The Comet

A gem of a bar located in Northside that serves some of the best Mexican food in Cincy. The bar is part hipster/​part dive.
Parking can be hairy-​it is on a main road and finding on street parking might take a few laps.
Once you do acquire parking, scoot quickly passed the outside smoke ring to the inner sanctum of the bar. As you head up to the bar, take note of the Protein and Salsa of the month.
This is where the mildly annoying hipster attitude happens: you have to order both food and drink at the bar (which involves flagging down the bartender aggressively if you are not a regular or forgot to wear your hipster digs) then you take your food ticket to a window in the back wall of the opposite side of the building (where they often have live music!) They will give you a number and you just go find a seat and wait for the server to bring it out.
The musical acts are different every night, and occasionally deafening.
I have to say that I prefer going in the afternoon or early evening to avoid overcrowding and screeching electronica.
Meal highlights include: Jerk Tofu Burrito, Nachos, Salsa Sampler.

So, if the Comet were some snooty hipster bar, I would not belong. Thankfully, it is not a snooty hipster bar. The Comet is a hipster dive bar with wonderful late night tex mex eats & a kickass beer selection.
My days to go to the Comet are Mondays and Tuesdays when they’re playing live music and Paul the bartender is working, simply because Paul is cool AF. Their beer selection is on point; if you want a Bud or a Miller, I wouldn’t recommend coming here. But if you enjoy local crafts and seasonals from around the nation, this is the place for you.
My complaint about most bars is that they don’t offer food — period. Do you know what drunk me wants more than anything? FOOD. And White Castle mozzarella sticks can only hold a drunk girl over for so long. The Comet understands that, and serves quesadillas, nachos, tacos, and they have a salsa of the month. December’s roasted garlic salsa = on point. Their brunch is amazing too, and the coffee and mimosas are free flowing. My only gripe is that they don’t offer goetta anywhere on the brunch menu. I do enjoy the goetta.
This place is dark, btw. If you can’t handle barely being able to see or if you’re just plain afraid of it, this is probably not the place for you. But it is the place for me, and I’ll hope to see Monday or Tuesday.

Went for the music and stayed for the Beer! Awesome bluegrass band the «Allstars» and good selection of beers. Nice folks, down home atmosphere. Sunday eve at 7 the fun starts.

The burrito was NOT better than Qdoba or Chopotle. It was smaller and nowhere near as flavorful. The atmosphere was great and the blues music rocked. The worst part was the pretentious bartenders who were more interested in cracking jokes with each other and making «face» than serving a good drink. I spent 20 minutes waiting for a beer while I listened to the 2 bartenders, some old fat dude and a red headed kid, make jokes with one another instead of serving me. I felt more like they were trying to Impress me or pick me up instead of just serving a GD drink. I wasn’t impressed. I can walk over to your shitty ass cooler and grab a michigan brew without asking your lame as and having to tip for it.

Cincinnati icon! Come when Susy M is working to meet best bartender in Cincinnati! Great food and unique vibe.

Probably the best bar in Cincinnati. Like I never was banned from this place. I really don’t know why. I did stop coming in here, though. I was too embarrassed. I’m glad, because if I wanted to go here now, I could!
They have a good juke box and good food. I don’t know why people are calling it a dive bar, though. It’s not really a dive. It’s just a regular pub. There’s a good crowd of people here usually, too. Like it’s not a douchy place. I really recommend it.

Horrible (rude) customer service. Been a few times to meet friends but avoid it myself like the plague. Good cheap food isn’t enough to make up for it.

Spent my first time at the comet the other night. I’ve had many people pestering me to try their burritos, so that’s what I did. I believe it was about $ 6 for my tofu burrito and it when it came it was as big as my head! Needless to say I couldn’t finish all of it. It was delicious and quite the bang for the buck. Decent beer selection there as well. I ate and drank while a celtic sounding folk band played on the side. It was very nice. The only downside was when I took my ticket to the kitchen to order my burrito, I waited about 5 min for the chef to show up. Probably just a bathroom break or something so no big deal. I will be back to try their other menu items shortly no doubt :)

The Comet is a great hipster hole in the wall that carries this vibe better than just about any bar I have been to. They have live and dj music regularly and I have come here to listen bluegrass, funk, and reggae.
I regularly come here for Basement Reggae and while it isn’t a live band the DJs spin great and it is a wonderful time. I think this basement is a perfect experience. The floor is slanted from one end to the other, it’s tiny, and they serve cheap beer. They even serve 32 oz bottles of beer! The crowd is often mixed racially and by age. People dance and sit and talk and chill. The steps to get to the basement are super steep and seem like a death trap, especially if drunk. And if you don’t want one of the cheap beers offered in the basement you can always go upstairs for an awesome selection. There is also a back door leading outside from the basement so you can step out for a moment to get some air or smoke but it’s underneath the deck and is not like a patio and more like just standing in some dirt underneath a deck.
The main floor of the bar looks grungy and old and is split in two; one room has the bar and the other room has a stage. They also have a deck off the back of the bar. The beer selection is great with a few great beers on tap and an enormous bottle selection. They have a really good selection of craft and imports.
They also serve food and while I haven’t had any in a long time I remember it satisfying my drunken craving. They also serve late, until like 1:00am every day. Things like burritos, tacos, quesadillas, and nachos. On Sunday they have brunch.
If you don’t like hipster dive bars stay away. But otherwise stop in for some great or cheap beer, music, food, people watching, whatever…

Showed up just shy of 2pm and stood at the bar for a couple of minutes until they asked if I needed anything. Ordered drinks and asked if I ordered food here. Bartender said ‘kitchen just closed’. Really? The person you were talking to just got a full plate of food in front of them and are opening their silverware but the kitchen shut down completely? It would seem the Comet is not for me

omg rude. Rude. RUDE staff (especially the burrito maker guy).
so rude. on multiple occasions. the last time, like, made me seriously angry rude. haven’t been back since.
i want to relax at a neighborhood bar, not be treated like i’m unwanted.
other than that:
the house-​made salsas aren’t bad, but not special enough to warrant a trip.
positives: plenty of great local and touring bands play there. the jukebox is admittedly pretty rad. if it weren’t for the staff, i’d go here often.
seriously. their staff is legit mean. just dirty dog mean.

