The Ohio Club

The Ohio Club is a bar and restaurant at 336 Central Avenue, across from Bathhouse Row in downtown Hot Springs. It opened in 1905 as a bar and casino, and it still pairs meals and drinks with live music. I’d stop for a sit-down meal if you want a break from the bathhouses and one of the old downtown places with a story behind it.

The menu lists burgers, sandwiches and regional draft beers. The Reuben comes with house-brined corned beef on marble rye; the Bugsy adds pastrami. I’d choose the Reuben for the classic version, or the Bugsy if you want the meatier sandwich. Visitors often call out the burgers and sandwiches, though service can be uneven.

The club takes its name from the original owners’ birthplace. Behind the bar is a carved mahogany mantel made from one piece of wood in the late 1800s. It reached the club in 1911 after a trip by river barge from Covington, Kentucky, to Memphis, then by train to Malvern, Arkansas, and finally a two-day horse-and-buggy ride.

The Ohio Club kept its gambling business going after Arkansas passed anti-gambling laws in 1913. During Prohibition it used the name Ohio Cigar Store; its casino and sports book operations ended in 1967. Its entertainment history includes Al Jolson in 1915, Mae West in the 1930s, and blues and jazz musicians through the 1960s.

The curved storefront, arched upper windows and line of lights are the details to notice outside. From across Central Avenue, frame the rounded corner with some of the facade around it; a straight-on crop of the sign misses the building’s shape.