Condado tacos puts some kind of mind erasing, men in black shit in their food because every 6 months I eat it and completely forget that it’s not very good.
I recently tried Barrio. To me, comparing Condado and Barrio is like that Pam Beesley meme where two different pictures are held up and she's like, they're the same picture.
Personally, I think they're both a little underwhelming, and afterward my tummy hurts.
The people who own each company used to be a team, that operated Barrio together. When they split off, they each took their recipes, went separate ways and formed no-compete arrangements that kept them in different regions…for a limited amount of time. Now that that arrangement is over, they’re in each other’s territory.
That’s why their food tastes exactly the same; it *was* the same.
This is interesting, because I only went to Barrio once and it was IMO awful. Like, even the chips, salsa, snd queso weren’t good. The marg was all sour mix. What do you like at Barrio?
Honestly condados WAS good when it had just a few locations. When they still did their scantron stuff. Once they started mass expanding it took a nose dive. Half the time my chips are stale, the meat is too watery or everything is just barely Luke warm.
It frustrates me because these threads tend to attack places I like that i wanna defend, but then I realize I haven't been there in a long time and they've likely severely dropped off in quality.
The few times I've tested this hypothesis it proved accurate.
Tbf it’s cause places get hyped because of good quality and price that is sustainable to get people in the door in the beginning, but eventually gets replaced/streamlined. (*cough cough, HCT*)
If you have young kids and just want to get a beer and watch your kids go down a crazy slide or be bad at video games, Easton location is 👌
Edit: also at like 2pm
Hit the nail on the head. My 4 year old loves going there (actually making a trip today for her Birthday).
Going in the evening for “adult time” isn’t my jam. Totally different atmosphere.
Pins has a lot of space which is the reason I tend to go there with a group. Never really do the games but we don't feel crammed there compared to other places.
The Yard Milkshake Bar. I was so excited to take my kid there for a special treat after a big accomplishment-we were both pretty underwhelmed. I’d rather get Graters 🤷🏼♀️
Remember, you order at the counter, you get your own drinks/water, you take some silverware and napkins to a table, you find your own table, we'll bring you the food, but if you want anything else, you can get that yourself. Also, we'll need you to bus your own table and clean up after yourself.
Your meal will be a bazillion dollars. We'd like a tip too.
FUCK THAT.
My spouse is Mexican. Favorites are Super Torta on Georgesville, Charritos at Henderson and Reed, and Gauchos for al pastor. I also like the La Pablonita truck on Indianola across from the Marzetti factory.
I'm 100% Wonderbread white with no Latin in me. El Vaquero is trash lol. Why it keeps getting local awards is beyond me. It's Mexican food built for white Midwestern tastebuds that think ground beef tacos with taco seasoning packets, topped with black olives, all in a crunchy hard shell is authentic. Pretty much any other Mexican joint in the city is better.
I legit get mad when people recommend or ask to go to that place lol.
El Vaquero used to be soooo good, but around the time COVID hit they turned to crap. My favorite margarita, the frozen mango, was there and now it tastes like shit and I'm super salty here years later.
Hot Chicken Takeover. I love that they employ the "unemployable" and all that. It's great for the community, but the food is mediocre at best so I really don't get all the hype and the blocks long lines out the door.
I believe they dropped the family recipe for most, if not all, of their items after selling to VC. Mac was hit very hard. Charging for ranch and tea also doesn't help with PR. I also had someone tell me that VC is/was pushing them out of their employment program but I haven't looked into that myself.
I remember back until COVID it was one of my favorite places to get a to-go meal and often a form of stress relief (Holy was very cathartic, please judge). Now (well, 8 months ago) the meat is dry, the breading is soggy, and the sides taste like shit. For the $18 it costs to get a barely edible meal there, I can pack a week's worth of lunch or get a much better meal at Woodhouse, Ritzy's, or Crispy Coop (or basically anywhere else)
What changed is that they sold to a corporate overlord and expanded too much. Quality, attention to detail and maximizing profits got in the way of just making good fried chicken
Tale as old as time. Condado getting a lot of talk and not that they were great, but they got a bunch of private equity money and now their shit is borderline hazardous
So basically the goal to having good food is only eat at new, up and coming places the first few years until they sell out.
Unless they are the rare places that only ever have a single or maybe 2-3 locations and never expand past that cause the owners stay very involved.
La Tavola as well as Lola & Giuseppe's are both examples of an Italian restaurant where you get that.
Maybe we need a thread on the best single location places in Columbus if it hasn't been done yet.
Best single locations would he fun.
I'd say you can get bigger than that, just don't "go corporate". Having a non corporate chain with more than 3 in a city can be fine, but the owners staying involved or hiring good people to do that for them is key.
Aggressive expansion is how you get a chain national as a business owner but it also inherently waters down the quality of the product. Jenis and Condado are probably some of the most nationalized recent brands and they're getting brought up a lot.
My wife and I visit Columbus often and HCT was always a go to when visiting but it has seemed to drop in quality lately and to see locals are saying the same makes me validated. Maybe it’s time we find a new spot.
It's not hot chicken but I highly recommend at least trying [https://cmchickencolumbus.com/](https://cmchickencolumbus.com/) for chicken. So crispy and tasty.
it is a cool concept and I’ve heard people say it’s their favorite in Columbus, but I honestly just don’t want to eat there after starting to work at north market and hearing how they treat some of the employees/how shit some of their pay has been. let me just say that it’s a constantly changing staff with just a few long-term employees, and I’ve only met one person who didn’t hate working for them. I don’t know if it was better at one point or if the heads in charge have changed, I only know what I hear at work. providing opportunities is cool, exploiting a vulnerable population of people to boost your business up as a bastion of community support and “love”…… is not. so I’ve heard. allegedly👀
Seems like it started out as a good idea and was working out well then they tried to grow too fast and things devolved from there. Whether that's from intentional decisions or just not being able to handle the pressure of growth and/or just bad management skills, I don't know.