The Comet is a pretty reliable spot. Nothing fancy, but plenty of beer choices. There is a lot of space inside, but if you’re coming for bluegrass on Sunday, you’d better get there early if you want a seat. There’s a porch during warmer weather, which is great, and the burritos are filling and tasty, if not gourmet. All in all, a good neighborhood hangout.

I would give them 3 stars overall. The atmosphere is dive bar + interesting mix. Mostly a young crowd. A lot of times I come for the food or to chill out & am uninterested in the loud live music they have going on. Sometimes they have amazing acts there, but other times I really wish the two rooms were separated by some kind of soundproofing.
If I was rating for the food alone it would be a fast 5 stars. I LOVE LOVE LOVE their Jerk Tofu and always order it with their amazing Chile Con Queso. I usually order it with black beans too. YUM so good. I can’t ever get enough of it. Don’t forget to tip the kitchen! They’re always super. Pretty good beer selection too :)

Damn. This old nostalgic biker bar in Northside Cincinnati is an amazing example of what this city has to offer. The Comet Bluegrass All-​Stars play every Sunday. The bar is name after the band. Enough said. Right?
Not only can you listen to amazing award winning bluegrass, but you can also get dank mexican inspired food. Everything is made with care and everything is delicious. Oh, and they also do brunch. :)
The Comet is everything you want out of a bar. Good food. Good drinks. Locals. An intimate friendly bar environment. A pool table. A large patio. And, local eclectic music at least 3 night a week.
So, get your butt down to The Comet any day of the week and experience a side of Cincinnati you’ve been missing!

Burritos, burritos, burritos… that’s what you come here to eat… and to partake in the silliness that is the vintage photobooth. I may be biased as this was an ultimate college haunt. .but I love it and I always will. :) The food never disappoints, nor does the atmosphere.

They have the best brisket taco I’ve ever had. Margaritas are phenomenal as well. Live the atmosphere. Fitting for the north side area. Staff is helpful and friendly too

I would love to give this bar a 5 star, great food, eclectic crowd, great vibe, but whoever bartends on Tuesday night, tall skinny guy with dark hair was the single worst bartender I’ve experienced in my life, cussed at me multiple times and threw my card at me when I told him my tab was wrong. Then cussed some more and congratulated me on getting free stuff.
Even after I asked to see my tab which he conveniently threw away, literally threw my credit card at me from behind the bar. 13 dollars for 2 burritos and 9.50 for drinks equals 22.50, still ran it at 23.50 and said the extra dollar was for his time.
My group of 5 people went from talking about how awesome this north side bar was to being amazed at how awful this guy treated us all. If you ignore him it’s a 5, Sunday’s are still great though and so was the food!

This review is for their brunch, not the late nights that I am sure would be a blast here. Overall, it was a little bit of a let down. I kept hearing about the brunch and how I needed to try their brunch. I actually was told twice the week before I went that I needed to check it out.
My complaints are not with the service, or the atmosphere (although on a really hot day, I am sure that the place is scorching due to lack of air conditioning), it was actually the food. Not to say that it was terrible, it was not at all! It was just average. I had the carnitas tacos — the meat was moist, but not very flavorful and the sauce that was on it, not sure exactly what it was but it had made the tortilla sopping wet and began to fall apart.
Overall it was a 2 out of 5 on the tacos.
Their Bloody Mary’s are very spicy, but if you like that then they are very good. They have a kind of horseradish taste to them, which I liked a lot. If you ask they will add more tomato juice to you bloody mary to decrease the spiciness, which is appreciated.
We did split the 20 layer crêpe cake which was very good and should be tried by everyone who likes sweet deliciousness, but it wasn’t quite enough to boost my rating.
I will give the comet another try sometime, but I am not rushing to get back.
I will probably be back later in the evening for drinks and live music though!

Nice beer selection, though nice is not the most descriptive word I could use there. Vast and eclectic is probably a better way to put that.
Mostly, though, I come here for the burritos. I am a huge fan of the jerk tofu burrito, and can only manage to eat half a burrito in one sitting, as they are so huge. I like their spicy salsa for when my sinuses are being a jerk, and milder otherwise. Definitely my go-​to place for local vegetarian/​vegan burritos.
I have found the speed of the service to be kind of insanely fast, but then, I have a tendency to go there after work, before they get any kind of busy.

**This review is for the brunch only**
First off, it you are not a local or a regular, no one points you in the right direction here, so here’s a tip: order food at the bar then bring your ticket to the kitchen window in the other room for a number.
The Comet is a staple dive bar in Cincinnati, and part of Northsides bar district. There is nothing fancy here. What you see is what you get. We ordered the biscuits and gravy and the eggs benedict. The biscuits and gravy actually had maple in it, which I should have noticed before I ordered because I was not a huge fan of the savory and sweetness together. The biscuits were giant and I would definitely splitting this dish.
The bf got the eggs benedict which was great. I had a bite and the poached eggs were cooked to perfection, the sauce was also perfect, great flavor. We would order this again. Each dish also comes with a side of potatoes. These seem like they are in a giant bin somewhere in the back and they throw them in a skillet for warmth. Ours were stale, and cold. Not very appealing, but our table agreed that this would be the perfect hangover brunch spot.
Not the best brunch I’ve ever had, but worth checking out.