A smaller lively music venue right off the University of Cincinnatis campus. I have been to several shows here both with a packed crowd and light crowd, regardless of circumstance I enjoyed my time spent here. The acoustics tend to not be too overwhelming, depends on the band to a degree. The crowd is not always just college students once again depends on the band performing.

Had a fantastic time with my son at his first concert seeing our absolute favorite band, The Score! This was a great little venue.

Welcome back, Top Cats. Room sounded great, staff seemed like decent folk. Looking forward to going back again soon.

The place is a hole in the wall in every sense. I walked in and my shoes immediately began sticking to the floor. There wasnt any soap, not even a dispenser in the mens bathroom. But cool little spot to see live music other than that.

A big single room near the University with a music system in one corner, for possibly underage college kids to get drunk and dance. The biggest disappointment was getting served Jack Daniels in a plastic cup.This place is definitely not for you if youre more than 22 years old.

Great little venue. Definitely wouldnt mind the 3 hour drive here again. Andy Black was great

Bathrooms are horrible. Bar service is slow

I enjoyed the music. It is a nice cozy place. There is plenty of parking around the place. They have a walk up bar but I didnt see any food. They are in the process of building a deck that will be awesome when finished. I would go back.

Sad situation let alone illegal,happened Saturday night, stopping by the New TOP CAT bar at midnight tonight,after the Thunderstruck concert at Bogarts..In college,I use to tend bar there, when it was called HOTSHOTZ.,so I wanted to see the new makeover,as it had been closed for some time...While showing the doorman our ids to get inside the club,we were verbally told that We were to OLD to be allowed inside,according to what the owner told them.IS THAT YOUR POLICYI asked,yes was the response.ONLY COLLEGE STUDENTS ALLOWEDMy girlfriend along with myself were totally taken back by this behavior from the doorman on the policy of this club....We are not sure what action will be taken,but I can tell you this..If this bar has any chance of making in Clifton,They better follow the law & according to others patrons Ive talked to, they are known to be SHADY in paying bands they book,.. The B.B.B.& ACLU & Ohio State liquor board may want to look at their clubs business practice. Needless to say,what happened tonight was illegal & flat out discrimination on the part of the doorman & the owner of this club....Im sure we will here more comments about this place...They LOST MY BUSINESS & MY MONEY..$$$$$$$$$

Small, but fun. Not a fan of the pole in the front crowd area since it left me with bruises in odd places but everything was great

Ive been to Topcats both casually just for drinks and to see shows. The building is huge and has a lot to offer. The bartenders are quite knowledgable and build a rapport with their customers, something that is hard to come across in a university area. If i lived closer I would frequent this place more often!

Pretty nice little place! I was expecting it to be bigger, but its honestly a really good size for a small venue. It really feels like the space was made for that. The patio is a work in progress but I expect itll be really nice when its done. Nice atmosphere. Had a great time!

First time coming here for a concert. This was a nice little quaint place. It was a very cute and clean. I would definitely come back when not just attending a concert!!

Saw the Fritz who were absolutely amazing! Top cats is such a great little venue that makes a show seem super intimate almost like its your own private vip experience. Plus an amazing outdoor area to get some fresh air and for the smokers (Im not one) to have an easy area to go. Would go back anytime

JJ Wilde is awesome

I would leave no stars if possible. Went there after a concert at Bogarts. My boyfriend bartended there back in the day n had great memories about the old place. He recalls the famous hot shot that was a top seller. Anyway we were turned away at the door because and I quote the owner only wants college students so I cant let you two in. I have never been more shocked than at that moment.I have never been turned away because I was too old! We were already aware of the owners shady business practices but thought we would check it out for ourselves. Wow what a shame.my son D.J.s all over Cincinnati and I have been to many of the bars he works at. Always felt welcomed and respected by the college crowd. Top Cats was the worst.

Top cats just hosted a battle of the bands in which the final round was based off of alcohol sales. If you bought a drink you recieved a ticket. Promoters and venues like this are taking advantage of people who truly support local music. I thought everyone did great, but who truly won was based on alcohol consumption. If you are a true music enthusiast, please stop supporting any promoters or venues who takes advantage of THE FANS. WE are the REASON the music we love can thrive and grow. Thanks.

