BlackFinn

Eesh. I’ll say this, the outside of the dance area is pretty solid. There’s two separate bar areas so there’s plenty of room to get beer and drinks. And the booths all have TVs built into the walls so it would actually be a decent place to watch a game if you’re a guy and wanted to let the girls go in the back and dance.
And that’s where the bad rating comes into play. The dance area is awful. It’s cramped and access into the area is not great. You have a nice mix of people bumping and grinding, normal people dancing away, and creepers lingering. I would definitely not leave a girl unsupervised as they probably would get hit on by tons of guys with leering eyes. And… it’s capped off by some of the worst music possible by the dj. If they played the same music as they do in the outside area it wouldn’t be too bad, but the dj apparently deems it necessary to play shit.

This is the type of bar that I really have to be in the mood for. And by in the mood I mean that I have to want to leave with a headache and feeling violated. I have never gone there and not been hit on by guys and, believe me, it was unwanted. It’s always surprising to me when it happens because I am always one of the most modestly dressed women in the place. Yes, I have a tendency to dress like a prude.
I have only ever been there at night for drinks, dancing, etc. I have never eaten their food so my review is based solely on late night experiences. It is usually very crowded and difficult to get a drink. The music is LOUD but the dj generally plays a good variety.
If you are looking for a night out with the goal of dancing in a loud atmosphere, this would be a good choice. Admittedly, it’s just not my type of place.

We visit Cincy last week, and was recommend by Hilton concierge to come here for dinner. The silly was on my part to come for dinner.
The restaurant was understaffed on Wed nite, which was understandable. The poor 2 waiter running like mad trying to serve 40 peeps. So not surprisingly, we have to wait for a 30 mins for our drinks to come 1 hour for our appetizers, and almost another 45 mins for the first entrée.
I ordered clam chowder, chicken balsa-​mica. The soup was terrible, it was worst than canned soup. The chicken was over cook, texture was like chewing on a piece of cardboard.
My poor friend who actually treat us to the dinner order «fresh catch of the day» and it was «Tilapia». when the server said Tilapia was the catch of the day I was thinking Oh boy this doe not sound good. For those who do not know, Tilapia is a pond fresh water fish. Not surprisingly, the fish was under cook and because the fish was not fresh, it was mushy. I feel bad for him to have such terrible dish and have to pay for all of us.
The rest of the group no one manage to eat more than half of their dish.
I would not recommend this place to anyone, and please don’t listen to the Hilton Concierge recommendation, for I have the feeling there is unethical recommendation.
Peace.

To be fair I suppose I should say that BlackFinn is not my type of bar. I like eclectic and GLBTQ friendly, neither of which describe BlackFinn. I went last night for the first, and probably the last, time for drinks with my husband’s co-​workers.
The drinks were fine – nothing special and a little pricey. It was busy with two corporate parties in the back, but relatively open in th front where we were but they «sat» us at a standing table in the middle of an aisle even though there were open booths all around.
I guess at best I was underwhelmed and at worst a little irritated. With all of the great bars and unique nightlife opportunities downtown has to offer BlackFinn is just a run of the mill cookie cutter bar that doesn’t feel like they really care much about you or your experience.

Ok, to start with, BlackFinn isn’t my scene. However, I appreciate what it is and that it’s here for people who like it.
This is … well, it’s hard to describe. This bar seems to attract three types of people — the young professionals looking for a place to have a drink, dance and get away, frat boys looking to hit on women and cougars looking to pick up those frat boys. The last time I was really there, they were holding «Rock of Love» auditions in the back room … so, yeah, that should give you the kind of idea of the people who frequent here. (True story.)
BlackFinn is a small chain with a few restaurants across the nation. It’s always mood-​lit, which makes you have to squint your eyes if you come in for lunch and leave with the sun still up. It’s more of a night-​time destination though. They’ve got really decent drink specials throughout the day, and a long food menu — although I’ve never been overwhelmed with anything I’ve eaten. Good but not great.
I’ve never had a problem with service, as other people have complained about. I’ve always thought the waitresses were fast and friendly, even when they are packed.
What this spot is good for is people watching, especially as the hours get on with it. You’ll see some ridiculous things go down, I promise you that.
So yeah, know what you’re getting into when stepping through the door. It’s a perfectly A-​OK establishment, and that means three stars right down the middle.

