The Palomino Tavern

There have been multiple trips to Palomino Tavern while slightly intoxicated, but after hearing that PT was serving Star City’s infamously delicious mac ‘n cheese I stopped what I was doing and made the conscious decision to head on over.
PT never really stood out to me… it’s just a typical bar in the Cinci district. It’s small, located right next door to Black Market and the former Star City, decent drinks, okay music, always crowded. Just a bar.
But this day was different. My boyfriend and I went much earlier than the usual bar crowd (like 8ish) and it really wasn’t that packed. Sure there were people at the bar, but at least a third of the tables were available. We sat down and two things happened… 1. I realized the way the light hits the black backs of the bench seating is nauseating and 2. Nobody came over for a good 15 minutes. No one actually came over (or even acknowledged us) until I started huffing and puffing. I always try to give those in the service industry the benefit of the doubt, but after I made eye contact multiple times I started getting pissed. And you can’t say we came in unnoticeably because we had to move a table and chairs when we arrived so we weren’t joining into someone else’s party. Whatever. After I started speaking pretty audibly about how unprofessional this was, finally someone came over.
I immediately ordered the Star City mac ‘n cheese without consulting the menu. I did however specifically say, «I heard you guys are serving Star City’s mac ‘n cheese.» Which I was informed they were in fact. THE PALOMINO TAVERN DOES NOT SERVE STAR CITY’S MAC ‘N CHEESE! I repeat, THE PALOMINO TAVERN DOES NOT SERVE STAR CITY’S MAC ‘N CHEESE! They serve what they like to call tribute food. And you know how sometimes you see a tribute band and it’s almost just like the real deal and other times you see a tribute band and they’re horrendous? PT’s «tribute» food is the latter. First of all, they don’t use spiral macaroni noodles, they use egg noodles. EGG NOODLES! Who the hell puts egg noodles in macaroni and cheese?! The proper noodle to use is in the title for crying out loud! Needless to say the texture wasn’t that appealing to me. The cheese was maybe a really thick Velveeta, but nowhere near as good as the obey gooeyness that was SC’s mac. The candied bacon was a far cry from what I grew accustomed to eating at PT’s neighbor. It was thin (aka cheaper slices) and not actually candied, just sweet. And the portion was a whole lot smaller.
I think PT needs to stick to the drinks and maybe bar snacks like peanuts and whatnot, but stop with the food or the «tribute» food or whatever the hell you want to call it. It was simply disappointing. The only good thing I can say about PT is that my drinks always come out strong.

Came at the end of a Friday night, 8/​8, and they must have been using their D string DJs by that point of the night because the music was horrible. Switching songs every 30 seconds and at one point the music went silent and DJ dude didn’t know it until the crowd started yelling at him.
We did get quick beers at a packed bar somehow, and it’s a nice looking place. Just don’t go there to hear good music.

Zero stars would suit this establishment well, due to it’s unfriendly staff, dead atmosphere, and food that takes WAY TOO LONG to reach your table, and when it does, it’s not properly cooked. For a place that only has 7 choices on it’s menu, and they are all burgers and a «veggie sandwich», it would be reasonable to expect the person in the kitchen to be able to cook a burger properly. Mine took 25 minutes to hit my table, and was completely red inside. There is no excuse for serving food that has the potential to ruin a perfectly nice evening out with that special someone, by giving you dysentery and projectile vomiting. I have things to do tomorrow, and one of them is not lay in bed sick all day. I do not approve of anyone to visit The Palomino Tavern. That is all.

Ghetto. Talk about a downward spiral. What was once a fun place to go, is garbage now. It is by far the worst bar to go to by Cincinnati street or UTEP.
The music was all gangster music. The bartenders served us the wrong drinks half the time. Then there were fights and the owner and bouncers did NOTHING. Not a safe place.
Another one bites the dust.

Met up with some friends here at their suggestion. Hadn’t seen them for a while so we needed a place where we could sit and talk and order drinks. The place is in a great area and the ambiance is incredible. There is a vinyl record player spinning some really great esoteric and classic records. There are also TV’s on the wall but the cool thing is they have it on mute so you can just watch whatever happens to be playing on the Turner Classic Movies (TCM) channel. The service was great. There was just one bartender working and it was a little bit busy, but she did a great job of serving everybody quickly. If you are into mixed drinks/​cocktails Palomino’s delivers. The bartender made some of the most amazing drinks my gf has ever had (I was DD so I didnt drink). There are plenty of tables and chairs and places to sit apart from at the bar. This is a perfect place for enjoying some drinks and meeting up with people.