Lachey's Bar in Cincinnati — Photo courtesy of Terri Weeks
People from all over the country have been watching celebrity brothers Nick and Drew Lachey prepare to open their Cincinnati sports bar on A&E’s new reality TV series Lachey’s Bar.
Although the bar's been open since December 2014, the show started airing only recently (July 15), and it's quickly drawn new customers to Lachey’s Bar. Visitors from as far away as Arizona and California who have seen the show have made Lachey’s a stop along their road trip!
Lachey’s Bar might be another casual sports bar and grill with beer, wine and cocktails on tap. But while the menu consists of “bar food,” Drew Lachey describes it as “a notch up.”
Appetizers, salads, sandwiches and a couple entrees are all prepared from scratch in the kitchen.
Lachey's Tot Bowl — Photo courtesy of Terri Weeks
One of the most popular appetizers is The Tot Bowl. Flavored tater tots are served with three different sauces for dipping: beer cheese, malt vinegar aioli and Lachey’s ketchup.
Drew’s favorite? The aioli.
In addition to the bar, Lachey’s provides a wide variety of seating: a communal table, booths, high-top tables and a lounge section. TV screens are plentiful for customers wanting to catch a game (or the latest episode of Lachey’s Bar).
The bar is located at the corner of 12th and Walnut in a turn-of-the-century former mattress factory in Over-The-Rhine, or OTR, a neighborhood just north of downtown Cincinnati. OTR once had a reputation as a sketchy neighborhood, but it's been experiencing a revival over the past decade.
Nick and Drew have a personal tie to the neighborhood. OTR is home to the School for the Creative and Performing Arts (SCPA), which both brothers attended. Fun fact: Lachey’s Bar is located on the #17 bus route that they rode to school.
Drew and his wife Lea now teach at SCPA, which has since moved to a different building. But it's still just a couple blocks away from the bar.
“We wanted to be a part of the resurgence that is happening down here. We hang out down here; our friends come down here,” Drew explains about their choice of OTR for the bar's location.
Drew Lachey at his new Cincinnati bar — Photo courtesy of Terri Weeks
While Nick and Drew have other business partners helping them run the bar, they are very much hands-on partners.
“The idea for the show came from us going through the process of opening this bar,” says Drew. “There’s not one thing in here that we didn’t have a long, in-depth conversation about. We’re still going back and fine tuning things.”
Drew estimates he’s at the bar four times a week.
There are 10 episodes in the show’s first season. The first several episodes have provided a glimpse inside the planning of the bar. Viewers have watched Nick and Drew make construction decisions, craft their own beer with a local brewery and attend a bartending class.
It certainly gives customers a different perspective if they’ve been watching the show.
Catch a game at Lachey's Bar in Cincinnati — Photo courtesy of Terri Weeks
The TV series showcases the city of Cincinnati, as well. Nick and Drew perform research by taking a tour on the Pedal Wagon Pub Crawl and select their menu by holding a taste test at a Cincinnati Bengals football game tailgate party.
They also serve as Grand Marshals of Cincinnati’s Oktoberfest, where they lead the Chicken Dance as part of the festivities.
Now that they’ve had a chance to relive the process through the airing of the TV show, Drew reflects, “We’re very happy with how things turned out.”
Lachey’s Bar welcomes visitors seven days a week, 365 days a year. If you’re lucky, you might even catch one of the brothers.
