Columbus bars gear up for first game day
Bars, restaurants near campus depend on football season
Columbus sports bars are unsure what to expect from the Ohio State football team’s first game of the season Saturday, which will take place in Columbus in a stadium mostly devoid of fans.
Crowds are unlikely to reach their usual size in central Ohio taverns and pubs, but the size of the gatherings remains an open question.
Nevertheless, Columbus area bar owners are ready for an influx of customers. With restrictions in place to combat the spread of coronavirus, some fear that they will have to turn away loyal customers.
Buckeye fans are known to pack bars on game days, pressed shoulder to shoulder in tight spaces and standingroom-only crowds at most campusarea establishments. While perfectly acceptable in normal times, such gatherings are a risky proposition during a coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 5,100 Ohioans.
Bars and restaurants near OSU’S campus depend on football season.
Tony Mollica, a member of the family that owns the Varsity Club on Lane Avenue, says the venerable University District sports bar makes roughly half of its annual revenue from game day crowds.
But to combat the spread of the virus, eating and drinking establishments must move tables at least 6 feet apart and cannot let patrons stand, severely limiting their capacity. The city of Columbus sent an email to bars and restaurants reminding them of coronavirus restrictions in advance of game day. The message included Buckeyethemed signage to encourage customers to act responsibly.
Most bar owners and managers said their procedure won’t change. They’ll seat customers until full and then turn away patrons they don’t have room for.
“Our beer garden will be open and all of our guidelines will still be in order,” said Tony Cipriani, marketing and strategy manager for Land Grant Brewing Company in Franklinton, which features an outdoor beer garden that can seat hundreds.
A handful of other taverns are taking additional precautions to keep their customer counts reasonable and tame during the usually raucous game day crowds. Oldfield’s and The Little Bar, both in the University District, are taking reservations.
“We just started a couple days ago and we’ve already got about 75 guests,” Little Bar owner John Massimiani said Friday. “We’re going to probably sell out before the day even starts.”
Reserving tables throughout the day means the staff will have to turn away perspective customers, he said.
“When you can only put so many people in place, people aren’t going to be happy when they show up and you tell them they can’t come in,” Massimiani said.
“And people aren’t going to leave until after the game, so it’s not like they can stand in line and wait.”
Craig Kempton, co-owner of the Bier Stube just south of campus, frets most about telling loyal customers they can’t drink there.
“I get the feeling I am going to have to turn away people who have come for decades,” he said. “Once it’s filled, that’s it. It’s not like we can have you stand over there and wait.”
Customer counts are unpredictable, but bar owners have some ideas.
“Every game is going to be an away game,” said Dan Starek, who owns Oldfield’s and Leo’s, which is also near campus. Ticket holders like to patronize campus bars and restaurants before and after every home game, but most of those fans will likely stay home, he said.
Leo’s can fit around 250 people in normal times, but the bar will only be able to seat around 60 with coronavirus restrictions, Starek said.
The Varsity Club on Lane Avenue sometimes sees thousands of customers on game days.
“We’re expecting a couple hundred” this year, Mollica said.
Some are even more pessimistic. “It will probably not even be as busy as the spring game,” Massimiani said. pcooley@dispatch.com @Patrickacooley