Art You Can Eat
There are plenty of places in Cincinnati to grab a bite. There are far fewer where you can chew on a breakfast sandwich while surrounded by a building that challenges architectural gravity, inside a museum that once took the U.S. government to court to defend artistic freedom — and won.
That’s exactly what’s happening downtown this summer, as the Contemporary Arts Center (CAC) introduces its first-ever pop-up restaurant, The Frank at CAC, opening June 1 in the lobby of its Zaha Hadid-designed masterpiece. But make no mistake: this isn’t just a new lunch spot. It’s a bold reimagining of how museums function — not just as places to observe art, but to live it.
A Cultural Institution That Never Settles
Since its founding in 1939, the CAC has been a risk-taker. One of the first institutions in the country devoted solely to contemporary art, it carved out a reputation for elevating the provocative, the experimental, and the socially relevant. Its 1990 defense of the Robert Mapplethorpe exhibit — culminating in a victorious obscenity trial — became a landmark moment for the First Amendment and cemented the CAC’s legacy as a national cultural force.
Today, it remains a trailblazer. Beyond the galleries, it functions as a community nerve center — hosting forums, youth workshops, performances, and artist residencies that reflect the lived experiences of Cincinnatians from every neighborhood and background.
Its home — the CAC’s striking building completed in 2003 — is an architectural landmark in its own right. Designed by the late, great Zaha Hadid, it was the first U.S. museum ever designed by a woman and Hadid’s first project in America. Angular, futuristic, and filled with light and tension, the space was built not just to house art, but to become it.
Now, that space is welcoming something new — and edible.
Meet The Frank at CAC
The pop-up restaurant opening in the museum’s Dr. Stanley & Mickey Kaplan Hall Lobby is helmed by Steven Graham, owner of Shango’s Urban Taqueria and The Frank Neighborhood Deli & Grill in Price Hill. A culinary entrepreneur known for his soulful flavors and deep neighborhood roots, Graham is bringing an abridged version of his beloved Frank menu to the CAC — think coffee, breakfast sandwiches, lunch items, and morning bites served up in a building that practically bends time and space.
The Frank at CAC will be open Thursdays and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., now through July 31. But this isn’t just a pop-up in the trend-chasing sense. It’s part of a larger CAC initiative to bring food back into its public spaces, and to invite culinary voices into the conversation that’s long been dominated by curators, critics, and artists.
Because food is culture, too.
What Comes Next: A Platform for Cincinnati’s Culinary Creators
Following Graham’s residency, the CAC will partner with Rachel DesRochers and The Gratitude Collective to launch a new rotating pop-up residency program. This initiative will give local food vendors — especially small and underrepresented entrepreneurs — the opportunity to serve in the CAC café space while receiving mentorship, community engagement support, and business development guidance.
The application process is now open, and it offers something rare: a meaningful platform inside one of the most culturally significant institutions in the Midwest. It’s a program that doesn’t just feed people — it nurtures talent, and it echoes the CAC’s mission to be a catalyst for innovation, inclusion, and bold ideas.
Art, Architecture, and Accessibility
There’s a reason this matters right now.
Museums around the world are rethinking their roles. Attendance habits have changed. Public expectations have shifted. More and more, institutions are being called to meet people where they are, to make themselves relevant not only to critics and collectors, but to everyday citizens.
With The Frank at CAC, the Contemporary Arts Center is doing exactly that. It’s turning its lobby into a hangout, its dining into dialogue, its walls into a welcome sign.
And really, what’s more Cincinnati than that? A city that celebrates culture with chili, street murals, vinyl records, and artisan rye deserves a museum that opens its doors — and its menu — to the community it serves.
So go for the coffee. Go for the sandwich. But stay for what this moment represents: a new way to experience art, community, and the city we call home. The Frank at CAC isn’t just a pop-up. It’s a pop-forward — into a future where culture is served hot, fresh, and with a side of creative courage.