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Merion Village will be gaining another neighborhood nightlife option as Cavan Irish Pub opens their doors at 1409 South High Street next week. The venue features a large rectangular bar, several dartboards, and a large outdoor patio out back that will be expanded this coming Spring.
We sat down recently for an interview with owner/partner Matt Mefferd to talk about the new neighborhood pub venture.
Q) An Irish Pub is a very specific type of bar to open. What was the thought process and history behind the concept?
A) Cavan Irish Pub is a joint endeavor created through the efforts of myself, Carolyn Frey, Jason Medlock, and Heather Lashaway. It was important to me to design an ownership model that is reflective of an inclusive environment. In the gay community, bars are often viewed as only a male or female bar based upon the owner’s gender. Having been a bar owner in Columbus over the last 10 years I have seen this separation and I wanted to create an atmosphere where we could all be together. My previous experience at AWOL, which is located on Parsons Ave in the Olde Towne East community, showed me that being a neighborhood bar could bring a community together. It was because of the camaraderie generated within a neighborhood bar that I felt it was important to be in a strong neighborhood location like Merion Village. The Irish Pub theme is something that I have wanted to do since a recent trip that Jason and I took to Ireland. We enjoyed stopping in small town pubs where you could chat with locals and we wanted to bring a piece of that back to Columbus. Once a location presented itself I asked Jason, Carolyn, and Heather to join me in this new venture. After an emphatic yes from all, we sat down to create a place we could call inclusive, welcoming and warm… and Cavan Irish Pub was born.
Q) Was the proximity to Merion Village a draw for the location? I’ve heard some residents in the area express concern that their community is somewhat under-served when it comes to restaurants and entertainment.
A) There are Irish bars and restaurants scattered around town, but there are few Irish pubs in South Columbus, and none specifically within the gay community. None of us are residents of Merion Village any longer, however, having lived here in the past and as current frequenters of establishments in the Village we know this area has a great sense of neighborhood pride. The venue was chosen because of the fantastic High Street location in a well established market. I think it is important to stress that we are not seeking an exclusively gay, lesbian, or straight clientele. We are in a very diverse neighborhood and hope to see a place where all are comfortable. We look forward to serving this community.
Q) What type of atmosphere can customers expect in the new venue?
A) It’s important to me that when creating ambiance the environment should be somewhere in which I would be comfortable and happy. Having worked with Ward Design Group in the past, I asked Jaime Ward for his help, and after a full interior renovation we have fashioned a comfortable neighborhood pub. Our décor is reminiscent of a traditional Victorian era Irish Pub. The design begins with mahogany and brick walls, a warm fireplace, a black granite bar, and an emphasis on comfort. Our goal is to have a venue that will be relaxed, perfect for discovering new friends or enjoying a great night out with old friends. The expectation is that our clientele will primarily come from the gay community; however, we promote ourselves as ‘hetero-friendly’ and welcome everyone to our establishment.
Q) What sort of menu will be featured at Cavan, in terms of both food and drink?
A) Though we are not a restaurant, we felt it was important to offer our customers some light snacks. We will have a small variety of options such as a cheese bread, kettle chips and dip, and hummus. Our alcoholic offerings include a selection of twelve draught beers ranging from traditional European brews to local craft brews. We will carry a wide variety of wine and Irish whiskeys in addition to our fine liquor selections. We would like to try to provide everyone’s favorite items at reasonable prices.
Q) What sorts of special events or happy hours can customers expect to find?
A) Happy hour specials will run Monday through Friday from 2:00pm until 8:00pm. There will be different liquors featured each day of the week, with special drinks generated each day by our bartenders. Periodically we will hold wine and beer tastings, and our menu offers beer flights with multiple tasting selections for those who can’t choose just one. We are excited to broadcast local and regional sporting events with a large projector to complement our four televisions. We are a participating KENO and Ohio Lottery venue. And, of course, we expect to be THE place to be on St. Patrick’s Day!
Q) And lastly… when is opening day and what will the grand opening celebrations entail?
A) The expectation is to be open within the next week, and are planning our grand opening weekend for December 11 and December 12. It is sure to be a grand party with entertainment and fun!
Hours are Monday through Friday, 2:00pm – 2:30am, and Saturday 12:00pm – 2:30am, and closed on Sunday. More information can be found online at CavanIrishPub.com.
My neighborhood gets more and more awesome by the week (and my savings account gets more and more depleted as the awesomeness increases).
Now this is what I’m talking about. Is this taking the place of the dodgy-looking High Street Tavern? If so, no complaints here and that’s not to be insensitive to southsiders, but it looks like not even they cared about it. They only had two friends on their myspace page, if that’s any measurement to go by. Here’s the before picture of the exterior if I have the location correct, any of what it looked like before on the inside?
Just down the street where Crater’s used to be is now Eagle Tavern, which I read was also a gay-friendly or gay-oriented neighborhood bar. There’s a coupon in the current edition of High Street Neighborhoods. Here’s another before pic.
So it looks like the bar options on S High in MV tripled (let me know if I’m missing something). I guess you can go somewhere else instead of just Somewhere Else. Now that there are more bars, it would be nice to see something compliment them that isn’t a bar.
Columbusite Says: Is this taking the place of the dodgy-looking High Street Tavern?
Yes, that’s the spot. They’ve got a new awning going up on the outside and they’ve added new windows to the front of the building, where the old place had them boarded up. Looking forward to checking this out. I met several of the owners yesterday, and they seem like really nice community-oriented business owners.
Two things:
1) Please keep the kitchen open late. Frustrating when you need something to soak the alcohol up and they already shut the kitchen down at 11 PM.
2) If you get Guinness on tap, learn to pour it properly. Hate self titled Irish bars that can’t poor a Guinness right.
Good luck! It’s great to see new local businesses opening up. If you need help with the whiskey selections, I am sure you will find many willing volunteers here. :)
Coumbusite, hate to break the news but both the Eagle Tavern and Somewhere Else have either closed or moved. Somewhere Else is now called INN REHAB, and is over on greenlawn west of 71, and i believe the Eagle Tavern closed about three weeks ago. As for some before pics of Cavan Irish Pub when it was the High Street Tavern, i will see if i can post some for you.
Aww. S High needs some more lovin. Of course, I attribute the not-as-friendly state of S High vs. N High towards non-motorists as a significant factor for those closings (Greenlawn though? eww). Wouldn’t mind if the city would change that since this is High St after all. I’ll be sure to head down and check it out once open.
Congrats on this write up, kids!! Looking forward to the opening. It’s a job.. well done!! WOOOT!!!
We need to get a bike hitch or two there, now :)
Congratulations Matt! Can’t wait to see the new bar!
Yay! This is exciting news, I can’t wait to check it out. Carolyn Frey is an awesome lady, I’m excited to sip some stout. Cheers, Cavan’s!
Good luck with the bar. As a real Irishman, here for the past 18 months, I’ll look forward to casting my critical eye over it….;-)
Thank you all for your support during our initial week of business. It has been great seeing old freinds and meeting new ones. Your compliments have been so gracious and appreciated, and i hope we can continue to earn your support. We will now be maintaining our regular business hours, Mon-Fri 2PM to 2:30PM, and Saturday Noon to 2:30PM, and welcome all to stop by and enjoy our hospitality!!
We visited on Friday night and really enjoyed ourselves! We loved the hard cider on tap, and the cider-Guiness black-and-tan was delicious. Keep it up, Cavan!