On a clear evening, around 6 p.m., the sun drops behind the Kentucky hills and lights up the Ohio River in a way that stops conversation cold. That view belongs to Incline Public House, a bar and restaurant perched at the top of Price Hill on Eighth Street — and if you haven’t made it up there yet, the question is worth asking: what are you waiting for?
Price Hill doesn’t get the foot traffic that Over-the-Rhine or Hyde Park pull in. It’s a working-class neighborhood on Cincinnati’s west side, one that’s been overlooked in most of the city’s recent redevelopment conversation. Incline Public House opened in 2016 in what had been a long-vacant space, and it took its name from the old Price Hill Incline, one of the funicular railways that once ferried Cincinnatians up the steep hillsides before cars made them obsolete. That history shows up in the decor — framed photographs, old maps, some salvaged wood — without feeling like a theme park version of nostalgia.
The deck is the real draw. It wraps around the front and side of the building and gives you an unobstructed panorama of downtown Cincinnati, the river, and the bridge crossings into Covington and Newport. On busy weekend nights, tables fill up fast, and there’s no reservation system for the patio — you either get lucky or you wait. Arriving by 5:30 on a weekday almost always works. Weekend brunch, which runs Saturday and Sunday, draws a crowd but moves steadily.
The food is honest pub fare done without shortcuts. The burger gets ordered more than anything else, and it earns that. It’s a half-pound patty, cooked correctly when you ask for medium, and the bun holds together. The pretzel with beer cheese is worth ordering alongside it. They have a solid rotating tap list — local breweries like Rhinegeist and MadTree show up regularly — plus a wine list that’s short but functional. Prices are reasonable; you can eat and drink well for around $20-25 a person, more if you’re staying for a few rounds.
What doesn’t get mentioned enough is the inside. It’s a wide, open room with tall ceilings and big windows that frame the view even when you’re not on the deck. In winter, when the patio closes and the river sits under a gray sky, it’s a different kind of beautiful — quieter, emptier, and sometimes better for it. The bar staff tends to be unhurried and conversational, the kind of place where you can ask what’s good on tap and get a real answer.
Incline Public House also runs events — trivia nights, live music on weekends, occasional pop-up dinners — that make it a neighborhood anchor rather than just a destination restaurant. The Price Hill community shows up here, which keeps it from feeling like a spot designed only for people passing through.
Getting there requires a car or a rideshare; it’s not easily walkable from downtown. But the drive up Eighth Street, through Price Hill’s grid of old brick houses and corner stores, is itself a kind of Cincinnati education. And the view from the top, with a beer in your hand and the river spread out below you, is about as good as this city gets on an ordinary evening.
