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Okay, be honest, how often do you actually have a good excuse to make multiple restaurant reservations in the same week? Greater Cincinnati Restaurant Week is that excuse, and I am fully taking advantage.
If you’re not familiar, here’s the deal: restaurants across the Cincinnati area put together special three-course fixed menus at set price points, $26, $36, $46, or $56, for one week only. It’s honestly one of the best ways to try somewhere new (or finally go back to that spot you’ve been meaning to revisit) without the usual sticker shock. Dozens of restaurants participate every time, covering everything from casual eats to full-on special occasion dining.
Whether you’re a seasoned Restaurant Week veteran or this is your first time hearing about it, here’s everything you need to know to make the most of it, including two restaurants that are personally at the top of my list this round.
📌 Key Details
- Date / Time: April 20-26, 2026
- Location: Participating restaurants across Greater Cincinnati
- Cost: 3-course fixed menus at $26, $36, $46, or $56 per person (excludes tax, gratuity, and beverages)
- Reservations: Highly recommended, restaurants fill up fast, especially on weekends
- App: Download the official Greater Cincinnati Restaurant Week app to browse menus, map restaurants, and check in for prizes
- Charity: $1 from every meal served goes to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital
- Website: Greater Cincinnati Restaurant Week
📖 What’s It All About
Greater Cincinnati Restaurant Week is exactly what it sounds like, a week-long celebration of the local dining scene, organized around one very good idea: make it easier (and more affordable) for people to get out and try something new.
Participating restaurants put together exclusive three-course menus just for the event, priced at $26, $36, $46, or $56 per person. These aren’t watered-down “event menus” either, restaurants genuinely bring their best, knowing they’re competing for your attention alongside dozens of other spots. Many also offer a special cocktail to go with your meal, usually featuring one of the event’s drink sponsors.
The event happens multiple times a year, so if you miss one round, another one is never too far away. That said, don’t let that lull you into a false sense of security, popular restaurants book up fast, especially Thursday through Saturday. If your first choice is sold out on the weekend, try booking a week day slot if you can!
One of my favorite things about Restaurant Week is the app. You can browse every participating restaurant’s menu before you commit, map out your week, and check in at restaurants to earn points. Check in at three or more spots and you’re entered to win a prize package, which, honestly, is just extra motivation to be ambitious about your reservation list.
👀 What to Expect
The format is pretty straightforward, you pick a restaurant, make a reservation, and when you sit down you’ll be presented with the Restaurant Week menu alongside the regular menu. Most participating restaurants make their prix fixe menus dine-in only, so this isn’t really a takeout situation. It’s a proper sit-down experience, which honestly is kind of the point.
Each three-course menu gives you a choice for each course, so you’re not locked into one set meal. Starter, entrée, dessert, you pick from the options your restaurant has put together for the event. Some spots keep it simple with two or three choices per course, others go a little more all-out. Either way, you’re getting a full meal at a price that’s almost always a deal compared to ordering à la carte.
Expect restaurants to be busy. Like, genuinely busy. Restaurant Week has a loyal following in Cincinnati and word travels fast when menus drop. If you’re flexible on timing, earlier in the week tends to be easier for getting reservations, and early seatings on weekend nights move faster than late ones. Weeknights are honestly underrated for this, the energy is still great and you’re not competing with every other foodie in the city for a table.
One more thing worth knowing: because restaurants are running a high volume during the week, the service teams are working hard. Tip generously. The meal is worth more than the prix fixe price suggests, and the people bringing it to you know it.
💡 Insider Tips
- Make reservations early. Seriously, don’t wait. Popular restaurants can book up within days of menus dropping, especially for weekend nights. The second the participating restaurant list goes live, lock in your spots.
- Go earlier in the week. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday reservations are much easier to come by than Friday or Saturday. The food is identical and the experience is just as good, sometimes even better because the kitchen isn’t slammed.
- Download the app before you go. The official Greater Cincinnati Restaurant Week app is where you’ll find every participating restaurant, their menus, hours, and locations all in one place. It also lets you check in at restaurants to earn points, check in at three or more and you’re entered to win a prize package.
- Browse menus before you commit. Not every restaurant offers the same price tier, and menus vary a lot in style and cuisine. Spend some time in the app or on the website comparing options before you book, you want to make sure the menu genuinely excites you, not just the price point.