The venue has a lot of potential, but they arent living up to it. It has been disappointing in the past due to the lack of maintenance and upkeep, but their behavior with the Last Band Standing event was appalling. The first rounds were ran with a 50/50 vote between judges and crowd. But the final round was purely based on alcohol sales. The bands were great, but to base who wins off of whose fans buy the most drinks is a ridiculous way of determining who has the most talent. And then to let one of the bands buy enough alcohol that theyre handing beer out to anyone who would take it, just so they could win, is incredibly disrespectful to the other musicians who brought all of this business in. The bar was the most packed Ive ever seen it, and the bands were not given the gratitude and appreciation they deserved nor fair judgement on who was the last band standing.

I wouldnt recommend playing or seeing any shows here. They have lied multiple times about cancelling shows and the owners has taken what was once a very inclusive venue for all music and turned it into a place for privilege and exclusivity. They cancelled a show booked months in advance after the organizers couldnt pay the small fee of $20K to stay at the venue. All of this just weeks from the show. The business practices are questionable and I think that this venue should at least relinquish the name of a very loved, very special venue for music in Cincinnati. Shame on you.

This venue was pretty cool, staff was nice, and the artist were awesome. Especially loved watching Flock To Murder perform. Awesome night with great people....

Great venue! Good atmosphere and sound quality

The drinks are cheap, and the music they had was pretty good!

Cute place but not really alot of seatingThey are air conditioned so... that makes me give them 3stars. Very basic alcohol selection absolutely no wine.

Liked the venue but not the direction it has recently taken.

Awesome place for live music however parking is hard to find. Ill be back 100%

Music was meh.

What happened to safe alcohol practices? When you encourage guests to over drink past the point of intoxication- to the point of vomiting all over the bathroom- youre going beyond your legal obligation to serve alcohol appropriately.

Would give zero stars If possible. No respect for the music scene in general. Shady dealings trying to screw over artists. I wont be supporting these people and I strongly suggest you dont as well. Dont take my word for it, look into the situation yourself. Its truly disgusting.

This place cancelled a festival two weeks before the event, screwing over 40 performers, some of which had flights and hotels booked. We lost sponsorship money, as well as money lost on promoting Top Cats as the venue.What’s worse is that they lied publicly saying the shows were cancelled for renovation.We had booked the event 10 months ago. Just saw a post that they cancelled another show tonight, too. The owner and bar manager are classless, disrespectful, and unprofessional.The owner stole my deceased friend’s business name to try and make money off the original music scene, then screwed over the scene when it was more convenient to do “college night”, completely disregarding thousands of dollars that have been invested in their events by promoters and performers.

Its a fun place to go to chill and have fun, meet new people.

This concert venue is doing nothing good for the area, cancelling a local music festival after trying to raise the booking rate from 900 to 20,000$ and leaving local artists & promoters scrambling to put on an event that would only have done well for short vine and good for the community. despoicable

Saw a sold out show here and had the time of my life. The venue is nice and clean and the size is perfect for making a concert feel like a large party, but it was awkward holding glass cups for the booze..

This venue cancels shows with no notice so they can have college nights no respect for musicians and no respect for their paying customers unless you are a drunk college kid.Also: This place cancelled a festival two weeks before the event, screwing over 40 performers, some of which had flights and hotels booked. They lost sponsorship money, as well as money lost on promoting Top Cats as the venue.What’s worse is that they lied publicly saying the shows were cancelled for renovation.they had booked the event 10 months ago. Just saw a post that they cancelled another show the same week too. The owner and bar manager are classless, disrespectful, and unprofessional.

Top Cats has a history of screwing over performers, most recently by cancelling a festival planned months in advance right before it happened, after performers had flights booked and sponsors had signed up and such. Dont tolerate this kind of behavior, people.

Great atmosphere! The bar tenders were amazing. A great place to go on vine street.

Consistently cancels shows the day of. Charges $20,000 deposit.

Waiting 2 hours in the cold for a band to play that isnt that big, Is bs .

The venue is nice and the artist rendition of the finished roof looks really cool! BUT the place is not managed well!!! They double booked the room we were seeing a concert in asked the band to stop playing and had us all exit through the green room or the rooftop. We didnt get to buy merch or anything. The sound guy was on his phone a lot, things were wired wrong and the band couldnt get his attention. Really an unpleasant experience

Went to a show that was cut short because the venue decided to book a second, separate event at midnight on top of that nights show. We were rushed out of the venue when the main acts show ended. In addition, the sound was pretty off and there were several technical issues that delayed the show even more. Felt bad for the band playing as well as their fans. Drinks were priced fair at least.

Great venue for shows. Excellent staff and great prices on drinks.

Great place to hangout. Mike the bartender was very cool.

