New North Columbus lounge will be place to ‘sit, relax and have a good drink’
A local businessman is reworking a former pizza lounge in north Columbus into a decades-inspired destination spot for dancing and cocktails.
Owner Sanjay Choudhury said the new Hideaway Lounge is set to open this Friday at 7466 Blackmon Road in a space next to Trevioli Italian Kitchen, a restaurant Choudhury is also a partner in.
The lounge will replace the former Trevioli Pizza Lounge but will be targeted to an older demographic. Comfortable seating, a dance floor and a bar will all be features of the lounge.
Bourbon, scotch and cocktails will be served along with bar snacks, and music from the 1960s through the 1990s will be played.
“It’s basically for the people who actually need that kind of retro music or laid-back atmosphere,” Choudhury said. “We don’t have a place where people from 50, 60 and 70 years old can go and hang out. This is geared towards that clientele.”
Tuesday nights will be 70s themed, while Wednesdays will feature music from the 80s and Thursdays will round out the decade-themed nights with tunes from the 90s. Choudhury said he hopes the music will appeal to Baby Boomers and draw a crowd less youthful than is often found downtown.
“We go somewhere and we see our friend’s son or my kids,” Choudhury said. “So I said let’s get a place where people with a similar age will be hanging out there. That was the whole idea behind it.”
Darren Lawson, who has worked in the downtown Columbus bar scene since 2013, will be the general manager. He was formerly the general manager at 18th Amendment, a 1920s-style speakeasy in downtown.
Lawson said there is a need for businesses like the lounge in north Columbus.
“I decided to move from downtown because there is nothing on this end of town,” Lawson said. “This is more convenient for people who live in this area and in Midland.”
The close proximity to Trevioli should work in the lounge’s favor, the co-owners hope.
“We have an amazing restaurant next to us,” Lawson said. “You can come get something to eat, dinner, and come right next door for your cocktail or dancing.”
Co-owners in the lounge are Nehru Samantarai and Satyajit Mohapatra. Samantarai summed up the mission of Hideaway.
“You can sit here, relax and have a good drink,” he said.
Choudhury owns the Wild Wing Cafe in Columbus Park Crossing and another in Opelika. He is also partner in Hudson’s Columbus on Veterans Parkway and owns the Liberty gas station and Falcon convenience store on Whittlesey Boulevard.