- Don’t skip the drink special. Most participating restaurants put together a signature cocktail just for Restaurant Week. It’s usually $12 and honestly worth ordering at least once, it’s part of the experience.
- Don’t forget to tip! This one matters. Your server is working just as hard as any other night, and the kitchen is likely working harder. Be a good human about it.
- If your first choice is booked, have a backup. With dozens of restaurants participating, you have options. Keep a shortlist of two or three spots so you’re not scrambling if plan A is sold out.
⭐ My Top Picks This Round
Every Restaurant Week I try to use it as an excuse to finally try somewhere that’s been on my list. This round I’ve got two reservations locked in and I am sooo excited about it!
Montgomery Inn – $36 Fixed-Price Dinner
Okay, if you’ve lived in Cincinnati for more than five minutes, you’ve heard of Montgomery Inn. It’s basically a local institution, the kind of place that has out-of-towners making special trips and locals somehow still putting off their first visit. I’ll admit I’m firmly in that second camp, which means Restaurant Week is officially the push I needed.
The $36 dinner menu is giving me everything I want from a classic Cincinnati night out. For the first course I’m going straight for the Gulf Shrimp Cantonese, three breaded shrimp served with sweet Damson plum sauce and hot mustard. It’s the kind of starter that just sets the tone. There’s also a Rib King Salad if you want to keep things lighter before the main event.
And the main event is very much the Rib & Chicken Dinner. World-famous Montgomery Inn loin back ribs plus all-natural farm-raised chicken, all with their original barbecue sauce. I could have gone with the Coho Salmon or the hand-cut Grilled Pork Chops, both sound genuinely great, but honestly, you go to Montgomery Inn for the ribs. Ordering anything else on my first visit feels like a crime.
For dessert, everyone’s getting the Profiterole, a buttery puffed pastry shell filled with Graeter’s vanilla ice cream and topped with hot fudge. Graeter’s ice cream in a profiterole. That’s it, that’s the selling point.
And if you’re drinking, grab the Tito’s Transfusion ($12), Tito’s vodka with ginger ale, grape and lime juices. It’s the kind of cocktail that sounds refreshing enough to make you forget you’re about to eat a pound of ribs.
📍 Montgomery Inn, Cincinnati, OH
💰 $36 per person (dinner)
🔗 Website: Montgomery Inn
Baru – $56 Fixed-Price Dinner
If Montgomery Inn is my “okay I finally have a reason to go” pick, Baru is my “I have been waiting for an excuse to splurge on this” pick. Baru is a Japanese-Latin fusion concept in Cincinnati, and the $56 fixed-price menu they’ve put together for Restaurant Week is genuinely one of the most exciting menus I’ve seen in this event.
For the first course I am going straight for the Wagyu Tataki, seared Wagyu beef with soy pickled tomatoes, beech mushrooms, pickled Fresno peppers, and cilantro. There’s also a Tokyo Wedge salad and a Crispy Rice Spicy Tuna if that’s more your speed, but Wagyu at a Restaurant Week price point? Easy choice.
The second course is where things get really fun. You’re choosing between a Chef’s Nigiri Flight, three composed pieces featuring salmon, escolar, and avocado, each with their own toppings, a Truffle Crunch Roll with shrimp tempura, cream cheese, and truffle mayo, or a Yellowtail Yuzu Roll with Hamachi and avocado. I haven’t fully committed yet but the Nigiri Flight is calling my name.
Then for the third course, and this is the one I keep coming back to, the Chicken Katsu. Golden panko chicken over sticky rice with a cucumber and carrot salad, sesame, ginger dressing, and unagi mayo. It sounds like the perfect way to end the meal without tipping over into “I need to be rolled out of here” territory. The Baru Shrimp Fried Rice and a Vegetable Curry are also on the table if you want to go a different direction.
Oh, and the drink special is the Baru Breeze ($12), Tito’s, St. Germain, lime juice, simple syrup, and pineapple juice. That sounds dangerously good.
📍 Baru, Cincinnati, OH
💰 $56 per person (dinner)
🔗 Website: Baru
🍽️ Participating Restaurants
With more than 60 restaurants participating this round, there’s genuinely no shortage of options. Here’s the full list, with cuisine type and price tier so you can plan before you even open the app.
