LouVino OTR Restaurant and Wine Bar

It is rare that I leave a bad review, but our experience Saturday morning, 2/7/26 certainly warrants such a review. We have been coming to LouVino on and off for years. We have recommended this establishment to many people. I even recently gave LouVino a shout out on Reddit when people on the Cincinnati subreddit were discussing the best brunch locations. I said it was amazing to me that it doesn't get more love.

The Bad (a lot to unpack here):
-We made a reservation for 12:15. We arrived to a near empty dining room. Two people were dining, and this is a LARGE dining area. Took roughly five minutes to be sat (no one was at the hostess stand).
-There was no waiter, and was only a single bartender. So, Saturday brunch and there is one hostess and one bartender. Took another five minutes for the bartender to greet us and take our drink order.
-The momosa my wife ordered seemed to be 90% OJ. I could not taste any bubbly whatsoever. Until this visit this they have had our favorite mamosas in Cincinnati.
-Bartender did not come back and take our order for 20 minutes. No explanation was offered as to why the service was so slow.
-As previously mentioned, there was no one in the restaurant, but a couple of young ladies came in and the hostess seated them right next to us at a very close table, which we thought was in poor taste, and it also made for an awkward meal.
-My wife ordered a chicken sandwich and hated it. She commented that it was too thick, the breading was horrible and fell off, and the flavor was terrible. It had a very off-putting brine/pickle and hot sauce flavor.
-I had the chicken and waffles and shared my wife's sentiments; this was one of the worst chicken dishes I have had, period. It also seemed like it was left in the fryer a minute or two longer than planned. Bartender saw that we didn't eat over half our food, and did not ask why. The waitress at any good restaurant will ask if there was something wrong with the meal and will take it off the bill if you didn't eat it. This bartender was just going through the motions and didn't care about our experience. I left a 10% tip; which I have probably done a couple of times in my life.

The Okay:
-LouVino has a decent dining space and atmosphere.
-The waffles were decent. The chives in the waffles gave it a unique flavor that wasn't bad.

The Good:
-I thought the loaded potato tots were good. Tasted like they deep fried garlic mashed potatoes.

It will take us some time to work up the courage to revisit LouVino - I actually doubt that we will give another chance. There are too many other options in Cincinnati to waste my time and money here again. I hope this is simply an off-morning and not representive of a typical day in the life of LouVino. If this is the norm, I fear for the future of this establishment.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 2

Service: 1

This was our first time visiting LouVino. We had a 7:15 reservation and when we arrived, the main dining area wasn't more than 1/3 full. We were seated right away and greeted by our server who was very nice. After looking at the menu, which is on the smaller side, but with a variety of options, we ordered drinks and the goat cheese with caramelized onions appetizer (Goat dip). The wine arrived and from here on the experience couldn't have been worse. As more tables came in we sat and waited for our appetizer. At some point, about 20 minutes after ordering the appetizer, our server came by and apologized for the delay saying the kitchen was backed up. We told her not to worry as the wife and I were out for a date night and we understood. However, as 20 minutes turned into 45 and tables around us that arrived well after us got their apps and meals, we became more irritated. About half way through this marathon wait for melted cheese and onions, our server took our dinner order. I ordered steak and frites and my wife ordered a veggie sandwich. Because of a dietary restriction, she asked if it were possible to get the sandwich without peppers and was told no problem. Well once we hit the nearly 1 hour mark and still no appetizer, we cancelled the appetizer. The server was very apologetic and said she understood and would take care of that and go check on our entrees. When she returned she magically had the appetizer and asked if we still wanted it. She also at this time said that because the kitchen was so behind they wouldn't have time to take the peppers out of the vegetable medley that made up my wife's sandwich. She asked if we still wanted the sandwich, but since my wife can't eat peppers, we had to tell her no. At this point I guess I'm supposed to eat while my wife watches because there's no way they're making something else in time to come out with my meal when appetizers take 60 minutes, right? We politely ask to speak with a manager and the server said she would let her know. The manager on duty was Katrina and the server came back and told us she was busy in the kitchen getting on the cooks because they were so far behind. Since she was unwilling to come to our table, we decided to ask the server to cancel our order and let us pay for our wine so we could leave. There was zero pushback on that idea on the restaurant's part as we paid for the glass of wine and left. I thought maybe they would have at least offered to take care of the glass of wine considering all the issues they were having, but nope. Safe to say this will be our one and only visit to LouVino. Receipt attached for verification. Although it says manager comp, know that definitely doesn't mean these items ever hit the table. I'm guessing this is what it says whenever anything had to come off a check because we cancelled the order after sitting for over an hour and being told after that long wait that they couldn't the peppers of the sandwich as stated above.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

Took 3 hrs despite our table being the only one, steak frites came out cold. Very overpriced.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 1

Service: 1

My family and I went here for for elite dinner on a Wednesday evening. We were the only party in the restaurant at the time, and the service certainly reflected that, as we were well attended to. We all enjoyed our dishes, I ordered a smashburger, two folks ordered the filet which they said was amazing, there were some other dishes too that all got rave reviews.

