Home Court Tavern, the recently shuttered East End bar dedicated to elevated barbecue, will soon reopen inside the former Allyn’s Eclectic Cuisine space in Columbia Tusculum.
Owner Chris Rose told The Enquirer that he is currently working on renovations and expects to open in May or late June of 2026.
Home Court Tavern was formerly known as Sinners & Saints until it was rebranded in 2024. Rose said he changed the name because too many people thought it was a biker bar. Rose faced several challenges at the former location at 2062 Riverside Drive, including frequent road closures as well the closure of the Daniel Carter Beard Bridge after it was set on fire in 2024.
The restaurant will undergo yet another name change when it reopens, this time to Sinners & Saints at Courtside. Rose hopes the new location will be more visible to the thousands of people who travel on Columbia Parkway every day.
The kitchen will still be helmed by chef Pam Griffith, a former drag racer who spent time in the kitchens of Jeff Ruby’s and the Lytle Hotel. Griffith’s menu will include several items from the original menu, which included garlic naan street tacos with pulled pork, brisket stew and a loaded baked potato with pulled pork or brisket. The new menu will also feature flatbread pizzas, stromboli, salads and desserts.
A back room formerly used as a wine shop at Allyn’s will house a retail area for Rose’s company, Artsman, which takes old NBA and NCAA basketball courts and turns them into sports memorabilia. Inside the restaurant, you will be able to dine at tables repurposed from championship basketball courts, including the court where LeBron James led the Cleveland Cavaliers to the NBA championship in 2016.
In 2024, Allyn’s Eclectic Cafe closed after 33 years when its founder and namesake Allyn Raifstanger sold it to Sam Dobrozsi, who also owns Fireside Pizza, in Walnut Hills. Dobrozsi kept the restauraurant open for about a year before closing it permanently in 2025. “I don’t have the ability to run two restaurants the way I want to,” Dobrozsi told me at the time. “I am just completely overwhelmed.”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Former Allyn’s space to be home of new (but familiar) restaurant
Reporting by Keith Pandolfi, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
