First Financial Center

Earlier this week, our catering team partners at Levy Restaurants braved the 95° weather for their volunteer day for Keep Cincinnati Beautiful! Thank you for cleaning around the Firefighter's Memorial on 6th St and Central Ave

Getting hungry after your event at FFC? Scroll to learn more about some of our favorites that are within two blocks of us!

Flight Club | 125 W 5th St
In the heart of the Convention District, Flight Club USA brings food, craft cocktails, stunning spaces, and Social Darts®️- a multiplayer, tech-enabled experience designed to bring people together.

Maplewood Kitchen & Bar | 525 Race St
Get California café-style dining without the travel at Maplewood Kitchen and Bar ! The gourmet food will make you believe you are sitting on a beach off the western coast. This café offers a beautiful, open atmosphere, while servicing you locally sourced and fresh ingredients. Open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!

Mita’s Bar de Tapas | 501 Race St
A beautiful 130 seat restaurant, located on the ground floor of the 84.51 building. Mita's offers a lively take on Spanish and Latin-inspired dining. The menu features a wide range of small plates designed for sharing paired with craft cocktails, and a curated wine list. By Jose Salazar, a James Beard Award-nominated chef, Mita’s has been recognized among USA Today’s Top 25 Restaurants of 2026 and named a top 10 restaurant in Cincinnati.

Salazar | 101 W 5th St
From Chef Jose Salazar, Salazar is a cornerstone of downtown dining known for seasonal menus, thoughtful technique, and a warm, welcoming atmosphere. The kitchen highlights fresh, high-quality ingredients and dishes that feel refined, yet approachable. In addition to the main dining room and bar, Salazar features multiple private dining spaces that can accommodate everything from intimate dinners to large group gatherings with the ability to host events up to 50 guests.

Elm Street Plaza Pavilion Bar | 150 W 5th St
Elm Street Plaza’s Pavilion Bar brings everything you love about happy hour to an open-air urban oasis, right outside our front doors! The full-service bar offers something for everyone - from cold sodas and hot coffee to robust wines and your favorite local beers - all of which pair perfectly with any of Elm Street Plaza’s free community events throughout the year.

Vintage on Race | 500 Race St
A mix of the luxury of an athletics club and the warmth of a family bar, is a balance of warmth and vibrancy for a sports bar and lounge. Its cuisine is a mix of Classic American Fare with the addition of some unique, eclectic, and healthy food options, along with upscale cocktails.

Prim | 70 W 5th St
Cincinnati’s newest destination for a night out; the place you start or the reason you stay out! is reimagining living room entertainment where no two nights are the same. Vinyl DJ sets, live performances, cocktails done right.

The Davidson | 501 Vine St
A classic American brasserie located in the heart of the Queen City. Inspired by the iconic timelessness of the Tyler Davidson Fountain, serves an à la carte menu with updated takes on French, Italian, and American classics.

Marigold | 60 W 5th St
By Crown Restaurant Group, adds a fresh layer of intrigue and elegance to a collection of already known for its distinctive dining experiences. This elevated English-style public house invites those with a taste for discovery to explore a soulful fusion of British and Indian cuisines.

bb.q Chicken | 150 W 4th St
The Korean fried chicken served at is the crispy, juicy, and tender combo you’ve been craving. Every dish is the result of both longstanding Korean tradition and modern research and development.

Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse | 505 Vine St
Jeff Ruby’s has been a Cincinnati landmark for more than twenty years. They are continuing this legacy at their new home just a few blocks away, adjacent to Fountain Square in downtown Cincinnati. The new location is the Ruby family’s largest and most luxurious steakhouse yet. With an interior design aesthetic featuring an updated homage to classic Art Deco opulence, you will feel transported to another place and time without having ever left town.

For Dolly 💕🦋

Did you know that there are 19 pieces of art scattered throughout FFC? Swipe to take a tour!

You can learn more about each piece on our website too: https://thefirstfinancialcenter.com/venue-info/artwork/ Thank you to ArtWorks Cincinnati (1001 Colors), Black Art Speaks, and Art Academy of Cincinnati for your wonderful partnerships!

“Space Walk” by Charley Harper (1970) | Inspired by Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon, Harper was commissioned to create a twin mosaics for the opening of Cincinnati’s convention center. It was covered by drywall in 1987 and not uncovered until our 2014 renovation.

“Windbourne” by Emily Moores | Made entirely of everyday materials like paper, fabric, and plastic, Moores explores touch as a conduit of joy.

“Rosette Colored Glasses” by Terence Hammonds | You can’t miss the vibrant pink wall on walking down our concourse! Comprised of over 100 screen-printed ceramic tiles that honor Rookwood Pottery’s legacy, each tile features a portrait of a local Cincinnatian.

