Northstar Cafe Short North is a healthy american restaurant in Short North, Columbus.
Northstar Cafe on North High Street is the Columbus Short North outpost of the founded-here chain, with the Big Sky organic burger and Yoga bowl.
Signature dishes: Big sky organic burger, Northstar bowl
Must order: The Big Sky organic burger with the side salad and a fresh-pressed juice.
Tip: Counter ordering, no reservations; weekend brunch waits an hour, weekday lunch is easier.
Address: 951 N High St, Columbus, OH 43201
Hoof Hearted Brewing on East Fifth Avenue in Italian Village runs the brewery's Columbus taproom, with house-brewed lagers and the kitchen's smash burger.
Signature: Smash burger, House-brewed lagers
Order: A flight of the rotating IPA and lager line, with a smash burger.
Tip: The Marengo brewery is the production site; this is the Columbus pour room with a kitchen.
Land-Grant Brewing in Columbus's Franklinton runs the 12,000 sqft renovated factory taproom on West Town Street, with the largest beer garden.
Signature: Beer garden plates, Rotating food trucks
Order: A pint of the Land-Grant Greenskeeper Pilsner plus whatever food truck is parked that night.
Tip: The Wintergarden adds seasonal heated tents; The Extension on West Chapel runs Land-Grant's cocktail and natural wine line.
Graeter's at Easton Town Center is the Columbus-edge French-pot ice cream counter, churned in two-gallon copper kettles in Cincinnati since 1870.
Signature: Black raspberry chocolate chip, French pot ice cream
Order: A scoop of the black raspberry chocolate chip; it is the Graeter's signature for a reason.
Tip: Easton fills up on weekend evenings; the Bethel Road and Hilliard locations move faster.
Donatos Pizza, the Columbus thin-crust square pie founded by Jim Grote on Thurman Avenue in 1963, defines the city pizza with pepperoni to the edge.
Signature: Edge-to-edge pepperoni, Thin-crust square pie
Order: The signature pepperoni in the original square thin crust.
Tip: The original 1963 Thurman Avenue location reopened in 2023 for the 60th anniversary; the South James Road shop is closest to the family operations.
Veritas on West Gay Street downtown is Chef Josh Dalton's Columbus tasting-menu room, the city's reference fine-dining counter since the 2017 move.
Signature: Tasting menu, Seasonal small plates
Order: Whatever the kitchen is leading the tasting menu with this week.
Tip: Reservations on the restaurant's own site open weeks ahead; the counter seats facing the open kitchen book first.
The Refectory on Bethel Road, run inside a 19th century church since 1976, is Columbus's contemporary French tasting room with a 700-bottle Burgundy cellar.
Signature: Classic French canon, Burgundian wine list
Order: The bistro three-course at the bar with a glass from the deep Burgundy list.
Tip: The fifty-year anniversary runs through 2026; the bistro side at the bar is the unsung deal.
