I know your disdain for chains, but Tai's Asian Bistro on Lane Ave kicks all kinds of ass.
For italian that's not at a chain, i like Ann and Tony's out in west jefferson. For sentimental reasons, I still love the Florentine. Both are kind of homey and won't win any appearance awards, but the food is generally pretty damn good.
Ann and Tony's is ok (I used to live in London, so it was pretty close). Florentine's is all right, but fairly average. Both are certainly edible. Neither was even close to what I had in Rhode Island about 10 years back.
I'll try Tai's Asian Bistro (honestly haven't even heard of that chain). Is that fairly new? I haven't been down on Lane in quite a while. I don't hate all chains, just the ones that get too large to enforce quality.
The issue that I have is when I have friends come in from the East Coast, I tend to feel pretty embarrassed by what we have to offer.
Ann and Tony's is ok (I used to live in London, so it was pretty close). Florentine's is all right, but fairly average. Both are certainly edible. Neither was even close to what I had in Rhode Island about 10 years back.
I'll try Tai's Asian Bistro (honestly haven't even heard of that chain). Is that fairly new? I haven't been down on Lane in quite a while. I don't hate all chains, just the ones that get too large to enforce quality.
The issue that I have is when I have friends come in from the East Coast, I tend to feel pretty embarrassed by what we have to offer.
The Top Steak House in Bexley is one of the best places to eat not only in Columbus but central Ohio... It's a tad pricy so one doesn't go there every night but a great place to go for food and atmosphere, even Jacket fans will like it because Rick Nash has gone there.
The Polaris Grill between Lewis Center and Westerville is a great eatery also… Toni’s in the German Village area was another favorite of mine. There are many great places to eat in Columbus if you look around.
steak: Hyde Park, japanese steakhouse (downtown)
seafood: columbus fish market (is there even another choice in that league?)
italian: carrabas (chain), or ann and tony's. there's a place in dublin I like too, but can't remember it
asian: tai's asian bistro
pizza: adriaticos
hamburgers: five guys
for general fare, I still enjoy stopping in at Nancy's Home Cooking. A staple from my OSU days. I also like Lindey's in German Villiage for a nice night out.
Although my SO would disagree, as I try to narrow it down, I'm just not that picky I guess. There really aren't any Columbus restaurants I would avoid outside of certain chains. One of these days I need to try a Thurman burger or whatever it's called.
Never understood Polaris Grill fans. It's certainly no where near great.
Where on the scale it ranks is subjective, but it's owned and operated by past management from Cameron Mitchell restaurants which is a pretty good chain of restaurants around the country
"The once-conservative Ohio capital has blossomed into a certified food lovers' town, with serious cocktails and microbrews, pastries worthy of Paris, fantastical ice cream flavors - think peanut with toasted coconut and chili - and extraordinary food shopping"
Asian - Ying's, Chai Thai, Sunflower, Min Ga, Shoku, Kooma, Kihachi (great Japanese place! According to Tony Bourdain, as good as in Japan!))
Italian - Florentine and TAT are decent homestyle, Tony's is OK, too (I prefer my own)
Barcelona is decent Spanish, Anna's is OK Greek, Jedda Kabob is excellent Persian, and Ocean Club does fish well.
Refectory, M, and Rigsby's are all first rate.
Best fish & chips - Claddah (sp) or Polaris Pub
Pizza - Flying, Dewey's, Formaggio's (Steubenville style)
Bar food - Grandview Cafe
Breakfast - Starliner Diner
Steak - The Top, Hyde Park, The Claremont
Can't ruin spaghetti? No wonder you can swallow Skyline! Italian places ruin it! I'd rather eat Chef Boyardee than that stuff.
Columbus is fairly well represented by local butchers and growers, sadly most of the restaurants don't use local. I try to cook with local grass fed and organic all the time at home. But it's hard to get down to the North Market with any regularity. Once you start eating that for a while, it's hard to go back to what the rest of the restaurants use. The taste is different. What I used to consider as good Filet, I find average now.
As far as pastries go, we could very well be a good destination for that. I'd never know. Everyone I know like Jeni's, but I'm not a desert person.
