This is a pretty nice campus bar, but I wouldn't personally want to go there on a weekend night during the school year. For some reason the crowd gets extremely tight in the walkway in front of the bar so that it's impossible to order a drink or get from the booths to the bathroom. In other areas (the booths or the patio) there is almost no crowd. On the weekdays it's nice and quiet. Also, the bathrooms are top of the line for a campus bar.
Review Source:Fantastic place to tailgate! They have a  big projector that shows the game and a DJ that plays music during commercials. They also have a few additional outside bars that are super accommodating.  I've been here on a "regular" night and it's pretty relaxed.. nice little bar to hang out with friends. The drinks are pretty good, nothing to go crazy about.. but then again a suspect that they primarily serve beer. Definitely stop by for an OSU game at some point in your tailgating adventures.. you'll have a great time.
Review Source:The Little Bar is definitely a great place to watch both Buckeye football as well as Sunday NFL football. Many tvs are set to different games to make any fan happy. They have a 3 dollar draft special as well (when I went it was Miller Lite.) Though Little Bar doesn't sell food, there is always FREE popcorn and Buffalo Wild Wings delivers (for those of us too lazy to walk a few doors down!)
Monday through Friday they have happy hour from 4 to 9pm which includes 2 dolla drafts and 2 dolla wells. HOLLA!
Their patio is perfect for summer days or fall evenings complete with various tables and corn hole boards.
Overall, I always have a great time here. On weekends there is usually a dj who does NOT disappoint with the music selection. I'm talking some random dance parties here, after one or two or five are thrown back!
My only con: When the bar gets packed, it really lives up to its name of "The Little Bar"
I decided to give the little bar a second chance. And what do you know I will give them an extra star. The patio is pretty nice, the staff needs to clean up old drinks and beer bottles more quickly. But a good place to take in a game.
I will say again the girls here really bring the the place down. And I am guessing most of that is because they do not dress up for this bar. I guess its a nice change in campus area.
My boyfriend's friends dragged me here, and the first thing I saw when I walked in was a middle-aged woman face down in a trash can with her ass hanging out of her skirt. The night did not get classier from there.
I'd give it one star, except I do understand that this is a college bar. Still, though...ew.
Well, well, well, look at you all hating on the Lil Bar. Â The primary complaints seem to be that it's small and full of college kids. Â I think I am with the other guy, are you all morons or just lunatics? Â It says Lil Bar right on the sign, and it's an old IHOP, and if you've ever been in one before then you should know they're not big. Â Even if you didn't notice either of those things, once you walk in, you see all there is to see, why stay and have a drink and later bitch about how small the place is? Â As far as college kids go, um, did you not notice the largest university in the US one block up the street?
I like the Lil Bar in that I used to live on the North side of campus, and this was and remains one of the two bars North of Lane, and South of Dodridge that I will actually go have a drink in. Â They usually have one or two decent/interesting beers on tap, a decent selection of bottles, and the bartenders have always been sweet to me. Â I also like that this place attracts a lot fewer frat boy douchebags than most campus bars. Â The interior is also nice looking and clean, which is not par for the course around campus. Â They used to have free (crappy) pizza on Fridays during HH.
I would watch your head on that spiral staircase though.
I havn't been to The Little Bar in awhile, but to know that it's still there is always a good thing! The Little Bar is a great place for a fun night, to go to watch a Buckeye's game, or just to catch a beer. It's not too much to look at from outside, but once you step inside this small establishment it changes BIG TIME! I've always had a good time at The Little Bar, and I never knew anybody who didn't or wouldn't. Prices are reasonable with two dollar drafts, all night happy hours, and an atmosphere of fun in a big way!
Review Source:Classic campus bar....
With being on campus you have different rating scale when looking at a bar compared to one located downtown or in the Short North... or well just about anywhere else.
You walk into this narrow bar and you may have a hard time finding a seat/booth. They have a nice outside patio though! It is open all year if you want to brave the outdoors during a cold, bitter Columbus winter.
But this place transforms during game day like Optimus Prime (yes, I did just throw in a casual Transformers reference).
