The restaurants further west on Newport's Riverboat Row have a more urban view. I recently had a beer at Remington's Roadhouse, where the view's a little hard to see out of the cloudy, smudgy windows. That barge has been towed to Louisville, but you can get a similar view from Friday's or Applebee's, both at Covington Landing. For food, a better choice is Zebo's Bistro, a few floors up in the Cincinnati Marriott RiverCenter. You're not right on the river, and a little too much of its view is taken up by looking at Friday's and Applebee's, but the food's better.
Downtown looks good from there, and it's a good nighttime view.
I thought the view from the Waterfront in Covington would be ruined by the new football stadium. But it doesn't take up too much room, and the view upriver from the South Beach Grill dining room or the outdoor deck is dramatic. You can see both stadiums, several bridges and downtown. Farther west is the Riverview Revolving Restaurant at the Clarion in Covington, where the view is continuously changing. It's a much better sight at night, when lighting gives the more mundane parts of the landscape a certain romance.