Went here for a cheap $10 EDM show. There were supposed to be 4 opening artists, but none of them showed up. What we got was a DJ that changed songs every 20-30 seconds, none of them matching BPM or genre. He was just hitting next on a laptop. The venue filled up with college kids REAL fast, to the point where I began to feel like it was well beyond safety if something were to happen. Wall to wall people, and wait times to get a drink were in excess of 10 minutes standing at a hostile bar.We ended up leaving before the main act we intended to see even went on, which was supposed to be 12:30. After standing outside on the patio, witnessing kids breaking the fence sitting on it, and having the alternative bar options of Fireball, Jagermeister, Miller Lite or Coors, we realized we were strangers in a strange land. Be warned, fellow 25-35 age groups, you will likely want to find a different venue for shows. Maybe Bogarts next time.

Great time with the American Outlaws!! Good vibe good staff

Came here to see Mayday. Had a blast.

They have really cleaned up the place. A fabulous place to see live music in Cincinnati.

Customer service is atrocious, lost my phone there and asked if there was anyone who had found one or knew where I could look...I was brushed off and shown no help at all. Went back the next day and once again was shown no help. If anyone who works at topcats see’s this I would greatly appreciate if you could ask around about the phone/and or contact me. Not a bad venue, but a lack of customer appreciation.

Good music. House night I was there.

Not a bad hole in the wall bar .although The Sound guy was Making it Really hard TO Stick around, The Sound was horrible... and The drinks at the bar sucked. although the bar downstairs was great

Rarely cool little place to see some bands and interact with them

Cute little venue with nice balcony

Went to a show, two local acts opened for a mainstream rap group from Atlanta GA. Top Cats new reconstruction was more spacious the entertainment was great.

Glorious & FreakBass was off the chain! Nice Place I recommend!!!

There is curse placed on this establishment. i saw 4 ghosts here in the corse of two hours. pretty strange but still a cool place

Great music venue with a bar!

Great little venue....always has been!!@

Lots of space and amazing music

Great Customer Service. Good Drink specials. Good Selection of live acts.

Overpriced. Cancels shows last minute. Not professional on any level.

Very cool place for live music, theyve got a well run bar also

I went there and the security at the door asks for my I.d. plus a second form of identification. Also given Im well over 21. I talk to the bar and the other workers of top cats and they have no clue of this regulation. When have you ever went to a bar or any establishment for that matter asking for a credit, debit, or student I.D. makes no sense. The boss has to get better people with common sense to run his bar. The bar doesnt even vouch for security or the bs. They say they get paid by josh. But anyone else that I ask say no, they werent asked for that.

Local groups SONS OF SILVERTON and TRIIIBE tore up the spot! GooodieMob was SUPER DOPE!! Thanks for bringing back a HISTORIC spot for the Cincy scene to rock at again! Salute TOP CATS !

Cancelled an event and lied about the reason publicly. Forty performers and the event planner had to find another venue at the last minute. They dont deserve one star. Dont give them your money.

It was overcrowded, and they over sold their tickets. would not go again, and the DJ changed songs every 30 seconds. No transitions and no BPM matching. Very amateur.

Just go and get them positive vibes, network and build on the hip hop scene thats present.

Not a bad place fair priced drinks.

One of least favorite night clubs.

Great venue, good to see it open again.

Loved super Bob

Good atmosphere but the music was lackluster and they didnt take suggestions

Love the bartenders and good music

Are y’all bored, or do you really just hate musicians this much?

Great show, fairly priced drinks.

Awesome venue!

They. Red to get ther act together. If you say Doors open at 6:00, show starts at 7:00 your patrons shouldnt be waiting in the cold for you to open at 7:10.

Great place to see shows!

They are consistently bad at serving crowds. Long waits for drinks, poorly staffed and bathrooms are gross.

Amazing place to hang out

Nice place to go see concerts however the management there is very rude

Glad this place is back on the music map in Cincinnati... We really needed a venue of its size.

Great place for live music!

Great atmosphere

Fun place good music

Hecka nice

Awesome bartenders, great music

Had a great time

Lots of fun.

You have to be int the mood to stand around and drink if your looking for food or to sit and hang out just you and one other person probably not your place to be

Trash venue, terrible owners

LESSTHANJAKE!!

Awesome venue

Killer music from local to national acts.

Just don’t.

Great

Home of the pride

Fun atmosphere

Its a bar.

The spot

Good music

Fun spot!

Like a phoenix from the ashes.