The Brewery District is often described as the area just short of downtown, from I-70 on the north to Greenlawn on the south; and then bounded by Pearl on the east and the Scioto River on the west. That’s fairly decent, although in my estimation a bit too inclusive – if nothing else, I don’t know anybody who would characterize that huge chunk of land swelling out into the Scioto, which includes the Audubon Metro Park, as part of the Brewery District. Still others people more commonly attribute certain other parts to German Village.
But it’s close enough. I’m only sticking to relevant establishments on this page, anyway (past and present), for the time being, so it really doesn’t matter. And though I’m working on maps as well as other means of organization, at the moment you’re stuck with just an alphabetical, semi-meandering rundown. The names in purple, obviously, have standalone info elsewhere that you can click on.
Current Occupants:
Brewmasters Gate: (495 S. Front St.) – This opened as a positively cavernous club in the early 2000s, and had to be just about the most popular place in town for a good six months. A bunch of us drove down here often during the summer of its heyday, during which time it was unfailingly jam packed with young people throwing down, spilling out to the spacious patio and even the sidewalks. By the following summer, nobody came here, and you were looked at kind of strangely if mentioning it. I’m not sure exactly when the bar concept was shut down, but it didn’t seem to last very long. Strangely enough, however, the place survives and has maintained the same name, though it appears this is now just a hall people rent out for events.
CD 92.9: (local indie rock FM station). This is on its 3rd different spot on the dial that I’m aware of, however and whyever that happens, but it remains pretty much the same thing. They used to be located a little more centrally within the Brewery District, right by Banana Joe’s on Front Street – are still on S. Front, but farther down the line, at 1036. They recently went off the air but are keeping the alternative flame alive with an online presence.
Gambrinus, King Of Beer: I don’t know that there’s an exact address for this. It’s just this statue of a king holding his ale aloft, one foot resting upon what looks like maybe a pony keg. But if you’re down this way, you might as well take a picture with the merry old fellow. So, yeah, he’s located along S. Front Street, between Beck and Sycamore. There was a brewery named Gambrinus in these parts from 1906-1919 (Prohibition seems to have driven a stake through that one) and I’m guessing that’s where this benevolent king came from.
High Beck Tavern: One of the ironies I suppose of the Brewery District is that there aren’t any breweries left. Columbus has plenty, just none to speak of down here. However, there are numerous places to drink, oh yes! And this happens to be one of them, a conviently located spot right along South High, with outdoor seating to boot.
Kroger: Miles worked at this one for a while after leaving our prized Bethel Road establishment for good. I want to say this building went up in 2005, and if not then it was pretty close to that. A trendy, very modern looking store for its time, and I’m sure it probably still is.
Plank’s Bier Garten: (888 S. High St.) I brought Carrie here for dinner once, which is the only time I recall coming. About that occasion, what I remember most is that my “non-smoking” date borrowed a cigarette from our waitress – so that’s probably telling, that our food here fades into the background, or at least what we ordered did. Although in Plank’s favor, it does have a warm atmosphere, particularly if seated at the spacious outdoor area behind the building.
They were closed for a while, I believe just for remodeling, though reopening in 2018 and surviving to the present. Back in “the day” they had half off pizza on Tuesdays from 7-10, beer specials during OSU football games, and live music on Friday nights. Any or all of these could still be true, but I’m a busy man and haven’t had time to look that up just yet.
Tony’s Italian Ristorante: I’m not sure if this has moved, been rechristened, or is another enterprise altogether. But there was a Tony’s Italian Restaurant in the Brewery District as of ’01, and I think this is the same place with a slightly different name.
Victory’s: A hit or miss spot over the years. Someone would occasionally suggest this, once a year or so – and that someone might be me – and we’d all troop down there. A good visit often meant a return trip was soon in the cards. A bad trip would have us swearing off this place for a while.
My initial foray was in the summer of ’97, when our friend Maria rented a birthday bus and this became one of our stops. The place was jammed to the gills on a Saturday night with three different DJs spinning tunes for the various dance floors. Yet though very much in keeping with some of the music they were playing, I remember requesting some Prince and basically being told to get lost by each of the attitudinal disc jockeys. We didn’t stay here long. Still, later expeditions months down the road went better, and this became a semi-regular spot for a while, until the next bleak experience. One memorable positive outing occurs during Keisha’s next birthday blowout.
