Surly Girl Saloon

I’ve been to Columbus, Ohio a few times in the past year and while it’s my close friends that always draw me back it’s places like the Surly Girl Saloon that really make me feel at home there. Everything from the little details to the atmosphere, the music, the sublime salads and sandwiches make it the perfect little room to curl up in and forget there’s a world just a few feet outside the door. If I could really describe it to you in words I would, but somehow it’s never sufficient for a place like this – there’s just always too much going on.

The décor is a little southern gothic and mid-western cheer all delicately collaged to every surface and every available space. For someone like me who grew up in England with all of our wondrous histories I still always pined over a romanticised image of the old west, Surly Girl is a dream come true. One of my favourite things about living in North America is there is an incredible history here despite what people think. Even in Vancouver where some of the oldest buildings in the city are barely over 100 years old I still cherish that history and I’m fascinated by it.

Truth be told the old western style of Surly Girl is definitely a bit of a modern reverence of a time long forgotten by anyone alive today, but I adore it none the less and and sitting in that bar brings me far more happiness than any fancy 90s style wine bar. Now, all I need to find is somewhere that’s a cross between Surly Girl and the shiny bars of the future and I’ll be in heaven.

What do you say, are galleries of my favourite places something you’d like to see more of?