While staying safe and socially distanced over the past months, we’ve been ordering out from locally owned restaurants, from old favorites to new discoveries. Here’s what we’ve tried!
You can also read 12 Pizzas We’ve Tried While Staying Home and Black-Owned Brunch, Breakfast, and Coffee.
1. El Arepazo
515 S. High St., Brewery District
93 N. High St., Gahanna
elarepazolatingrill.com
When we get El Arepazo, we joke that we order their cilantro sauce with a side of dinner. That sauce goes on EVERYTHING. Their signature is Venezuelan arepas – corncake sandwiches stuffed with meat, cheese, veggies – while my personal favorite is the chilaquiles. (Read my post about their Brewery District location or their closed downtown shop.)
2. Addis Restaurant
3750 Cleveland Ave., Northeast
addis-restaurant.com
I swear, Ethiopian food is the best food in the world. The big draw – aside from the wonderful flavors – is sharing from a communal plate. Fortunately, the food and the experience translates surprisingly well to carryout. (Read my blog post about Addis!)
3. Service Bar
1230 Courtland Ave., Short North
servicebarcolumbus.com
Given the joyful attention to detail in chef Avishar’s food, I was concerned about how Service Bar would survive the shutdowns. But with a major pivot – and the ability to sell bottled cocktails – he’s been serving his creative fare in fine form. They offer sandwiches, those amazing cheesy crunches, noodles, family meals, and weekly specials. (Read my blog post about Service Bar.)
4. Tula Taqueria
525 Lazelle Rd., Westerville/Polaris
tulataqueria.com
The family-run Tula produces excellent Mexican fare: tacos, tortas, burritos, sopes, quesadillas. I love especially their chorizo and adobada (marinated pork). Bonus: they serve breakfast on weekends. (Read my blog post about Tula’s breakfast!)
5. Helen’s Asian Kitchen
1070 E. Dublin-Granville Rd., Worthington/Northeast
helensasiankitchenoh.com
Helen’s is another perennial favorite in our house, so naturally we’ve ordered it a couple times since they reopened for carryout in May. It’s hard to go wrong with the menu, but you can’t miss the xiao long bao, the Szechuan cauliflower, and the fried leek box. (Read my post on Helen’s.)
6. Wolf’s Ridge Brewing
215 N. Fourth St., Downtown
wolfsridgebrewing.com
WRB ranks as one of the city’s best breweries and restaurants. While they’re closed for dine-in, they’ve developed a stellar pick-up/delivery system for food, beer, and bottled cocktails. They kindly treated Beth and I to dinner a couple weeks back, so we dug into fish and chips, burgers, charcuterie, pickled beet eggs. As a bonus: I bought one of their mixed cases of 24 different WRB beers. (Read my past post about WRB’s brunch.)
7. The Lox Bagel Shop
772 N. High St., Short North
theloxbagelshop.com
Oh man oh man oh man, the Lox is always great. Just looking at these pictures sets me drooling: the cured salmon, the pastrami, the bagels, the Cuban sandwich, ALL. OF. IT. (Read my post on The Lox!)
8. The Half Pint
671 High St., Worthington
halfpintohio.com/worthington-ohio
We’re regulars at The Half Pint in Worthington. It’s a friendly spot, good for the whole family, with a big beer selection, and easily loveable meals like cheese curds, pretzels, burgers, and sandwiches.
9. N.E. Chinese
2620 N. High St., Old North
nechinese.com
Along with Helen’s, N.E. Chinese is one of our favorite Chinese spots in town. Do not miss the cumin potatoes, hot and sour fern root noodles, and twice-fried fish. Read my post about N.E. Chinese!
10. Fox in the Snow
1031 N. Fourth St., Italian Village
210 Thurman Ave., German Village
160 W. Main St., New Albany
foxinthesnow.com
Where do you go, to find something you can eat? Fox in the Snow! It feels like a bit of normal to get an egg sandwich, cortado, blueberry galette, and cinnamon roll from the cafe. For our first to-go order, we divvied up everything amongst the family. Read my posts on their Italian Village, German Village, and New Albany locations.
11. Original Pancake House
1633 W. Lane Ave., Upper Arlington
ophcentralohio.com
The Original Pancake House does breakfast and does it well. It may not look the prettiest as carryout (breakfast rarely travels well), but the flavors are spot-on, from chorizo omelets to Dutch apple pancakes to potato pancakes. Read my post from their opening.
12. Kenny’s Meat Wagon
facebook.com/kennysmeatwagon
Because of their nature, food trucks are already geared toward carryout, and the city’s best have been making the rounds throughout the region. That includes the hearty, meat-centric stylings of Kenny’s Meat Wagon. Track down Kenny Donnelly and his truck for giant and crave-able sandwiches.
13. Nile Vegan
670 Worthington St., Victorian Village/South Campus
nilevegan.com
I’ve said already how much I love Ethiopian food, and Nile Vegan is the city’s newest entry in the field. From a tiny storefront down a side street between Victorian Village and south campus, they serve completely vegan Ethiopian dishes, loaded with lentils, potatoes, beets, and other veggies.
14. Way Down Yonder
3847 S. High St., South Side
waydwnyonder.com
I still need to pay a proper visit to Way Down Yonder, but we ordered carryout from them at work, and man was that shrimp po’ boy delicious. I know the New Orleans-style restaurant is beloved by the community, and I can already see why. Looking forward to many more return visits.
15. Cravings Cafe
114 N. Front St., Downtown
cravingscafe614.com
Cravings is only doing carryout these days, and I’ve been trying to hit them up any time I’m working downtown. Matt and Lindsey craft excellent breakfast rolls, BLTs, smashburgers, burritos, bowls, wraps. One of their new menu additions is the finger-licking Triple Crunch Grilled Cheese, with bacon and a potato cake tucked in there. Read my post about Cravings!
