You just got out of class for the today, 2 or 3 pm if you’re lucky, maybe 5 or 6 pm if you had a lab or forgot to register for classes until the week before the semester started. You just are not doing homework right now. What can you do? Here are some cheap places to go, close to campus, and you could easily spend 15 minutes, or a few hours procrastinating that assignment.
1)Queen City Comic and Card
6101 Montgomery Rd Cincinnati, OH 45213
Store Hours:
Weekdays 11am-7pm
Closed Tuesday
Saturday 11am-6pm
Sunday 12pm-5pm
513.351.5674
This location is easy to get to, and not what you might expect. You can buy all the newest comics from both big name or small-time comic book companies. They also sell a lot of older and collectible editions, plus graphic novels, special editions, and comic themed regular books. If the comics aren’t your thing then maybe you want cards. Aside from comic themed cards they have baseball and professional sports themed trading cards, Magic The Gathering cards, Pokémon cards and regular playing cards with every theme imaginable. They also sell all the card protectors and accessories you could ever need. Into tabletop gaming? Heroclix, gaming dice, and other assorted gaming needs are sold here. Something for everyone!
I hear your skepticism through my laptop. No, this place is not run by some high school reject loser type. No, there isn’t borderline comic book porn splashed on the walls, and yes, the entire place is very clean.
Only 13 minutes away from campus, and it closes at 7 most days, so maybe hit this spot right after class.
2) Everybody’s records & CDS
6106 Montgomery Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45213
(513) 531-4500
This one has the bonus of being a Cincinnati tradition! This summer they celebrated their 40th anniversary of opening the store!
If downloaded music just isn’t your thing, come here. Only 15 minutes from campus by car, they close at 9 pm every day except Sunday (closes at 6) and has all your retro music needs. Vinyl records, CDs, turntables, cassette tapes, t shirts, posters and more. I hear you again, yes, I know college students are poor, but this place is not expensive, the vinyl discs start used at $0.99. They offer music and merch of a huge variety of genre, from country to rock, reggae, rap, folk, classics, and modern music. There are also special events, special release merchandise and live music from local bands, but check their website for dates and times.
3) French Park
3012 Section Rd.
Cincinnati, OH 45237
Open 6am – 10 pm
If you are more the type who wants to get away from it all then French Park is perfect for you! Paint, draw, or shoot photography scenes all over the beautiful landscape, or walk the miles of hiking trails and enjoy the picnic shelters and playgrounds. All the fun of the great outdoors, and you can truly feel like you left the city. It’s only 16 minutes from campus by car! Still not convinced? Check the Cincy parks website, there are special events throughout the year held at the park.
4) Plaza Art
8118 Montgomery Road Cincinnati, OH 45236
Phone: 513-793-5300
Mon-Fri: 9:00am-7:00pm
Sat: 9:00am-6:00pm
Sun: 12:00pm-5:00pm
Plaza Art is a great place to go if you are an artist of any kind. It isn’t terribly expensive, and it is a small store with incredibly friendly staff (they have a couple other locations and an online store also) but they have everything from supplies for drawing, to spray paints, watercolor, acrylic, and oil painting, calligraphy, colored pencils, inks, and more. They have a pretty sweet rewards program, so you can save money if you’re a regular spender, and they have all kinds of art classes and workshops to attend. Just be warned these do cost money and might be slightly out of budget for a college student. They are several week courses, and the cost of the materials is included in the registration fee, so it isn’t a bad deal, just don’t use it to completely ignore that assignment that started this procrastination fest.
BONUS: it is just a few minutes away from the Kenwood mall, so there are all sorts of stores and restaurants to go to afterwards.
5) Quatman Café
Monday-Wednesday: 11:00 AM – 9:00 PM
Thursday-Saturday 11:00 AM – 10:00 PM
Sunday: Closed
513-731-4370
Considered one of the best burgers in Cincinnati and Cincinnati Magazine, The Cincinnati Enquirer, CityBeat and other local publications, it’s safe to say that it had to show up sooner or later on the list. They are proud to offer simple food, sandwiches, burgers, soups, and chili, with a pretty small amount of variety. But they make up for that in the quality of the food, and the service. It really is one of the best places to get a burger. They have two locations, Mason and Norwood. The Norwood address is 2434 Quatman Ave. Norwood, Ohio 45212, and the Mason address is 224 W Main St. Mason OH, 45040.
