Montgomery Inn The Boathouse
Rating
Family of 4
Budget roughly $90 to $140 for two adults and two kids at dinner before tip.
Duration
1.5-2 hours
Best Ages
3-17, and workable with a baby if you eat before the dinner rush
About
Montgomery Inn The Boathouse sits right on the Ohio River at 925 Riverside Drive, and it is one of the few Cincinnati restaurants worth bringing kids to for the experience and not just the food. The dining room faces the water, which means your table comes with working barges, tour boats, and bridge lights after dusk. Kids who normally last twenty minutes in a sit-down restaurant tend to stay parked at the window a lot longer than that.
The draw is the ribs and the barbecue sauce, which is close to a civic institution in this town. It is sweet rather than smoky or spicy, so it lands well with kids who normally refuse anything labeled barbecue. It is also messy, which most kids treat as a feature.
The house Saratoga chips usually vanish before the entrees arrive, so consider ordering a second round of something to snack on if your table skews young and impatient.
Timing matters more here than at most restaurants. An early weekday dinner around 5pm, or a weekday lunch, gets you the same river view, a quieter room, and a table without standing around. If there is a Reds or FC Cincinnati home game, factor in riverfront traffic and parking congestion before you leave the house.
On logistics, be realistic. This is a large, busy restaurant, and a full-size stroller is workable getting in but awkward once the room fills, so plan to fold it beside your table or use a carrier with a baby. The portions run large enough that many families order one full rack plus one sandwich for four people and ask for an extra plate.
The smartest way to use this place with kids is to pair it with the riverfront itself. Sawyer Point and Yeatman's Cove are a short walk or a two minute drive west, and letting everyone run along the river path before or after dinner turns a sit-down meal into an actual outing. Eden Park, with its playground and the overlook views, is up the hill and makes a natural second stop.
Bring wipes, ask for the window table when you check in, and go early.
Age Suitability
Parent Logistics
Stroller-Friendly
Limited
Nursing / Changing
Unknown
Kid Meals
Limited
Setting
Indoor
Rainy Day
Great option!
Plan Your Visit
Best Time to Visit
Weekday lunch, or an early weekday dinner around 5pm when the river-facing tables are still open and the room is quiet
Wait Times
Often under 15 minutes before 5:30pm on a weekday, commonly 45-90 minutes on a Friday or Saturday evening without a reservation
Nearby Food
You are on the eastern edge of the downtown riverfront, so most of the other options are a short drive rather than a walk. Over-the-Rhine is about five minutes north and has everything from diners to ice cream, with Sacred Beast Diner on Vine Street as the closest sit-down alternative in our data. The Banks, west of you along the river, is the dense cluster of family-friendly restaurants and is where to head if the Boathouse wait is too long. If you just want a treat after dinner, plan on driving to Mount Adams or OTR rather than looking for something within walking distance.
Why Kids Love It
The whole dining room faces the Ohio River, so dinner comes with barges pushing upstream, tour boats going by, and the bridges lighting up as it gets dark. This is also famously messy food, and there is real joy for a seven year old in being handed a rack of ribs and told that sauce on your face is the point. The house Saratoga chips tend to disappear before the entrees even land.
Pro Tips from Parents
- Ask for a table by the river windows when you check in, not after you are seated. Those tables go first and they are the entire reason to bring kids here instead of a closer barbecue spot.
- Eat early. A 5pm weekday dinner means you walk in, get the view, and are back out before the wait builds. The same visit at 7pm on a Saturday can mean an hour standing with hungry kids.
- This food is sticky. Ask for extra napkins up front and plan on a full wipe-down of hands and faces before you leave, especially with toddlers.
- Call (513) 721-7427 to confirm the current kids menu, high chair availability, and whether they take reservations for your party size.
- Check the Reds and FC Cincinnati schedules before you drive down. Riverside Drive and the riverfront lots get congested on event days and a fifteen minute drive can turn into forty.
What to Bring
- Wipes and a change of shirt for younger kids, because barbecue sauce wins every time
- A bib or two if you have a toddler in the messiest phase
- Your own changing pad, since changing table availability here is not confirmed
- A jacket if you plan to walk the riverfront after dinner, since it is noticeably windier by the water
- A card for the meal plus a little cash if you end up at a metered riverfront lot
Cost Info
Estimated Cost (Family of 4)
Budget roughly $90 to $140 for two adults and two kids at dinner before tip.
Ribs are the signature item and the priciest thing on the menu, so lunch runs meaningfully less.
Check montgomeryinn.
Tips to Save
- Order one full rack and one sandwich for four people rather than four entrees, because the portions and the sides carry a family further than the menu suggests.
- Lunch is the same food and the same river view for less.
- Skip the drink round and order water, which is where a riverfront dinner bill quietly climbs.
- If your kids want a souvenir, a bottle of the barbecue sauce from a Cincinnati grocery store costs far less than buying it at the restaurant.
