[Updated May 2 at 8:15 a.m.]
With restaurants and bars ordered closed for dine-in services, these days we’re all wondering what we can do. We’re compiling restaurants, farmers markets, food trucks, coffee shops, breweries, etc. Got more? Contact me here, message me through Facebook or Instagram.
First and foremost: if you’re sick, stay home. Wash your hands for 20 seconds. Cover your cough. Don’t touch your face. Consult professionals like the CDC, WHO, or Dr. Amy Acton and Ohio Public Health.
Columbus Alive asked me to put together a piece about how to support the Columbus restaurant industry during the shutdown.
RESTAURANTS
- Many restaurants, coffee shops, etc. offer carryout or delivery services, so consider supporting them like you normally would!
- For lists of restaurants still open, see my post on carryout/delivery/coffee shops for Experience Columbus, Columbus Alive’s updated list, or the Support Columbus Eats site
- Purchase giftcards for local restaurants here
- Request to join the Support Central Ohio Restaurants Facebook page
- Keep track of Short North businesses here: shortnorth.org/supportsnad
- See Worthington-specific offers from businesses here: www.experienceworthington.com/small-business-support
Restaurants that are open
This is a completely non-exhaustive list of places that are open (I’ll keep updating this):
- Anna’s Greek Cuisine
- Arepazo
- Asterisk Supper Club
- Bake Me Happy
- Bangkok Grocery & Restaurant
- Barley’s Brewing
- Belle’s Bread
- Bonifacio
- Buckeye Donuts
- Brassica
- Brekkie Shack
- Brown Bag Deli
- City BBQ
- Cravings Cafe
- Condado Tacos
- Creole Kitchen
- The Crispy Coop
- Cream & Sugar
- Cuco’s Taqueria
- Delaney’s Diner
- Dirty Frank’s Hot Dogs
- Duck Donuts (Westerville and Dublin) – also offering take-home kits
- El Vaquero (all locations except Grove City) (kids eat free Tuesdays!)
- Everest Cuisine
- Forty’s Chicken & Waffles
- Fusian
- G. Michael’s
- Geordie’s Restaurant
- The Goat
- Grove City Brewing Company (beer and wine delivery)
- High Bank Distillery
- Honey Dip Donuts & Diner
- Huong Vietnamese
- J-Pops
- Katalina’s
- King’s Gryo Greek Restaurant
- The Kitchen (meal kits, too)
- Kittie’s Cakes
- Kuya Ian’s Bistro
- La Chatelaine
- La Tavola
- Lemongrass Bistro
- Lindey’s
- Lineage Brewing
- The Lox Bagel Shop
- Mad Moon Cider (taproom open weekends)
- Marino’s Seafood & Chips
- The Market Italian Village (doing special market takeaway boxes)
- N.E. Chinese
- North Market (select vendors)
- Northstar Cafe
- Old Bag of Nails
- Over the Counter
- The Original Goodie Shop
- The Original Pancake House
- Pablo’s Havana Cafe
- Pierogi Mountain (Bourbon St. Cafe)
- Pokebap
- Poongmei Asian Bistro
- Portia’s Diner
- Press Grill and Press Pub on Fifth
- The Rail
- Ray Ray’s Hog Pit
- Red Door BBQ
- The Refectory
- Rooh
- Sammy’s New York Bagels (home delivery)
- Sassafras Bakery
- Scotty’s Cafe
- Service Bar
- Si Senor
- Skillet
- Smoked on High
- Smokehouse Brewing
- South of Lane
- South Village Grille
- Starliner Diner
- Stav’s Diner
- The Table
- Taft’s Brewporium
- Third & Hollywood
- Tommy’s Diner
- Tupelo Doughnuts
- Valter’s at the Maennerchor
- Way Down Yonder
- The Whitney House
- Yemeni Restaurant
- Yogi’s Hoagies
- Zest Juice Co.
Pizza shops
- Borgata Pizza Cafe (Linworth and Northside)
- Carsonie’s
- Dewey’s Pizza (Grandview and Worthington)
- Fibonacci’s Pizzeria (inside Studio 35)
- Gatto’s Pizza
- JT’s Pizza & Pub
- Pizza House
- Mama Mimi’s (take and bake)
- Natalie’s Coal Fired Pizza
- OH Pizza and Brew
- Terita’s Pizza
- Tommy’s Pizza
- Yellow Brick Pizza (Olde Towne East and King Ave.)
- Read about more suggestions in Where to Find the Style of Pizza You Love in Columbus (for Experience Columbus)
- Even though Slice of Worthington was canceled this year, you can take A Virtual Slice of Worthington (for Experience Worthington)
- Jim from CMH Gourmand (our leading authority on pizza in Columbus) shares his top 13 independent pizza shops in Columbus.
Food trucks
Most food trucks are ideally suited to carryout anyway, so many are still going. Use the StreetFoodFinder.com to track your favorite trucks.
Read my post on Experience Columbus about Food Trucks Making the Rounds in Columbus Neighborhoods. It highlights certain trucks and gives you more resources for finding them.
Farmers markets and vendors
- The Worthington Farmers Market continues with pre-ordering and pickup on Saturday mornings from 9a-12p. Watch their Facebook page for weekly details.
- Kokoborrego Cheese is offering discounts on their cheese, due to canceled appearances at farmers markets: www.kokoborrego.com/store
- Franklinton Farms (and many other farms) are offering online ordering and pickup each week: franklintonfarms.square.site/
- Lynd Fruit Farm is offering drive-through hours on select weekend days
- The Clintonville Farmers Market re-opened as a drive-through at the Ohio History Center
Coffee shops
Some shops have closed, but many offer carryout and ship beans. Read a full list of coffee shops that are open in Columbus Coffee Shops and Roasters That Are Open and Serving You (for Experience Columbus).