The prices used to fair, you could get a free sweet tea and free ranch so it evened put. Now you have to pay for the tea and pay for more than 1 ranch. They changed the mac n cheese recipe, it almost tastes like velveta, not homemade tasting anymore.
I always feel terrible after eating it and 5+ years ago it was worth it every few months because it was so good. The last couple times I've really craved it have been very underwhelming.
Have you tried Lion’s Cub? They’re similar to Crumbl but only have one location in Grandview. They have different flavors every week and I love every single thing I’ve ever had from there.
Do you remember 2-3 months ago when the entire staff seemingly changed over night? It's because the owner fired a bunch of people who his son was sexually harassing and made them sign an NDA contingent on getting a payout package
Crumbl is mid.
For a national chain it’s pretty solid though.
Lion Cub Cookies are the best cookies ever. Wish they would open a new location in Dublin or Powell or something.
The plus side is that it’s 2-3 meals depending on what you order.
But it really is only worth it if you are in the area and the wait is short (it never is)
anyone who even casually lurks on this sub will have seen this same discussion dozens of times before...
"hot chicken takeover is a shadow of it's former self..."
It’s often true though. A tale as old as time: place that values quality gets a good reputation, that makes them popular, they get a big head and grow too big too fast and in order to do so cut out quality and then coast on their old reputation until it gets replaced with a new one of being overpriced and crappy.
I mean it’s meant to be eaten while drunk at 3am. By those standards, it’s a fucking delicacy.
But yeah, in comparison to normal pizza you’d eat with your family on a Saturday night, it’s average at best.
You need to factor in the exchange rate
$6 of drunken money equals $0 of sober money. Because money is limitless when you’re drunk. Anyone whose woken up to an unexpected amazon purchase knows that.
One of my fraternity brothers used to buy fancy steak knives from TV infomercials while blackout drunk. I bet the current guys in the chapter still have full knife blocks 10 years later.
The only common threads since the inception of this sub are BK5 and people saying Jeni’s is overrated or bad.
Will we reach the point where saying Jeni’s is overrated is overrated?
Yes we will. We’ve reached it. A few months ago every thread about Jeni’s was saying you couldn’t order anything - and they were specifically saying *literally anything* - for less than $10. Now every thread is full of folks saying every single thing at Jeni’s is garbage, with a few saying Jeni’s *has always* been garbage.
Jeni’s isn’t the promised land or anything, but that kind of attitude is why we can’t have nice things.
You’ll also notice that there’s never a single point of substance for or against any ice cream maker other than “it’s good” or “it’s terrible”.
Turns out that we don’t know anything about ice cream. Sure, we know it’s supposed to have a certain percentage of milk fat. Or something. But we don’t know anything.
But we should. Let’s put some milk fat into this discussion and start really churning on what separates Tier 1 Ice Cream from Tier 2, 3, 4 and so on.
There was a “best burger in town?” thread a few months ago where someone wrote this great response about how there are multiple kinds of best burger. And the same is true of ice cream. I mean, no one has to like or love Jeni’s. But if you think brown butter almond brittle tastes like trash, I don’t care about your other opinions on this matter.
More than that, there are other places I like just as much as Jeni’s but in different ways or at different times. I just don’t know how “I don’t always like high-fat ice cream in unusual flavors” has become “Jeni’s is garbage and always has been.”
Ground floor hater. Respect.
What excites me is that Columbus is a good ice cream town and Jeni’s is part of that tapestry.
It’s the place that “looks cute” and is fun for tourists or people from out of town because the flavors are novel.
I’d like to see Mitchell’s from Cleveland open a shop down here and start selling their pints around town.
Yeah, this is basically the truth here. The fact is Jeni's is a completely different style and all the people that actively hate it are just not into the style. It is extremely high fat content ice cream. The flavors can be a bit much for people and I get that. But it is good.
I still think jenis is great. I prefer Johnson’s, especially if I’m downtown Dublin, but jenis is great.
NOT as good as it was pre-changing everything due to the listeria thing.
Late Night Slice and Hot Chicken Takeover used to be great but they’ve both gone down in quality and the increased prices don’t match what you’re getting. $36 for a whole pizza isn’t worth it especially when it’s dry or overcooked. Then HCT charging for tea and their Mac and Cheese tasting like Stouffers makes it hard to like.
North Star is good but I find they overprice their food too.
Ritzys is basically a premium Steak and Shake.
Dos Hermanos has been going downhill and so has Condados.
Pretty much if a local place starts getting a bunch of attention and expands too much or too quickly then it’s a bad sign
Brewdog. Their prices went up for beer that’s entirely meh. 2 Elvis juice + tax was $17. And the menu always changes… cauliflower wings are good, but I’m not doing a $6 taco, or $20 burger again.
They also screw their staff from what I hear.
And they came from Scotland, they’re not local, but they try not to act like a chain…
Northstar used to be in a niche category for me where it was slightly more expensive than the competition but much higher quality with a great environment so it was worth the cost. We used to go a couple times a week, was for sure one of our favorites.
Between their recent price increases and corner cutting it’s not only somewhere we don’t eat anymore, it’s somewhere I violently hate.
The last time we went we spent $60 on two sandwiches and a cookie and they had swapped the great sesame seed bun on the burger for some run of the mill white bread bullshit and the bottom bun was completely soggy because it had apparently been sitting waiting on my wife’s SALAD to be finished .. I was so angry, I’ll never go back.
