Above the Bar-b-q

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Photographed a renovated apartment in the West End. The sign for Mom Bell’s Kitchen Bar-b-q still hangs on the side of the building. I wonder how long it’s been gone. A quick search doesn’t reveal much, sadly. A local historian wrote a little piece about it on his website but didn’t uncover anything about Mom Bell.

One thing I do know is a sign was once painted above its picture windows advertising a menu item called Tim Austin Champ’s Steak Burger. You can see it on Google Streetview if you look closely. Austin was a boxer from Cincinnati who won several championships throughout the 90s before retiring in the 2000s. I don’t follow boxing, but he seems to have been a pretty big deal.

I doubt I'll ever know the story behind this place without speaking to neighbors or anyone old enough to remember the West End in the 90s. Hopefully I meet someone one day who does.

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