Quick Visit to Ozo Cafe

As part of my sabbatical this summer, I set out to do as many Cincinnati things as I could with my 2 kids.  As I was flipping through the “Adventures around Cincinnati” book, I had marked “Ozo Play Cafe” as one of the places to visit.  I particularly liked their philosophy of a place where the kids could safely play and the parents could socialize and have a cup of coffee.  I invited my friend Lilah and her young baby – but due to our scheduling and Ozo having weird hours (they close at 1pm), we only just visited.

The place was smaller than I thought and I was worried that Alan would be bored.  Their information says that it is a 6 year and younger crowd but I do believe it should be a 3 year and younger crowd.  Their toys were mostly wood and of good quality and they had a small mat and play area for the 12 months and younger.

You take your shoes off when you come in, which I always find uncomfortable, but I did appreciate the thought that the floor was probably cleaner because of it.  Since they had only drip coffee, I ended up with a tea and waited, while looking through some free fashions magazines, for Lilah to arrive.  They have 2-3 seating areas (tables, sofas etc) and they are well appointed with up to date magazines that ranged from Parents to InStyle.

We stayed for a little over an hour and that was enough for Alan (he got bored halfway through).

I noticed that the person behind the counter (the owner?) had a baby and at some point started bottle feeding him.  That generated some discussion between Lilah and I on the brilliance of the Ozo concept.  They rented a “smallish” and manageable area, bought some high quality toys and then open only 9-1pm.  Hopefully it’s financially feasible for them because this would be a great find for people with small kids especially during the summer!

As for us, I think one time was enough given that Alan seemed too old for the toys, but I appreciated having a place to sit and talk to my friend while he played.