The Muse

The Muse

Something beautiful, something to eat, someone to talk to.

A cocktail bar at 12th & Walnut, Over-the-Rhine, Cincinnati.

Not open yet, but close enough to start counting.

  1. The bar opens first
  2. A delicatessen follows
  3. Twenty-eight rooms are planned upstairs
Keep me posted Directions

Two glasses, one traySeptember 2026

an evening at The Muse
Chartreuse boots and tights on a parquet floor, with a pink cocktail set down beside them on the floor
Dressed for a TuesdaySeptember 2026
I · Getting ready

An ordinary evening is a fine reason to dress up.

There is no dress code. We just hope you’ll take the hint.

the first glass
A pink sour with a thick white foam in a coupe, seen from above on a dark marbled table, beside caviar canapes and a silver bowl of split figs
Still life with a sourSeptember 2026
A hand lowers a skewer of basil, tomato and cheese onto a pale green cocktail in a coupe, on a slab of marble with a bowl of figs
A garnish, by handSeptember 2026
II · The first glass

A classic doesn’t need an introduction.

Made the way it’s supposed to be, plus a few we couldn’t help updating.

The list starts with the classics and wanders off toward Spain, Italy and Germany. Some of it is started days ahead, as infusions.

The opening list arrives with the doors.

look up
III · Above the bar

Look up.

Painted in place by Alex Frank, over nearly a year.

Fresco · Alex Frank
the table
The shared table from above: a brass candelabra, a tall glass topped with foam, crackers, a tray of cheese and ham, grapes and figs
The table, from aboveSeptember 2026
A hand lifts a glass of white wine over a candlelit table of trays, figs and crackers
A glass of something whiteSeptember 2026
IV · The table

Small things, eaten standing up.

Food for one hand, so the other can stay on your glass.

A short list of things to pass around, meant to grow. More arrives when the delicatessen opens next door.

company
Two hands touch a pink coupe and an amber cocktail together against a pale plaster wall worked with gold leaf
Two glasses, against the wallSeptember 2026
A hand in a blue cuff sets down an amber cocktail beside a lit candle and a coupe on a tiled table
By candlelightSeptember 2026
V · Company

Beauty is more interesting with company.

Bring someone. Or take one of the twenty-two seats at the bar and see who turns up.

the walls
VI · The walls

Room to daydream.

The pictures on the walls have other plans. Take your time; that’s rather the point.

A woman floats above a blue night landscape, reaching toward a small satellite, painted like a Romantic nocturne
Two women meet beside transparent modern chairs on an old garden terrace, painted like a Venetian pastoral
A woman in black with a white lace collar holds a space helmet under her arm, painted like a Dutch portrait
Three friends picnic beside a river at sunset beneath a vast radio telescope, painted like a Claudean landscape
Three women on a gold ground turn a mechanism of ribbons and spheres that moves the sky
A woman at a candlelit table keeps a place set for a guest nobody else can see, painted in heavy gold and living darks
Classical statues climb down from their pedestals to join the people admiring them
A long table laid across a valley, bridging a gap between two hillside towns

later
VII · Later

Stay later than you planned.

The Germania Building has stood on this corner since 1877. After a while we realized we had fallen in love with her, and built the room we wanted a drink in.

She’s above the door. Look up on your way in.

The corner, after rain12th & Walnut · 2026

in order
VIII · In order

First, the bar.

  1. I
    Opening first

    The cocktail bar

    Classics, small plates, and twenty-two seats at the bar. Opening date to be announced.

  2. II
    To follow

    A delicatessen

    Next door, a few months after the bar, with more for the table and more for the bar.

  3. III
    Planned upstairs

    Twenty-eight rooms

    About a year after that, on the floors above the bar. The hotel entrance will be at 33 E 12th Street.

Hours The moment we know them, so will you.

Now hiring

The bar comes first, and so do the people who open it.

Join the opening team
CENTRAL PKWY · the old canal ELM ST RACE ST VINE ST WALNUT ST MAIN ST E 14TH LIBERTY ST E 12TH THE MUSE 12th & Walnut Over-the-Rhine CINCINNATI · OHIO N 0 ¼ mi
IX · 12th & Walnut, Over-the-Rhine

Meet us at the corner.

In order The bar opens firstA delicatessen followsTwenty-eight rooms are planned upstairs
Where
1127 Walnut St, Cincinnati OH 45202
At the corner of 12th & Walnut, Over-the-Rhine. Open in Google Maps
Hours
The moment we know them, so will you.
Opening
We’ll share the opening date here, and by email, the moment it is set.

Follow @themuse.hotel The Muse
Our other places Somerhaus Somerset
Press Press & enquiries Now hiring
The bar opens first. The delicatessen and the rooms come later.