The Garage

Basically, I agree with some of the other reviewers. I was truly excited about a new gay club opening up in Columbus. I had a GREAT time the first time I went (back in the summer of 2013 when it opened)! It had great music and all three rooms were open.
Now every time I go: only the back door is open, there are people smoking indoors (which is illegal, I thought, and certainly very smelly), and there is always a drag show. I go to clubs to dance, not to watch other people dance and be stuck standing around a bunch of bar tables waiting.
Then, once they finally stop the sub-​par drag show, the music is incredibly terrible. Don’t play Gangham Style when it’s over a year old and refuse to play music that would actually bring people to the dance floor in a gay club (e.g., Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Jessie J., etc.). It’s not that difficult!
And although I do not blame the DJ for this because it appeared to be a technical problem, they could not even keep a single song playing because the speakers were going out. I felt embarrassed for them.
Additionally, there is barely an online presence so we have no chance of knowing the hours, whether or not they will be open (or taken over by Sugar Bar randomly like they were one night when we tried to go), or if there will be any time to dance.
Last time we went there, they closed by turning the lights on and kicking us out at 1:15 because no one was dancing. Play better music, and people will dance! It was just absolutely ridiculous. I tried to talk to some of the employees (one of which appeared to have a little more power) and tell him that it was going to close if they did not fix something as simple as the music. He said it wasn’t going to close, and I said well if it stays open then it’s going to become a straight club.
Terrible. I’m not coming back.

I went here on a whim for the birthday party of a mutual acquaintance and his friends. We got there around midnight and he had a table and a bottle for his birthday. The club, while bigger than some of the more popular gay bars, was rather empty. And for it to be so empty, the music was loud with what looked like a trying-​too-​hard drag show going on. I felt bad that he (or someone) spent money to get a table and a bottle for nothing to really be happening there. We ended up going to Axis, another gay club down the street.

Well, I went back to see where things stood (with regards to the indoor smoking problem)…
Needless to say it’s apparent the Columbus Health Department doesn’t care if you’re violating business owner policy in this town. So it’s still gross.
The clientele seems to have turned from classy to trashy and seems like a serious hot mess in there.
At Pride when it first opened, it was packed. Now it’s dying and dying quick. The dance floor was completely near-​empty, the music was horrific… generally I’m just disgusted and disappointed. I had high hopes for this place (based off opening weekend — see my Pride review)…and really hoped Columbus could find SOMEONE in this town who knows how to do a dance club, keep it fresh and lively (someone please find me an investor and I’ll show you how it should be done).
Sadly this is not it and just reaffirms that straight people cannot open a gay bar and have it be successful as they have no idea the clientele or the market they’re dealing with.
Too bad. I look for this place to be closed in the next year. Back to Masque it is!!!

I was so excited to hear the Garage was reopening and I was sure I was going to love this bar. But overall it pretty much sucks. It’s a nice enough bar but there are so many problems I don’t think I’ll be back. Drink prices are unusually high in comparison to other bars in the area. Plus they mix them pretty weak. $ 5 for water. I seriously get angry every time I close my tab at the Garage. Arg. Service has been very very sketchy. I never think the $ 10 cover charge is worth it. The dance music is usually good but it’s always interrupted for some god awful drag show. It seems like its 100 degrees on the dance floor. The «gay bus» shuttle doesn’t provide return service at the end of the night. Count on being left stranded downtown. Good luck getting a cab to pick you up on Long Street. It’s such a huge place it feels empty even when there’s a small crowd. I fear the crowds will be getting smaller and smaller. I’m pretty sure it won’t make it another six months unless they have some massive management and policy changes. Totally bummed.

Such a huge, expansive space.
This is the previous location of one of the most popular gay bars from the 80s, The Garage. Not to be confused with the Arena District bar that has the same name and is straight – It’s a gay dance bar and right now it’s only open Saturdays. There’s almost always a cover and the crowd is a bit like Axis but maybe skewed slightly older. But every Saturday there’s a party there with some sort of porn star, drag queen or special F-​list star or guest to justify the cover. Will be interesting to see if it lasts only being open one night a week but right now it’s incredibly packed most weekends.

Before my visit to Columbus I was informed by friends that this place was the place to go to. I don’t believe it was open on my prior visit, so I missed it that time. So we arrived Friday and had plans to visit this place. We viewed the website before we set out for the evening and headed that way. However, the website is lacking. No hours or days of operation listed, just upcoming events. We walked the few blocks from our hotel to here and go to pull on the door and it’s locked… on a Friday night…
Fast forward to the next night, we knew it was going to be open for sure, as the website stated that there was an event planned for the night. Once we made it through the line and paid the cover charge we walk inside to what we thought was just a lounge… with nobody in it. Looking confused at one another, my friends walked up to the bar, ordered a drink and then sat on the comfortable chairs. I began to wonder, and my friends followed me, when we walked back the hall, we were surprised the size of this place. It’s HUGE. And plenty of bars to grab a drink at.
All the way in the back is where the people come to life. Lots of room for dancing. Stage for performances, lights everywhere, small platforms to dance on. Some high top tables dot the area for mingling. A huge mirror on the back wall gives the illusion that this place is even bigger than it looks. The room in between the front and the dance floor is like your typical bar where everyone packs in and waits to get a drink. The only place we didn’t get a chance to look at was the patio as it was shut down for repairs I believe.
The music was great, we got there at the end of the show and right after they finished the music came blaring on and everyone jammed the dance floor. This particular night we were there was a glow party, so people were wearing flashing rings and glowing necklaces everywhere.
Even though we had to wait an extra night to come here, I’m glad we didn’t leave Columbus before we got a chance to come here. It definitely is a good time to be had, worth the cover charge to get in and an amazing feel once you leave.