restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and Delivery (commerce), food delivery services. Restaurants ...
in the
Corryville
Corryville is one of the 52 neighborhoods of Cincinnati, Ohio. It is located immediately east of the University of Cincinnati, southeast of Clifton, south and west of Avondale, northwest of Walnut Hills, and north of Mount Auburn. The populat ...
neighborhood of
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
,
Ohio
Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...
,
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. Its
Italianate
The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century It ...
building, perhaps constructed as a house, was built circa 1865, but it was converted into a restaurant by 1870. In its earliest years as a restaurant, it was run by John Neeb, who sold it to one of his employees in 1886. The new owner, Louis Mecklenburg, changed the name from "Mount Auburn Garden Restaurant" to "Mecklenburg Gardens,"Mecklenburg's Garden ,
University of Cincinnati
The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...
College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning, 2010. Accessed 2014-10-23. and converted it from a saloon to a heavily German
beer garden
A beer garden (German: ''Biergarten'') is an outdoor area in which beer and food are served, typically at shared tables shaded by trees.
Beer gardens originated in Bavaria, of which Munich is the capital city, in the 19th century, and remain co ...
.Wilson, Annasue McCleave. Reviving the Past: Historic Buildings House Two Lively Young Restaurants . ''Cincinnati Magazine'' 30.1 (1996): 127-129. During this time, Cincinnati was receiving massive numbers of German immigrants; with as much as 25% of the city's population being German-born, cultural institutions such as beer gardens were extremely popular.Owen, Lorrie K., ed. ''Dictionary of Ohio Historic Places''. Vol. 1. St. Clair Shores: Somerset, 1999, 631.
As the years passed, Mecklenburg Gardens prospered and expanded to accommodate more diners. Patrons historically made heavy use of the walled outdoor eating area, which was shaded by
awning
An awning or overhang is a secondary covering attached to the exterior wall of a building. It is typically composed of canvas woven of Acrylic fiber, acrylic, cotton or polyester yarn, or vinyl laminated to polyester fabric that is stretched tight ...
grapevines
''Vitis'' (grapevine) is a genus of 81 accepted species of vining plants in the flowering plant family Vitaceae. The genus consists of species predominantly from the Northern Hemisphere. It is economically important as the source of grapes, bot ...
. During the 20th century, the Gardens underwent a series of changes. Under
Prohibition
Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...
, the leading element of its income was outlawed, but it continued to operate covertly as a
speakeasy
A speakeasy, also called a beer flat or blind pig or blind tiger, was an illicit establishment that sold alcoholic beverages. The term may also refer to a retro style bar that replicates aspects of historical speakeasies.
In the United State ...
as well as a legal restaurant: patrons knew whether they could safely purchase alcohol based on the position of a
ship model
Ship models or model ships are scale models of ships. They can range in size from 1/6000 scale wargaming miniatures to large vessels capable of holding people.
Ship modeling is a craft as old as shipbuilding itself, stretching back to ancient ...
on a counter. During the 1970s, the building underwent a structural restoration, around the time that it was owned by an
ashram
An ashram (, ) is a spiritual hermitage or a monastery in Indian religions, not including Buddhism.
Etymology
The Sanskrit noun is a thematic nominal derivative from the root 'toil' (< History , Mecklenburg Gardens, n.d. Accessed 2014-10-23. In recognition of its place in local history, Mecklenburg Gardens was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
in 1976. The building housing the restaurant is a rectangular structure, built of brick on a stone foundation. Besides the historic outdoor garden, the interior features several small dining rooms and a central pub area to accommodate patrons.