By Mick Dillon / The Jambar
Downtown Youngstown was crawling with costumes of goblins and ghouls from 4 p.m. to 12 a.m. Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, as the national bar crawl company Crawl With Us partnered with several local businesses for its annual Halloween bar crawl.
The locations for the bar crawl included:
- Imbibe Martini Bar
- Penguin City Brewing Co.
- Bull & Bear Grille and Tavern
- Ryes Craft Beer & Whiskey
- The Octave Live Music Cafe
- The Varsity Club Youngstown
- V2 Wine Bar and Trattoria by Vernon
- West 34
Penguin City and Imbibe served as the check-in locations for the event, where participants could pick up their wristbands, take a complimentary shot and then venture out to the other locations.
Penguin City Co-Owner Aspasia Lyras said the crawl gives publicity to local businesses.
“I love doing the bar crawls, especially with our downtown businesses,” Lyras said. “We’re all downtown together. We’re all going through the same thing … All in all, it’s just a fun community event to tie all of us together.”
The event’s crawl pass included complimentary signature drinks at participating locations, as well as a waived cover charge and exclusive Crawl With Us Halloween merchandise.
In a statement on its website, Crawl With Us said the format follows a “Make Your Own Adventure Crawl,” meaning patrons aren’t confined to a strict schedule and are encouraged to visit locations at their own pace.
With the extra attention downtown Youngstown received from the crawl, Jordi Dando, general manager of both Ryes and Imbibe, said she hopes to see the area grow in the future.
“People might come down for one destination in particular, and once they’re down there, they’re like, ‘Let’s run into the martini bar. Let’s go pour our own beer. Let’s grab an Avalon [Downtown Pizzeria] pizza,’” Dando said.
In an era of Youngstown-area businesses struggling to find financial sustainability, Lyras said the mission for Penguin City is greater than building a brand.
“This isn’t just about our space. We want people to come downtown,” Lyras said. “It’s sad to see businesses go. We hope that, in the future, we see more businesses coming and staying and being a part of the downtown family.”
Dando said, with her experience sustaining Ryes and Imbibe, the key is building personal relationships with members of the community.
“Another consistent thing that we do at Imbibe and Ryes is our employees, our bartenders [and] our staff,” Dando said. “People are comfortable coming in alone because they know that they are going to have somebody to talk to.”
Themed festivities didn’t stop at the Halloween bar crawl for downtown Youngstown. Lyras said Penguin City also hosted other events over the weekend.
“Friday night is DJ Puff. And then Saturday night … DJ Chip Banks is having his Halloween party, which is open to the public, and it’s called the Halloween Hangover,” Lyras said.
Youngstown wasn’t the only city hosting a Crawl With Us event this weekend, as the company has expanded into over 130 cities, including Pittsburgh and Cleveland.
Upcoming events for downtown Youngstown can be found on the Youngstown Live event calendar.