Alcohol <> food.
Yes, I like the North Market. Sadly I can't go there as often as I like, thus the frustration at the most of the other places.
Columbus is fairly well represented by local butchers and growers, sadly most of the restaurants don't use local. I try to cook with local grass fed and organic all the time at home. But it's hard to get down to the North Market with any regularity. Once you start eating that for a while, it's hard to go back to what the rest of the restaurants use. The taste is different. What I used to consider as good Filet, I find average now.
As far as pastries go, we could very well be a good destination for that. I'd never know. Everyone I know like Jeni's, but I'm not a desert person.
Alcohol <> food.
Two places you might try that feature locally grow and raised food are Skillet, on Whittier, and Knead, on High (next to Deepwood). I'd be interested to hear your thoughts. Oh, Dragonfly also is local, but I'm a meat eater, so I didn't fully appreciate it. Also, for your home kitchen, the farmers's markets are soon restarting and both Worthington and Clintonville feature local meat and produce. Both are much easier to deal with on a weekend than the North Market.
I'll try Tai's Asian Bistro (honestly haven't even heard of that chain). Is that fairly new? I haven't been down on Lane in quite a while. I don't hate all chains, just the ones that get too large to enforce quality.
It's where Fiesta Lanes used to be, in the second part of the development where they moved Buckeye Corner, near the mall. It's excellent, cheap and you will have some to take home. It's not unlike fast food, or Mark Pi's in form, but the food is fantastic. I think it's the only one in Ohio, but there are other places called that in WI, so I thought it may be a chain.
Can't ruin spaghetti? No wonder you can swallow Skyline! Italian places ruin it! I'd rather eat Chef Boyardee than that stuff.
I meant the pasta, not the sauce. Most places can, at least, boil a noodle even if they don't make homemade noodles.
I easily make the best spaghetti sauce in town... :p (At least served by restaurants).
As far as your hatred of Skyline, I know people that eat chicken fingers and like them. Everyone has one thing they like that other people don't. My uncle puts catsup in his mashed potatoes. I'm sure there is something that you like that would make me question your taste buds. Oh yeah, the Starliner Diner... :p I never said it was good, I said decent.
Two places you might try that feature locally grow and raised food are Skillet, on Whittier, and Knead, on High (next to Deepwood). I'd be interested to hear your thoughts. Oh, Dragonfly also is local, but I'm a meat eater, so I didn't fully appreciate it. Also, for your home kitchen, the farmers's markets are soon restarting and both Worthington and Clintonville feature local meat and produce. Both are much easier to deal with on a weekend than the North Market.
Thank you very much, that's good to hear. I will try them out.
I meant the pasta, not the sauce. Most places can, at least, boil a noodle even if they don't make homemade noodles.
I easily make the best spaghetti sauce in town... :p (At least served by restaurants).
As far as your hatred of Skyline, I know people that eat chicken fingers and like them. Everyone has one thing they like that other people don't. My uncle puts catsup in his mashed potatoes. I'm sure there is something that you like that would make me question your taste buds. Oh yeah, the Starliner Diner... :p I never said it was good, I said decent.
I will concede that Skyline may be popular with some. As with White Castle, the appeal escapes me. I'm quite sure there is something I like that you hate! As for pasta, boiling the noodles is often the problem - correct preparation requires attention to timing and nothing ruins a dish like overcooked pasta. Many restaurants are very bad at putting a correctly cooked pasta dish on the table. That's (just) one reason Bucca fails, and is one of my primary problems with Skyline. But, as we've already agreed, it's all a matter of taste.
I will concede that Skyline may be popular with some. As with White Castle, the appeal escapes me. I'm quite sure there is something I like that you hate! As for pasta, boiling the noodles is often the problem - correct preparation requires attention to timing and nothing ruins a dish like overcooked pasta. Many restaurants are very bad at putting a correctly cooked pasta dish on the table. That's (just) one reason Bucca fails, and is one of my primary problems with Skyline. But, as we've already agreed, it's all a matter of taste.