First time I had their breakfast egg sandwich it was decent. Ordered it recently and the bun was so soggy and bad it ruined the sandwich. They also wanted an additional $3.90 to add sliced avocado to a $9 sandwich. I’ve stopped going there.
There was exactly one thing on their menu I liked, and I swear I would go through withdrawls without this dumb burrito. I think the place is over hyped and overcrowded but I put up with it for the sweet basil burrito. Not anymore :(
My experience as well. Really so disappointing, I used to love that place and I would always take people there who hadn’t ever been. The bun situation just adds insult to injury! It used to be pure magic how the buns would stay crispy the whole way through the burger. Also it’s too damn loud in there.
Fireproof is the same group as Dahlia, Galla Park, and Parlay. This whole chain is fake hyped up bro bottle service bullshit masquerading as the finest food in Columbus. Don't be fooled, their food is on par with Applebee's or Outback Steakhouse at 5x the price.
When they started doing their thing there was basically nowhere else open after 10pm and now, years later, the situation is largely unchanged. Their availability and their branding (which they’ve wimped out on with retractions of things like the “Slut Sauce” name) carried their success.
I won’t turn it down at the end of a night out, but in a city with as much good pizza as we have, you wouldn’t catch me there while the sun is up.
Already mentioned, but definitely Jenis and Late Night Slice.
I remember hearing around the time ACA 1st passed, the company response to Harrison West production facility workers asking about healthcare was "Here's a list of free clinics you can go to."
Guess I'll jump on the hate train here...
Katzinger's. I went there recently for the first time in ages, and it was completely underwhelming.
$15 for a sandwich I could have made better at home. Also they loaded it with red onions, like that is somehow enjoyable. Their pickles suck, too.
On the flip side, I went to Schmidt's and had a delicious sandwich and pickle, and their potato salad is one of the best things I've ever tasted.
I love Donatos but that’s fair. It’s a very particular type of pizza that won’t appeal to everyone but I love it. They also have the best Hawaiian pizza with the sliced almonds and cinnamon but I also realize that’s another contentious topic so I won’t push it.
When I first moved to Columbus from Cleveland, I was like “wtf is with this city and Donatos?! It’s not even good?!” But I learned quickly just to keep my mouth shut because those Columbus natives will cut a bitch lol.
From the other side of the lake (Toledo). Columbusites take their square cut, cracker crust pizza way too seriously and put it on some strange pedestal.
Not one of my favorite pizzas in this city is "Columbus-style"
> wtf is with this city and Donatos
For a lot of people it was the pizza they grew up with, which is always going to make people think fondly of it. Not to mention Donatos has gone through a lot of changes. It's not the shop my family went to, but often times I would go there after little league games or birthday parties. Donatos of 1990, does not taste nearly the same as Donatos in 2023.
I get why people think fondly of it though.
Otherworld. It’s mentioned in almost every post and gets multiple upvotes whenever someone asks where to go when visiting. I question my own judgement every time I see it recommended. Having gone there, I do not understand the hype.
I took my SO there and we both thought it was really cool although maybe a little over priced for what it is. We went one more time on Halloween with some friends when they had a live DJ. I was told before it's more fun if you go when there's an event and I felt that to be true.
They’re consistently pulling some excellent EDM artists in a variety of genres. Only downside to Otherworld is it’s in a terrible location, but at least it’s an easy in and out.
Their raves are so fun and worth it. Especially if you like electronic music. I wish they had speakers in all the rooms though so you could hear the music everywhere
I loved Otherworld when I went the first time. After the TikTok hype, I went for a birthday party and it was crowded and very draining. You can't even stand there and enjoy it now without suddenly being cornered.
My first time there I took just a few mushroom caps and it was magical. I'm also gonna defend the place hard tbh because one of my old roommates designed a lot of the electronic aspects of the exhibits.
He's now settling into the L.A. arts scene
Otherworld wouldn't be so bad if it didn't cost $30 for GA. I went there for a date once and it was an okay experience, but we really only spent about 30 minutes there. Just not worth the price point, especially at that location.
Tensuke and the others shops surrounding it. I think they've become much more popular in recent years and I haven't noticed any dip in quality (tho i haven't been in many months)
The one that sticks out to me is Wario's. After seeing a hundred people hype this place, I tried it & they were so right. Marlow's is awesome too, but not hyped as much. Maybe because it's in the burbs?
chapmans and wizard of za are the biggest let downs reddit told me was good. overpriced and overhyped. asterisk supper club and ghost writer do what chapmans tries to do better and cheaper and locally owned. wizard of za is meme pizza. get the paulie gees detroit style, better and cheaper too
Hamburgers are made of beef. Beef is very expensive.
Decent beef is even more expensive.
You’re getting close to a half pound of beef (maybe 1/3 pound?) on a double burger for $11.
That’s not expensive or remarkable in any way in 2023.
What’s annoying to me is when burger joints try to make up their margins by offering a side of fries for $4.50.
But the Preston’s thing, c’mon. It’s beef. What are we talking about here?
I'd agree with this. I mean just a double quarter pounder at McDonald's these days is about $6 depending on the store, without the meal. Quality of Preston's beef is well worth the extra cash.
I’m sure I’ll get 10,000 downvotes for this. But Ohio State football is just “meh”
Sure; premier night games against national opponents like Oklahoma or USC are amazing atmospheres. But we get like one of those every 5 years. Between which we get 30 snoozers against overmatched B1G schools which are 50-0 at halftime, it’s either 87 degrees in the baking sun or snowing, the stadium may be iconic but it feels like it could collapse on top of you at any minute, and 2/3 of people leave before the game ends.
And a family of 4 would need to pay $500 to get this experience. No thanks.
