Tour de Cincinnati

Review: The Works and Narrow Path

For our fourth monthiversary, we met my brother, sister-in-law, and nephews for dinner before checking out Loveland’s newest brewery.


Large cheese pizza, The Commissioner, and steak hoagy from The Works

First, The Works.
I’d been to The Works a couple of times — the first I met girlfriends from college more than five years ago; the second being for drinks with one of the same friends a couple of years back. It had been a while since I’d had it, so we decided to invite my brother and his family and make a night of it.
The restaurant is located in an historic building that was once a water filling station for steam locomotives and, with more than 20 on tap, the beer selection is actually pretty good. We were seated at a large table where we ordered pizzas (The Commissioner for BK, a large cheese pizza for the rest of us), and I got a steak hoagy and fries for good measure. I’d read the ranch dressing was house-made and delicious, so I needed a vehicle for that, since eating it by the spoonful is frowned upon. The ranch was, in fact, really good, and everything else was good, too.
Mostly, I was happy to convince BK to get pizza for dinner, and we got to hang out with my brother and his family. Wins all around.


Bar at Narrow Path Brewing Co.

Flight from Narrow Path (Clockwise from top left: Cream Ale, Porter, Cherry Tart, and Farmhouse Blonde)

Now, Narrow Path Brewing Co.
The night before our wedding in September, we went to Mazunte for tacos — y’know, as a way to celebrate being off work for the long weekend. While we were sitting at the bar we overheard the man next to us talking about opening a new brewery in Loveland. Our ears naturally perked up, as we joined in in the conversation about how he was going to be the Head Brewmaster at Narrow Path Brewing Co.
Narrow Path is a small brewery situated just off the Loveland Bike Trail, where there will be plenty of outdoor space in the warmer months. There were four beers on tap at the time — Farmhouse Blonde, Cream Ale, Cherry Tart, and Porter — and they were all really good. I’m not usually into sours, but I particularly liked the Cherry Tart, which wasn’t all that tart despite the name.
While we were there, we briefly caught up with Greg, the Head Brewmaster we initially met in September, who mentioned they will have Mazunte this summer, and who let us try their not yet released Maple Bacon Porter. It was also very good.
I was impressed with Narrow Path and think it is a wonderful addition to the Loveland community. There are so many great places there — see: Loveland Cappy’s, Paxton’s, Cocoa Bites, The Works, The Running Spot, and, of course, the bike trail — and I already can’t wait to go and make a day of it when it’s warmer.