey breast sandwich; the "Triple Crown" with ham, turkey and roast beef and three cheeses on grilled ciabatta bread and the "Man O' War," with roast beef, cheddar, horseradish and onion on dark rye.

Man O' War sandwich w/chips and pickle

Those are gone now, at least temporarily, as the cafe experiments with more contemporary fare, like pulled pork and chicken street tacos, gourmet hot dogs, tater tots and a meatball hoagie. They also offer "small bites" to accompany beers, including warm, soft pretzels with beer cheese; chips & salsa; hummus & pita bread; and pepperoni & cheese plates, served with crackers. It's simple fare, but pares great with a beer as patrons bask in the glow of neon.

I stopped by a couple times over the course of the last year to assess especially the food side of Bay Horse's operation. It's important to note that they have no actual kitchen --there's a small cook station behind the far corner of the bar that is armed with a soup warmer, a couple of panini grills and a microwave. It would be wonderful if they made a really good, no-frills cheeseburger using their small cook space. Having a great burger on their menu and some well-made, smoked chicken wings would be huge for them. So would staying open during Bengals games.

Chicken and pork street tacos

Tater tots w/sriracha mayo

On my latest visit, I tried their chicken and pork "street tacos" along with an order of piping-hot tater tots topped with cheddar and mozzarella cheeses, served with a side of Sriracha mayo (other options include wasabi, buffalo or peppercorn ranch). The chicken taco was topped with onion, a light spring mix and cheddar cheese served on a lightly grilled flour tortilla. The BBQ pulled pork came with a creamy coleslaw topping. Both arrived with a side of tortilla chips.

Bay Horse Cafe staff definitely do what they can with the limited cook space to serve up an economical and satisfying lunch. But the real reason to visit Bay Horse, and to keep visiting often, is to drink in the wonderful history exuding from every corner.

Hudepohl Amber Lager