New to Columbus: 10 bars to welcome you to the city

My husband and I packed up our lives and left Chicago last fall for the sunnier pastures of Columbus. Generally the response from Columbus folks seems to be a bewildered, “WHY?!” The truth is that things here are pretty top notch. We moved to Columbus to explore a new city that has a positive, young vibe, to save money and to be in a cool city where we could actually afford a real, live house someday. We’ve been here for nine months, and hot damn do you guys have a kickass city with some great bars. This has proven to be an issue for my waistline, but not so much my wallet, because happy hour is awesome. (Happy hours are illegal in Chicago, which is flat-out dumb.) After much research and many cocktails, here are my top 10 favorite bars in Columbus.

10. Grandview Cafe

Grandview Cafe lands on our radar pretty frequently because of its patio. As far as I’m concerned, I always feel a little healthier with a dose of Vitamin D with my booze. The staff seems to be one of the best in the city, and I feel like I spy quite a few local bartenders hanging out every day of the week, usually pretty drunk themselves. My general rule for deciding if a bar is quality is the number of bartenders from other joints that you can find lurking about. No bartender wastes hard-earned tips on a bummer of a bar with a bad staff. The food is decent overall, but the hockey fries are the sort of disgusting/perfect pile of wonderment that makes the trip so guilty, yet so great. I’m also a fan of the bar downstairs, mostly because it reminds me of Cheers.

9. Local Bar

Every time I find myself at Local Bar, I leave with a smile and a new appreciation for Jonathan Taylor Thomas. The drinks are strong, the vibe is great and the people in Local Bar are just fun. My first trip to Local Bar ended after two rounds of drinks and shots for a group of three of us. When I got the bill, it was so low that we decided to have another round… that lasted about four more hours. It seems like they more or less went nuts at Flower Child for the decor, with which I am very much on board. Kitschy items like hairdryers that remind you of your grandma and photographs of people in various states of undress make the trip down boozy lane all that much more pleasurable. Local Bar is just a fun, whimsical place to hang out when we’re in the mood for a relaxing evening.

8. Dick’s Den

Any bar that features a bar of soap in the bathroom and intricately designed hanger “art” is a good bar in my book. Dick’s Den has dirt cheap drinks, great music and great people watching. I think that of the handful of times we’ve found ourselves bellied up to the bar at Dick’s Den, at least one of us has gotten “the spider,” which means a complimentary drink when you finish off a bottle. And trust me, the spider is normally a pretty healthy pour. The walls of Dick’s Den are covered in old photos, and someone once told me that the requirement for getting your photo on the wall is death. While this is incredibly morbid and possibly a lie, I think there’s something cool about letting your regulars hang out on your walls for all eternity. A large, glowing sign invites people with a big “Why Not?” and frankly, I cannot think of a good reason.

7. Matt the Miller’s

Simply put, Matt the Miller’s has its shit together. A great beer list and wonderful food options make this a pretty regular dinner spot for me and the husband. I’ve spoken with a few people who were down on the place because of a “corporate feel,” but as far as I know they only have two locations, and you can’t knock a bar just because it’s figured out the formula for great beer, good food and a wonderful atmosphere. The Sunday brunch is a dream, and I think that Matt the Miller’s may have some of the most knowledgeable bartenders I’ve met in Columbus. Plus they have great drink deals, including their Winedown Wednesday that features state minimum priced bottles of wine.

6. Dirty Frank’s

Dirty Frank’s is probably about 70% of the reason that we landed in Columbus. No lie. Last year for my birthday the old man treated me to a trip to Columbus, and we found ourselves across the street from our hotel at Dirty Frank’s almost immediately. We nerded out with a collective 10 or so Instagram photos in our first trip, and it’s become a staple in our diet. Great cocktails (the Buckaroo features orange pop and whiskey, and is surprisingly AWESOME) with some of the most fun art I’ve ever seen keeps Dirty Frank’s as a top spot in our date book. While the place is fairly small, we’ve always had pretty good luck finding a few seats at the bar.

