By Golly’s

714 Lila Ave, Milford Ohio

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513-284-4444


I love neighborhood bars, which is exactly what By Golly’s is. The food isn’t the best in town, the drinks aren’t anything crazy, they don’t have some sort of insane view that you just have to tell all your friends about, and yet – it’s one of those places you find yourself going to over, and over.

It’s got that thing that you can’t really describe.

The History Of The Place

By Golly’s has been around as long back as I can remember. I spent quite a bit of time, actually in Milford as a kid – it’s where I grew up and went to elementary school. From what I can dig up, the bar opened in the early 80s and just kept rolling along as a little neighborhood joint until 2007 when a fire ripped through the building on Thanksgiving Day.

I’m not going to pretend that something like that is a good thing – but with the fire came renovations and much-needed updates to the space.

In 2022 they remodeled their patio space which briefly had an ice cream shop on it into what they call the 1796 Saloon. This cigar patio/outdoor bar is a really, really cool and unique addition to the bar.

What To Expect From A Visit To By Golly’s

Depending on the night you visit, there are a lot of different experiences that you might be in for with this bar. The very nature of a neighborhood joint like this means that there are a lot of interesting personalities that might change what the place is like from night to night.

That isn’t a bad thing, though! Every time that I’ve stopped in I’ve had great service and everyone has been super-friendly (customers as well as bartenders and servers) that goes a LONG way to making a bar a place that I want to visit.

The dining room is fairly good sized but can get a little crowded. A big garage door on the front of the building opens up and makes it feel a lot bigger than it is, though, and there’s a big space downstairs that allows for overflow or space for private parties, etc.

Then there’s that 1796 Saloon that I mentioned earlier – it’s one of my new favorite spots to just hang out with a beer and a cigar in the summertime. I’d love to see them really start to focus heavier on this and get the word out about it!

2 thoughts on “By Golly’s: It’s A Hidden Gem, By Golly!”

  1. It goes back even farther it was located down the street near Robbie Ridge. It was an old A frame if I remember correctly.

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