In summary, I guess I can recommend LouVino OTR Restaurant.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

The food was overall very good. Great flavor, great variety. I went with 4 other people and when our entrees came out, some were room temperature and some were above warm, I'm not sure if this is happens to others often but that was our experience. Outside of that, I have no complaints! I love sitting at dinner and talking, not feeling rushed. This place gave you that opportunity, which I appreciated!

Food is amazing and this was our first time there and we will definitely be back! Nick our waiter was pleasant and on point he provided us with a great experience and appreciated his expertise. Yay Nick, see you next time, we'll ask for you!!

This is a great place! Appetizers are amazing, and most sre included on the Happy Hour menu. We especially liked the Loaded Tots, Fried Green Tomatoes and Fried Chicken Tacos. There were four of us fining. We were all so full that we shared entrees. Our choice for the main entree was the Chicken and Waffles, which was outstanding! Our friends shared the Smash burger and loved it as well. The service was impeccable, and our server even remembered my husband's drink choice from our last visit a few months ago... a Black Manhattan. All in all, it was a wonderful dinner in a lovely atmosphere.

The staff is very friendly but very distracted and busy chatting and standing downstairs by the bathroom doors , I noticed that a lot , but when you finally get their attention, they are amazing and very helpful, The food is overpriced and nothing much to brag about, low quality and cheap ingredients, no wow factor , stained menu and dirty floors .

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 5

This is only the second bad review I have left in my life. We did the 4-course pre-fix menu for New Years ($100/person) and the experience was just not good. The person who greeted was rude when we arrived 14 minutes early and asked us to sit at the bar until our reservation time. Over half the restaurant was empty which should have been our sign to leave. We went back to the host stand at our reservation time and had to flag someone else down to seat us. The first course, which was advertised on their menu and online, was oysters and straight up just never came to us or anyone else around. The main course of filet was very tough and the crème brûlée was completely runny and undercooked (seriously, it was liquid). The rest of the food was mediocre at best. Just not what should be expected for a $250 meal for 2 (not including drinks). The second star here is just for our server/bartender who barely spoke to us but only because it was obvious he was embarrassed. We have been here many times, loved it, and are so disappointed it has gone downhill like this. Maybe it was just a bad night but it’s unacceptable for the price. We won’t be back.

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 2

Service: 2

My friends and I stopped here for brunch after church today and two different hosts said that we couldn't be seated due to us not having a reservation. However, there were several tables open and several reservation times available online within the next 15+ minutes. We made a reservation online while standing there and showed it to the same host that told us we couldn't be seated. All of a sudden, he was saying he could now clear a table off for us. We decided leave because it felt very discriminatory.

Atmosphere: 1

Service: 1

I usually love this place but am currently blown away by how we were just treated. The hostess was delivering water and very politely said be right with you. The bartender then came over and in a very aggressive voice asked if we had a reservation. When we replied no…he told us they were not accepting walk ins (half the tables were empty) when we asked if we could sit at the bar he said sorry all full up…there were 3 empty stools. It was not worth the argument so we left and took our business to Che’…I love Louvino but they lost a customer tonight forever

Service: 1

Took 40 minutes for someone to even greet us at our table. Waiter couldn't care any less. Wasn't even crowded. It felt like they were surprised we were there even though we made a reservation.

The food was not up to par!! The pancakes were not homemade, the shrimp and grits base was nasty, the tater totes were fried in old grease!! The food was freaking disgusting! It was cold, just over all that was my first and last time ever dining with them. Not worth the money, I couldn't even eat the food as it came out barely warm and it wasn't busy in there. To sum it up, the food tasted like a free continental breakfast at a motel!

Overcooked steak that we had to send back (and we never send back food) but delicious when done right! Good variety!

Food was very good except the charcuterie board was not worth $28! Our server was slow and not observant.