Comfort Station Brings Refreshing Cocktails to Walnut Hills

The area’s newest bar opens in a 105-year-old bygone public bathhouse.
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Photograph by Amy Elisabeth Spasoff

A 105-year-old abandoned public restroom is now home to Walnut Hills’s chicest cocktail lounge, Comfort Station. Brought to you by one of the creators of Sundry and Vice, Owner Stuart King and General Manager Jack Keane spent five years transforming the century-old building, originally called the Public Comfort Station, into an industrial yet aesthetically pleasing space complete with natural light and refreshing drinks.

Photograph by Amy Elisabeth Spasoff

“We wanted the menu to reflect the space,” King says of the beverages, including red wine spritzers and summery cantaloupe cocktails.

The novelty of the bar begins right at the entrance, which is still marked as the original Women’s door. The decor brings the feel of the outdoors in, with hanging natural greenery, open ceilings, and a sprawling backyard patio featuring ample seating and a functioning herb garden. The original Men’s door serves as the gateway to a second bar nestled in a subterranean lounge.

The business marks another investment into the Walnut Hills area, apparent by the bustling housing and commercial construction lining East McMillan Street.

Several community members gathered for the bar’s ribbon-cutting ceremony, including Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley and members of the Walnut Hills Redevelopment and Walnut Hills Area councils.

Photograph by Victoria Moorwood

“This building is something special,” Cincinnati Development Fund CEO Joe Huber says. “It sat empty for the better part of a century…when we walked in and saw the building, saw the bones, saw the structure of what was created 105 years ago, we were mesmerized. We thought we could turn this into something special.”

Comfort Station will serve light and refreshing cocktails with a sizable beer and wine list, as well as double as a daytime coffee-serving coworking space.

Comfort Station, 793 E. McMillan St., Walnut Hills, instagram.com/comfortstationcincinnati

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