The Thirsty Scholar

Unbeatable Deals, Unbeatable Staff. Always treated with a friendly hello, great food and and a Welcome back. Thirsty Scholar ain’t just a bar, it’s a home away from home!

So much fun. My husband and I went there after the Ohio State v Michigan Game. The bar is small, but fits a ton of people. The drinks are strong, reasonably priced and the bartenders are friendly. The bar was also close to the stadium.

The Thirsty Scholar is top notch. The service is superb, and the food follows suit. The bartenders are welcoming, and are helpful if you ever need assistance deciding a drink. Definitely try their peanut butter shot called «sex in your mouth,» because its name speaks volumes. This place is super close to campus and awesome to come to on game day — or any other day. It’s really close to the Schott as well, so if you are going to an event be sure to make a quick stop. They know their regulars, and appreciate them. If you are close to OSU Campus, definitely stop in there for a drink. Not a franchise, which is awesome because everyone is personable.

Cool campus bar. The all you can drink deals are awesome and the overall value here is great.
This is a place you go to to have more than a couple.

Be warned, this is an Ohio State bar, if you are looking to watch the Furman game you will get heckled (as I learned when I tried to get the manager to put the Furman game on the TV). They have drinks as well.

Sort of the poor man’s Varsity Club. It’s smaller, not as nice, but it gets the job done. As an undergrad I would frequent this place before basketball games — they used to have some sort of all you can drink deal on Thursday and Saturdays. Not sure if they still offer that, but not much else has changed from those days.
It’s tiny so it can get cramp inside, but they usually do a pretty good job of getting drinks out. Great spot pre or post football/​basketball games. Burgers aren’t bad either.

I lived on OSU campus for 5 years… never during this time did I ever go to the Thirsty Scholar. I’ve since found out, this was a huge mistake on my part. My current roommate used to frequent the place, and before a basketball game last year suggested we go. I’m really glad he did. It’s exactly what I look for before and after a game. I’m OK with the cramped bar area before games. This place is pretty small, it does get crowded, and it can be difficult to move around. But, that puts me in a good mood and when the drink specials are pretty solid, I can get on board with that too. If you’re looking for a break from your Varsity Club or something a little more authentic than B-​Dubs, meet in the middle at Thirsty Scholar

I only ever come on Monday because my buddy hosts karaōke. But I tell you what, if you just want to go out and meet people, this is the place to do it. Small bar with ample seating. The stage area sort of forces people to pay attention and unlike some places there’s a strong chance you’ll be able to get a song in. There’s a downstairs area with pool tables but I’ve never seen it used. That’s probably because I only come for karaōke, though. They have plenty of tvs and it’s usually sports but one of the tvs had comedy central on it. This is a place where you’re a regular after a few visits… this is a place where you can leave your purse and it won’t get jacked. It never gets old. :)

If I may write a poem, an ode, to the Thirsty:
O, sing sweet muse of the dank interior of the Thirsty
Sticky floors and miraculous staff
Forever a tale is woven within your walls
Stories of drunken debauchery, Thirsty burgers
Free popcorn, Thirsty Thursdays and your juke box
Never again shall I find a next door bar as fair as thee
You are and forever shall be
My love
My Thirs-​teeeeee!

Back when I attended Ohio State, we thirsty scholar’s were in search of cheap drinks in a non-​trendy setting… this was it. Off the beaten path, yet accessible. Busy, but never too rowdy. Even after I graduated, we met here regularly for cheap food and beer — and here I am, rapidly approaching 40 years old and I still relive my Thirsty Scholar days from time to time.
The bar features incredible happy hour specials every day of the week, but the prices are very reasonable even during non-​happy hours. I used to come here for my regular order: grilled cheese, french fries and pitcher of beer– with a total tab under $ 10! Does it get any better?
I’ve read some reviews commenting on how small this bar is, but perhaps they have never seen the lower level where the bathrooms are located. It’s easy to walk in to this ‘house” bar and think there is only one floor. The first level can become crowded, but the bar area is spacious and we’ve always had enough elbow room. If you need to spread out a bit, head downstairs where the restrooms and pool tables are located.
Be warned… the «eye in the sky» sees your every move! Video cameras are planted around the lower level and shown on small a surveillance-​like television upstairs for all the bar to see. So, no monkey business in the basement!

Great little dive. Not sure why it was nearly empty during last week’s home game, but we appreciated the elbow room, the availability of bar stools, the cool breeze, and PBR on tap. We also briefly appreciated the plastic souvenir cups until we realized we didn’t want to carry them around all day. Highly recommended for a change of pace on game day.

Blink once and you may miss this thimble-​sized draft house located a mere stone’s throw from Ohio State’s main campus. Located right near the corner of Neil and Lane, the location of Thirsty Scholar can be tragic when the bedlam surrounding a home football game is nowhere to be found. It’s certainly not too far off the beaten path of High Street to be out of the question on a night out, but the chances of convincing your friends to take a detour from their bar crawl in order to grab a drink here are slim. In my opinion, this actually works much to this bar’s benefit. The crowd here is rarely out of control, making it a great fallback for you and your friends to take over on an otherwise low-​key evening of drinking. I’m not sure if this is still applicable, but in my day the Thirsty Scholar had unlimited draft specials on Thursday evenings for something to the tune of $ 7, which turned this place in to an absolute shit-​show on occasion. Don’t ever give a college student the idea that they can’t get their money’s worth of cheap draft beer lest you prepare for impending doom. Like I said, this bar is pretty tiny, but the drinks are cheap enough and the crowd is random enough that it’s worth going to if you can even remember it in the first place.