Wondering where you can relax with an adult beverage and not get side eyed for bringing your baby along? In our Kids and Cocktails series, new mom Christie Robb is on a quest to find bars in Columbus with great drinks and a child-friendly atmosphere.
As longtime Clintonville residents, Husband and I have been pleased to witness the transformation of the neighborhood into a craft beer utopia. Studio 35 remodeled into a fantastic bar in its own right and now offers 40 taps (one of which serves a great root beer). There are growler shops sprouting like mushrooms. And the former Crest Tavern, which always somehow smelled like an old motel, was completely remodeled into the Crest Gastropub (2855 Indianola Avenue).
Unfortunately, many of these changes happened when I was pregnant, taunting me with forbidden delicious beers, many within walking distance of my house. So I sulked, nursing my sparkling water, pink lemonade, or root beer while stealing surreptitious whiffs of my companion’s IPAs, stouts, and pilsners.
No longer! Now with 7-month-old Baby Girl, Husband and I can take a short walk to the Crest and I can finally sample some adult beverages.
Be warned, the Crest is often a busy spot. Husband and I dragged our companions out early, snagging a table for Happy Hour (3-7pm with half-off drafts). The place tends to get packed, so there’s no real room for stroller parking, unless you are brave enough to leave one unattended outside. For the smaller kidlets, I’d suggest taking them in a wearable carrier or parking on one of the side streets and schelping in a detachable car seat (parking in the lot has never worked out for us—it’s not big enough to handle the sheer amount of patronage).
The Crest is committed to providing customers with fresh, local food. So local, in fact, that a lot of the produce and herbs are grown on site in planter boxes surrounding the parking lot and their patio, perfect for distracting a bored little one and explaining how the food they will be eating is grown.
Inside, the Crest has a cozy, industrial look: dark wood floors, tables supported by pipes, exposed HVAC system, and brightly colored walls. The anchor is the sizable bar with metal stools surrounding three sides. But don’t worry, there are plenty of tables that sit at traditional height and highchairs available for the wee people.
A kids’ menu is available, although somewhat traditional, offering grilled cheese, mini burgers, PB&J, and mac and cheese. One thing that I’d like to see added, though, are baby changers in the bathrooms. Since the first time Baby Girl had a diaper blowout in public, I have grown to despise changing a diaper and outfit while kneeling on a tiled bathroom floor. It sucks.
The Crest’s large open space lends itself to a fair amount of noise, alleviating the fear that Baby Girl will disturb others. There are plenty of adults squealing in delight over the cocktails.
Once seated, our group grabbed the drinks menu. We were presented with an almost overwhelming amount of options. Craft and imported bottled and canned beer. Wines from Italy, Spain, France, and California. Cocktails made with grown-on-site herbs, house-made syrups, and local liquor. 60 beer handles!
Husband went for North Coast Brewing Company’s Scrimshaw Pilsner, a beer so tasty that it converts those who disdain pilsners as the thin tasteless stuff pumped out by macrobreweries. As an avid Doctor Who fan, one of our companions enjoyed the Thyme Lord: Bombay Sapphire, St. Germain, prosecco, and thyme-simple syrup. Another companion sampled the Founder’s Nitro Oatmeal Stout. Definitely tasty, but we agreed, probably not the ideal warm weather libation, better suited to a crisp fall day, maybe after you’ve thrown your child repeatedly into a pile of leaves. I gravitated to the Cucumber Crutch: Watershed vodka, St. Germain, cucumber and lemon juice. An ideal drink to follow a long romp in the park. If you have older or more adventurous kids, there are non-alcoholic cocktail options that blow the Shirley Temple out of the water including the Flowery Bonnet (fresh ginger, lemon juice, simple syrup, and edible flowers). The bartenders are also game to adultify these concoctions, adding liquor as requested.
The folks at the Crest like to foster community spirit by hosting an ever-changing series of events to amuse adults and kids alike. In April they brought in an animal petting zoo. June saw a family workshop on building rain gardens. This July they will be partnering with Local Matters to do a “Veggie Land”, a play on Candy Land. The date and time for this is still TBD; stalk their Facebook page for more info.