It is packed! Little Gate is the place to be with plenty of heaters, a giant projector screen and of course what tailgating experience is complete without an extremely long line to the Porta-John's!
This is a great North Campus bar if you want to avoid the crazy downtown traffic or even the Gateway crowds. It is a chilled atmosphere filled with a mixed crowd.
Also Little Bar is active on Facebook (<a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2F%23%21%2Fthelittlebar.cbus&s=b4101643b675d39f5b596d5edc3d0bf82453da2e4937ee83d2e03321767cfee6" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.facebook.com/…</a>) and twitter (@theLittleBar), and they often will feature contests, giveaways, and prizes so check them out!
Little Bar reminds me of a ski lodge. It's ambiance is something I adore immensely!
I used to visit this bar regularly, but lately, I have found myself going elsewhere. (maybe that's because of my discovery of 4th St Patio)
Pros: Cheap beer, decent tunes, great patio (especially during football season).
Cons: TINY! It's so hard to find a table, and it seems to attract more of the older fratty types.
I so miss this bar.
The cheap $2 drafts helps make this bar one of my top four bars on campus. I would usually come here for just a few drinks earlier in the night when it wasn't so busy, and I usually avoided it when it was super crowded--like on the weekends. The bathrooms were always clean, so points for that. The bartenders have always been really nice to me too.
I can't really say I have any major complaints. I don't like their little upstairs seating, it's kind of awkward. Like, do they really need to cram people in every corner? Besides that, probably the only reason why I didn't give them 5 stars is because it really is very small and I'm a little claustrophobic!
Two dollar drafts during happy hour. Â Bourbon aged beer on tap. Â Music is very loud and it's very small inside. Â A lot of TVs all with sports shows playing. Â Tough to have a conversation. Â Would be cozy if not for the loud music and all the TVs. Â (Parking is a bit of a challenge.)
Review Source:I finally made it back here to update my review for a game day experience, which they now call at Little Bar "Tiney Gate". Beer is still relatively cheap, crowds aren't too obnoxious and still a lot of fun to watch the game here while avoiding all of the crap that I mentioned in my previous review.
Review Source:The owner of Little Bar could not be a bigger prick and for that reason, I don't care to EVER go back. My friends and I went during an OSU game and were having a great time, until 2 guys by us got into a heated argument. One of the guys was a friend of one of my friends, so I stood in front of him and tried to calm him down. It eventually stopped, but not before he was kicked out. HOWEVER, shortly after he was kicked out, I was told by some asshole, "you're fucking gone too!" Obviously, I had no idea what he was talking about, so when I asked why, he responded, "I'm getting a cop and you're fucking out!"
Sure enough, 30 seconds later a cop approached me and I was escorted out. The cop apologized to me as soon as we got outside and explained that he knew I didn't do anything wrong, but since the guy was the owner, he had to do what he asked.
For this reason, I will never return to this bar. Any place owned by a prick on a power trip is no place I want to be.
PLEASE avoid and go ANYWHERE else.
We stumbled (yes stumbled due to our level of alcohol consumption from previous adventures) into The Little Bar this past Saturday during the 2nd half of OSU beating Miami (yeah go bucks)! Â Anyway I've been there once before but didn't actually go in because you have to be 21 and I had my young 18 year old cousin with us. This time I found that the TV outside was a great size and a clear picture. Since the bar was crowded and I'm short having a large TV was perfect. What I didn't like is that it was cash only for the bar. Â I'm not sure if it's always like this I was disappointed that I had to use cash and no debit/credit card. Â Still had fun though, great place to party and watch football with other crazy OSU fans like me!
Review Source:Little Bar is another typical college bar located just on High St. just north of Lane Ave. Â You can't miss the place with it's sloped roofs and always overflowing patio area. Â For most of the students who live towards the north side of campus, this is a popular stop on way to somewhere better.
The drinks are reasonable but the prices are odd. Â Whoever sets the prices here needs to have a lesson on good business. Â I feel sorry for the bartenders here that only get tipped in quarters by most. Â They run a lot of specials so you're bound to find something that you like for any budget.
