AUSTIN OWENS/THE LANTERNLocals gather at the Ravari Room on the corner of Dodridge and High Street. The rock ‘n’ roll bar hosts local bands and indie parties for entertainment.Hound Dog’s Pizza and the Ravari Room share the same building and the same entrance. Located in the back of an unassuming mini-mall you will find one of Columbus’ best-kept secrets.
“Anything goes here,” said Hound Dog’s server Sara Dzwonczyk, referring to both places. She is a stark example of what this place stands for. Half black and half Polish, she does not fit into one group or the other. Instead, she is a fusion of the two and makes no excuses for it.
The rough-around-the-edges attitude is something that bartenders and patrons embrace as part of their identity. “Service at Ravari can be downright crappy,” says a patron at the bar who wanted to be called by only his first name, Matt. “Yet this is precisely why we come.”
The crowd at Ravari and Hound Dog’s is a mixed bag at all times. Bartender John Burness said the bar is a mix of local artists and musicians. “Look around,” he says to me with eyes wide open and both hands pointing in the air. “In one way or another, everyone here is either getting their art studio set up or sculpting something somewhere.” Do not be mislead by their arts and crafts, these people are a “take-no-crap type” crowd.
One look at the place and you know exactly what to expect. A big-screen TV in the back shows the Cartoon Network, the speakers are playing “We Got the Jazz” by A Tribe Called Quest, and dim lighting makes this place feel like it was part of the underground railroad. The only illumination comes from neon red lights above the bar and from lamps that seem to be made from the scraps of some bizarre wire mesh. There are a few dilapidated pool tables and the volume in the bar is always high. “There have been quite a few fights in the past, right John?” yells a man drinking at the bar. John can only shrug sheepishly, but with a devilish grin on his face.
Burness classifies the ambiance as that of a rough-around-the-edges, Rock ‘n’ Roll bar. But Ravari Room has become much more than that in recent years. They are now known for holding some of the best indie parties in Columbus. Some of the best nights at Ravari are their theme nights, which include Funkdefy and Clampdown.
Funkdefy’s theme is rare funk and soul grooves, which are played on original vinyl and 45s. “It is amazing,” Dzwonczyk said. “There is no way I can summarize it into words.” The music is played by a guy who is old enough to be her grandfather, but she claims he is bringing the funk back. “Some of the funk has been lost in the last few years,” she said. “But he seems to be bringing it back, for no one does it better that he does.”
Alix Reese, also a server at Hound Dog’s Pizza, has different musical tastes than Dzwonczyk. They are actually on opposite poles of the musical spectrum. Only a place as diverse as the Ravari Room can cater to all of them. “My favorite nights at Ravari come during the last Saturday of every month,” Reese said. “They call it The Clampdown.” She tells me that the music is a high-energy, dance-all-night type with five or six DJs battling, playing pretty much whatever they like. “The music ranges from old school British to modern electronica,” Reese said. “Music at Ravari always has a certain indie feel to it.”
Just walking out of the bathroom you get a true feel about what the Ravari Room is really all about. The sign reads: “There is no such thing as danger, only potential.” This is a testament to the live-on-the-edge, take-no-crap attitude that the place exudes. I suspect that this mystique is one reason why the outside entrance seems to be eternally packed with people talking at all hours of the night. Dzwonczyk says that the Ravari Room is “the realest it will get near campus.” I believe her.
Maurice Arisso can be reached at [email protected].
