This summer, Bullwinkles came in to fill the massive empty space on North High Street that College Town once occupied. Bullwinkles is a shiny new nightclub and bar that appeals to those who are looking for a place they can go solely to dance and enjoy a few drinks amongst the high-tech laser shows and smoke machines that accompany the nightly rotation of DJs.
The dance club atmosphere at Ohio State has long been mainly restricted to the smaller bars like Midway and Big Bar, but Bullwinkles offers a truly open space that is mainly standing room only with a few couches near the entrance, some bench seating along the walls and a couple tables designed for two along the adjacent wall of the expansive full-service bar.
With a more upscale feel than the typical college bar, Bullwinkles aims to make the patron experience a little bit more of a lavish night out.
“The size of it, the look of it, the feel of it … pretty much all of the comments I get are, ‘you’re not in Columbus anymore when you walk in here,’” said Bullwinkles general manager Matt Bean,who has been in the Columbus nightclub business for twenty years.
A bar wraps around the corner of the interior of Bullwinkle’s. Credit: Mason Swires / Lantern Reporter
Bean said the entire place has frequently been booked by Greek and other student organizations on campus for parties and social minglings.
“It’s just a genuinely nice place overall. We keep it really clean and it’s just kind of something different for the kids on campus to do here,” Bean said. “We’re not a bar ‘and grill;’ we don’t serve food. But that’s really the only thing different here.”
Bullwinkles boasts different DJs every night and two Columbus Division of Police officers to keep the place in line on busy nights. Bean said they definitely plan to be open on football game days this fall.
“I went there a lot this past summer and I loved it,” said Raquel Bahmer, a third-year in human development and family science. “Opening night was great and after that I went almost every weekend.”
Bahmer added that it was an “intense” place to be.
“It’s definitely not a place to go if you’re looking for a chill place to hang out,” said Bahmer.
John Pasquale, a third-year in political science, said, “It was more like a rave-type of bar. Definitely a club scene. But it was massive.”
Despite the intimidating size, Pasquale said the size of the place is reasonably proportionate to the amount of people that normally pack into the neon-lit open room that is Bullwinkles.
“I’m personally more of an Ethyl & Tank style kind of guy, more stand bar scene, but I liked Bullwinkles because of just being able to go into a place with all my friends and have a great time in an open environment,” Pasquale said, adding that it was “definitely an upgrade to the Midway scene.”
Bullwinkles is located at 1770 N. High St. and open Wednesday through Sunday, 9 p.m. to 2:30 a.m.
