The Fairway Room Golf & Lounge

The Story

Indoor golf is having a moment, and most of the places chasing it are betting that if you build the bays, the food can be whatever. The Fairway Room is a father-and-son operation that opened in 2025 in Union Promenade, and the logo says ESTD 2025 right on it. That matters, because a lot of what I'm about to say is about a place still figuring out what it is.

The Vibe

The simulator bays are the product. Black curtain enclosures, turf, projectors. If you came to hit balls, you'll hit balls. They advertise over 2,000 courses, and the systems switch over to other games for anyone who doesn't want to play golf or just wants to try something different.

My read is that the bays are set up for a good time more than a good swing. Nobody around us on this particular Friday afternoon looked like they'd come to work on anything, and I didn't get enough time with the systems to judge their data or accuracy. I'll take a closer look next time.

The room around the bays is where The Fairway Room is trying to do too much. Golden Tee, emerald velvet chairs with gold legs, white cafe tables. A ceiling strung with UK, Bengals, USA, and beer banners. A LET'S PAR-TEE neon over the bar. A jukebox. Dart boards. A popcorn machine. A shelf of board games with Jenga and Scrabble on it. Two pool tables. On our way out it looked like they were setting up for karaoke.

The vibe is busy with all that going on. It feels like a golf lounge, a sports bar, and a party rental space at the same time. That's not bad. It just is what it is.

The Food

We rolled in on a Friday late in the afternoon after a round. Neither of us was overly hungry, but we were eager to check the place out and grab some appetizers. We eat a lot of the same things in this type of establishment, chicken wings and egg rolls, so there's a substantial baseline.

The Southwest chicken egg rolls came out cut into six pieces with a small cup of chipotle ranch. Average at best. The wrapper was well fried and held up, but there wasn't much going on inside, and the dip portion was on the smaller side.

The boneless wings, called Pin High Bites, were the low point. Bland, and mostly breading. You can see it in the pieces: thick craggy coating with not much chicken underneath.

The bone-in wings were genuinely better. They do them the way I like wings, dry rubbed with the sauces on the side. The rub is very tasty and the wings came out hot and quite juicy. The kitchen nailed these. We tried spicy garlic and sweet chili with ranch for dipping, and the sauces were all fine, though the rub didn't really need them.

A table near us had one of the sixteen-inch pizzas and it looked very good, which is what I'd order on a return trip. Same goes for the burgers, which run $14 to $16 and are the part of the menu that seems most likely to work.

Service

This is the part I can't write around. I went to the bar four times to get things for our table. The server brought our food, set the baskets down, and kept walking. There was no check back, no offer of anything, and no acknowledgment after the drop.

In fairness, there was a decent crowd, and as best we could tell the gal behind the bar and the gentleman who helped us, who I believe is the son in the father-son ownership team, were the only two on the floor. They literally couldn't keep up.

They're new and I'd rather a place get better than get buried. But if the pitch is that you'll come for the bays and stay a while, somebody has to be working the room.

The Bottom Line

The Fairway Room is a bar in a golf polo. That's not an insult, it's a category. We think this is going to be a popular spot for locals in Union, particularly the condos recently built around Union Promenade. Case in point, there were golf carts in the parking spots. It really is a great location.

It was our first time and the food was mostly a shank into the rough. I'll be back once for a pizza or a burger, because those are the parts of the menu most likely to change my mind, and I want a closer look at the bays. If it goes like it went this time, that'll be the last one.

If you're nearby, stop in and check it out. I wouldn't go out of my way when there are plenty of other options around Florence and Cincinnati.