Bar Seventy One... Don’t be fooled by the name...
... This bar has better food than most so called restaurants.

Bar Seventy One
8850 Governor’s Hill Dr. Cincinnati 774-9697

Bar Seventy One opened in September of 09’ and in those short six months they have created a buzz that’s making it’s way across the area. We wanted to find out why.
From the 71 exit (onto Fields Ertel from 275) you can see the big Bar Seventy One sign across the building. Indeed it looks like a bar. When you see the band schedule it looks like an event club. When you see the line at the door on a weekend night it looks like you might not even get in. When you drive by on a Sunday afternoon it looks closed. When you see the food you’ll wonder why.
The menu is fairly simple. In the center of the dinner menu you have Bar Seventy One’s signature item, the “Build Your Own Burger” ($7.95) section. It offers varied choices for the patty (including two veggie burgers), bun, cheese, toppings (2), sauces (2) and sides (2). There are also three specialty burgers and mini sliders. On the left you have 14 starters ($2.50-9.95). On the right you have six sandwiches ($5.95-8.95), including two fish sandwiches; walleye and cod. Two chili’s and french onion soup (all $3.50) followed by four salads ($3.95-10.45) and a side item list ($1.95-3.95). On the back you see desserts, beer & wines and the “Dinner Classics”. That section features steak, fish, ribs and chicken with salad and side ($9.95-19.95). It all looks familiar and it all sounds good.

The lunch menu shares much of same items with lower prices ($5.95 BYOB) and features the addition of “Build Your Own Wrap or Quesadilla ($5.95) as well. While pondering our “BYOB/BYOW” options the Cajun lamb chops ($9.95) and the Icelandic Cod sandwich ($7.95) caught our eye.
Being huge fish fans we saw an excellent opportunity to put the kitchen to the test here. Aside from 20 Brix and Grand Finale we’ve met few truly decent pieces of lamb so that was going to be interesting as well, lamb at a bar.
Both arrived swiftly and just as pictured. The verdict... 10 out of 10. No need for wordy details on this one. The lamb was simply rubbed with Chef Paul Prudhomme’s magic and grilled to perfection. A dime sized medium rare center with a crisp edged smoky sear on the outside. Perfect. The cabbage and homemade buttermilk ranch (soooo good) was a nice fresh companion.
The fish? Another 10 out of 10. Beautifully breaded and cooked perfect even by chef standards. It had an unusual subtle grilled taste, even though it is fried. It could rival any fish in the city. Again, perfect.
For dessert we tried a Fried Twinke ($4.95) with pecan praline ice cream. It reminded us of a dumpling dessert. Odd that taste could be coaxed out of a Twinke but, it was surprisingly good.

With food prepared with this intense quality and attention to detail Bar Seventy One should steal a few grand a day from the local corporate joints that consume the landscape around them. We hope they do too. This level of quality deserves demand.
The music is just as quality oriented as the food. Only the best take the stage here. Sundays and Mondays the game is on. Tuesday’s are free dance lesson nights and Wednesdays are ladies night. Thursdays feature free trivia. If you thought Bar Seventy One was just a club, now you know better. It’s a total experience. Bar Seventy One is truly earning their customer’s money, not just expecting it.