As much as we might love our favorite restaurants, it’s sometimes difficult to get too attached.
After all, your favorite may be gone tomorrow, and soon enough, it’ll be replaced at the top of the list.
With so many restaurants to choose from in central Ohio, and so many new concepts arriving on the scene as time goes by, it takes a special kind of restaurant to remain in the collective memory long after it’s gone.
There are far more out there than can possibly be accounted for in one story, but these are some of Columbus’ best-remembered eating establishments.
Kahiki Supper Club
Location: 3583 E. Broad St.
What it Was: A sight to behold; a full-fledged tiki bar and restaurant with all the trimmings.
Best Remembered for: The sheer spectacle – from the one-of-a-kind design to the giant Moai heads and smoking “Mystery Drink,” everyone who saw the inside of the Kahiki remembers what it looked like. “If I post anything on our Facebook page about the Kahiki, we get thousands of hits on it,” says Jeff Lafever, executive director of the Columbus Historical Society.
Closed: 2000
What’s There Now: Walgreens
The Next Best Thing: Grass Skirt Tiki Room in downtown Columbus. It can’t compare to the Kahiki’s size and scale, but its tiki drinks, tropical food and Hawaiian-themed décor are all Kahiki-inspired.
Sisters Chicken and Biscuits
Location: More than 20 throughout central Ohio
What it Was: A local chicken-and-biscuits fast-food chain initially owned by the Wendy’s company.
Best Remembered for: The chicken was good, but it’s the biscuits that people still remember decades later. The recognizable building design, with its slanted roofs and covered porches, is still visible in the former Sisters locations that have been repurposed. “You can still see a lot of the buildings around Columbus – they’re an iconic style,” Lafever says.
Closed: 1994
What’s There Now: Everything from Popeye’s Chicken and Taco Bell to Flowerama and CME Federal Credit Union.
The Next Best Thing: There’s no shortage of fried chicken chains in central Ohio, but for something quick, local and – perhaps most importantly – boasting top-notch biscuits, track down Mya’s Fried Chicken, a food truck most often seen in the parking lot at the northeast corner of North High Street and East Pacemont Road in Clintonville.
Jai Lai
Location: 1421 Olentangy River Rd. (its final location)
What it Was: The sort of classical steakhouse now seen as “old-school.” It was a place to be seen and was known to be Woody Hayes’ favorite place to eat.
Best Remembered for: Its prime rib and, to a lesser extent, its beef stew and herbed butter. But the atmosphere was more famous than anything on the menu.
“It was almost as iconic, I would say, as the Kahiki,” says Lafever.
Closed: 1996
What’s There Now: SpringHill Suites
The Next Best Thing: One classical steakhouse in central Ohio is still standing: The Top Steak House in east Columbus, open since 1955 and now referencing Mad Men to describe its ambience. Also, while you’re at it, check out “Jai Lai Prime Rib Restaurant Memories” on Facebook – it’s run by a former employee.
The Clarmont
Location: 684 S. High St.
What it Was: A white-tablecloth fine-dining joint that specialized in seafood.
Best Remembered for: Its distinguished status as the favorite breakfast spot for the power elite in Columbus. “You would go in for breakfast … and you would see all the City Council people, the County Commissioners, all the people from the local government would be there for breakfast,” says Lafever.
Closed: 2012
What’s There Now: The site has been bought by Panera Bread, though work on the new Panera hasn’t started yet.
The Next Best Thing: Nothing can really replicate the Clarmont’s atmosphere, but it was, at its heart, a seafood restaurant, and the Columbus Fish Market is one of the first names in central Ohio seafood.
Galaxy Café
Location: 33 Beech Ridge Dr., Powell (plus several spin-off locations)
What it Was: A Caribbean cuisine spot – tough to find in the days before Sawmill Parkway opened up access into Powell, but influential in the local restaurant scene.
Best Remembered for: Southwestern flavors, big breakfasts, creative cooking and liberal use of plantains.
Closed: 1997
What’s There Now: Most recently, Trattoria La Tavola, though it’s since closed
The Next Best Thing: Explorers Club in Merion Village. Tracy Studer, who ran Galaxy Café with Ricky Barnes, owns the place, and though the food has evolved, there are still some recognizable traces, such as the wraps, some of the pastas and the use of plantains. “When we first reopened, we called it ‘Galaxy grown up,’” Studer says.
Kuenning’s Restaurant
Location: 19 N. High St. (Kuenning’s Midtown Restaurant), 3015 E. Main St. (Kuenning’s Suburban Restaurant)
What it Was: A fine-dining restaurant known as one of the places to be during its heyday.
Best Remembered for: Of all things, the salad dressing. Even though the restaurant has been closed for more than 40 years, the salad dressing recipe is still bouncing around.
Closed: 1971 (Midtown), 1972 (Suburban)
What’s There Now: Nothing (Midtown), Golden Orthodontics (Suburban)
The Next Best Thing: It’s not the same, of course, but for another east Columbus restaurant with unique and top-quality salads and dressings, check out Black Creek Bistro in Olde Towne East. Its A Taste of Brussels (Sprouts) salad is topped with bacon balsamic dressing.
Garth Bishop is editor of CityScene Magazine. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