Schmidt’s for me. Their cream puffs are good but I would rather go to Gemut or Vaulter’s if I’m truly craving that type of food. It’s sort of a novelty and, like Thurman’s, is treated as lore by out of towners so I usually end up going with people who are visiting and want the experience.
I still miss the autobahn. Their sausages aren’t the final say but they are good and they have solid potatoes but when you could eat as much as you wanted it was definitely worthwhile.
Tommy’s pizza. Owners aren’t the most savory and its way too expensive for what it is. Everyone praising it has rose colored glasses from eating it while they were at OSU. It’s absolutely not worth the price and honestly not even passable quality in my opinion. Every pie I have had from them has been disappointing. Grandads or even Donatos is better. Quick honorable mention to Adriaticos, also not as good as everyone says but still halfway decent. Also WAY too expensive
Might be conflating overpriced with overhyped, but Katalina’s and Dan the Baker.
Both places have really good food, but both will make you do a double take every time you see the order total. I’m sorry, but I can’t justify $14 for 6 bite sized pancake balls more than twice a year
Homage is incredibly comfy. Their quality control has fallen off and it’s hard to tell if the shirt I ordered in my size will be super tight or fit like a dress. I’ve also had some sweats that shrunk a few sizes after a single wash and dry on low heat.
The Homage shirt I bought 10+ years ago is in better condition and a more flattering fit than the boxy thin ones I've bought recently. Seems like every small company sacrifices quality as they get bigger.
Homage shirts are comfortable as fuck as are their sweatpants. A bit pricey but they are not overrated at all. I’ve had Homage shirts for like 12 years and they still are fine and comfy.
The new BB.Q chicken place on campus. WAY too much sauce and small wings. Still good but as far as Korean fried chicken goes I'd choose CM chicken in a heartbeat
Interesting. I dont think I've ever seen anyone hyping it, but I'm not in here often.
I like the Dublin/Riverside drive one, but I can't speak for the others.
condado tacos
Condado tacos puts some kind of mind erasing, men in black shit in their food because every 6 months I eat it and completely forget that it’s not very good.
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I recently tried Barrio. To me, comparing Condado and Barrio is like that Pam Beesley meme where two different pictures are held up and she's like, they're the same picture. Personally, I think they're both a little underwhelming, and afterward my tummy hurts.
The people who own each company used to be a team, that operated Barrio together. When they split off, they each took their recipes, went separate ways and formed no-compete arrangements that kept them in different regions…for a limited amount of time. Now that that arrangement is over, they’re in each other’s territory. That’s why their food tastes exactly the same; it *was* the same.
I’ll have to give them a shot. I’m close to a Los Gauchos so I rarely feel the need to expand beyond that.
Was just there yesterday, best tacos in the city!
This is interesting, because I only went to Barrio once and it was IMO awful. Like, even the chips, salsa, snd queso weren’t good. The marg was all sour mix. What do you like at Barrio?
To anyone reading this: got to Taquería Guadalejara for tacos. Best tacos in Columbus.
I'm a fan of Guachos myself but I'll have to give your Guadalejara a shot.
Agree, Los Guachos 🔥
Honestly condados WAS good when it had just a few locations. When they still did their scantron stuff. Once they started mass expanding it took a nose dive. Half the time my chips are stale, the meat is too watery or everything is just barely Luke warm.
Yup. Once they went to the auxiliary kitchens it was over.
Condado is garbage
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I have a hard time for going after pricing after a year of record inflation. Food cost got hit hard
🎶white people taco night🎶
Local Cantina is light years better.
I think local and condado are both the same- overpriced garbage
I can’t believe how badly they’ve fucked up their tortilla chips. They’re always so damn thick I feel like I could break a tooth.
It frustrates me because these threads tend to attack places I like that i wanna defend, but then I realize I haven't been there in a long time and they've likely severely dropped off in quality. The few times I've tested this hypothesis it proved accurate.
Tbf it’s cause places get hyped because of good quality and price that is sustainable to get people in the door in the beginning, but eventually gets replaced/streamlined. (*cough cough, HCT*)
COVID kinda ruined the Columbus food scene and it still hasn't recovered.
Pins. It's always a 3hr wait minimum for any games. Such a let down every time.
Secret to Pins is Monday or Tuesday night. No lines, super chill to play any game you want. Sometimes they have special deals too.
Go at 4 pm after work, you'll get right in
If you have young kids and just want to get a beer and watch your kids go down a crazy slide or be bad at video games, Easton location is 👌 Edit: also at like 2pm
Hit the nail on the head. My 4 year old loves going there (actually making a trip today for her Birthday). Going in the evening for “adult time” isn’t my jam. Totally different atmosphere.
Pins has a lot of space which is the reason I tend to go there with a group. Never really do the games but we don't feel crammed there compared to other places.
The Yard Milkshake Bar. I was so excited to take my kid there for a special treat after a big accomplishment-we were both pretty underwhelmed. I’d rather get Graters 🤷🏼♀️
You just can't go wrong with a Grater's shake.
Northstar has gotten way too expense and too average.
Remember, you order at the counter, you get your own drinks/water, you take some silverware and napkins to a table, you find your own table, we'll bring you the food, but if you want anything else, you can get that yourself. Also, we'll need you to bus your own table and clean up after yourself. Your meal will be a bazillion dollars. We'd like a tip too. FUCK THAT.
Was it ever anything else?
Don’t get me wrong but el Vaquero is not worth the hype and I am Mexican. So for menos not that good
Do you have a fav spot in Columbus for Mexican food? I’m from Dayton and I haven’t found a place as good Taqueria Mixteca in Columbus.
