The wood throughout Out-R-inn, especially on the Columbus dive bar’s second floor is weathered, worn and in many places covered with the Sharpie scrawls of decades of Ohio State students. Etched and printed wisdom is a bit more legible on the bar’s second floor thanks to its comparatively lower traffic, making for an entertaining tour of the space hopping from one ridiculous statement to another. The Out-R-Inn second floor can be a bit of a challenge, a pair of staircases along the winding interior path leading to the dive bar’s bathrooms and a maze of weathered, wood-lined rooms. Brick archways and wooden flooring drift in and out of this second level, including a sort of dart board alcove that holds the peak of Out-R-Inn’s graffiti display.
Out-R-Inn is famously known for its mug night, a practice that was discontinued after the COVID-19 pandemic but always threatens to return. Many an Out-R-Inn visitor or Ohio State alum has a souvenir mug stashed away somewhere. Purchasing the mug brought with it weekly access to domestic beer refills as low as $1.50, the kind of promotion perfect for a college campus to spark business on a slow night (mug night took place on Monday’s or Tuesday’s typically). Keep an eye out for the revival of the phenomenon.
Occupying a plot of land just far enough off of Ohio State’s beaten path, Out-R-Inn has thus far eluded the redevelopment that has engulfed the rest of the area. The tall red house on the hill, its 1969 opening date officially qualifies Out-R-Inn as an Ohio State institution, evidenced by the presence of countless plastic, branded mugs in the cabinets of past visitors and the equally compelling array of scrawled sayings lining much of the wood along the Columbus dive bar’s walls.