- 101 Craft Kitchen | American | $36
- 20 Brix | American | $46
- Agave & Rye | Mexican Fusion | $26
- Alcove by MadTree | American | $36
- Artemis Mediterranean Bistro | Mediterranean | $36
- Bakersfield | Mexican | $36
- Baru | Japanese-Latin Fusion | $56
- Benihana | Japanese | $46
- Bishop’s Quarter | French / Creole | $36
- Brew River | Creole | $46
- Bru Burger | American / Burgers | $26
- Butcher & Barrel | Latin / American | $56
- Carmagnola | Italian | $56
- Chart House | Seafood / American | $56
- Che O’Bryonville | Italian | $36
- Che OTR | Italian | $36
- Coppin’s at Hotel Covington | American | $46
- Council Oak Steak & Seafood | Steak & Seafood | $56
- deSha’s | American Tavern | $36
- E+O Kitchen | Asian Fusion | $36
- Eddie Merlot’s | Steak & Seafood | $56
- Eighteen at the Radisson | Steakhouse
- Embers | Steak / Seafood / Sushi | $56
- Five Kitchen + Bar | American | $56
- Greyhound Tavern | American | $36
- Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ | Japanese BBQ | $36
- Hard Rock Cafe | American | $26
- Ivory House | Steak & Seafood | $56
- Jag’s Steak and Seafood | Steak & Seafood | $56
- Kona Grill | American / Sushi / Seafood / Steak
- Kreimer’s Bier Haus | German / American | $36
- Kreugers | Tavern | $26
- Libby’s Southern Comfort | Southern | $36
- Livery | Latin / American | $26
- MacKenzie River Pizza, Grill & Pub | Pizza / American | $26
- Matt the Miller’s Tavern | American / Steakhouse | $36
- McCormick’s and Schmick’s | Seafood | $20
- Montgomery Inn | BBQ / American | $36
- Nicholson’s | Gastropub | $26
- Nicola’s | Italian | $56
- Noche | Latin / Mexican | $46
- Padrino | Italian | $26
- Pennyflower | Bistro | $46
- Primavista | Italian | $46
- Prime Cincinnati | Steakhouse | $56
- Ripple Wine Bar | Wine Bar / Small Plates | $36
- Sacred Beast | American | $36
- Shires Rooftop | American | $56
- SOB Steakhouse | Steakhouse | $56
- Sorrento’s | Italian | $26
- Stone Creek Dining | American | $46
- Subito at Lytle Park Hotel | Italian | $56
- The Capital Grille | Steakhouse | $56
- The Davidson | French / American | $56
- The Eagle Food & Beer Hall | American | $36
- The Green Line | American | $46
- The Melting Pot | Fondue | $46
- Trecento | Italian | $36
- Trio | Bistro | $46
- Truva Turkish Kitchen | Turkish | $32
- Via Vite | Italian | $46
- Vintage on Race | American | $26
- W Bar + Bistro | Bistro | $26
- Whiskey Yard | Bistro | $56
- Zingaro | Italian | $56
⭐ Bottom Line
Greater Cincinnati Restaurant Week is one of the best excuses all year to finally try that restaurant you’ve been eyeing, or to go back to a favorite with a reason to splurge. With fixed-price menus across 60+ restaurants, there’s something for every budget and every craving. Make your reservations early, download the app, and go in hungry.
🎯 Conclusion
Whether you’re a Restaurant Week regular or this is your first time hearing about it, there’s never been a better time to get out and explore the Cincinnati dining scene. With dozens of restaurants putting their best foot forward all in the same week, it’s genuinely one of the most fun food events the city does all year.
I’ve got my reservations locked in at Montgomery Inn and Baru, and I cannot wait to report back. If you’re heading out this week too, drop a comment below and tell me where you’re going, I always love hearing what spots are on everyone’s radar!
And if you want to stay up to date on the best things happening in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, make sure you’re following along, we’ve got you covered every single week. 🙌
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Bethany is a self-proclaimed foodie and adventure seeker who loves nothing more than exploring the coolest spots in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. Follow along on her journey as she discovers the best the region has to offer and shares it with all her fellow food and fun enthusiasts!