ENTERTAINMENT

Kitty’s Sports Grill by PBS nears opening

Shauna Steigerwald
ssteigerwald@enquirer.com
Kitty’s Sports Grill, 218 W. 3rd St., Downtown.

Kitty’s Sports Grill is expected to open next week at 218 W. Third St., Downtown.

That space was most recently Head First Sports Cafe, which closed in July 2014. Since then, Bill and Betty Watson have revamped the space “from the ceiling to the floor,” Betty said.

It still has a sports bar theme, with framed Reds and Bengals memorabilia, as well as Bill’s collection of Sports Illustrated magazines from the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s, on the exposed brick walls of the 100-year-old building. There are a dozen TVs, including a 120-inch projection screen above the bar.

But the Watsons have taken steps to make the space cleaner and brighter. They’ve replaced the old wood floors with fresh tile, and they’ve removed the drop ceiling, adding track lighting to the exposed beams that were below it.

They’ll start with a small menu of bar food, including handmade burgers, nachos, hand-cut fries and wings with house-made sauces. Eventually, they hope to add more menu items and possibly expand to breakfast hours. Nine beers, including a few local craft brews, will be on tap, and there will be a selection of canned and bottled options. Specialty cocktails will include a Kentucky cosmo, made with bourbon instead of vodka.

Kitty’s Sports Grill, 218 W. 3rd St., Downtown.

The bar is named for Bill’s mother, Kathleen Watson (everyone calls her Kitty). She owned the building and ran Ms. Kitty’s Saloon there from 1983 to 1996, when she started leasing the space out. (She’d owned another bar, The Hideaway, in that space that is is now O’Malley’s in the Alley from 1960 to 1980, Bill said. Some of the sports memorabilia on display at Kitty’s came from there.) Last year, she signed the building over to Bill and his sister, Robin Roseberry.

Bill recently moved back to Cincinnati after living in Jacksonville, Florida, where he met and married Betty, for 30 years. Both have been in the bar and restaurant business for most of their lives and have dreamed of owning their own place.

“We’ve talked about doing this for 10 years, and we’re going to have some fun,” Betty said.

When it opens, hours at Kitty’s will be 11 a.m.–2 a.m. daily.

Information: 513-421-8900;www.kittyssportsgrill.com