Friday Food Bites: Mercury Diner and Lot Beer Co. open, Peanut Shoppe returns, HCT joins Lewis Center

Image courtesy The Mercury Diner on Facebook

There’s always a lot happening in the Columbus restaurant world! Here’s the latest:

• The Mercury Diner, a new concept from A&R Creative, opens next week Thursday, Nov. 17 at 621 Parsons Ave. in the former Crest Parsons space. The retro space-themed diner will serve breakfast and lunch.
• The Lot Beer Co., a fun eatery featuring hot dogs, beer, and arcade games, has opened at 140 N. Prospect St. in Granville, the former Three Tigers Brewing/Mai Chau space (which moved across the street last year).
• The Peanut Shoppe, that mainstay of downtown Columbus, has reopened after a temporary closure from surrounding construction. Located at 21 E. State St., the shop has been open since 1936.
• This week Hot Chicken Takeover opened its newest location at 8715 Owenfield Dr. in Lewis Center.
• This week Friday, Nov. 11, Barley’s Brewing taps its annual Christmas Ale. This marks the 30th anniversary of the regular brew. Pat’s Pints wrote up a great overview of its history.
• Next week Wednesday, Nov. 16 is the grand opening of Kroger’s first Mix Food Hall concept, where guests can order prepared foods from 6-7 different concepts at one window. Mix locations will open in the Clintonville and Dublin Krogers in the coming weeks.
• The Daily Bar in Italian Village celebrates its one-year anniversary on Friday, Nov. 11 with a denim party, Ajumama food truck, DJ, specialty drinks, and more.
• 614 reported that Shorty’s Pizza & Growl will open next week Thursday, Nov. 17 in the old Neighbor’s Deli space at 2142 Henderson Rd.
• Easton is gaining a steakhouse and losing one! Cut 132 Steakhouse opened at 4188 Brighton Rose Way, while Smith & Wollensky will move its location from Easton (to an as-yet-announced new spot) in the coming months.
• Multiple sources have reported that a new location of Smashburger will open at 15th and High across from Ohio State’s campus.
• Crumbl Cookies is set to expand its central Ohio footprint with new locations in Reynoldsburg and Grove City.
• The Worthington Farmers Market will move inside to The Shops at Worthington Place starting this Saturday, Nov. 12. The indoor season runs almost every Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon through April.
• A new location of BJ’s Wholesale Club opened at 5900 N. Hamilton Rd. in New Albany.
• Next week Thursday, Nov. 17 you can experience La Chatelaine‘s Beaujolais Nouveau dinner. You can pre-order it as a boxed dinner (place orders by Nov. 14) or dine in at the Worthington or Upper Arlington locations that night from 5-9 p.m.
• And finally… next weekend is one of my favorite weekends of the year: THANKSGIVING KOLACHES! Saturday and Sunday Kolache Republic offers up their Thanksgiving kolache, stuffed with turkey, mashed potatoes, and stuffed, then served with gravy and cranberry sauce. I highly recommend pre-ordering through their site: kolacherepublic.square.site.

This week I’m also writing:

• Chef Sebastian La Rocca Brings FYR to the New Hilton Tower
• Take a Tour of the New Hilton Tower
• Three Local Krogers Open Mix Food Halls
• Learn the History of the Mustang at the Gale Halderman Mustang Museum

Want to keep up with more? Follow me on Instagram at @breakfastwithnick, check out the news archives, search for travel inspiration, explore the breakfast map, or…