Columbus Curiosity - 27th June 2025

Your Weekly Dose of Columbus Events, News, and Fun

Author

Nathan Griggs
June 27, 2025

Hey Columbus Crew—

This week’s vibe? A jazz lounge, a shrub, and a rogue hotdog competitor walk into a bar. Columbus is absolutely teeming with drama, tunes, and teens doing parkour into condo pools.

From $2.5M mansions and food truck felonies to rage against the foliage and hot dog warfare — we’re serving up a full plate of “only in Ohio” energy.

Let’s dive into the madness:

🗞️ News You Missed – Our city's got glizzies, felonies, and $200 wine.

🔍 Hidden Gems – Murder mystery meetups, yoga by candlelight, and Taylor Swift-inspired poetry.

🎟️ What’s On This Week – From Bloodywood to baby laptime, we’ve got you booked daily.

🚨 The Headlines

🏡 $2.57M City Park Mansion: Ohio’s Version of “Selling Sunset”

Columbus’ top home sale this month? A bougie beauty on City Park Ave that cost more than your lifetime avocado toast budget.

655 City Park Ave. Columbus, Ohio

Cold hard facts:

  • Top 3 sales: All in New Albany (shocker).

  • Delaware County sneaking in a $2.3M woodsy flex.

  • Grandview Heights holding strong at #6 ($2M for less square footage than a CVS).

Why care? Proof that "luxury" here means "has more than one walk-in closet."

🔪 Food Truck Wars: Tire-Slashing Rivalry Turns Felonious

Toledo’s Arturo Palma-Romero took "competitive cuisine" to new lows – allegedly knifing a rival’s tires.

The spicy details:

  • Charged with 2 counts of criminal damaging (Ohio’s fanciest term for “parking lot terrorism”).

  • Pleaded not guilty (while on video doing it).

  • Faces 18 months in prison (or roughly 50,000 tacos in restitution).

Columbus food trucks, lock your tires. This isn’t Yelp revenge – it’s meatball warfare.

🌿 Oakland Nursery: 85 Years of Making Your Yard Less Embarrassing

Voted Best Garden Center, Best Home Decor Spot, AND Best Last-Minute Gift Place by CM readers.

Why they’re legends:

  • Founded by German immigrants in 1940 (pre-dates weed-and-feed).

  • Still family-run – now with bonus merman ornaments.

  • Their secret? "Helping you not kill plants" (radical concept).

🏊‍♂️ Pool Crashers Treat Condos Like Frat Houses

Pop-up parties hit McNaughten Commons – teens scaled roofs, wrecked stairs, and hotboxed the pool house.

Key quotes:

  • "They’re invaders!" – Lyudmyla, who’s smoked more secondhand weed than Snoop.

  • "We’re scared to park!" – Tenant paying $1,500/month for the privilege.

  • Management’s solution? CLOSED THE POOL (summer in Ohio: sponsored by disappointment).

🍷 Wine Spectator’s Elite Sippin’ Squad

4 Columbus spots made the global wine snob list:

🍦 Whit’s Custard Empire Expands (Again)

Grove City’s getting a new frozen custard shrine:

  • Opening July 2025 in Historic Town Center (because one Whit’s per zip code isn’t enough).

  • Known for "Whisters" (candy-stuffed custard tornadoes).

Dairy-free options for the "lactose intolerant but FOMO strong."

📍 Follow the sugar high | 3968 Broadway

🎪 Italian Water Circus: Coming Soon to Drain Your Kiddie Pool?

35,000 gallons of aqua-acrobatics heading to town.

Because Columbus needed more spectacle.

💧 Prepare to get splashed  | Details TBA 

🌭 Glizzy Gauntlet: Grandview’s Hot Dog Eating Thunderdome

Bobcat Sports Bar’s "Glizzies & Glory" is BACK:

  • Categories: Teens (5 mins), Women/Men (10 mins of pure regret).

  • Prizes: Cash + "Fan Favorite" title (worth the heartburn? Maybe).

  • Rules: "Amateurs only" (so Joey Chestnut, sit down).

📍 Sign up to vomit proudly | 1099 W. 1st Ave. | July 2, 6PM

 Friday 27 June:

🎤 Josh Farley: "The Bag of Tricks Tour"

A one-night-only comedy performance packed with storytelling, wild punchlines, and just enough chaos to question reality.

