Throwback bar in Columbus may feel like mechanic’s shop, until you taste the beer. See inside

At first glance, Ray’s Quick Stop looks like the lobby of an old mechanic shop.

From the coffee pots in the corner to the work shirts the employees wear – each featuring a “Ray” name patch – a customer might think they’re there to get their oil changed right up until they order a cold craft beer.

For bar creators Chad Scrimpshire, Scottie DeClue, Miles Greathouse, Robert Battle and Garrett Lawrence, the feel of nostalgia is by design.

“It really just draws on that iconic 1980s quick service automotive station,” DeClue said. “Everybody’s been to a Grease Monkey to get their oil changed, everybody’s sat in that room ... and they’ve seen the tools hanging on the wall. That, connected with Ray’s, is just kind of our big picture.”

The bar’s namesake, Ray’s Uptown Body Shop, closed in 2012 after decades of operation in Columbus.

“Ray’s Uptown Body Shop was kind of iconic when we were growing up,” Greathouse said. “It was just right here on 13th St. It was a beautiful building that was always full of old cars.”

It was an easy decision for the co-creators to pay homage to Ray’s with the bar’s name and design, which includes a wall covered in 48 pictures of famous Rays like actor Ray Romano and Ray Gibson, Eddie Murphy’s character in the 1999 movie “Life.” The choice came as no surprise to Cotton Companies President Chris Woodruff, who has led the development of the Highside Market since it opened last year.

“I would have expected nothing less out of the guys who put Ray’s Quick Stop in here,” he said. “That shows you the type of creativity they have and the respect they have for the district.”

Woodruff said he looks forward to seeing Ray’s impact on Highside in the future.

“I know that Ray’s is going to bring one more element of fun and one more element of excitement,” he said. “It’s not what you see anywhere else in Columbus. I know that Ray’s Quick Stop is going to have that extra bit of flair.”

The “extra bit of flair” for Michael Strauss, who celebrated Ray’s opening Thursday evening, is the local beer he’s been craving since they moved to Columbus three years ago.

“I’m a big fan of older, unique beers,” Michael said. “I’m happy to have a place to wind down and hang out, especially with this park outside.”

Strauss was drinking a Sweetwater 420 Extra Pale Ale, one of a dozen craft beers on tap at Ray’s. The bar also has more than 20 canned beers and three kinds of frozen margaritas: lime, blood orange and strawberry.

Beyond the beer, which has been curated to evoke the same time period as the decor, Greathouse wants patrons to relive their auto shop memories.

“I hope they remember going to that tire shop or that oil change place in the 80s,” he said, “and feel that little bit of nostalgia while they’re enjoying a beer.”