Tillie's Lounge

Following the 2025 Inauguration week (aka Collective Trauma Reaction Week) my Filipina-American colleague and my African African colleague and I were looking for a safe place to enjoy music and vibes. Tillies was it. As expected, we had a great time and the energy was welcoming.

We went here for a celebration of life for a friend. The staff was so nice and accommodating. Drinks were good and it was a nice bar with a homey feel

I came here for an event my friend was having. It was my first time at Tillie's but I had a blast. The back karaoke area(where his event was held) has a great vibe with plenty of seating and mountains of pillows! The bartender was friendly and kind and the decor was very fun.

With Below Zero a thing of the past, Tillie's now hoists the rainbow colored banner for owners Cotterill and Diaz. Here you will fall in love with the ostentatious décor, karaoke, trivia, and drag; but most of all the wonderful people who just seem to make friends with everyone around them.They accidentally short-changed me on a drink once (or gave me the wrong price), so I've got to hang on to that last star....for now.

I hate to give away insider information so publicly, but the best drink deal in Cincinnati is Tillie's Trivia Night. There's $60 in bar tabs given away as rewards every Thursday night (@7:00PM). 1st Place: $302nd Place: $203rd Place: $10My secret: surround myself with geniuses who don't drink their full share! You can form a team (and split the prize) or just fly solo to hoard it all for yourself. Personally, I just sandbag it and reap the team's rewards - snaky, I know.

Just a fun little piss ant gay bar with not too many beer choices but great cocktail specials and a patio to die for. Go, get your day drink on

The specialty drinks are unique like nothing I've seen in Cinci. Poured strong and lots of bourbon base drinks during my visit. Decided to stop in when walking back to the main grouping of music venues along Hamilton Ave from the arcade around the corner. Pretty comfortable environment, dim lighting, music from across the spectrum. I think the PC way to say this is that Tillie's is a LGBTQ-friendly lounge in Northside. Just putting that out there if it's of importance and you walk in ignoring the rainbow flag. Any who, 8pm on an Saturday evening and there were no obvious happening that would make one uncomfortable. Pretty inclusive. And don't forgot the photo ops on the throne.

I think I'm just moving in here. I've been in four times in the last two weeks, and I'm stunned that I've not posted a review before. Tillie's is great with a comfortable neighborhood atmosphere, great cocktails, and the staff is fantastic and full of shade. They do great events to give back to the community. Trivia night is fun, there are freqently drag events, and they have special fundraisers all the time to help members of our local community. Tuesdays is now Trans Tuesday during happy hour to give the local trans community a safe space to get drinks. Highly recommend if you want a safe queer friendly space that's a little bit quieter and more relaxed than BZ or some of the other bars in OTR.

How have I not written a review of Tillie's? Tillie's is a Northside Staple and you could definitely call me a fan. I'm not sure if Tillie's identifies as an LGBTQ+ bar, but the clientele is definitely heavily LGBTQ+ (though friendly and welcoming to anyone who walks through the doors). For drinks, I would recommend Tillie's most for their cocktails (as opposed to beer/wine selection). The drinks are strong and so are the good vibes. There's a great sense of community here. I'd also strongly recommend Tillie's for a GREAT karaoke night (I think they still do it on Saturdays). There's a patio area out back with additional seating. It's been entirely too long since I've visited and I can't wait to get back. If you see Nigel, the owner, ask him about the origin of the bar's name (It's named after an elephant!). High fives for being such an awesome part of the community, Tillie's!

We live in Northside, so walking back from dinner we stopped into Tillie's. I'm so glad we did! The decor is regal AF and the drinks were tasty. The beer selection was pretty good, but the specialty cocktails are where it's at. They all have a bubbly float which I loved, and the bartenders were super sweet. We'll definitely be back!