The crowd here is upperclassmen or graduate studens, which is what you expect. Â There are always a pile of people inside and outside. Â The patio is slammed during the the Spring, Summer and Fall. Â Don't even bother coming here during football season because, despite a decent tailgate atmosphere, there are going to be at least a couple of hundred people jamming into the place. Â Worth at least one drink on Senior Crawl, if you can make it this far.
The only reason Little Bar isn't getting one star from me is because of the architecture of the building. It's like a big tee-pee! It's also got some pleasant landscaping out front. It seems much cleaner and presentable than most other bars around campus. It looks so cool on the outside, and the inside is unlike most other bars. I really like that part. Otherwise, skip this place.
Here's why! I don't like the crowd of people here. Little Bar is just north of campus on High Street so it draws just about exclusively students. Mostly the frat/sorority type. I used to live right down the street from Little Bar and while that should have been awesome, I didn't go there very much. Other bars were just better. The people that come here tend to be very obnoxious and I think they're rude. They are the kind that bumps into you and then gets mad at you about it. Not usually the smartest bunch. And they tend to come here in large groups so it's crowded and you get the feeling that you just walked into a party where everybody knows each other except for you.
But about the building! It's called Little Bar for a reason. It's not very big at all on the inside. Because of this, it's packed during games and weekends. Uncomfortably so. But inside everything sort of looks like a cabin because it's all wooden and there is an awesome loft. If you're up on the loft you can look down over the rest of the bar. You have to go up there if you want to go to the bathroom, but there's not a lot of space up there so it's not really a good place to hang out.
Little Bar has a pretty cool patio outside at the front of the bar. It's got a few tables and it's a good place to get away from the crowds, providing that there isn't a huge crowd out there. It's not a good place if it's raining because there isn't any cover out there. That happened to us once, and everyone crammed inside. It didn't take us very long before we decided to take the party elsewhere.
The cool thing that sets Little Bar apart from other campus bars is that it has it's own parking lot. Granted, it's not very big and it's full a lot of the time, but I've managed to park here a few times. There are other spots on the streets nearby. During games the bar will turn the parking lot into one big party to watch the game. Then they have big projector screens that you can watch the game on and it's pretty cool but it's crazy and crowded. I guess that's really anywhere on campus on a game day.
They have a bunch of TVs in there so it might be a good place to go and watch a game. But if it's an OSU game it's going to be insanely crowded. I remember going there and watching a big TV that was out on the patio, so you can even watch the game outside. That was really nice.
The biggest downside to this bar is the drink prices. It is so expensive here for no reason. They have a happy hour, but if you're here past that time, you'll pay way too much for beer! I'm not even sure how good their happy hour is, but most people I know don't come here for cheap drinks. I remember I came here with a friend for just a bit during her senior crawl and bought us each a shot. It was about $15 not including the tip. That's crazy for a place on campus, and it's not like I got Patron or anything like that. The bartenders are also very slow! They take forever to get to you and when they do they take forever to get you your drinks. I came here once with a friend who knew the bartender so he made our drinks very strong. That was awesome, but every other time I've been here they haven't been really anything to get excited about.
A couple of times that I've been here there has been a cover charge at the door. If you've read any other of my bar reviews, you know how I hate that. Especially when the drinks aren't reasonably priced once you get inside. And this is another one of those places that I have no idea when they are or aren't charging a cover. There aren't any live bands in here, so I'm not sure what the cover is even for. It's usually been $5 or something like that. And the main door that people go into is the door on the right side of the building by the parking lot. I'm not sure you can get in any other way. I think they usually give you a bracelet when you show them your ID.
Anyway, I don't like being here. I hate the crowds and the prices really drive me away. But I have had fun when I've been here from time to time. I always like sitting out on the patio better than I do being inside. It's also a good chance to get away from the music because it's usually so loud in there and since so many people are in there talking you can't hear anything. It's awful to try to have a conversation in there. But if you want to see it, I suggest coming on a week night when they aren't as busy or coming in the summertime so you can at least sit outside on the patio if you need to get away from the craziness that is the inside of Little Bar!
