Sometimes the best things in life are hard to find.
Case in point: some of the best authentic Italian restaurants throughout the Columbus area.
They’re tucked away behind bigger buildings and often go unseen. These places may be out of the way or stashed in an alley, but they make for good experiences and even greater meals.
These hidden gems take a little bit more time to find, but they are surely worth your trouble.
Word-of-Mouth Market
On the corner of Third Avenue Avenue and Summit Street sat a rundown corner carryout – until the Market Italian Village moved in at the end of August and brought a new flavor to that part of town.
“The previous place was an eyesore and not the pride of the community,” says General Manager David Becker. “We are one of the first entities to have gone into the transitioning neighborhood of the Italian Village. We put the concept together by asking what we could do different for Columbus and we sculpt ourselves to what the community wants. We are flexible to the needs of the people and want to be involved.”
The Market is a versatile operation, acting as a café when it opens at 7 a.m. and serves up coffee and pastries. By lunchtime, it transitions into a quick-serving, counter-style eatery for those in a hurry.
When dinner hours roll by, the Market slows down the pace and offers more complex and involved options, such as bison Bolognese, chicken saltimbocca and, most popular, wood-fired pizzas with house-made sausage.
“Pizza is No. 1,” Becker says. “We have a duck pizza, which uses duck bacon and a fig and red wine sauce. It’s bold, it’s rich and it’s not your garden-variety pizza.”
While the eatery serves up dishes, restaurant-style, until midnight each night, it’s also a functioning beer and wine retailer and butcher. One of its prized meats is jamón ibérico, a ham made from a single lineage pork family that’s been fed an acorn diet.
“It’s the finest deli (meat) you can get your hands on,” Becker says.
To go with the ham or any other menu option is an array of wines.
Italy in the Alley
Some of the best secrets are the ones that just have to be let out, so when Basi Italia opened 11 years ago, the owners found what they had created was too great to keep hidden.
Owned by John Dornback and Trish Gentile, the Short North restaurant is located a few blocks from High Street on the path that is Highland Street. Though the location might give some pause, Dornback found it to be the perfect spot.
“We found this little green building down a cobblestone alley that looked like a carriage house and it screamed ‘Italian restaurant,’ so that’s what it had to become,” he says. “Our friends questioned what we were thinking when we chose the location. It wasn’t on High Street. It didn’t fit the model. It didn’t feel like a restaurant, but that’s what we loved. It was a beautiful mistake waiting to happen.”
Because the location is difficult to pinpoint, Dornback and Gentile find themselves hopping out of the kitchen to help patrons find the place after seeing them scout the area a few times.
“We would watch people drive by and have to run outside to flag them down,” he says. “That helps break the ice and, in a way, is very welcoming. We want to make great food and not intimidate anyone. Food, wine and conversations are had here, along with that magical little moment of no stress. It feels like dining in someone’s living room.”
Inside the former pizza parlor, the husband-and-wife team serves up dishes that reflect the restaurant’s name: Basi, a slang Italian term meaning “simple.”
The menu is decked out with classic Italian dishes such as risotto verde and eggplant parmesan, but it’s the options that have been there since day one that keep customers coming back.
“We have a zucchini pronto, which is just diced zucchini, olive oil, ground toasted almonds, parsley and lemon juice with a paper-thin slice of Romano cheese,” Dornback says. “There’s a lot of texture and a balance of salt and savory. If I took it off the menu, there would be a revolt. Customers tell me they want to learn how to make it, but they don’t realize how easy it is.”
Another menu mainstay is a traditional dish passed down from Gentile’s family: rigatoni salumeria.
“This is a sort of tribute to her family,” Dornback says. “They make a southern Italian pine nut, fennel and raisin meatball. I took that, deconstructed it and turned it into a ragu. It’s named the salumeria, which means ‘the butcher’s pasta.’”
Strip Mall Marvel
A typical plaza may consist of a department store, a shoe shop and maybe a chain restaurant, but one strip mall in Reynoldsburg has played host to an unforgettable Italian eatery since 1993.
Sharing a parking lot with Capital City Comics and Callander Cleaners is the family-owned Scali Ristorante.
“I’ve been in the business since I was 15 and it was always a dream to open my own place,” says co-owner Frank Scali. “We started looking around, went to the east side and didn’t find much out there. Everyone flocked to the northwest and Sawmill (Road) areas.”
Since the early 1990s, the Scalis have watched the area experience great growth as their business continues to thrive.
“We have seen routes 256 and 204 go from two lanes to four,” says Judy Scali, Frank’s wife. “But people still seem to find us, even though we’re hidden back here.”
Despite being a little out of the way, the Scalis have found success, both with returning customers and visitors looking for authenticity.
“A lot of the people who come in know each other, but I do get a lot of travelers from the hotels,” Frank says. “When they check in, they want a place that’s not a chain, and they find us.”
And when customers do find the restaurant, they’re welcomed in by an extensive Italian wine list, tiramisu and manicotti – made from scratch – and the restaurant’s famous brascioli. This delicacy consists of sirloin beef layered and stuffed with mozzarella, Romano and provolone cheeses, along with salami and capicola ham, all baked in tomato sauce.
While Frank’s cooking has made him known as a top chef in Reynoldsburg, his name also resounds through the streets of Columbus.
“When I first got to Columbus, I was burnt out and I thought I wanted to be a salesperson, until I met Frank,” John Dornback says. “He was one of the first customers I had at Gordon Foods and he was the sweetest guy. He actually called the night before we opened Basi Italia to wish me good luck. He’s a great guy.”
Stephan Reed is an assistant editor. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
