COLUMBUS, Ind. — The Garage Pub and Grill has been empty and silent for the past three months, temporarily closed due to safety concerns amid the pandemic.
However, it isn’t staying closed for good. The restaurant is being sold to new owners and could reopen in late April or early May.
The Columbus Redevelopment Commission voted Wednesday to reassign the restaurant’s lease at 308 Fourth St. from Garage Pub Partners, LLC to BCP Holdings, LLC.
The restaurant is currently co-owned by Steve and Tonya Leach through the entity Garage Pub Partners. Redevelopment director Heather Pope said that the new owners and operators will be Brent Phillips, Dustin Craig and Ryan Bozell.
“All three of these gentlemen are very successful business owners currently,” Pope said. “In particular, Dustin and Brent, they run three highly successful restaurants and entertainment venues here in Columbus. And then Ryan is from Columbus but now lives in Indianapolis and owns several successful businesses up there too. And so I think we’ve got a good partnership here.”
Redevelopment officials said that the lease’s reassignment is contingent on the new owners completing the sale with the Leaches and providing proper documentation of that transaction. Attorney Stan Gamso said that the lease and rental rate will not be modified.
Craig said that they’re looking to close the sale by next Friday and are “confident” they can do so, though it’s possible some personal logistics with the Leaches could affect this timeline.
He added that once the sale is complete, the restaurant’s reopening will depend on how quickly BCP Holdings can get a riverfront liquor license. He said that if the process is “streamlined, the bar could look to open in end of April or early May.
Pope said that the new owners are planning to employ “approximately 30 full-time and part-time employees, ranging from management to waitstaff.” Craig said they’ve been in talks with bar manager Mike Schofield and chef Troy Gates, who are in communication with the Garage’s previous staff.
“I’ve been strictly going through those two,” he said. “But the way I understand it, there are a lot that were employed there that will be coming back.”
He also said that Schofield will help them hire entertainment, which the Garage is known for.
“It was important for us to keep the bar entertainment manager and the chef both on board,” said Phillips. “That was our first two phone calls when this started. And luckily for us and the community, they’re excited to come back and rejoin the team down there and move forward.”
Pope said that the new owners have also indicated that they plan to keep the “diverse type of menu offerings” that are already in place and will move forward with what’s worked in the past.
“It’s a well-run business already,” Craig said. “… It’s one of my favorite places. So I don’t see any reason to reinvent the wheel, but there will be some changes.”
He and Phillips said that this could include promoting sports events more and having newer, larger televisions.
“In previous years, they had a weekend schedule that was entertainment, light music, no matter the situation, which worked fairly well,” Phillips said. “But if there’s a Final Four, even locally the World Cup games of soccer, there are draws that sports can provide that we’ll market towards.”
“The Fourth Street is our entertainment corridor, and from what I understand in conversations with these guys, they want to continue and be part of our entertainment corridor downtown and continue to build on and activate the downtown, which is something we’re very interested in,” Pope said.
The commission also approved a motion to recommend to Mayor Jim Lienhoop that BCP’s request for a riverfront liquor license should be approved. Pope said that this means Lienhoop will write a letter to the Alcohol and Tobacco Commission (ATC) and BCP will attach a letter to their license application to state officials. From there, the timeline will depend on how fast the three-way liquor license is approved.
City council president and commission liaison Elaine Hilber expressed gratitude to the new owners for taking on the business.
“There’s a lot of opportunity at the Garage,” she said. “It’s a great location for when things do open back up. I do appreciate that we have local people who are current business owners in town who are willing to step up and come in and take over the space and … do things the Columbus Way.”
