Cincinnati's curfew didn't stop Tristate residents from going out Friday night - although some of them had to shift plans from restaurants and nightspots in the Queen City.

        “We were thinking about Redfish, but we knew that we were not going downtown,” Tricia Schroeder said.

        Ms. Schroeder and her husband, Trevor, live in Fort Thomas, so they decided to stay in Kentucky and ended up dining at Chez Nora in Covington. Workers at Chez Nora said the restaurant was unusually busy for a Good Friday.

        Workers at the original Montgomery Inn in Montgomery said it probably picked up some reservations because of the curfew. (The Montgomery Inn at the Boathouse on the Cincinnati riverfront closed at 2:30 p.m.)

        Last-minute guests included Stacy Meyer, 22, of Oakley, who had made reservations two months ago at Jump Cafe on Main Street in Over-the-Rhine. The graduate student at the University of Cincinnati and her sister — Grandy, 21, a UC junior who lives in Clifton — were taking out their father, Dan, for his 50th birthday.

        “This was something we were looking forward to. The riots really disrupted our plans. I mean, I can't even go home after dinner because of the curfew. I'm going to have to spend the night at my father's in Sharonville,” Stacy Meyer said.

        One of the few bars open at 6 p.m. in downtown Cincinnati was in The Albee restaurant at the Westin Hotel. The restaurant, which overlooks Fountain Square, had 30 people — off about two-thirds from a normal Friday.

        “It has inconvenienced our guests a lot,” bartender Carl Ballachino said.

        “These guys,” he said, motioning to some men at the bar, “are visiting from New York and wondering what's going on with this ...”

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