Joe Schutzman is a Newport firefighter who loves Northern Kentucky’s culture, sense of place – and beer. Find Joe’s previous columns and more on NKY dining here.
Nestled below the Roebling Bridge in downtown Covington is one of my favorite spots. The Gruff, a slightly unassuming neighborhood joint, has expertly leveraged itself within North Covington. It’s the perfect lunch spot for folks who work in the area, as well as a comfortable and casual evening rendezvous for the folks who live there.
I actually lived in this neighborhood for a few years and regularly took advantage of being so close, using it as my usual haunt for catching up with friends.
Now that I have since moved out of the area, I sadly can no longer just walk down there. However, it still remains a place I frequent and is also one of my go-to bars when I’m heading to or coming from an event near the riverfront.
It’s one of my preferred pre- or post-Red’s game places. Good beer, good prices, and a lovely atmosphere with friendly staff and patrons alike. If you’re at an event in downtown Cincinnati, please believe me when I say it’s worth the short walk across the Roebling for a beer and a bite.
And speaking of friendly, I think that’s the general vibe and sentiment the Gruff offers the neighborhood. It’s a place for everyone and truly, all are welcome. It’s a rare breed of establishment that successfully balances a fierce feeling of neighborhood vibes without feeling inaccessible to other folks around town. The Gruff achieves this balance with overwhelmingly good effect.
We can talk about the excellent food and beer program in just a moment, but first, I can’t stress this next point enough. The lovely folks who work at the Gruff, those who bust there’s while serving yours, are really what give the place its charm and authenticity. They have mastered the art of casual hospitality, and even if you aren’t known by name there, you always feel like you’ve been treated as a friend.
Now, let’s talk beer. We have discussed rotating taps before in previous articles, but the Gruff ups the game here. Their taps are constantly rotating and heavily favor local brews. And when the tap isn’t local to our area, more often than not, it’s still from a small craft producer that is local somewhere. So the beer here is varied, locally sourced, and small business-minded. Check, check, and check. I’m in.
I stopped by last week for afternoon beers and thoroughly enjoyed what they had as their monthly offerings. Unfortunately, this was just a quick pop-in, so there was only time for two. I had to make them count. I went with Fifty West’s pilsner and Northern Row’s brown ale called Traveler. The beers were straightforward and exactly what I was looking for. It was a lovely, albeit all-too-short-lived, sudsy afternoon respite.
This might also be a good time to mention that when it comes to traditional-style beers, I’m not personally looking to be overly “wowed” or for a brewery to reinvent the wheel. Rather, I’m looking for an homage to the beer’s form with the brewery’s signature touch sprinkled in. A good pilsner, a good lager, a good ale doesn’t need reworking in my book. It simply needs to be a good pilsner, lager, or ale. Much like when a band covers a song, I’m looking for the artist to pay respect to the song’s history while also adding their own identity and voice to it. The artist adds flair and communicates their passion for the piece, but as far as the song itself, it certainly needs no rewriting.
Besides beer, a stop at the Gruff is never complete for me without a little food. My usual pairing with the beer there is their signature “3 Billy Goats” sandwich, an Italian cold-cut concoction with a really lovely and well-balanced olive spread. And as always, there are their tater tots.
I’m a simple person with simple tastes, and there are few things in this world that make me happier than salty tots and a crisp beer, especially with a side of The Gruff’s house-made ketchup.
Also, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention their menu’s secret weapon, their pizzas. For somewhere that doesn’t sell itself as a pizza place, their pies have no business being as good as they are, brick-oven, creative, and fantastic. It’s absolutely the move if you’re there with more than two people.
The Gruff is taking hospitality and the concept of a cozy neighborhood spot for a beer to the next level. Whether you’re just looking for a quick stop to sit at the bar, or grabbing lunch with a friend, or catching up with a whole group and staying for the evening, the Gruff is waiting with open doors.