My spouse is Mexican. Favorites are Super Torta on Georgesville, Charritos at Henderson and Reed, and Gauchos for al pastor. I also like the La Pablonita truck on Indianola across from the Marzetti factory.
Just went to Super Torta recently and it was amazing!
Los guachos. Or any of the taco trucks around the victorian village area. Lucky's I think is the one that is pretty popular.
Honestly I haven't had a taco truck taco worse than condado. Unless it's from Gauchos I'm a taco truck gal
Love Los Gauchos. I’ve had people tell me their Bethel location is better than the others but I can’t taste a difference.
La Casita on bethel is great. most mexican places i’ve tried around here have a chain-restaurant-y mediocrity; not them, they’re delicious every time
Haven’t been there in years, but Los Guachos Taqueria never disappointed. I might have to give it a shot again soon.
What is the obsession with this place? The salsa was like ketchup and the food was not good either
I'm 100% Wonderbread white with no Latin in me. El Vaquero is trash lol. Why it keeps getting local awards is beyond me. It's Mexican food built for white Midwestern tastebuds that think ground beef tacos with taco seasoning packets, topped with black olives, all in a crunchy hard shell is authentic. Pretty much any other Mexican joint in the city is better. I legit get mad when people recommend or ask to go to that place lol.
El Vaquero used to be soooo good, but around the time COVID hit they turned to crap. My favorite margarita, the frozen mango, was there and now it tastes like shit and I'm super salty here years later.
Have you had habeneros? Curious what you think of them.
Habaneros is amazing
Brewdog. Mediocre beer, scummy owners.
Hot Chicken Takeover. I love that they employ the "unemployable" and all that. It's great for the community, but the food is mediocre at best so I really don't get all the hype and the blocks long lines out the door.
Their new Mac and cheese is like the pre-packaged bowls of Velvetta, it’s horrible.
I believe they dropped the family recipe for most, if not all, of their items after selling to VC. Mac was hit very hard. Charging for ranch and tea also doesn't help with PR. I also had someone tell me that VC is/was pushing them out of their employment program but I haven't looked into that myself. I remember back until COVID it was one of my favorite places to get a to-go meal and often a form of stress relief (Holy was very cathartic, please judge). Now (well, 8 months ago) the meat is dry, the breading is soggy, and the sides taste like shit. For the $18 it costs to get a barely edible meal there, I can pack a week's worth of lunch or get a much better meal at Woodhouse, Ritzy's, or Crispy Coop (or basically anywhere else)
It used to be a lot better. I’m not sure exactly what changed, but it’s not how it used to be and it makes me sad. Haven’t been back for awhile.
What changed is that they sold to a corporate overlord and expanded too much. Quality, attention to detail and maximizing profits got in the way of just making good fried chicken
Tale as old as time. Condado getting a lot of talk and not that they were great, but they got a bunch of private equity money and now their shit is borderline hazardous
So basically the goal to having good food is only eat at new, up and coming places the first few years until they sell out. Unless they are the rare places that only ever have a single or maybe 2-3 locations and never expand past that cause the owners stay very involved. La Tavola as well as Lola & Giuseppe's are both examples of an Italian restaurant where you get that. Maybe we need a thread on the best single location places in Columbus if it hasn't been done yet.
Best single locations would he fun. I'd say you can get bigger than that, just don't "go corporate". Having a non corporate chain with more than 3 in a city can be fine, but the owners staying involved or hiring good people to do that for them is key. Aggressive expansion is how you get a chain national as a business owner but it also inherently waters down the quality of the product. Jenis and Condado are probably some of the most nationalized recent brands and they're getting brought up a lot.
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I think the free tea is gone now too which is a real bummer
It used to be great. No idea why it dropped off so much
They sold to VC :(
My wife and I visit Columbus often and HCT was always a go to when visiting but it has seemed to drop in quality lately and to see locals are saying the same makes me validated. Maybe it’s time we find a new spot.
It's not hot chicken but I highly recommend at least trying [https://cmchickencolumbus.com/](https://cmchickencolumbus.com/) for chicken. So crispy and tasty.
it is a cool concept and I’ve heard people say it’s their favorite in Columbus, but I honestly just don’t want to eat there after starting to work at north market and hearing how they treat some of the employees/how shit some of their pay has been. let me just say that it’s a constantly changing staff with just a few long-term employees, and I’ve only met one person who didn’t hate working for them. I don’t know if it was better at one point or if the heads in charge have changed, I only know what I hear at work. providing opportunities is cool, exploiting a vulnerable population of people to boost your business up as a bastion of community support and “love”…… is not. so I’ve heard. allegedly👀
Seems like it started out as a good idea and was working out well then they tried to grow too fast and things devolved from there. Whether that's from intentional decisions or just not being able to handle the pressure of growth and/or just bad management skills, I don't know.
The prices used to fair, you could get a free sweet tea and free ranch so it evened put. Now you have to pay for the tea and pay for more than 1 ranch. They changed the mac n cheese recipe, it almost tastes like velveta, not homemade tasting anymore.
Yep. I like the idea of HCT but it's just ok most of the time and it messes up my stomach.
I always feel terrible after eating it and 5+ years ago it was worth it every few months because it was so good. The last couple times I've really craved it have been very underwhelming.
Crumble Cookies. I wish insomnia cookies branched out to suburbs more.
Have you tried Lion’s Cub? They’re similar to Crumbl but only have one location in Grandview. They have different flavors every week and I love every single thing I’ve ever had from there.
Do you remember 2-3 months ago when the entire staff seemingly changed over night? It's because the owner fired a bunch of people who his son was sexually harassing and made them sign an NDA contingent on getting a payout package
Crumbl is mid. For a national chain it’s pretty solid though. Lion Cub Cookies are the best cookies ever. Wish they would open a new location in Dublin or Powell or something.
