Ash & Em's smash burger is a contender for best in the city
Warning: This article contains potentially disturbing mentions of the 2022 Ohio State/Michigan football game.
Chin up, shell-shocked Buckeyes fans. In spite of the recent 45-23 season-ending Ohio State drubbing at the claws of the wolverines, there is plenty of post-season college football yet to be played. This means OSU football enthusiasts like me might still enjoy watching upcoming big games, if only to aspire to schadenfreude.
On a less dark note, it’s also prime time for crunch-time NFL battles and a full slate of NBA and NCAA hoops. (I’m omitting hockey because I’m a CBJ fan trying to be upbeat.) And ‘tis the season for World Cup soccer in all its globe-spanning drama and craziness.
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With loads of such action broadcasted simultaneously on TV, sports fans are prone to seek out sports bars. If this describes you, and if you love a dive bar offering grub that far transcends the dive-bar genre (this describes me), I can recommend a guaranteed winner in the Brewery District: Classics Sports Bar, fittingly also known as a Classics-Victory’s.
Occupying three TV-filled spaces — a dusky bar with ample seating, an enclosed smoking-friendly patio and a game room with pool tables — Classics is a wood-bedecked establishment awash in so much scarlet and gray that its rainbow flag proudly stands out.
The sometimes-rowdy tavern also has personable bartenders who appeared happy to bring nicely priced drinks, like a $6 draft Great Lakes Christmas Ale or a rich-and-zesty $7 Bloody Mary, to my table. Overall, the place can seem like a party-time campus bar … until you order food. That’s because Classics has an overachieving, long-running “pop-up” concession stand called Ash & Em.
Cut to the highlight reel: Ash & Em’s smash burger is a contender for best sports bar burger in Columbus ($11; heavy-duty doubles are $14). With its wonderfully crinkly patty, “special sauce,” shredded lettuce, melted American cheese, pickle slivers, red onion and toasted puffy bun, this upgraded Big Mac-like star — a truckload of addictive McDonald’s-style fries with perky seasoning options (like garlic-parsley) come with that — can actually give any local smash burger a run for its money.
Like it hot? Opt for the same-priced and delicious spicy smash burger, a winning variation ignited by pickled jalapenos, sriracha aioli and ghost pepper cheese.
Heat-seeking eaters are likewise accommodated with other fiery items such as an impressively designed and executed Nashville hot chicken sandwich ($14, with fries). This was a hefty slab of crunchy-coated, tender breast meat detonated with North Market Spices’ sweet and explosively hot Nashville seasoning. Teammates included cilantro-jalapeno slaw, bread-and-butter pickles and another puffy, toasted bun.
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Ash & Em’s “24-hour house brine” wings can light you up, too. Ordered with spicy garlic sauce — think garlic-kissed extra-spicy Buffalo sauce — my good-tasting six wings ($10, with celery and blue cheese dip) had juicy meat beneath skin that could’ve been crispier in spots.
Hot dogs are on the menu, too. The C-Bus coney dog ($5) — house-made no-beans chili, onions, mustard, shredded cheese, a garlicky wiener and a near scene-stealing toasted poppy seed bun — hit all the right buttons.
Ditto for the classic Italian sub ($14, with fries), which was meatier and better than what you get from many pizzerias. Ditto again for the classic supreme pizza ($15 for a 10-inch) — substantial amounts of cheese, garlicky and fennel-seed sausage clumps (a must), pepperoni, mushrooms, black olives, onions and green peppers atop a thin and toasty, Columbus-style crust.
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Due to my deadline, I’m submitting this story prior to the four college playoff teams being chosen. The Buckeyes, ranked No. 5 as December began, may yet “back in” to the final-four fray. Either way, I anticipate another sports-watching session here soon.
My adjusted rankings: With an unpretentious, cut-loose atmosphere and carefully prepared crowd-pleasing food, the Classics/Ash & Em matchup easily makes my 2022 sports-watching dive bar playoff bracket.
Ash & Em (inside Classics-Victory's)
Where: 541 S. High St., Brewery District
Contact: 614-697-1108; ashemmenu.com
Hours: 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays; 11 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 12 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Sundays.
Price range: $5 to $20
Ambience: a concession stand-like window operating in a sometimes-rowdy, dive-like, wood-bedecked sports bar with an enclosed patio, game room, personable servers and plenty of scarlet and gray
Children's menu: no
Reservations: no
Accessible: yes
Liquor license: full bar
Quick click: Excellent smash burgers are the star at this long-running pop-up operation, but the fries, Nashville chicken sandwich and pizzeria fare are good, too.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Pop-up concession Ash & Em's smash burger one of the best in Columbus
