Miracle At Overlook Brought Out My Inner Child…

Written By: The Gnarly Gnome
Photography By: The Gnarly Gnome

12/13/2025

There have been some years, where Christmas comes and then goes before I’m left in the “after-holiday dust” with a feeling of disappointment. It just isn’t… I don’t know… magical like I remember Christmas being like when I was a kid. Some of those years I’m left sitting a haze of post holiday sadness that doesn’t leave until the first warmth of spring shakes me out of the funk.

That’s why places like Overlook Lodge exist, I think. Their holiday pop-up called Miracle quickly reminds me that there are still places you can go as an adult that will lift you right into a snowy showcase of holiday happiness that will make you feel like a kid again.

Full disclosure: I was invited to enjoy the Miracle at Overlook experience by the team at Gorilla Cinema. They didn’t ask me to write about it, they didn’t ask me to share my experience online… they asked for nothing, and it certainly didn’t change my experience or my feelings about it.

What Is Miracle

There are a handful of bars here in Cincinnati that go all out in their holiday decorating. They do a fantastic job with it. There are even some places that go as far out with it that they have a full-on holiday pop-up event during the season. They’re even better.

Then, there’s Miracle at Overlook.

Miracle is a whole different type of holiday ballgame. They not only decorate the space WAY over the top, they not only have a fun immersive pop-up… these happy little boozy elves throw a whole drink and show sort of experience. It’s an action packed hour and a half-ish full of Christmas music, clips from your favorite Christmas music… it’s epic.

The Miracle Lounge

I wasn’t exactly sure what I was walking into when I got to Pleasant Ridge, and I was a little earlier than my reservation (you book your time slot for Miracle ahead of time, unlike a lot of other local holiday bar experiences). Luckily for me I was early enough to knock back a drink beforehand.

Miracle has transformed the former Lonely Pine space next door into what they’ve called the ‘Miracle Lounge’. This heavily decorated bar space is perfect if you want to experience a little bit of what Miracle is like, without reservations, and without the full immersive show. They have a smaller cocktail menu, with a bunch of the same drinks available.

This space was what I think of when I think of what most great holiday themed bars are like. It’s actually fantastic all on its own. Great cocktails off of a curated, thematic menu, wonderful decorations… it’s warm, cozy, and full of holiday spirit.

I ordered a drink called ‘Miracle Mouse’ to pass the time before I needed to head next door. It paired up Bourbon with Sweet Vermouth, “Pamplemousse Liqueur” (Pamplemousse is a French word for grapefruit, I think… I know that the Pamplemousse Liqueur is definitely grapefruit, so it would make sense) – vanilla Liqueur, Strawberry, Grapefruit, and something terrifyingly called orange acid.

No shocker here, but it was delicious, it was boozy, but at the same time crisp and refreshing. I didn’t get as much time to sit and ponder the cocktail as I would have liked, because I had a bigger mission at hand: I needed to head back to Overlook.

Miracle At Overlook

A countdown is on every screen around the bar with digitally mapped screens added all around the space, the pre-show warmup for Miracle is like New Year’s Eve finally let Christmas in on a proper anticipation building secret. I was led to my seat where a tasty little welcome shot was waiting.

As the countdown hit 0, my first drink choice hit in front of me, perfectly timed. I sipped my way through the most tiki-like drink they had available, the ‘Yippee Ki Yay Mother F^#%@$r!’. As a fan of all things rum, and all things Die Hard, this choice was easy. Three kinds of rum, Ube and Coconut Orgeat, and acid adjusted pineapple juice. That’s a holly jolly heck yeah from me.

While you sit and sip on your drinks the entire bar is awash in dancing snowflake lights, disco balls and everywhere you look decorations that will take you into a different universe. It’s like stepping back into every childhood memory that you’ve been holding deep in the bottom of your brain. They all flood happily back to the surface, over and over.

Drink two was a tough choice for me, I’m always indecisive on these things. The Koala LaLaLa won me over with its Tequila, though. This one is a balance of Blanco Tequila, Dry Vermouth, Apple Liqueur along with a brilliant mix of Tamarind, Lemon, and Eucalyptus bitters topped with Soda and a mint garnish. It’s somehow summery and wintery all at the same time, nice and refreshing but deeply layered with different flavors at the same time.

My Takeaway

As I was laying in bed that evening afterwards I was trying to put all my thoughts about this in order. Why do I love Christmas themed bars so much, and why did Overlook hit in such a deeper way for me?

I miss how special Christmas felt when I was a kid. I actually don’t know if Christmas itself was any different, or if through my own eyes as a child it just seemed like it… but when I remember the holiday I remember every store being decorated, the bank, the post office, restaurants, doctors offices… every place was awash in a thick coating of holiday spirit.

As an adult that feels to be lost in most places. When I belly up to a bar that has a thick coating of lights, garland, twinkle and glow… It transports me back, and it feels wonderful.

It makes me hope that I’m building a world for my kids that feels the way Miracle at Overlook makes me feel. It makes me enjoy the holidays no less than 96.5% more than I would otherwise, and I understand why so many people that I’ve talked to have made Miracle part of their holiday traditions for the last ten years.

I’ll be back.