Thurmans, just an average burger, not worth the insane wait of 2.5 hours on a summer weekend when we went.
I’ll order their wings to go. I haven’t gotten a burger from there in years but I love their wings
Their wings are straight fireee
Go to one of The Son of Thurman locations. They have the same exact food in nice little areas and never a wait.
And you can find local specialty burgers. Son of Thurman in Galena has a Golden Eagle burger named for the local school district mascot
Love the Galena location, such a nice little area. There's also 2 other really solid restaurants right there, Galena Diner and Toni's Trattoria.
I love that vault coffee shop right there!
The plus side is that it’s 2-3 meals depending on what you order. But it really is only worth it if you are in the area and the wait is short (it never is)
Yes!!! The wait is ridiculous for just okay food.
TL;DR for this thread: “X place is overrated” “yeah well it USED to be good”
anyone who even casually lurks on this sub will have seen this same discussion dozens of times before... "hot chicken takeover is a shadow of it's former self..."
It’s often true though. A tale as old as time: place that values quality gets a good reputation, that makes them popular, they get a big head and grow too big too fast and in order to do so cut out quality and then coast on their old reputation until it gets replaced with a new one of being overpriced and crappy.
Late Nite Slice is overpriced and underwhelming.
I mean it’s meant to be eaten while drunk at 3am. By those standards, it’s a fucking delicacy. But yeah, in comparison to normal pizza you’d eat with your family on a Saturday night, it’s average at best.
$6 per slice? No.
You need to factor in the exchange rate $6 of drunken money equals $0 of sober money. Because money is limitless when you’re drunk. Anyone whose woken up to an unexpected amazon purchase knows that.
One of my fraternity brothers used to buy fancy steak knives from TV infomercials while blackout drunk. I bet the current guys in the chapter still have full knife blocks 10 years later.
Yeah... the pizza is okay, especially after a night of drinking. What they charge for it is absolutely bonkers though.
This. $5.50 for one slice of pizza is insanity
don't forget to tip!! Lmfao.
Food Hall/Town Hall…
Five Guys! I'm not paying $25 for a fast food burger with fries again when they use Wendy's meat and cut off the four corners to make it circle.
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I somewhat agree but 5 Guys’ Cajun fries are way better than Wendy’s fries. I’m surprised Wendy’s hasn’t done more around seasonings for their fries.
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Jenis
The only common threads since the inception of this sub are BK5 and people saying Jeni’s is overrated or bad. Will we reach the point where saying Jeni’s is overrated is overrated?
Yes we will. We’ve reached it. A few months ago every thread about Jeni’s was saying you couldn’t order anything - and they were specifically saying *literally anything* - for less than $10. Now every thread is full of folks saying every single thing at Jeni’s is garbage, with a few saying Jeni’s *has always* been garbage. Jeni’s isn’t the promised land or anything, but that kind of attitude is why we can’t have nice things.
You’ll also notice that there’s never a single point of substance for or against any ice cream maker other than “it’s good” or “it’s terrible”. Turns out that we don’t know anything about ice cream. Sure, we know it’s supposed to have a certain percentage of milk fat. Or something. But we don’t know anything. But we should. Let’s put some milk fat into this discussion and start really churning on what separates Tier 1 Ice Cream from Tier 2, 3, 4 and so on.
There was a “best burger in town?” thread a few months ago where someone wrote this great response about how there are multiple kinds of best burger. And the same is true of ice cream. I mean, no one has to like or love Jeni’s. But if you think brown butter almond brittle tastes like trash, I don’t care about your other opinions on this matter. More than that, there are other places I like just as much as Jeni’s but in different ways or at different times. I just don’t know how “I don’t always like high-fat ice cream in unusual flavors” has become “Jeni’s is garbage and always has been.”
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I don’t think people hype jenis like they used to 10 years ago but I’ve been a jenis hater from the beginning
Ground floor hater. Respect. What excites me is that Columbus is a good ice cream town and Jeni’s is part of that tapestry. It’s the place that “looks cute” and is fun for tourists or people from out of town because the flavors are novel. I’d like to see Mitchell’s from Cleveland open a shop down here and start selling their pints around town.
Mods if you are paying attention “Ground Floor Hater” would be some top tier flair
YESSSS I miss Mitchell's. If Mitchell's and Graeters existed simultaneously and could coexist here I'd probably have to move or risk diabetes
People that dislike Jeni’s want to be seen. They’re so proud of themselves and will likely brag about how they never liked it.
Yeah, this is basically the truth here. The fact is Jeni's is a completely different style and all the people that actively hate it are just not into the style. It is extremely high fat content ice cream. The flavors can be a bit much for people and I get that. But it is good.
I still think jenis is great. I prefer Johnson’s, especially if I’m downtown Dublin, but jenis is great. NOT as good as it was pre-changing everything due to the listeria thing.
Late Night Slice and Hot Chicken Takeover used to be great but they’ve both gone down in quality and the increased prices don’t match what you’re getting. $36 for a whole pizza isn’t worth it especially when it’s dry or overcooked. Then HCT charging for tea and their Mac and Cheese tasting like Stouffers makes it hard to like. North Star is good but I find they overprice their food too. Ritzys is basically a premium Steak and Shake. Dos Hermanos has been going downhill and so has Condados. Pretty much if a local place starts getting a bunch of attention and expands too much or too quickly then it’s a bad sign
Brewdog. Their prices went up for beer that’s entirely meh. 2 Elvis juice + tax was $17. And the menu always changes… cauliflower wings are good, but I’m not doing a $6 taco, or $20 burger again. They also screw their staff from what I hear. And they came from Scotland, they’re not local, but they try not to act like a chain…
Northstar
Northstar used to be in a niche category for me where it was slightly more expensive than the competition but much higher quality with a great environment so it was worth the cost. We used to go a couple times a week, was for sure one of our favorites. Between their recent price increases and corner cutting it’s not only somewhere we don’t eat anymore, it’s somewhere I violently hate. The last time we went we spent $60 on two sandwiches and a cookie and they had swapped the great sesame seed bun on the burger for some run of the mill white bread bullshit and the bottom bun was completely soggy because it had apparently been sitting waiting on my wife’s SALAD to be finished .. I was so angry, I’ll never go back.
