The dining room layout at Downtown Tavern features an open bar and booth and table seating with umbrellas hanging from the ceiling. Credit: Abby Ditmer | Lantern Reporter
Ohio State students who love a deal might become familiar with a new restaurant in Columbus, Downtown Tavern, for its never-ending happy hour menu.
Formerly known as Lola’s Kitchen and Bar before closing Jan. 29, Downtown Tavern opened Feb. 28 and shares the same owners as Lola’s. Located at 201 S. High St., Downtown Tavern’s menu features new and returning items from Lola’s, but its style has transformed completely, Kevin Ames, co-owner of Downtown Tavern, said.
Downtown Tavern differs from Lola’s through a bit of downscaling and the addition of more TVs. The restaurant is closed on Mondays and has its never-ending happy hour from open to close the rest of the week to accommodate students’ schedules, Ames said.
“Most happy hours are 4-6 in Columbus, and I think that’s just going to deter customers that look for the happy hour discounts,” Ames said. “We have $6 martinis, $3 house shots, $15 beer buckets, $5 wines by the glass, $15 mimosa kits, $6 mules and $5 classic cocktails. We want to be your entire evening out.“
Downtown Tavern is one of many projects Ames has worked on. For the past 15 years, Ames has flipped cafes and office buildings, he said. Ames and his wife, Lori Ames, have owned many Short North establishments such as Frezno and Dagwood.
“We’ve partnered with developers and worked with an individual real estate agent. We’ve done 17 or 18 of them in the past 12 years,” Kevin Ames said. “This is my 32nd restaurant.”
Kevin Ames said although the restaurant opened in February, renovation is not completely finished. He said he wants to incorporate more TVs in addition to its current 26 and add booths into the backroom, which he hopes to designate as the party room for events, like football games and the upcoming Kentucky Derby.
“We are recognizing that gambling is coming to the city. It’s not just the younger population, everybody wants to be on their phone [gambling],” Kevin Ames said. “We will be projecting our sports book, the live sports book that you see on your app, on our walls. It’s just fun and games. People will get pretty fascinated about sports when they got some money on it.”
When creating the menu for Downtown Tavern, Kevin Ames wanted to keep several items from the Lola’s menu. Because the restaurant is located within walking distance of Ohio Theatre, he said he wanted to make sure guests seeing a show didn’t have to worry about taking food to-go.
“We had rigatoni and mac and cheese and big items like that that went for $17, and that’s a lot of pasta,” Kevin Ames said. “We trimmed it down to be about a 10-12 ounce portion of pasta, and it’s only $12. You don’t have to worry about taking a to-go bag with you.”
There are new items such as the stuffed poblano — a vegetarian option that is made with a poblano pepper, pepper jack cheese, spicy ranchero sauce and a sour cream drizzle — according to the Downtown Tavern menu. Kevin Ames said the stuffed poblano is his favorite dish on the menu.
Thomas Nolan, a bartender at Downtown Tavern, has over six years of bartending experience from working in Charlotte, North Carolina. Nolan and Kevin Ames said they enjoy listening to advice from customers around what they want and what they like on the menu. They said their goal is to strengthen the restaurant’s demographic and to be more inclusive with its drink menu.
“A lot of the drinks are fun things, but not too complicated. They’re reasonably priced,” Nolan said. “We’re kind of aiming towards, like the younger age group, but also any customer can come in and enjoy them.”
Nolan said he enjoys making the pink lemonade cocktail as well as the spicy margarita. Downtown Tavern recently added cocktail coolers behind its bar. Each cooler contains the booze and ingredients for their drinks.
Downtown Tavern is open Tuesday-Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Kevin Ames said the bar stays open one hour after the kitchen closes and later on Friday and Saturday, between 1-2:30 a.m.