5. Jury Room

The Jury Room has some of the most creative and fun cocktails in the city. Plus I love to drool over the design of their menus. Intoxicants sounds like such an exotic term to grace the front of the drink menu, and I love the names of the drinks. I’m a total nerd for puns and good design, so these are great bonus points to go with the fantastic old photos that cover the walls and the stiff drinks that always find their way to my hands. Aside from the well-designed menus, the food is fantastic, the service (like all Liz Lessner restaurants) is always spot on and the drinks are A+. The location of Jury Room is perfect after a trip to Columbus Commons, and we find ourselves there for Sunday brunch pretty frequently since the meters are free and usually pretty empty on Sundays.

4. Hal & Al’s

Ah Hal & Al’s. Such a fine little gem hidden right on Parsons Avenue. The bright blue wall on its side I suppose helps un-hide it, but we would have never found this beaut of a bar had we not initially stopped by for a Tuesday evening pumpkin beer tasting. Good thing we did find it, because my husband went ahead and completed the now-defunct third leg of the Parsons Challenge. (100 beers in 90 days.) The beer list at Hal & Al’s is one of the best in the city, and they have a pretty decent list of draft beers that rotate frequently. Hal & Al’s has some great bluegrass music on the weekends, and as a happy meat eater, I was surprised at how much I loved their vegan offerings. Plus, man, they’ve got some of the nicest and most attentive bartenders in the city. Hal & Al’s is a bit of a drive for us, but we find ourselves stationed at the bar at least once or twice a month.

3. Barrel 44

Barrel 44 introduced us to an amazing innovation in whiskey drinking: HUGE ice cubes. From that introduction on, every sip at Barrel 44 has led to more love. The bartenders know their bourbons, and they’re happy to geek out over new offerings when you pry a bit. The food at Barrel 44 is absolutely fantastic, the service is knowledgeable and friendly, and generally the crowd is great. They have a great list of cocktails that change year round, so if you’re not necessarily into drinking whiskey on the rocks, there are plenty of options for all palettes.

2. Brothers Drake Meadery

Brothers Drake is so, so dangerous, but so, so wonderful. It’s only dangerous because it’s hard to remember that something so delicious as mead can really pack a punch. Anytime someone asks me to explain the flavor, I simply respond, “The f’ing VIKINGS drank it!” Mostly because I really don’t know how to explain mead. I know that it’s honey wine, but the range of tastes don’t really allow me to suggest that it’s sweet, dry or any specific adjective; there seems to be a type of mead for everyone out there. The cocktails at Brothers Drake are creative, strong and refreshing. The music is nice, the vibe is laid back and the bartenders are just flat-out fun. Brothers Drake frequently features live music, which is never too loud and always offers a nice background to mead sipping. My only complaint is that they’re not open every day to satisfy my many mead whims.

1. Woodlands Tavern

The Woodlands is one of the closest bars to our apartment, so we found ourselves there a few days after moving to Columbus. This is where we learned that Ohio has happy hours (YES) and that at The Woodlands that means $2 drinks (HOLY CRAP YES!). This is our favorite venue in the city for comedy and music, and the patio is one of the best in the history of ever. No exaggeration. They have two large rooms, and the second has served for many of the comedy and music shows we’ve attended there. It’s an intimate venue that allows for some great rocking out/laughing out loud. Great happy hour offerings every weeknight coupled with a nice staff and a generally tame crowd makes this our favorite. Plus Mikey’s Late Night Slice just happens to be there, which is dangerous and wonderful. Oh Woodlands, stay classy and keep up the good work on carrying more local beers.

—

I’m sure that we’ve got hundreds of other bars and restaurants to explore here in Columbus, but I’ve been impressed with the offerings in the city thus far. Columbus is clearly a city on the rise, and we feel pretty fortunate to have gotten here ahead of the herd. (We moved to Columbus before it was super cool sorta mentality.) I’d be interested to know what sort of venues we’re missing, so please feel free to let me know what we need to add to our to-do list in the comments. And of course, cheers.