Keystone Bar & Grill

Decided to give this place another try for brunch after having a bad experience last summer. We had a MUCH better brunch outing this time. Our service was great and our server was super helpful, friendly, and attentive! Big improvement! The food, of course, was delicious also. Thank you Keystone for restoring my faith in you! I’ll definitely be adding this back to our brunch rotation.

I was very excited when keystone opened near campus. I had been to another location and left satisfied. This location located right across the street from the University of Cincinnati, in the U-​square development, is the first bar/​restaurant in the area to not feel like a college bar/​restaurant. I have had multiple work lunches here and it fits that need pretty well, in terms of being walkable to campus and more upscale than the pizza places, bars and carryout places that are in the area. The décor is great, the staff seems great, the food… meh, it works. I have found that surprisingly the my favorite dish that I have had on the menu is the quesadillas — particularly the BBQ pork quesadilla. Mine came out hot, with the cheese and pork melted together into a tasty meal. The Quesadillas are all half-​priced on TUESDAYS, so that is a great day to try it!
I have also had a couple of other things: The Southwest Chicken Salad came with far to little dressing and really lacked much flavor. I like the Mac and cheese, but it is kind of heavy for a business lunch. All-​in-​all Keystone provides a good place for a lunch or dinner — with business guests, parents, or friends. Cheers!

A nice atmosphere but severely lacking in quality service. If you’re drinking I guess you’ll be fine. We sat down for lunch and ordered a Cuban and a veggie quesadilla. The quesadilla was only slightly soggy but decidedly OK. The Cuban, however, was not only overpriced, it was virtually flavorless.
Food aside, we were very dissatisfied with the service. Our first waiter was fine, but at some point in the meal he switched to another one without telling us. Unprovoked, that set off a chain events with management walking by our table to «check» on us without staying long enough for me to give them an honest answer while I was chewing my food. Three people checked on our table within five minutes, interrupting our conversation because of what can only be assumed as a lack of communication. Neither the server before nor after, nor management, nor the other unidentified person informed us of the guard change. Our drinks were never once refilled. They weren’t very mindful to bring us a bag even though we were given four to-​go boxes.

I had the Buffalo Springfield and it was good. Had good spice for Buffalo. Monday was half price Mac and Cheese so that’s a plus.

A couple days ago I came back after having a bad experience over the summer. It was definitely a much better experience.
First, it was a Monday – which is half price Mac n cheese. Monday’s are definitely the best day to go since the Mac n cheese is the best item on the menu, AND it’s half price!
There was a wait, so we just grabbed seats at the bar, which turned out to be a great decision.
The bartender was super friendly and helpful (much better than the server I had last time I was here). They were out of the first beer I ordered, and our bartender suggested a couple alternatives, and gave us samples to try without us even asking. We took way too long to decide on drinks (seriously, I was being so indecisive). After eventually ordering, our Mac n cheese came out quickly and was delicious. I got the Powerhouse, which is packed with a few meats and buffalo sauce and jalapeños. It packs a punch, so don’t order it if you don’t like spicy food.
Overall, the experience was significantly better than my last one. I’m sure I’ll be back for more half price Mac n cheese.

We were very pleased with our visit this week. We were greeted at the door by a friendly host who showed us to our table. Servers were spot on and the food as always was great. So glad the the staff and management are on top of things again.

Keystone is a great higher end, reasonably priced restaurant and bar. They are famous for their Mac N cheese which goes and above and beyond any review. The wait staff is very good and management is always willing to help. I go to school at UC and take anyone that comes to visit me here. Not to mention they have great night life with their bar. Also they are connected to the St. Claire, which is a cool place to hang at.

Robbery, for the quality of food compared to prices. If cereal was on the menu, this restaurant would find a way to screw it up.
Avoid breakfast/​brunch including the ketchup Bloody Marys.

Went there Saturday and had brunch and it was great. The food was absolutely awesome. The mimosas are the best in town, and our waitress Hannah gave unbelievable service. If you come here ask for Hannah! She was prompt and got all 6 of our orders correctly even though some of them were quite complicated! All around great experience!

Macaroni and Cheese with Beef Brisket, son! What? What?
Fish Tacos! Grilled? In Clifton? What? What?
I like Keystone B&G.
It’s never been crowded when I was there. The hostesses were always polite and the service was great when I was there. The motorcycle gangs were not outside engaging in their moronic antics when I was there. Sadly, the facilities have always been a mess: pee on the floor, wet toilet paper stuck in diverse places, an overall sticky feeling and I’m so glad I’ve never had to do anything other than «#1» Oh… the hand washing station, outside the facilities, kind of a cool idea.
Be careful with parking, don’t get caught having to be confronted with the slick mouthed commoners who make up the team of parking enforcement officials, or even the U.C. cops. Mind your time, and save yourself the trouble of dealing with the unpleasantries of bean counters with tin badges and tasers.
Overall…Keystone is a nice spot whether you’re dining or at the bar.

Friday night, not too crowded, excellent ambiance and service, good food, good beer menu and some live music.
Pulled chicken was awesome well sized with generous amount of chips on side.

The 3 stars given is specifically for brunch. I come here a lot for half off Mac and cheese Monday’s and half off quesadillas Tuesday’s and it’s always wonderful. It was a little busy on a Saturday around 1:20 so I expected it to take a little longer to get food. We got a pitcher of mimosas for $ 14 which is a good deal and they were delicious. Our food, however, took forever to come out (over 40 minutes) and when it did it wasn’t up to par. My friend got blueberry pancakes and they came out just as normal ones. I got hashbrowns eggs and bacon (which I had to order all separate because they don’t have a combo with eggs like every other restaurant on the planet). Eggs and bacon were good but the hash browns were bad. Not done and very very greasy. This is the worst experience I’ve had here and it wasn’t that bad so I will still come back. Probably not for brunch though. Mac and cheese and quesadillas are great! They have a good happy hour too.