🎶 Marcus Johnson Live at ICON Jazz Lounge

National recording artist Marcus Johnson brings smooth jazz, soul grooves, and serious vibes to Columbus for a Friday night wind-down.

🖼️ Artist Commune: Zines Out Loud

A creative night of DIY zines, spoken word, and raw expression. Perfect if you're feeling artsy, angsty, or both.

Saturday 28 June:

🎬 Nef Johnson – Not Even Funny Vol. 3

A one-night double feature: part documentary screening, part stand-up comedy showcase. Expect raw laughs, behind-the-scenes chaos, and an unfiltered look at the grind.

🎤 Saya Meads – Stand Up Comedy

Columbus favorite Saya Meads takes the stage for a solo set filled with sharp wit, clever jabs, and enough energy to light up the room.

🕵️ Columbus’s Secret Society: Mystery Hunt

Solve puzzles. Unlock secrets. Run around Historic Crew Stadium like you’re in a real-life escape room with plot twists.

Sunday 29 June:

⚽ Columbus Crew vs. Philadelphia Union

Major MLS matchup at home. Expect loud drums, gold smoke, and that one guy yelling “SHOOOOOOT” 50 yards too early.

🎸 Concerts on the Green: George Barrie Band

Worthington’s favorite lawn party returns. Chill out with live tunes, folding chairs, and your neighbor’s wine tumbler.

🏠 German Village Haus & Garten Tour

Peek behind the historic bricks into dreamy patios, hidden fountains, and homes you’ll irrationally consider moving into.

Monday 30th June:

🎶 Sinkane Live at Natalie’s

Genre-mashing Sudanese-American artist Sinkane brings his funky, soul-drenched sound to Columbus. Expect grooves, good vibes, and a set that slaps.

🕯️ Candlelight Yoga at the Bookshop

Unwind with a calming yoga session surrounded by books and soft candlelight. Your spine (and soul) will thank you.

🖋️ Write Like Taylor Swift

Love lyrics? Break up with writer’s block at this creative writing workshop inspired by the queen of bridges and heartbreak ballads.

Tuesday 1st July:

🎸 The Psychedelic Furs + The Mission UK

Post-punk legends collide. Come for the '80s angst, stay for the timeless synths and iconic eyeliner.

🎤 A Skylit Drive + Dizasterpiece

Emo nostalgia meets alt-rage. If you ever screamed into a MySpace comment section, this one's for you.

🌮 Taco Tuesday at The Draft Room

It’s Tuesday. There are tacos. The math checks out. Great drinks, patio hangs, and a casual crowd.

Wednesday 2nd July:

🎸 Bloodywood: Return of the Singh Tour

Indian folk-metal fusion that goes hard. Drums, dhotis, and politically charged riffs—this show will slap harder than your cousin at Holi.

🎶 Florencia and The Feeling

Funky, jazzy, feel-good grooves from a Nashville-based band with big charisma and even bigger vibes.

🎹 Luke Schneider, Pure Waves & Yul Brynner’s Ghost

A hauntingly beautiful night of ambient sounds in an old church. Ghosts not guaranteed, vibes very much are.

Thursday 3rd July:

🔪 Columbus Murder Mystery: Death in the Shadows

An immersive whodunit in Schiller Park. Find clues, accuse strangers, and pretend you’re in Knives Out—minus the inheritance.

🎸 Murphy’s Law at Ace of Cups

Old-school New York hardcore punk storms into town. Loud, fast, sweaty. Bring earplugs and attitude.

🎷 Zayne Harshaw of Blue Spectrum

A soulful fusion of blues, jazz, and funk by an inspiring local guitarist who shreds with heart.

🤔Topic of the Week

Columbus drivers are mad. Not about potholes this time — shrubs. Specifically, those leafy green visibility blockers planted right at intersections.

Here were some of our favorite responses:

  • I totaled my car because of this nonsense. I miss my Mazda 3

  • Alas, foiled by foliage.

  • We call ours ‘Peekaboo Corner’ — it can burn in hell.

That’s a wrap,

From shrub-based beef to haunted jazz shows, we witnessed more plot twists this week than a Netflix miniseries.

If you survived this email without running a stop sign blindfolded by a bush — you deserve a custard from Whit’s and a wine flight from Cento.

Until next week,
Stay loud. Stay leafy.

— Nate
Columbus Curiosity