Given Columbus’ robust dining scene, it’s no surprise that every year brings with it a litany of high-quality restaurants.
Sometimes, then, the surprise is in an eatery’s path to a sit-down dining establishment, as these nontraditional upstarts prove.
Photo courtesy of Brew Brothers
The Brew Brothers at Scioto Downs
Though brewpubs have certainly increased in prominence of late, there’s definitely only one in central Ohio that’s smack in the middle of a casino.
Brew Brothers is situated in Eldorado Scioto Downs. It’s not the first such restaurant – the Brew Brothers concept was born in 1995 in Reno, Nevada, when microbreweries were just getting off the ground – but it is the first in Ohio. The original Brew Brothers came about when co-owner Gregg Carano’s father – Don Carano, founder of Eldorado Resorts Inc., which owns Scioto Downs – suggested Gregg start researching breweries.
Carano took his father’s advice, visiting San Francisco, Seattle and Portland to research breweries, and what came out of that inspiration was the Brew Brothers.
“It became the No. 1 microbrewery in the country for the amount of beer it was serving,” says Carano.
The inspiration behind the food may be from the West Coast, but the Columbus Brew Brothers is inspired by the farmland surrounding the racino.
“I asked (the architects) to give me a silo – which is a working silo,” says Carano. “I asked them to give me a barn feeling inside, and that’s when they came up with the idea of reclaimed wood inside, which is absolutely beautiful.”
Carano, his son and his wife are all graduates of the Culinary Institute of America, “and we feel it’s great to celebrate the chef,” says Carano. The menu features food brought from all over the country; wherever Carano goes, he brings the best dishes back to Brew Brothers, from roasted chicken and fries to veal meatballs to smoked brisket.
On the beer side, beyond such Brew Brothers standards as the Carano Extra kolsch and Double Down stout, there’s always a Brewmaster Special. Brewmaster Ryan Torres came from Barley’s Brewing Company in the Short North, and Carano attributes much of Brew Brothers’ success to him.
“So many people come back over and over, not only for the food, but for the hospitality and the great brews,” says Carano. “He’s brewing such great beers that I think the people of Columbus are trying this out, and making this their home.”
Photos courtesy of Mikey's Late Night Slice
Mikey’s Late Night Slice
Though some may believe Mikey’s Late Night Slice began life as a now-hugely popular food truck, its roots are brick and mortar: a grab-and-go, pizza-by-the-slice spot that opened in the Short North in 2009.
It’s only appropriate that Mikey’s would make its way back to brick and mortar eventually. But that brick-and-mortar location, on Fourth Street in downtown Columbus, is vastly different from the other storefronts, with sit-down service, expanded pizza options, a lengthy drink list including alcoholic slushes and oddball pop cultural artwork on the walls.
Late Night Slice opened for business when Late Night Slice’s namesake, Mikey Sorboro, couldn’t find good pizza to fill his cravings one night. The small initial location opened in July 2009, and by November of that year, the food truck, which Sorboro had found on Craigslist, was up and running.
“Mike has got a knack for seeing things that are emerging in other cities,” says Jason Biundo, chief creative director for Mikey’s. “He found this food truck that had everything we needed – a gas version of the oven we were using, the cooler – (and) everything was set up the way we needed it.”
The benefits of starting a food truck, Biundo says, are immeasurable. He recognizes many successful restaurants that began as trucks, including Hot Chicken Takeover and DareDevil Dogs.
“There are so many people that have so many great ideas, and they can’t get the capital to open brick and mortar,” says Biundo. “If you have a great idea, if you have the ability and the time, you can really get something out there.”
The new Downtown location still offers pizza by the slice, but it also has a whole line-up of specialty pizzas with such off-kilter names as An Evening with Meatball (extra meatballs with parmesan cheese), the Vegetarian Covenant (onions, green peppers, mushrooms and tomatoes) and Silence of the Buffalo Chickens (buffalo chicken and ranch sauce). That’s on top of appetizers, salads (referred to as “rabbit food” and described as tasting “particularly good from up on that high horse you’re sitting on”) and absurd signature items including the Cheezus Crust, a grilled cheese sandwich with two slices of pizza as the bread, plus a full drink menu.
“We want to be the most recognizable pizza-by-the-slice food establishment in the country,” Biundo says. “We’re not done. There’s still lots to learn.”
Photos courtesy of Stephanie Barnes Photography
Sweet Carrot
Sweet Carrot CEO Angela Petro calls Sweet Carrot a “beautiful accident” – the result of incorporating a food truck into her preexisting catering company, Two Caterers.
For four years, Sweet Carrot was exclusively a food truck. Now, it’s evolved into a brick-and-mortar restaurant in Grandview Heights, and Petro plans to open a second location this year in Worthington.
Much of the restaurant’s menu was inspired by customers’ mad whims. For example, one dish was created when a customer asked for pork on top of mac and cheese, with sauce poured over top.
“We were like, ‘That’s genius,’” says Petro. “That’s what’s so fun about Sweet Carrot. We never took it so seriously that it couldn’t just morph on its own. ... Street food is intimately for the people, so why not let the people tell you what it is they want?”
Petro knew from the start that Sweet Carrot was never meant to be solely a food truck, and its success has only proved that fact.
“My brain is never static with any idea. I’m always thinking three or four steps ahead,” says Petro. “From day one, I knew ultimately our goal was to be brick and mortar. It was never to build a food truck empire.”
As a result, Sweet Carrot’s menu is constantly evolving. The menu might include a new customer-created dish or something that was cooked up internally, but Petro says it grows with changing tastes.
Photo courtesy of Stephanie Barnes Photograpy
The menu’s main direction is protein (pulled pork, chicken meatballs, fried artichokes, etc.) served on a chosen dish (corn cake, sandwich, salad, mac and cheese) or by itself. Soups, cookies and fried mac and cheese balls fill out the rest.
“We listen to our customers, and they tell us we can still be doing things better,” says Petro. “If I’ve learned anything about all my years of catering, it’s that everybody’s tastes are changing, and we have to listen to our customers.”
Amanda DePerro is an assistant editor. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
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