There are two front rooms with one long, connected bar that runs in the middle of each. One side is basically a chill out zone, while the other is encumbered with a dance floor to boogie upon, and a stage for the band. In the back, which is kept much darker, there’s an elevated second dance floor, this time under the purview of a nearby DJ booth, while beyond here the pattern repeats with that exact same scenario out on an exterior patio. The patio is not presently open, however.
Damon and Paul sit off to one side which allows them the perfect vantage point for drinking, smoking, watching and critiquing the band all at once. They call themselves Jonesy, though I’m not exactly sure of the spelling, and these guys do a fantastic job mixing 80’s covers with a few more recent selections, from the likes of Nine Inch Nails. So good, in fact, that these two are debating whether this band isn’t just miming to a tape. Featuring keyboards and electric drums, both elements you don’t see a whole lot of in this city’s live scene, they also boast an impressive live show, although it might actually belong to the bar.
The rest of us are out on the dance floor, hopping around to the music, hoping for a cheap brush of fate with one of these ladies. John breaks away from us to scout the perimeter for any fresh prospects. During this interim I do enjoy the inevitable wayward interactions with Keisha.
“I thought that was so hilarious earlier when my friend got kicked out of the bar, and you were like, gee, that’s terrible!” she’s shouting into my ear at one point, laughing hysterically.
John returns with even better information than this. “There’s a couple outrageously hot chicks on the other dance floor,” he tells me. “Come on, I’ll show you.”
We stroll off to the back room and step up to the elevated floor, casually work our way toward these two honeys. And yes, they are quite exceptional in appearance. Just as we’re about to zero in on them, however, these two dudes swoop in and throw their arms around the girls, clearly some sort of flag panting move. Damn. So the ladies are claimed, but whatever. As more ammunition mounting in this war chest of whatever you want to call it, Keisha and Pam have actually followed us back here, with Mike in tow right behind them. So they climb onto this platform with us, and we continue dancing in this dingy corridor.
And now, a memorial for the departed:
Banana Joe’s: an early lesson in how the night of the week is everything. We came here on a Friday and it was one of the most insane crowds I’ve ever witnessed; a Thursday journey maybe two weeks later had more in common with a funeral home.
Barrister Hall: (560 S. High St.) Former live music hotspot mostly known for its jazz offerings. But, circa early 2000 for example, they did have Afro-Rican Ensemble playing every Thursday. Ads say this features “Latin Music, lots of dancing & cigars,” so they were not opposed to shaking things up on occasion.
Brewery District Pavilion: I couldn’t tell you exactly where this was located, but it was in the thick of things down here somewhere. Once upon a time hosted some larger shows, too, like Hootie and the Blowfish with Shawn Mullins opening, on 6/5/99.
Le Metropolitain: (95 W. Liberty St.) Their ads used to boast, “Best French Onion Soup In Town!” Were here up through at least March of 2001.
Ludlow’s. A popular live music club located at 485 S. Front Street from 1994-2004
Tommy Keegan’s: stumbling across this entry in my journal, from early 1998, is an especially striking example of why I’m glad to have taken so many notes. I actually forgot all about this enterprise and haven’t heard mention of it since.
Tommy Keegan’s looks vaguely like one of those modern faux Irish pubs or something, with its painted cement floor, its dark and generally unfussy atmosphere. Being located underground doesn’t hurt, either. The front, larger room holds most of the bar’s occupants, including some annoying, talent-challenged goober playing acoustic guitar and singing near the door. It’s hard to imagine he would receive much encouragement or tip money even if warbling at the campus BW3. But apparently, they pay him to come here.
The back room is a bit more subdued and we make a bee line for it. They’ve got one of those giant hoppers dispensing free popcorn back here, and even while knowing in the back of your mind it’s only going to make your thirstier, desiring ever more beer, which is why they manipulate you such, in the moment you just don’t care and grab some anyway. Or at least this is what I do.
It’s Keisha’s birthday and we started out with a much larger posse, but the war of attrition has whittled us down to these seven survivors: the birthday girl and Pam, and then Damon, Paul, John H, this Mike guy who’s kind of cool, and me. But somehow there’s this random kid just hanging out by these pool tables, of which the bar has a couple back here, and by some convoluted turn of events he winds up being partners with Damon, against Paul and me in a few games of standard billiards. Damon is absolutely on fire for some reason, and they totally smoke us from start to finish. But we’ve already exhausted what limited kicks are to be found at Keegan’s, and have agreed to strike off for Victory’s next.
“Stay and play a few games with me!” the kid begs Damon, “we’ll make some money!”
“Ah, we gotta go,” Damon returns with a laugh.
