A few good bars off the beaten path to watch the Buckeyes

So you’re an adult, you don’t want to follow the Scarlet & Grey hoard through High St. or Lane to fight your way to a barstool — you just want to drink a beer and watch kids play football, like grown-ass people. Well, we’ve done a quick run down of the best places to get tipsy, but not like…college tipsy — more like adult tipsy. You’ve probably got a job, you can’t be too irresponsible.

Land-Grant Brewing Co.

Land-Grant sits in a 12,000 square foot factory that screams, “Hey, I’m an adult with a modest amount of taste.” You’ll be able to enjoy a relaxed sports bar with a crew that regularly announces their events and times to watch the games on social media, there’s no guesswork — it’s literally that easy. They do a wide variety of sports so no one is left out, so you’ll be able to enjoy a Crew SC game or a Buckeyes game. Totally up to you. It’s fun and they’re awesome. Huzzah.

Short North House Beer

The small bar is the bar to beat and it sits the heart of the Short North. It’s got a beautiful front and a gorgeous interior and a stellar draft beer menu that’ll sate the appetite of beer connoisseurs. They’re not anyone’s first choice to go and watch a Buckeyes game and that is what makes it so cool! They’ve only got one TV, and keep it on the downlow, it’s our little secret.

Pastimes Pub & Grill

An aggressively pro-Buckeye bar and it sits way out in Worthington if you’re in the burbs. They’ve got a looser, younger feel — they host a corn hole tournament called Battle of the Bags, they post memes on their facebook page, they throw around emoji’s like J.T. Barrett throws touchdowns — it just looks like a good time. It’s far enough away from campus that you’ll be getting a totally different experience.

Old Towne Tavern

My home away from home when it comes to wanting to stumble into an on-going game. They have a decent line up of TV’s without the sound, which is just how I like my bars. I want to enjoy the games at my own pace, slowly getting more and more drunk until I’m too inebriated to understand the minutia of a football game. The food is good, the lighting is just right and happens to sit in a very lovely part of town.

Gresso’s

This German Village Sports Bar is where you go to watch some out of state games and even some non-football games. They’ve made themselves the “all other teams” bar and they’re pridefully pro-Steelers! That’s a good thing for Columbus. Diversity is key folks and sometimes putting all our eggs into one football basket leads to a potentially milquetoast and boring community. We want the in-fighting, we want the arguments, and we want people wear all kinds of colors up and down our Columbus streets.

Land Grant Photo by Megan Leigh Barnard

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