Two drinks: Fries Café

Konsen and Fern Nafziger of Clifton at Fries Café in Clifton. (Credit: David Sorcher | Special to Metromix)

The look: Fries Café has a bit of an antique-shop feel to it. There are lots of vintage beer posters and signs and some very old pictures. Things seem as if they've been the same way for a long time here and no one seems to mind. There are also downstairs and upstairs pool tables, a shuffleboard, an old-fashioned jukebox and a huge outdoor patio. I showed up while a playoff baseball game was on and noticed that there were only about three of us watching the game on the two TVs. Everyone else was in their own zone.

The crowd: It'd be impossible to sum up the Fries crowd in one breath. Everyone seems to come to this bar. It definitely attracts the neighborhood types, looking like they just got off work. But it's not so far off the University of Cincinnati campus that it eludes students' radar, too.

The grub: They don't serve food at Fries (except potato chips). Fortunately, it's surrounded by a number of restaurants, including Cactus Pear and the Corinthian, plus the Gaslight District is a short walk down Ludlow.

Two drinks: Make no mistake, Fries is a beer bar. I was lucky enough to show up on a Wednesday night, when most craft beers are $3. (The most expensive ones are $1 off.) I hadn't heard of any of the eight beers on tap, so I tried the Otter Creek India Pale Ale ($5.25). Later I tried a bottle of Brooklyn Pennant Ale ($3.50) and finished the night with an old stand-by, Pabst Blue Ribbon ($2). I counted somewhere between 80 and 90 different suds, a lot of them microbrews. When I was ready to leave I noticed a sign that pretty much summed up the Fries experience: "Fries Café. Where Beer is Good Food."

The verdict: Unpretentious for 70-plus years, serving good, affordable beer. About the only confusing thing might be the name - it's pronounced "freeze."

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