Feeding on in Columbus is like going through a microcosm of the U.S., a mid-measurement land of milk, honey, and Buckeyes. The metropolis is household to immigrant traditions and abundant culinary heritage, from the high-quality dining legend holding court docket between the cobblestone streets and crimson brick properties in German Village, to the food stuff truck parked on hustling, bustling Higher Avenue meting out birria tacos, to the concealed gem tucked absent within a strip mall serving Ghanaian classics to community aunties and uncles.
Quite a few of these corporations take gain of the city’s spectacular, historic architecture, but a lot additional dining places have withstood the exam of time in significantly less auspicious homes. Acquire a seem by way of the home windows of a after rusty hundred-12 months-aged fuel station to see crowds Instagramming pancake balls powdered with sugar and served with an assortment of sweet sauces. Or request out the little brick making off the highway, a publish-Prohibition relic which is come to be a go-to dive for regulars, newcomers, and everyone acquiring off work in require of revival. Then test beneath the neon signal all around the corner for a bedrock of Buckeye lifestyle the place alumni and new children on the block satisfy around refreshing, outdated-faculty doughnuts.
If Columbus is a microcosm of the country, it has also knowledgeable the complications of the COVID-19 pandemic that impacted all American foods communities. Quite a few of the city’s most notable restaurants, standby watering holes, and beloved companies have shut their doors. The sites that populate this checklist are not the only deserving kinds, but you can see the trails of difficult operate and willpower that authorized them to adapt to the new realities of pandemic dining.
You will sample a bit of heritage and a large amount of world flavors as you consume your way all-around the city’s important places to eat, but each food is quintessentially Columbus. So come choose a seat, grab a menu (or load it up from a QR code), and gear up for a feast. And as always, idea generously, mask up when asked, and indulge.
Well being specialists take into account eating out to be a higher-hazard activity for the unvaccinated it may well pose a hazard for the vaccinated, in particular in regions with sizeable COVID transmission.
Angela Lee is a writer, photographer, and nurse, but most of all a storyteller weaving unbelievable tales and usually looking for her next culinary adventure. Her do the job has been showcased in Edible Columbus and 614 Magazine.
Note: Restaurants on this map are stated geographically.