Skyline has gotten worse at properly cooking noodles. I didn't have any issues with that from 90-05. Having said that I don't eat noodles anymore, so it's actually pretty moot. I haven't had too much of an issue with over cooked pasta (from other restaurants) over the years, I must be lucky in that regard. Honestly, I have no idea why it was such a popular hangout for those in the technical field. I might be because it was better then other fast food at a reasonable price when I was consulting. They were all over town and pretty inexpensive. Plus the cheese really is good, I've had quite a few people that are cheese "experts" say it's very good for mild processed cheese.
White castle was something I would have once a year. Partly because their onion chips and fries are pretty good for fast food. Sliders are a very acquired taste. At least the ones from White Castle, there are plenty of imitations around now that use quality ingredients (well ingredients of any quality).
steak: Hyde Park, japanese steakhouse (downtown)
seafood: columbus fish market (is there even another choice in that league?)
italian: carrabas (chain), or ann and tony's. there's a place in dublin I like too, but can't remember it
asian: tai's asian bistro
pizza: adriaticos
hamburgers: five guys
for general fare, I still enjoy stopping in at Nancy's Home Cooking. A staple from my OSU days. I also like Lindey's in German Villiage for a nice night out.
Although my SO would disagree, as I try to narrow it down, I'm just not that picky I guess. There really aren't any Columbus restaurants I would avoid outside of certain chains. One of these days I need to try a Thurman burger or whatever it's called.
My picks:
steak: The Top
seafood: Fishermans Wharf or McCormick and Schmicks
italian: TAT
asian: cheap asian - Twin Sunglight expensive - Molly Woo's
pizza: Maseys or Rotollo's
hamburgers: Johnnies Tavern
sushi: Akai Hana
For Italian, you cannot beat Carfagna's. It's a Columbus Northside meat counter staple, and they just opened a full restaurant on Polaris.
No offense (seriously, we all like certain things), but that's cheap fast food Italian. Did not enjoy my stay. Had it for lunch with some co-workers a couple of times. It's edible and cheap with large portions, so it's a decent choice for a quick lunch or dinner on the run. But I wouldn't take a date there.
No offense (seriously, we all like certain things), but that's cheap fast food Italian. Did not enjoy my stay. Had it for lunch with some co-workers a couple of times. It's edible and cheap with large portions, so it's a decent choice for a quick lunch or dinner on the run. But I wouldn't take a date there.
Agreed. The market is a great place to buy a variety of Italian goods, but the Kitchen is not much better than a sub joint. A better lunch stop for Italian is Villa Nova on High Street - not great, but consistently decent, particularly their aglio e olio preparation.
No offense (seriously, we all like certain things), but that's cheap fast food Italian. Did not enjoy my stay. Had it for lunch with some co-workers a couple of times. It's edible and cheap with large portions, so it's a decent choice for a quick lunch or dinner on the run. But I wouldn't take a date there.
Go to their store instead of their Polaris location. The store has food there too, and it is much better than the Polaris fast food type crap.
sushi at akaihana is always so-so, and i am never impressed with the rest of their selections. i'm looking forward to trying the little noodle shop that is in the grocery store (tensuke market) right across from the restaurant. would be amazing to find decent ramen or udon in ohio....!!
i would say for sushi, go to M. that place is amazing. friday night happy hour is from 5-7 and there are 5 dollar martinis, and half off sushi rolls. seriously amazing. it was awesome, and not nearly as expensive as going there any other time.
tai's asian bistro always disappoints (beside all the vegetables, which i like). i prefer pho's asian noodle house right across the street. piada is good for fast food italian. cuzzin's yogurt, a bit further down lane (away from campus) has great frozen yogurt.
Desperate to sell a psl, 7th row behind net 2 aisle seats. great deal!
Good luck getting anything for it; I think the value of a licence that gives you the right to buy tickets at an above-market price would be pretty much zero.
One good thing that has come about being a PSL holder. Since OSU took over managing the Nat, we have also been getting the opportunity to be first in line for tickets at some events at the Schott as well as the Nat. Doesn't make up for losing hockey, but it is a nice perk.