I came here for brunch with a friend on a Saturday afternoon.
We had the pancakes, Bacon, and macaroni and cheese!
Everything was absolutely delicious, they had drink specials on pitchers of mimosas!
Definitely a great spot for brunch!

I lived very close to U-​square so we go there quite often. Half off mac n cheese on Monday and quesadilla on Tuesday is pretty nice. Their quesadilla is just ok tho, Lime next door makes way better quesadilla, and cheaper. Food wise, I wouldn’t say that it is amazing there but good enough for students to have a casual/​satisficing dinner. I would give a 4 for food only.
However, the service at Keystone is terrible, even when you sit at the bar. It always take forever to get your food out when busy. I don’t know the exact time but you know it has been a while when you start to look around and be like where is my food. The waiters are not helpful and always look grouchy. Especially this bar tender! Oh my god this dude looks like that he just ate poo all the freaking time! I don’t see any interactions with customers, let alone smiles on his face. Why do you hire someone like that to be your bar tender?! My bf and I literally cheers if we get other bar tenders. I would give a 4 if they improve service.

The Mac and Cheese options are incredible. Yeah yeah i know right… but really. You can get a generous helping of mac in cheese with just about any kind of other stuff you want. They have a few customs though, my fave is the BB King. Its barbecue chicken and mac. Its deeelish! I also love the grilled cheese! Their homemade chips and the special dip they gave … Yep solid all the way! The staff is always friendly and the service has always been first rate.
Knocked off a star just because its crazy loud in the place. Not complaining, but if you there for a cozy dinner, shout it out!

Just tried out the Clifton location for the first time and I like it. I think I prefer the Covington location more solely because it’s closer to downtown, but honestly the food tastes more or less the same. Mac and cheese for dinner is always very good, and today I tried the brunch burrito and that was very good too.
The service is great and everyone is friendly here. They do a good job of keeping your drinks refilled and tending to your dining needs.
Overall, I have no complaints about this place. I recommend it to everyone.

Dinner here with a group of seven on a Monday night, which meant half-​price mac & cheese all around!
Our server was a bit slow, but they were packed so all was forgiven. Five of us ordered mac & cheese, and everyone raved about theirs. I had the Pink Floyd, which comes with bacon and caramelized onions. I will say that I encountered far more raw or undercooked onions that I did caramelized, but I don’t know that it terribly affected the overall dish, especially not something I was paying half-​price for.
Overall, good experience. Be on alert that Monday evenings are busy (as I imagine Tuesdays are with their half-​price quesadillas).

Brunch at Keystone was delicioussssss.
Walked in here on a Sunday morning. Place was pretty busy but we still got sat within five minutes. Oh my gosh their mimosa selection is amazing-​one glass of mimosa (like a beer glass, not a tiny champagne glass) was 7 dollars but a huge pitcher was 14. The choice is pretty freaking obvious. I got the mango mimosa and it came with a wedge of pineapple. Super happy with that alone!
Food is great too. Menu has all the comfort brunch food youd want, but the table next to us got the mac & cheese and it looked GOOD. I got the Brunch mac & cheese with the egg, while my bf got the buffalo… which was surprisingly delicious because i rarely like buffalo sauce on anything.
Service was fast and friendly! Def worth coming again!
Tl;dr mimosa heaven, and amazing mac & cheese.

Their mac and cheese or their chicken tenders are winners. Otherwise lots of flops and inconsistent service.
I have been here several times now. I love going on Mondays because they have half priced mac and cheese (now with the purchase of a drink abd only for dine-​in orders). Ask your server for the Mac of the day, which is a random concoction thought up by the cooks for that day. Even though they only do this on Mondays, I’ve had really good success with their creations. You can always add ingredients (our even make your own) any day of the week.
I also really like their chicken tenders. These were actually the first thing I tried here. They are $ 9 for 3 (extra for fries on the side), but in my opinion they ate worth it. They are crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside, and seasoned well. Try their homemade ranch or their BBQ sauce. (Blue cheese isn’t that good.)
Their loaded chips are tasty but have way too much sauce. Their wraps are lackluster.
Their service though is what makes this branch a real hit or miss. Sometimes it’s on point, timely and helpful. Other times it’s practically non-​existent. It doesn’t seem to matter if they are busy either way.

After reading Impulcity’s list of the 5 best chicken and waffles in Cincinnati I knew it was time to step outside of the Taste of Belgium bubble and I would start at Keystone’s.
We decided to go for brunch and after reading through other Unilocal reviews I was a little nervous because this place was known mostly for their mac & cheese and this particular location has less than stellar reviews for their service.
When I arrived my group was already there. Good thing I knew what I wanted because the server came over in .5 seconds to take my order. My cousin and I both went for the chicken & waffles, mine as is and my cousin’s with regular syrup, and her boyfriend went for the breakfast burrito and the biscuits and gravy. The food took quite a while to come but we got into the Bengal’s game which was playing on many of the tvs throughout.
When the food finally did come it was wonderfully plated, that was about it. The waffle had no flavor and was somewhat mushy in some parts and too crisp in others. They mistakenly gave me regular syrup but I did get to try the «zesty» variety which wasn’t anything special or very tasty. The chicken, however, which was 2 decent sized tenders, were pretty good. I did steal a bite of the biscuits & gravy (goetta gravy) and it was HORRIBLE and barely lukewarm. It wasn’t eaten and the server ended up take it off the bill. He raved about the breakfast burrito.
The service wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I would only come back to try the Mac & cheese.