Columbus has a lot of great rock clubs and live music bars: The Basement, The Summit & Cafe Bourbon Street, The Ravari Room, Kobo, The Treehouse, Skully’s, and Bernie’s just to name a few. You can find great bands and fantastic local music being played at any one of these venues and others every weekend. But what are you looking for in addition to the music? Do you care how commercial a place is? How much they focus on universal appeal? How old the crowd is? Does the place feel like a rock club to you, or more like a bar or pub that happens to have live music? Certainly the answer as well as your preferences must be subjective. But if you’re looking for a live music bar that feels like it’s on the cutting edge, with a young hip crowd and an environment that makes you think you’re cooler just by standing in it, you’ll find it at Carabar.
Located on Parsons Ave and just a couple blocks south of Broad Street, Carabar was opened by Cara Borkes and Ron Barker (get it, Cara-Bar) some six years ago this summer. Site of a once popular jazz venue called the Dell Restaurant (and several failed endeavors in between), Carabar has stayed in business by making smart choices. Despite how cool and edgy the place feels it is a very clean bar that has a good food menu (I don’t know any other rock clubs I could say that about). Their beer and liquor variety is well-chosen and appeals to both the broke college student as well as those of us looking to spend the extra cash on a craft beer or higher-end cocktail. They have a great happy hour with good drink and food specials. It’s very dimly lit, a few vintage red light fixtures and some red Christmas lights provide most of the illumination. The walls are mostly red as well, but a covered with interesting local art for sale and lots of graffiti purposefully un-removed. The live music they host most nights is well selected, largely indie rock but I’ve seen everything from house to hip-hop, metal to dance and more, and there’s never a cover. Most importantly the bartenders are universally friendly and, unlike some hipster hangouts I won’t name, I’ve always gotten a smile and great service every single time I’ve been to Carabar.
There are a few more than a dozen beers on draft at Carabar. Although I’m certain PBR and Murphy’s Irish Red are the top sellers, other more appealing options include Left Hand Brewing Company’s Milk Stout and Good Juju, Bell’s Two Hearted, Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale, the newly-released Great Lakes Doppelrock, and Lindemans Framboise. I tried the Ommegang Abbey Ale, really fantastic—you could taste the honey, toffee, and cinnamon notes much more on draft than in the bottle (plus I’d never seen it offered on tap someplace before). They switch out their offering fairly often at Carabar, so even regulars will always have something new to try.
Other soft alcohol options include forty or so other choices of beer available by bottle and can. All the standard domestics are offered as well as a few more rare options like 21st Amendment Brewery’s Back in Black and Brew Free or Die, Three Philosophers, and Full Sail’s Session Lager. Rare imports include Samuel Smith’s Brewery’s Nut Brown, Oatmeal Stout, and Organic Raspberry, as well as big cans of Strongbow and Young’s Double Chocolate Stout. For wine drinkers there is a token offering of a red or a white from Bota Box. The bartender also told me they got a new slushy machine recently (I swear he called it the Colt 45 Slushy Machine but there’s no way there’s such an awesome thing as a Colt 45 Slushy—is there?). It had frozen mudslides in it when I was there.
The liquor selections are pretty standard stuff. The only two bottles that I don’t see everywhere were Maestro Dobel Diamond Tequila and the not-so-rare-but-good Woodford Reserve Bourbon. Their well alcohol choices are better than average for sure. When last I got a well gin and tonic (for $2 during happy hour) they used Beefeater. I also am a huge fan of the fact that they have real ginger ale for mixing here (not sprite with a splash of coke), as whiskey and ginger ale is another favorite of mine (I got the well drink of this, too-also way better than average, Kessler Whiskey).
The food menu is offered everyday but Sunday and is small but fairly diverse. Hot dogs, burritos, tacos, a couple salads, mac and cheese, cole slaw, and fried mushrooms all which I’ve tried at one time or another and I have to say are better than average for bar food. They have unusually good crinkle fries and sweet potato fries here, and the chili (which is vegetarian) is quite good as well. The food is very inexpensive, especially for happy hour specials.
Happy hour runs from Monday to Thursday 4pm to 8pm and features some great deals. PBR drafts are $1, all domestic bottles $1.50 and all well drinks are $2. The best part is the fact that Carabar offers a food item each day for a dollar as well. Monday it’s grilled cheese (just like home with white bread and American cheese, but a little garlic butter helps this one out). Tuesday it’s tacos (the falafel tacos are seriously the best I’ve ever had anywhere). Wednesday they have dollar coney dogs, and on Thursday its a dollar meatball splash (a little meatball sub—the only food special that doesn’t have a vegetarian option). Also on Monday nights only they have a shot of Powers Irish Whiskey with a PBR chaser for $3 (just in case you have no shame at all). Carabar also offers pitchers of Murphy’s Irish Red for $5 all day, every day.
The crowd at Carabar is mostly young musicians and artists, with lots of kids from the close-by Columbus College of Art and Design, but there are still lots of other folks in the mix. I’ve seen plenty of older people sitting at the bar in the afternoons, or playing pool or pinball. The diverse types of bands that play here bring in different fans from all over town as well. Later at night for shows it really fills up, and the fact that there’s never a cover makes it totally worth it to look up who’s playing and come on down to check it out. Columbus Alive is your best bet to find out what’s going on at Carabar any given night-they have a myspace and facebook page but don’t keep a show listing updated on either. I’ve read a lot of snippets online from folks that don’t like the young crowd even though they love the music, but don’t let that put you off. I’ve never had issue with anyone I’ve seen here, and do you really think that most of the thirty-somethings of the sixties and seventies absolutely loved the crowd at the Whiskey, CBGB’s, and the Fillmore East? Carabar may not be a legendary rock venue (yet) but it is a great place to see a band that has an awesome happy hour and good food. Cara and Rob are there all the time and are two of the friendliest, coolest, and most down-to-earth people you’ll ever meet and they’d definitely make my top ten list of best people in Columbus. Parking is available on the street and in a little lot around the corner just north of the bar. I’ve also parked in the dirt lot across the street and or at the ET Paul car place after they close without any issues. Carabar is open Mon-Sat 4pm to 2am and Sun 7pm to 2am.
