In trying to describe the local bar scene around the Ohio State campus area, there is one simple word that illustrates it best – diverse.
Whether students are tossing on the polo or tube top and headed to Four Kegs for a little Liquid Dope or slipping into the torn fishnets or a spike-studded coat and shooting over Skully’s for some Thursday night ’80s, it all can be found while strolling up and down High Street.
The microcosm of the campus stretch of High Street could very well represent all aspects and categories of pub nightlife as well – perhaps with the exception of a hardcore biker bar, but that’s one small deficiency.
College, trendy, hipster, local, gay, punk, goth, hippy, dive … no matter what the preference, it can probably be found within about the mile and a half area.
Bars such as Panini’s, Four Kegs, Miani’s and Ledo’s engender more of the typical college atmospheres with packed 18-and-up crowds and nightly beer and shot specials to further lure the ever-present cash-strapped OSU student.
“I probably like Miani’s the best compared some of the other bars around here,” said Greg Ammon, senior in mass communication. “They’ve got a really good happy hour. They get visits from celebrities from TV shows every once in a while, which is pretty cool, and it’s a little less crammed and more spread out than places like Ledo’s.”
Then there are bars such as Oldfield’s, the Scarlet and Grey Cafe, and High Five Bar and Grill that offer up nightly live performances for the customers preferring some tunes over those shoulder-to-shoulder throngs mentioned above.
“If I go out it’s usually to Scarlet and Grey on Wednesday nights to watch Mike Perkins play,” said Sara Buescher, junior in natural resources, of the member of The Shantee who draws a decent crowd.
Bars and pubs that host these musicians are typically less crowded and have a much more low-key atmosphere, which is what draws others like Buescher.
This can be exemplified by local dive bars such as Bernie’s and Larry’s. Both are located right in the thick of the OSU campus with other student hotspots such as the Out-R-Inn, Four Kegs and Panini’s, yet they are far from typical college bar and have thrived for years.
Whether these spots between the more highly frequented bars are considered diamonds in the rough, or perhaps just simply rough, is totally in the eye of the beholder. However they exist as another unique ingredient in the nightlife of the OSU campus.
“This is just a neighborhood bar that you wouldn’t expect to find around this kind of area,” said Mark Baldwin, bartender at Dick’s Den on North High Street – another one of the smaller dive bars around campus that happens to be known for its jazz and bluegrass performances Thursday through Sunday.
“We get everyone from university workers and state officials to college students depending on the time of day,” he said. “It’s a pretty mixed crowd that comes in here usually.”
Along with the party bars and these staple pubs such as Dick’s Den, Bernie’s and The Blue Danube, the recent emergence of the South Campus Gateway is beginning to quickly attract students and others to its new, fresh and clean environment with bar and grill’s such as The Ugly Tuna Saloona and the soon-to-be-opening Skye Bar.
“I’ve been going to the Tuna a lot now,” Ammon said. “It’s always jumpin’ and it’s got a great atmosphere, especially combined with the Gateway as a whole.”
With an all-ages restaurant that turns 21-and-up bar after 9 p.m., kitchen manager Jaquine “Woe” Williams and bartender Gina Hatfield mention how the Tuna, while being a bar atmosphere at night, is still one people can come to and sit down at and order a meal while in the presence of a diverse crowd of those both young and old. Any of those fond and familiar with Easton’s Adobe Gila’s, the Tuna is under the same ownership group and holds a very similar feel.
Heading slightly further south on High Street from the Gateway, the retro-looking Skully’s takes visual dominance of the landscape with its huge neon-arrow sign. While catering mostly to the “alternative lifestyle” folk – or however you want to put it – Skully’s might be best described as simply a unique and laidback music diner. The bar hosts live shows when booked, deejays spinning on other nights, and the self-proclaimed best ladies night in the city with its Thursday “Ladies Eighties” night, which draws an especially mixed group of customers every week.
If variety truly is the spice of life, the flavor of the campus area nightlife atmosphere is like none other. Venues ranging from dive bars like Bernie’s to party bars like Panini’s and music diners like Skully’s make a spin on the town a possible adventure every night.
Although, there still might be room for that one missing biker bar in town.
