Lincoln Social Rooftop

Lincoln Social Rooftop occupies the ninth floor at 711 North High Street, at the northern end of the Short North, and is one of Cameron Mitchell Restaurants' bar-led rooms rather than a dining concept. The space has a retractable roof and a fire pit, which is what keeps it viable through an Ohio winter, and it is restricted to guests 21 and over. The kitchen closes an hour before the bar, and the room runs late on Fridays and Saturdays.

The drinks list is unusually well structured for a rooftop. It is banded by intent rather than by spirit: Bold & Boozy at the top end, Easy Drinking beneath it, a genuine Sessions: Low ABV section for guests who want one drink rather than none, a Classics list, and — set out with the same weight as the others — a section headed Spiritless. That section carries eight entries and reads like a cocktail list rather than a soft-drink afterthought. Mean & Green is a savoury build of serrano pepper, celery, agave, cilantro and lime juice at $12. No Secrets, at $15, layers Töst sparkling tea with Giffard aperitif and lemon, and is priced within a few dollars of the low-ABV cocktails. Espresso & Tonic pairs espresso concentrate with cherry and orange over a Fever-Tree topper, and a Blueberry Iced Tea uses a blueberry earl grey infusion with lemon. Behind the built drinks sit bottles: Töst sparkling tea on its own, Mionetto alcohol-removed sparkling wine at $13 a glass or $52 a bottle, and two non-alcoholic beers — Best Day Brewing's Electro Lime out of Northern California and Good Liar's Midwest IPA, which is brewed in Columbus itself. The presence of a full-bottle sparkling option and a local NA beer, rather than a single token can, is what puts this above most hotel and rooftop lists in the city.