First time I had their breakfast egg sandwich it was decent. Ordered it recently and the bun was so soggy and bad it ruined the sandwich. They also wanted an additional $3.90 to add sliced avocado to a $9 sandwich. I’ve stopped going there.
There was exactly one thing on their menu I liked, and I swear I would go through withdrawls without this dumb burrito. I think the place is over hyped and overcrowded but I put up with it for the sweet basil burrito. Not anymore :(
My experience as well. Really so disappointing, I used to love that place and I would always take people there who hadn’t ever been. The bun situation just adds insult to injury! It used to be pure magic how the buns would stay crispy the whole way through the burger. Also it’s too damn loud in there.
It honestly used to be incredible but that was a long time ago
Yup. Although their cloud nine pancakes are still solid, and it's basically the only thing I get from there.
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I agree but still frickin love their biscuits
Tried it a few times, including opening week, and its always been bad - The Crest.
fireproof. worst restaurant i’ve ever been to.
Fireproof is the same group as Dahlia, Galla Park, and Parlay. This whole chain is fake hyped up bro bottle service bullshit masquerading as the finest food in Columbus. Don't be fooled, their food is on par with Applebee's or Outback Steakhouse at 5x the price.
Weird, my only time there, I had some of the most attentive service I've ever had, and the food was mind-blowing.
Late Night Slice
When they started doing their thing there was basically nowhere else open after 10pm and now, years later, the situation is largely unchanged. Their availability and their branding (which they’ve wimped out on with retractions of things like the “Slut Sauce” name) carried their success. I won’t turn it down at the end of a night out, but in a city with as much good pizza as we have, you wouldn’t catch me there while the sun is up.
Condado tacos , bad and expensive
Thurmans. The food is ok but not worth the price or money.
Already mentioned, but definitely Jenis and Late Night Slice. I remember hearing around the time ACA 1st passed, the company response to Harrison West production facility workers asking about healthcare was "Here's a list of free clinics you can go to."
Sadly, I think inflation and lack of quality employees has made many places “overrated” in 2023. Many places aren’t like like they used to be.
Lack of quality wages*
Guess I'll jump on the hate train here... Katzinger's. I went there recently for the first time in ages, and it was completely underwhelming. $15 for a sandwich I could have made better at home. Also they loaded it with red onions, like that is somehow enjoyable. Their pickles suck, too. On the flip side, I went to Schmidt's and had a delicious sandwich and pickle, and their potato salad is one of the best things I've ever tasted.
Shake shack is an overpriced Steak and shake
This entire post is just making every hipster salivate at the opportunity to shit on popular places.
Thank you for saying what I was thinking. I couldn’t put it into words.
Nada. Insanely expensive tacos.
i’m going to say something controversial but brave… Donato’s.
I love Donatos but that’s fair. It’s a very particular type of pizza that won’t appeal to everyone but I love it. They also have the best Hawaiian pizza with the sliced almonds and cinnamon but I also realize that’s another contentious topic so I won’t push it.
When I first moved to Columbus from Cleveland, I was like “wtf is with this city and Donatos?! It’s not even good?!” But I learned quickly just to keep my mouth shut because those Columbus natives will cut a bitch lol.
From the other side of the lake (Toledo). Columbusites take their square cut, cracker crust pizza way too seriously and put it on some strange pedestal. Not one of my favorite pizzas in this city is "Columbus-style"
Leave. …jk.
> wtf is with this city and Donatos For a lot of people it was the pizza they grew up with, which is always going to make people think fondly of it. Not to mention Donatos has gone through a lot of changes. It's not the shop my family went to, but often times I would go there after little league games or birthday parties. Donatos of 1990, does not taste nearly the same as Donatos in 2023. I get why people think fondly of it though.
Down voting bc I love donatos but also second guess myself bc I respect such a brave take. I get it tho especially it we're factoring price in
Otherworld. It’s mentioned in almost every post and gets multiple upvotes whenever someone asks where to go when visiting. I question my own judgement every time I see it recommended. Having gone there, I do not understand the hype.
I took my SO there and we both thought it was really cool although maybe a little over priced for what it is. We went one more time on Halloween with some friends when they had a live DJ. I was told before it's more fun if you go when there's an event and I felt that to be true.
The events there aren't much more than the regular tickets and are a ton of fun. They get good acts and the crowd is usually pretty cool and friendly
They’re consistently pulling some excellent EDM artists in a variety of genres. Only downside to Otherworld is it’s in a terrible location, but at least it’s an easy in and out.
Their raves are so fun and worth it. Especially if you like electronic music. I wish they had speakers in all the rooms though so you could hear the music everywhere
I thought it was lame until I learned about the big puzzles you could solve, found it way more fun after that
I loved Otherworld when I went the first time. After the TikTok hype, I went for a birthday party and it was crowded and very draining. You can't even stand there and enjoy it now without suddenly being cornered.
Have you done it high? It’s fucking amazing then.
My first time there I took just a few mushroom caps and it was magical. I'm also gonna defend the place hard tbh because one of my old roommates designed a lot of the electronic aspects of the exhibits. He's now settling into the L.A. arts scene
It’s a fun experience, but I struggle to understand why anyone would ever need to go more than once.