Highlights of who’s open:
- Blank Slate Coffee
- Brioso Coffee (Long St only)
- Coffee Connections
- The Coffee Mess
- Community Grounds
- Colin’s Coffee
- Crimson Cup (Clintonville only)
- Cup O’ Joe (also shipping coffee!)
- Espresso Air
- Grandview Grind
- Highline Coffee Co.
- Florin Coffee
- Luck Bros
- Roaming Goat Coffee
- Stauf’s (Grandview, German Village, and Victorian Village locations)
- Third Way Cafe
- Thunderkiss Coffee is offering a special of $60 for five pounds of fresh-roasted coffee, delivered anywhere within the 270 loop. See Jason’s IG post: www.instagram.com/p/B9xQVMgAzjn/
- Upper Cup Coffee (Parsons and Gahanna)
You can also find 12 Columbus Roasters Without Storefronts!
Beer, breweries, & bars
- Many breweries and beer bars are offering carryout for six-packs, bottles, growlers, and crowlers: Random Precision is offering growler fills, Taft’s Brewporium has beer and food to-go, Grove City Brewing has food and will deliver beer/wine
- Wolf’s Ridge Brewing is putting restaurant staff to work with a beer delivery service: wolfsridgebrewing.com/beer-delivery
- Seventh Son Brewing is offering beer delivery and carryout hours (and is hosting some food trucks): www.seventhsonbrewing.com/shop
- FOR A COMPLETE LIST: Drink Up Columbus is collecting a lists of bars and breweries offering delivery and breweries offering carryout
- You can look up your favorite service industry folks and tip them here
Restaurants serving medical professionals and first responders
Several restaurants have begun fundraising to provide meals to first responders, nurses, physicians, and other medical staff.
- Bonifacio and Mazah are part of WeFeedCbus, an initiative that partners with local restaurants to provide meals to frontline workers and community organizations in need
- Chicken Salad Chick
- City Barbecue
- Huong Vietnamese Restaurant
- Zaftig Brewing (purchase a 32 oz. howler for frontline workers)
Columbus distilleries making hand sanitizer
- Middle West Spirits
- Watershed Distillery
- High Bank Distillery
- Echo Spirits Distilling Co.
- Noble Cut Distillery
- 451 Spirits
Take-home projects, kits, classes
- Quinci Emporium has staycation kits they will assemble and carry to your car. Just order by phone. See FB post here.
- There are a variety of take-home projects in Worthington. See the FB post here.
- Watershed Distillery is offering cocktail kits you can pick up from their bottle shop
- Dewey’s Pizza in Worthington is offering kits so you can make your pizza at home
- SocialVentures has created impact boxes that support local small businesses
- Milligan’s Maple Syrup is selling gift boxes featuring local vendors. See IG post here.
- Echo Spirits has been hosting cocktail classes online. Keep an eye on their Facebook page for more.
Grocery services
- Carfagna’s and Weiland’s Market have launched grocery delivery through Instacart
- Fusian launched a grocery service
- Cravings Cafe downtown is offering a daily “general store” of coffee, cookies, breads, soup, toilet paper, and items each day
- Many grocery stores are opening their first hour to folks 60 years or older, so they can
For those in need/food insecure kids
- Columbus City Schools is offering free breakfast (8-9a) and lunch (11a-1p) Mon-Fri at select locations for students: www.ccsoh.us/Page/7560
- Worthington Schools are offering free breakfast/lunch pick up on weekdays. Families can pick up meals between 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. at Thomas Worthington High School, Worthington Kilbourne High School, and Slate Hill Elementary
- Piada is offering free lunch, Mon-Fri, through April 30, from 10:45a-1p to any students affected by school closures and in need of a meal: www.instagram.com/p/B9ttP5Ol9LO/
- Fusian is offering $1 peanut butter and jelly rolls in-store and through their app
- Smoked on High is offering a free order of drummies or pulled chicken for kids over the next three weeks at their Brewery District location only. More info here.
- Legacy Smokehouse is offering free kids meals at their Hilliard location, Tues-Fri, 11a-2p
Fundraisers, petitions, job openings
- Matt and Catie from Ambrose & Eve, Sang from The Table, Letha from Bake Me Happy, and Reed from Muse Hospitality created Service! to help feed out-of-work service industry employees
- The Table
- A&R Creative Group
- Dough Mama
- Watershed Kitchen
- Kathleen Day, owner of Katalina’s, has crafted a petition asking Gov. DeWine to help support out-of-work restaurant employees. You can sign and support it here.
- Jeni’s, Hot Chicken Takeover, Homage, Roosevelt Coffeehouse, and Pelotonia are raising funds to help feed those in need. More info at cbustogether.com
- Kroger has an urgent need for workers, so if you or anyone you know is suddenly out of work, consider applying there: https://jobs.kroger.com/
- 16-Bit Bar + Arcade and PINS Mechanical are selling swag to benefit their out-of-work employees
Arts and culture happenings
For my day job at the Greater Columbus Arts Council, we’re tracking virtual experiences, postponed dates, and other info in real time: www.columbusmakesart.com/virtual
And some other fun recipes or ideas while you’re stuck at home:
- Make our family-favorite dessert chocolate angel strata
- Practice the many ways to cook an egg
- Make some Dutch baby pancakes
- Whip up a batch of African peanut stew
- Put eggs on everything
- Practice making batches of Kyoto-style cold brew coffee
- Cook up a hearty chicken and dumplings
- Do some bulk cooking
- Bake the Dutch almond pastry banket
- Read fun breakfast-related quotes (and send me more if you have them!)
