D.I.Thai

If downtown Cincinnati had a spice level, it just got turned up to “hot plate.”

Cha Bar, 823 Main St, offers a new kind of dining experience nestled between office towers and streetcar tracks. This immersive Northern Thai eatery that isn't just feeding downtown—it’s waking it up.

Cha Bar’s menu includes well-executed Thai classics, but digs deeper, celebrating the bold, fragrant flavors of Northern Thailand, a culinary region often overlooked in the Western cooking. That means dishes like green curry grilled beef and beef noodle soup—comforting and intensely flavorful—made by chefs who know these dishes not from cookbooks but from lived experience.

The brains and heart of Cha Bar are Sirakarn Klinhom and Unchasa Thampiyachai, two restaurateurs with serious Thai food bona fides. Klinhom has roots at Cincinnati’s Teak and Khun Ying Thai, while Thampiyachai has helmed kitchens at Nittha Siam Kitchen and Pin Toh Asian. They know what’s been missing from Cincinnati’s food scene, and they brought it downtown.

But Cha Bar doesn’t limit the cooking to the kitchen – it lets you get involves in the process. With interactive hot plate dining, you can cook at the table. Think Korean BBQ meets Thai street market . Whether you’re searing your own meat or stirring a sizzling stir-fry with friends, the hot plate is more than a gimmick—it’s a bridge between diner and dish, an invitation to slow down, connect, and savor.

The menu doesn’t just reach out to lunchtime regulars—it lures early risers with offerings like a Thai omelet or an egg drop sandwich with bacon and sausage. It’s a bold move, and one that’s already catching on.

Currently open Monday through Saturday until 6 p.m., the restaurant is looking toward expanding its hours after securing its liquor license.

In a city with no shortage of restaurants vying for attention, Cha Bar Bistro stands out by standing firmly in its identity—a fresh, fiery, full-sensory experience with a Northern Thai backbone and Cincinnati soul. It’s not just a place to eat. It’s a place to participate.

And if you haven’t cooked your lunch over a tabletop burner yet, maybe it’s time you did.