Much like everything else I've found in Central Ohio, finding The Little Bar was a complete accident as well. I made my way down to The Little Bar on High Street, while following a bunch of newly graduated college kids on a booze cruise celebrating their new freedom into a very bad economy. The Little Bar had to be the tenth bar we had hit that night -- which also made it just a little bit anticlimatic, because High Street has some pretty interesting bars to patronize. But that's another Yelp! entirely.
When I walked into the bar, I was impressed by the European-style architecture. The row of televisions broadcasting every game imaginable also made for an interesting addition, that would make The Little Bar a fun place to hang out during the daytime. The bad news was that it was crawling with college kids.
Now don't get me wrong -- I have nothing wrong with college kids, or the entertainment value and great things they bring to our community. But a ton of them, in a confined space, all drinking profusely? Not my cup of tea.
The bar is very small, and there's really nowhere to sit if you arrive late to anything. Or stand, for that matter. And, as on this night, if its overrun with college kids...then you are definitely at their mercy.
The drink prices aren't as bad as other places on High Street, but be prepared to spend a little money, and a lot of time to get their drinks. And again, feel free to squeeze in with the rest of the patrons -- its a very cozy place, to say the least.
If it weren't such a nice looking place, it would be my opinion that The Little Bar would be an odd sort of Euro/Campus dive that was off High Street. But its a nice looking place that lives up to its name...and with a little more space (or a little less customers) could make an excellent sports bar. I think it will take another graduation celebration before I head back to The Little Bar....but it was definitely an experience to be had, to say the very least.
I, much like Peter C, have not a whole lot of good to say about this place. Â The Little Bar is nice, looks good inside and out, but I've never really had a great time here. Â The bar is so small you are kind of at the mercy of the crowd that is in there at the moment. Â Or you can go with a big group of friends and turn it into YOUR bar, because it really is so small that a big group can take over the bar.
The outdoor patio on the front is nice  There are more patio spots popping up now that the smoking ban has driven the smokers outdoors and I think it has a great effect on the bar atmosphere.  With out the patio area there would be no where to go to get away from whatever atmosphere in which you find yourself inside the bar because this place is that small.
Opening around the same time as the glut of bars known to OSU student's as the South Campus Gateway, I held Little Bar to rather high standards. After making my rounds here on more balmy summer evenings than I'd care to remember, it pains me to say that this place has disappointed me at almost every turn. From the outside looking in, a busy night here looks as if it may yield a good time for all. Step inside and it's anyone's guess after that.
My first and foremost gripe with Little Bar is their prices, which are all annoyingly out of reach for a tightwad like myself. Forgive me for having had my proverbial teeth cut on dollar drafts and two dollar well drinks at just about any bar in the area, but charging 3.75 for ANY drink is as underhanded and self-serving as you can get. Either up the ante to $4 so I can just hand over a five and get on with it, or knock 50 cents off so I don't feel like an ass only tipping the random quarter I've been handed after paying 3.75 for a Newcastle bottle. The prices here aren't oppressive, they just seem a little out of whack I guess. I did a bar promo here for my old job that was sponsored by Natural Light of all beer companies, and the management saw it fit to promote $2.50 for a 20 oz Natty as the deal of all deals for the evening. Are you f***ing kidding me?
Getting a drink here in efficient manner is rarely an easy task here, but to the bar staff's credit it always appears as if Little Bar is slightly understaffed at times. It would be way to easy for them to go the route of Four Kegs by completely ignoring certain patrons for 15 minute increments in apropos of nothing, but they've had at least a little hustle in their step most of the times I've been here.
For being such a small bar, the layout and dimensions actually work to Little Bar's advantage. There's hardly any dead space in the bar, giving you the illusion that you made a popular choice by stopping there for a drink or two. It's easy enough to get from the porch to the bar and back out the front door without spilling your pitcher on every moving target within a ten foot radius, which seems like a thoughtful touch on the designers behalves.
So there, my friend, are the facts about Little Bar: the drinks are all about a dollar or so too much, the service is so so, and the layout and size make the bar feel busy even when it isn't. It's worth checking out, but I doubt it will grow on you for any reason.
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