I’ve said that Black Finn (as well as Mynt Martini) is the closest thing we have to a Jersey Shore club. That was proven last night when one of the cast members made an appearance there. It’s one of those places where you have to wait in line, pay a high cover and high prices for drinks to be molested by some stranger who wants to ‘dance’. I guess if you like that thing, this is the spot for you. Personally, I’m embarrassed that I have even 1 check in here.

Lunch — Always a positive greet at the door! Quick to seat. Quick to greet. Always friendly. Food is average. Not great, not bad. Beer is cold and delivered quickly. What I like most is the atmosphere. It’s warm, welcoming. It’s almost like they are going to know your name. Cheers like. So in short, feels good-​tastes good-​fair priced.
Evening-​places rocks with the twenty-​somethings. Slammed! All having a the very best of cheers like experiences. I think they may actually know everyones name!

A restaurant and bar with a dance club in the back. Most nights I’d say it was just any other bar, but Thursday nights if you get a VIP wristband you can get $ 2 You-Name-It’s, which makes the fancy martinis a fantastic deal.: D

I’ve only been here on Wednesday nights for happy hour (4 – 8). We usually don’t make it until 7:30 and ½ price drinks end at 8. You’d think you could get 2 drinks in by then, but you’d probably be wrong. (after 4 or 5 visits I’m beginning to think this is by design). On Wednesday nights you can usually count the patrons on your fingers and the staff often outnumbers them. That makes the deplorable service even more surprising. You can see 2 hostesses at the front door, 3 bartenders, a couple of waitresses — and we sit as a party of four in a booth for more than 10 minutes before anyone comes over. (yes, I’m here now and that is what is happening). On a previous visit I actually opened a tab at the bar and our booth went through two rounds of drinks before the waitress returned to see if we wanted anything.
Anyway, service aside, the $ 5 burgers on wednesday nights are actually quite good. Perfect levels of juiciness and flavor. The drinks (when served) are hit and miss. I usually order a manhattan and at least twice the bartender didn’t know how to make one.
In short — Wednesday night happy hour is a really good value for downtown Cincy, but be prepared for shoddy service.

Good place for a game. Enough atmosphere to stay for drinks.
5 bar TVs and a small flat screen at most booths. Had a burger with fries. Burger was ok, the fries were great. The house pale ale was also pretty good.
I was told it turns into a club late night.

Very crowded, but the scenry was good, really good

This place was decent and the food good. The french fries were very good as was the bowl of chili!
It had a dark motif and really had an intimate feel to it, although it is more geared toward being a sports type bar.
The selection of lunch choices rivaled any other sports bar, as did their prices.
With a sports bar, comes a loud enviornment so if you are planning on having a quiet conversation, it seems this is not the place.
The clientele were primarily business folks during their lunch hour, but there were a few local yocals that were in shorts and flippy floppies at the bar enjoying the Reds game!
This would be a fun after work hang out bar, and maybe even dinner spot, but it is not seemingly geared toward being a night club type place.
My one negative was the service, it seemed to go slow and I am a stickler on keeping the glasses full, I actually ate half my meal without a drink… not acceptable!
Other than that one setback (which was likely isolated), I give this place a couple thumbs up!

Came here for a bachelor party, and had such a good time, we came back for the afterparty of the wedding the next week. Prices were a little high for cincy, but still was a great time.

