Congratulations, drinkers. You’ve helped our state by spending $742.7 million on 10.8 million gallons of liquor in the 2010 fiscal year. That’s an increase of $12.8 million over 2009’s total.

A report released last week by the Ohio Department of Commerce provides some detail on how the state liquor sales revenue is broken down, which includes $167 million for Ohio’s General Revenue Fund, $35.9 million for the Ohio Department of Development to fund the state’s small business loan program, $14.9 million to the Ohio Department of Development for Clean Ohio Revitalization Bonds, and millions more toward a variety of other state programs. [Read More]

The nightlife venue formerly known as The Sugar Bar closed their doors three weeks ago, but the space won’t be sitting empty for long. In September, The Park Street Saloon will open at 525 North Park Street, which will feature a variety of live entertainment including dueling pianos, comedy acts and more.

Currently, the 8,000 sqft venue is undergoing a remodeling that will transform the space into a “Chicago Burlesque” themed environment. The decor features a lot of dark woods, deep reds and saloon-style doors. [Read More]

A new entertainment and dining concept called KDB (short for “Kitchen Den and Bar”) will be replacing the recently closed GameWorks space at Easton Town Center. The new 37,000 venue is slated to open on August 5th.

The format will remain virtually the same as GameWorks with a 150-seat dining area, 25,000 square feet of interactive games and prize machines, and a sports bar area that contains pool tables, darts, tvs and more. [Read More]

In just a few weeks, the venue formerly known as Oldfield’s on High will be reborn as KOBO. New owners Jacob Wooten and Nick Wolak are keeping the focus on local live music, but making some improvements to the interior aesthetics that both musicians and music fans will enjoy. We recently caught up with Jacob to find out what we can expect at KOBO. [Read More]

On Saturday, a large, successful World Cup 2010 event was held at Claddagh Irish Pub in the Brewery District where an estimated 2500-3000 people showed up. The doors opened early, a large outdoor viewing area was erected and an extra beer truck was parked outside to accommodate the larger-than-expected crowd.

According to Patrick Guldan, author of “An American Game” soccer blog, this event has resulted in the exodus of well-liked Claddagh General Manager Craig McConville after public beratement by corporate management. To read Patrick’s full blog post about the event, click here: “Claddagh: Ruining a Good Thing (As We Know It)“.

Update (June 15th) - Part II: The Grisly Details.

Zane Lamprey has a better job than you.

No, I’m totally serious. He’s been a writer, producer, comedian, actor, and director. But most notably he’s been the host of Three Sheets, a show that takes him around the globe to mix and mingle and get drunk. And I’m a super big fan of that. I wish someone would pay me to walk up and down High Street and get drunk. I’d do it for about ten bucks. And he’s a television star, so you can be sure he’s making a bit more to booze it up than I would.

[Read More]

Via Vecchia Winery was founded in a Powell basement in 2005 by three guys with a passion for wine making. Five years later, the business is moving into a much larger facility located at 485 South Front Street in the heart of the Brewery District.

The new building will serve as a production facility, a weekend wine bar, a retail shop and a rentable special event location. “We’re keeping the speakers and lighting systems for entertainment, bands, poetry readings, weddings, corporate events and whatever else we want to do,” said co-founder Michael Elmer. [Read More]

SalsaQueen broke the news yesterday that Easton just lost another nightlife tenant as Martini Park has closed their doors. This news follows the recent departure of Gameworks in March.

Martini Park’s Columbus location opened in November of 2008, and served as the chain’s third location, but that opening was immediately followed the closure of their original Plano, Texas location. This leaves only their Chicago location in current operation. Scratch that. The Chicago location has also closed.

Both the homebrew and microbrew scenes in Columbus recently gained a notch in their belts with the opening of the Neil House Brewery & Homebrew Supply store. This Reynoldsburg-based business not only sells the supplies needed for brewing up your own beer at home, but they will also soon be selling their own batches at a store or bar near you. We recently caught up with Patrick Kelleher, Brewmaster, Owner and Founding Member of Neil House Brewery to find out more about the new operation. [Read More]

Zane Lamprey, host of the international bar-crawl show “Three Sheets” (which will be returning to the air on the Travel Channel on April 14th) is hitting the road this month on a cross-country drinking tour. According to his website, one of those stops will take place right here in Columbus:

“I’ll be in most cities for just a day. So, I’m not just interested in checking out any ol’ local bars or hang-outs… I want to know THE local bar or hang-out! What is THE bar in the city that best represents the city?”

So… if you could only recommend one bar for Zane that best represents Columbus… which bar would it be?