Five bars, chosen on the record: one Spirited Awards winner, one James Beard nominee.
Cobra is an Asian-American neighborhood bar in the Brewery District of Columbus, first come first served, serving food and drink late into the night with a full menu until midnight and a late-night menu to closing. The cocktails run ten to thirteen dollars, a Snake Juice of reposado, hibiscus, guajillo and rose, a Cobra Old-Fashioned on bourbon, rye, Toki and barley, and a Yoplait Highball of Patrón, yogurt soju and strawberry vermouth, with a Venom-Free non-alcoholic section.
Law Bird serves wine and cocktails on South High Street in the Brewery District, just south of downtown Columbus, under a menu theme that changes with each edition and the motto not governed by reason. Past menus are archived on the site next to the current one, and the bar runs private classes and rentals. The 2022 Spirited Awards placed it in the U.S. top ten for Best New U.S. Cocktail Bar, and it was a James Beard Outstanding Bar semifinalist in 2025.
Denmark describes itself as a craft cocktail lounge on North High Street, part living art installation, part neighbourhood sanctuary, on the second floor above the Short North. Handcrafted cocktails and small bites are the offer, with cocktail classes and events through the week, and the doors open at five, Wednesday to Saturday.
The Alibi is a bourbon and cocktail lounge on North High Street that serves, in its words, your favourite bourbon spirits alongside its own signature and specialty craft cocktails, from a whiskey shelf deep enough to have been counted among the country's top hundred by Whisky Advocate. It opens at four every day and closes at midnight, with private rentals and events on the side.
The Citizens Trust is the cocktail bar by Veritas on West Gay Street, in a former bank hall downtown, with a libations list, a snacks list and a spirits list posted on its site and a seasonal pop-up bar around the holidays. It opens at four, Wednesday to Saturday.
These 5 are the starting point. The full BarMagazine directory covers every listed bar in Columbus, with a map, filters by bar type, and new openings as we verify them.
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