Seperate from the main bar at BlackFinn, I reserved a table in The Suite for a friend’s birthday. We ordered a bottle and the music was great. The dance floor was paked but it was too hot inside. One issue that I had was that all the research that I’d done before told me that there was a dress code and I dressed appropriately. But when we arrived there were people in shorts, flip flops and tshirts. Definitely a little disappointing on that front but overall good.

I have been here twice, and will be going back this Friday for Happy Hour. They have some really good appetizers. I had the sliders with the fries. They were delicious. I usually end up getting the same thing each time I go, but this time I am going to switch it up.
I also had the Spinach Dip. It was very good. The prices during happy hour are very reasonable.

Very similar to the previous bars that have inhabited this space. Great for happy hour – good drink and food specials. We were there on a Thursday night and enjoyed ½ price drinks and a $ 3.95 bar food menu.

We went here for the first time on a Saturday in September and really liked the atmosphere, décor, food and service! We were there to watch college football and the wait staff and management were extremely attentive.
Thought the gameday (food) specials were extremely reasonable and everyone I was with liked their choices. We had the buffalo chicken wrap, which came with waffle fries, the pot roast sliders and the boneless tenders in hot sauce, which came with some celery and carrot sticks.
Plenty of tvs, even at the individual tables! How cool is that?! The only problem we had was a brief point where the game we were watching got switched up for a few moments! There’s a really nice private room with a stone wall that would be good for special events, too.
Second visit, a December Saturday, was not as extraordinary, but still above par. This time we ordered the BBQ nachos (not as good as Hoggy’s) and the sloppy joe (they call it something else, though). The sandwich was great as were the waffle fries. The nachos were not very hot to begin with, so the cheese was not very melted. Service was a bit slower, too.

I went here for the first time on a Wednesday night with some new friends from out of town. We had a great time. All beer drafts were 2 bucks, which seems like a pretty great deal for a downtown bar. Other drinks were also cheap.
They had a guy playing an acoustic guitar/​singing, mostly all the popular songs from the 90’s. He was really good, made the atmosphere pretty sweet. Since I went out with people I barely knew, it was nice to have a live band but also be able to actually converse with people without screaming.
I’m guessing it might be a bit different on the weekends, but at least during the week this was a great casual/​laid back bar with good drink specials and a fun atmosphere. I’ll be coming back.

Ok-here’s the deal with Blackfinn.
On a normal night, the bar is pretty boring and easily comparable to the slightly cheaper Lodge and Cadillac Ranch (though maybe an older crowd by 1 – 2 years).
If you get a chance to go for one of Blackfinn’s VIP parties, though, DO NOT pass it up! My friends and I got to attend a mutual friend’s VIP party on Saturday night. From 9−11pm, anyone who said they were with the VIP got a wristband and was directed to a bar in the back where «you call its» were $ 2. (You can sign up to win a party at the bar)
«You Call It» as defined by Black Finn? ANYTHING. We took $ 2 shots of Patron. We downed $ 2 Grey Goose and Cranberries. We sipped on $ 2 top shelf Long Island Iced Teas… yeah, we got a little too excited.
After we had enjoyed the cheap drinks to our fill we headed back into Suite at Blackfinn, a hot, sweaty, disco-​ball lit club room. We danced to «Hey Mickey,» and «Footloose,» which were blended seamlessly in with current hits.

Apparently the strategy in the big bar scene is to remodel/​rename every few years. Blackfinn used to be McFadden’s, and, for all intents and purposes, it still is. The only thing that has really changed is some window dressing and employees.
Just like its neighbors on 7^th street, it has a theme that really just glazes over the fact that its a bland, uninspiring large bar. Here it tries to be an «Irish saloon», some sort of blend that combines the typical wooden veneer of Irish bars with the raucousness of saloons. Then blown up into jumbo.
Needless to say, it’s nothing amazing. But it does usually pack out, even moreso since its name change tricked people into thinking they were checking out a new scene, so if you’re looking for a loud weekend night, here you can find it Blackfinn style. Which is the same as Cadillac Ranch style and Lodge Bar style.