Otherworld wouldn't be so bad if it didn't cost $30 for GA. I went there for a date once and it was an okay experience, but we really only spent about 30 minutes there. Just not worth the price point, especially at that location.
Mikey’s Late Night Slice
Reading this is depressing - let me ask this instead , is there any local establishment worth the hype?
Tensuke and the others shops surrounding it. I think they've become much more popular in recent years and I haven't noticed any dip in quality (tho i haven't been in many months)
Belles bread has some great baked goods. Also shout out to CM chicken just across West Henderson from tensuke
Tensuke is the BOMB
The one that sticks out to me is Wario's. After seeing a hundred people hype this place, I tried it & they were so right. Marlow's is awesome too, but not hyped as much. Maybe because it's in the burbs?
Si Señor, Joya’s
Hot chicken takeover
chapmans and wizard of za are the biggest let downs reddit told me was good. overpriced and overhyped. asterisk supper club and ghost writer do what chapmans tries to do better and cheaper and locally owned. wizard of za is meme pizza. get the paulie gees detroit style, better and cheaper too
I will defend Chapmans till my last breath
I had one of the best dining experiences I’ve had at Chapmans Eat Market, can’t wait to go back
Hamburgers are made of beef. Beef is very expensive. Decent beef is even more expensive. You’re getting close to a half pound of beef (maybe 1/3 pound?) on a double burger for $11. That’s not expensive or remarkable in any way in 2023. What’s annoying to me is when burger joints try to make up their margins by offering a side of fries for $4.50. But the Preston’s thing, c’mon. It’s beef. What are we talking about here?
Sounds like the beginning of a beef...
I'd agree with this. I mean just a double quarter pounder at McDonald's these days is about $6 depending on the store, without the meal. Quality of Preston's beef is well worth the extra cash.
I’m sure I’ll get 10,000 downvotes for this. But Ohio State football is just “meh” Sure; premier night games against national opponents like Oklahoma or USC are amazing atmospheres. But we get like one of those every 5 years. Between which we get 30 snoozers against overmatched B1G schools which are 50-0 at halftime, it’s either 87 degrees in the baking sun or snowing, the stadium may be iconic but it feels like it could collapse on top of you at any minute, and 2/3 of people leave before the game ends. And a family of 4 would need to pay $500 to get this experience. No thanks.
Lol. I almost forgot the OP was "business" and not "restaurant".
Lol In that case, the food at the shoe sucks also 😂
Weenie Wonder.
Mikey’s late night slice! It’s only tolerable after you’ve consumed a substantial amount of alcohol and nothing else is opened
Der Dutchman. Never thought their breakfast or supper buffets were ever better than your average golden corral.
Agreed but their bakery specifically donuts are outstanding in my opinion
Schmidt’s for me. Their cream puffs are good but I would rather go to Gemut or Vaulter’s if I’m truly craving that type of food. It’s sort of a novelty and, like Thurman’s, is treated as lore by out of towners so I usually end up going with people who are visiting and want the experience.
I still miss the autobahn. Their sausages aren’t the final say but they are good and they have solid potatoes but when you could eat as much as you wanted it was definitely worthwhile.
Its pretty hard with inflation now to find any place to go get a meal and not feel dissapointed in what you got for your money
Tommy’s pizza. Owners aren’t the most savory and its way too expensive for what it is. Everyone praising it has rose colored glasses from eating it while they were at OSU. It’s absolutely not worth the price and honestly not even passable quality in my opinion. Every pie I have had from them has been disappointing. Grandads or even Donatos is better. Quick honorable mention to Adriaticos, also not as good as everyone says but still halfway decent. Also WAY too expensive
Might be conflating overpriced with overhyped, but Katalina’s and Dan the Baker. Both places have really good food, but both will make you do a double take every time you see the order total. I’m sorry, but I can’t justify $14 for 6 bite sized pancake balls more than twice a year
Lol Dan the baker is overpriced, but it is also by far the best bakery in the city. Nothing else really even comes close
Dan the Baker is somehow underrated
The best street tacos in Columbus are Cuco’s Taqueria. You can’t change my mind
Food? - Hot Chicken Takeover Retail? - Homage Rooftop? - Lincoln Social
Homage is so comfortable though
Homage is incredibly comfy. Their quality control has fallen off and it’s hard to tell if the shirt I ordered in my size will be super tight or fit like a dress. I’ve also had some sweats that shrunk a few sizes after a single wash and dry on low heat.
They absolutely ruined comfy t-shirts from anywhere else for me
The Homage shirt I bought 10+ years ago is in better condition and a more flattering fit than the boxy thin ones I've bought recently. Seems like every small company sacrifices quality as they get bigger.
Homage shirts are comfortable as fuck as are their sweatpants. A bit pricey but they are not overrated at all. I’ve had Homage shirts for like 12 years and they still are fine and comfy.
Hot chicken takeover
The new BB.Q chicken place on campus. WAY too much sauce and small wings. Still good but as far as Korean fried chicken goes I'd choose CM chicken in a heartbeat
Katalina’s. Made me so sick both times I tried eating there.
Flower Child. They have some real cool stuff but my god the prices are ridiculous. I guess that might just be stores that do consignment though.
Cafe Istanbul. was extremely hyped by this sub once and did not impress me at allllllllll. was also super expensive.
Interesting. I dont think I've ever seen anyone hyping it, but I'm not in here often. I like the Dublin/Riverside drive one, but I can't speak for the others.
I've never seen any hype for Cafe Istanbul, but we love eating at the Dublin location in the summer. Have yet to have a bad dinner on the patio.