“The Weight of Fruit” by Erika NJ Allen | Reflecting on the histories of the banana industry, Allen explores how beauty, consumption, and labor converge in landscapes heavy with unseen weight.

“Sisters” by Sarah Stolar | This painting captures the tension between tenderness and survival, speaking to the resilience of sisterhood in a world that can be both dangerous and unforgiving.

“I See Myself in You” by Jenny Roesel Ustick | Originally shown in Ah-Nab-Awen Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan for ArtPrize 2014, these life sized mirror figures of different shape, size, and physicality invite you to consider your own reflection as seen through the shape of someone else. The piece was later shown in the Contemporary Arts Museum from 2018-2021.

“Tandem Threads” by Katie Brenner Wolf | Exploring the tension and release inherent in the multiple identities we hold, these intertwined images show how movement and materials become threads that respond, unravel, and reconfigure over time.

“The Oak Lightning Revival” by Scottie Bellissemo | This sculpture is a creation that was made out of a friend’s love for a tree in his backyard. The piece was Bellissemo’s way of giving a tree a second life after being struck by lightning.

“Sweet Sounds of ‘the Nati’” by Adoria Mayberry | As you experience all Cincinnati has to offer, close your eyes and listen closely to hear the beauty of our city. Visually, this mural depicts sounds from some of the iconic areas captured throughout the Cincinnati landscape.

“Drawing Us Together” by Jenny Roesel Ustick | This mural celebrates the exceptional history of a city that uplifts and treasures the arts and those who dedicate their lives to them.

Industrial Mosaic Murals by Winold Reiss | Art deco artist Winold Reiss created nine murals depicting Cincinnati’s industrial history in 1931/1932. The murals were moved from Union Terminal to Cincinnati Northern Kentucky International Airport in 1974. When CVG demolished its unused terminals in 2016, the murals were relocated to the exterior of our building, along Central Avenue. Procter & Gamble, American Laundry, Cincinnati Milling, and U.S. Playing Card are among the companies featured in the murals, with each measuring 20’x20’ and weighing eight tons.

“Kaleidoscope” by Sandra Gross and Leah Busch | In partnership with 1001 Colors and Brazee Glass Design, this glass installation of butterflies was relocated to the western side of our building in our latest renovation. Its inspiration came from the convention center itself - a space where people from all over the world and region gather together to acquire knowledge, exchange information, and return home with a new perspective.

“Children Building the City” by Angevin Brown | In partnership with Black Art Speaks, this mural merges Cincinnati’s rich history with the promise of its future, illustrating how generations shape and construct its legacy.

“SkyBundle: A Codex Transmitter” by Rebecca Nava Soto | Through embossed metal and enamel, this piece weaves together references to neural networks, root systems, and circuitry - visual metaphors for the city continual growth.

“Wall of Queens” by James Pate | In 2018, 1001 Colors partnered with Pate to create 288 individual scratchboard panels to depict seven large-scale portraits of proud women of color representing the “Seven Hills” of Cincinnati.

“Welcome to Cincinnati” by Scott Filipiak | Created from Filipiak’s own drove photos, printed postcards, and custom-built wood panels. It includes NFC chips hidden in the paint, adding a layer of interactivity.

“Currents in Motion” by Adrienne Gaither | In partnership with 1001 Colors and Tieton Mosaic, this massive mosaic reflects on the transformative nature of change and how life can move sharply in many directions at once while ultimately arriving at a larger understanding.

“Confluence” by Jessica Wolf | 11,000 paper circles were assembled together to create this work, which illustrates the word “confluence”, a place of junction, a coming together, a river. The flow of the piece mimics the undulating curves of the Ohio River while every paper piece represents the many lives and stories of the people of Cincinnati over multiple generations.

“Resonance” by Sheridan Davenport and Jordan Harris | In partnership with Black Art Speaks, Davenport and Harris created a 3D wood-carved wall mounted sculpture that converges the historic architecture of Music Hall with the history of Cincinnati’s music. The sculpture is interactive, allowing visitors to scan a QR code to play a curated playlist of songs reflecting Cincinnati’s musical evolution. Open the drawers to find records and look for the many hidden radios and momentos.

The Cincinnati team is on the road again; this time, in Tampa for Connect Marketplace! Stop by booth 413 to meet the team and learn more about why Cincinnati has $2 Billion Reasons for hosting your next event!

One Water Ohio’s Technical Conference & Expo has officially kicked off! Welcome to over 2,000 water and wastewater professionals 💧💪

The Cincinnati team is in Indianapolis for the ASAE Annual Meeting! Stop by booth 747 to meet the team and pick up your Cincy custom tshirt 👕👀 It’s been great meeting everyone so far!