The Outskirts Bar and Grill

Where Columbus’ Plays

By Frank Etheridge

If there’s one place in town you know you can always depend on for cold beer, good food and some rockin’ entertainment, it’s the Outskirts.

The now-iconic spot was given its name “Because it’s on the outskirts of the downtown entertainment district”, owner Bobby Judge tells me.“ I like to entertain. One of my goals after getting out of the Army was to open a place like this so I could entertain people. I work a lot of hours every week. But it’s not always work – I come in here and have a lot of fun … I love being the face of this place, walking around on a packed night, saying hey to everybody, hugging people.”

Judge had a lot of fun on his 21st birthday at “Sports Page,” the former bar and grill in the very same place he now owns. “Sports Page was my spot,” Bobby recalls of the popular hangout which sat on the corner of Veterans and Whitesville Road for 20 years. “I’m a Southern California kid but I’ve spent more than half my life in Columbus. I was stationed here four times. When I came back here for my last job, this was the old Outskirts. I bought it in November 2019 and retired from the military in June 2020.”

Looking back now, Judge can laugh about the impossible task of opening up a bar during the pandemic. He had to convince city officials to come see him at Outskirts as no one was allowed to visit the Government Center, and delays with state permits “took forever.”

“I thought we were never going to open,” Judge remembers. “When we did, the only sports being played were Korean baseball and cornhole. I thought, ‘Man, we’re screwed.’ I was still in the Army and knew nothing about running bars and restaurants. We started with a $10,000 credit card. Now I own this $1.2 million property.”

Four years into his venture, Judge says there are two things that make The Outskirts Sports Bar & Grill special. “The environment we created that’s friendly, like a family, and that we are consistent in booking great live music. I go out of my way to get to know everyone that walks through that door. And I go out of my way to book national talent as well as book local bands people know and love.”

A member of the band The Fortunate, Judge comes from a family of musicians and has been singing his entire life. “I love music,” he says. “Music brings people together. There is no divide. I love every culture and every type of music. My wheelhouse spans from classic Southern rock to country with a touch of punk and heavy metal. Although I tend to stick to my wheelhouse, we’ve had rap here. We even had [top-selling hip-hop artist] Bubba Sparxx here.”

Judge says Outskirts soundman Curt Baker ‘is the best in town.” And Baker says Outskirts’ sound system is likewise one of the city’s best, with “a storage shed full” of speakers to accommodate the big national touring acts booked once a quarter (including Georgia legends Drivin’ n’ Cryin’ and the ever fan-favorite rock group Trapt, who return in August). Also once a quarter, Judge brings to town the Andrews Brothers, the dueling pianos group from Atlanta with a long history in Columbus. A sensational, crowd-pleasing act, the Andrews Brothers bring their energetic hits to Outskirts often.

“I’ve booked some of the biggest bands to come through Columbus the last four years,” Judge says. “In 2023, I had 19 national acts here.”

Karaoke is held every Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday nights, and live music is every Saturday. For June, the stellar Saturday night rotation features Mutiny by Monday, Midnight Satellite, Odd Alice, and a much-anticipated reunion for old-school Columbus favorites, Spent.

Under Judge’s leadership, Outskirts has also thrived thanks to its focus on serving great food and elevating its game as a spot to watch sports.

“We’ve spent a lot of time working on our food,” Judge says. Here, Henry Hammons is the man. A local legend who’s been cooking and running kitchens around Columbus for 40 years, “He’s been with me from the very beginning” says Bobby. Mr. Henry offers up delicious menu items “too good to be called just bar food,” Judge declares. “I literally ate the scrambled dog every day for the first two months,” Bobby says giddily. That’s to say nothing of the loaded Bobby Burger, named in his honor, which he swears “no food in town can touch.” For lunch, Outskirts offers a buffet Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. With delights such as their hamburger steak, country fried chicken, some of the best fried catfish we’ve ever had, grilled fish, baked chicken and Henry’s mac and cheese and collard greens, just to name a few, “it’s the best buffet in town” for just $12.

A former boxer who once captained Columbus’ boxing team, Judge calls himself “a big sports guy” and “a huge Dodgers fan.” The latter creates a fun rivalry with all the Braves fans coming to watch the Home Team on Outskirts’ 28-foot projection screen. (“They stuck it to me pretty good, “Judge recalls after the Braves beat the Dodgers in the 2021 NLCS before winning the World Series.) All the sports memorabilia on display at Outskirts belong to Judge, with highlights including an Ozzie Albies jersey and a signed Braves-legend Dale Murphy jersey, given by a cook right off his back after he wore it to a shift. Boasting all the sports broadcast packages , Judge says he will put on anything people want to watch.

“I’ve made so many friends that have become family in my four years here,” Judge says of his experience owning The Outskirts so far.

Earlier this year, Bobby had to close his doors unexpectedly for three months. In a remarkable feat that speaks volumes about Judge and the way he runs his business, he lost none of his 22 employees during that long stretch. What speaks even louder is how the community rallied around him during that time by word of encouragement or by coming to shows like the Metallica tribute band he booked at Warehouse 9.

“I’ve never seen one place in Columbus shut down and open back up,” he says. “I was fighting and there were a couple of times when I wanted to walk away. There were plenty of times when I thought, ‘I own this property. I could sell it and be gone.’ But a lot of people kept pushing me and motivating me. So I kept fighting for it.”

Back open with “great response,” Judge now looks forward to a great future.

“The plan is to get bigger and bigger, music wise. I support local music as much as anyone else in town,” Judge says. “I’m a veteran and served my country, and now I serve my community. And I love that. We’re here and we’re not going anywhere – because the people that come in here, they always come back.”