Two drinks: Monk's Cove

Kelsey Nurre and Paige Westerfield prep drinks at Monk's Cove in Mount Adams. (Credit: Joseph Fuqua II | Metromix)

It was a warm Friday night and Erica and I were looking for a way to get in the mood for a friend’s upcoming beach wedding. So I donned my blazingly white linen pants (only slightly self-conscious) and walked up the hill to Mount Adams to check out Cincinnati’s inland nod to the islands.

The vibe: Monk’s Cove is not huge, but was hard to miss, since it is clad in purple and green paint with a painting of a surfing monk on its sign, of course. It also had a huge open window taking up the entire street-facing wall, allowing patrons the chance to take in the Mount Adams breeze.

Monk’s Cove is a place to forget about your troubles and embrace a vacation mentality. The theme here is all Jimmy Buffett, all the time: surfboards, flip-flops, paintings of palm trees and tiki huts throughout.

The crowd was mainly twenty-somethings on the night we stopped by, with many people waiting for the free Reds shuttle Monk’s Cove offers for every home game (and Party in the Park). Everyone was loading up on Jello shots ($1 a shot) and I think I witnessed my first “Bro Icing a Bro” – a clandestine Smirnoff Ice.

The drinks: We started with a Leinenkugel Summer Shandy on draft ($4 each) and enjoyed some of the Reds game that had just started on one of their half-dozen televisions.

And if you are feeling extra-adventurous they also offer a Wheel of Shots. The wheel offers about a dozen concoctions available for the value price of $5. Spin the wheel, and see what shot you’ll be consuming.

With names like the Legend of Zelda, the Joey Votto, the Miami Girl, Sex with the Bartender, and I’m on a Boat, it seems impossible to lose. Erica pressed her luck and ended up with the Drunk Monk: fruity vodka with grenadine, Sprite and what seemed like essence of Kool-Aid based on my sip of it.

For my second drink, I ordered a frozen Rum Runner served in a huge glass. It tasted like an especially delicious cherry slushy (and, like Monk’s Cove’s frozen margarita, is always $4).

You can always get PBR, Miller High Life, and Natural Light for $2.25, but their happy hour (from 5-8 p.m.) also offers $2 Miller Lites, $3 Killians and $2.50 well drinks.

You can also order shots served on a surfboard, and drinks served in fishbowls, and I think I saw a few yard-sized glasses if you are looking for a large amount of beer at once.

The food: Unless you count Atomic Cherries (Everclear-soaked cherries, 50 cents each or three for $1), they don’t serve food here. But they do have the numbers for all of the nearby restaurants so you can pick up carryout to enjoy at the bar.

The verdict: I dare you to stop by Monk’s Cove and not have a good time. With cheap drinks, a fun, beachy atmosphere, and a crowd usually looking to blow off some steam, it’s a bar that doesn’t take itself too seriously but knows how to have a good time. They have a great selection of bottled beer, decent draft selections and multiple sugary tropical drink concoctions.