Breakfast In Columbus

3420 Indianola Ave, 43214;  Phone (614) 262-2233

(Click for map)  Website: http://www.wildflowercafe.biz/

See breakfast menu online.

On a special day because I was setting out on a day trip with my best friend, we wanted to go to breakfast someplace we knew we liked.  It was easy to choose the Wildflower Cafe.  Since it has been more than a year since I visited this place and wrote about it, I thought it would be suitable to write about it again – sort of see if it’s still as good as ever.  It is.

We enjoyed delicious, healthy, fresh, attractive food for only slightly more than the cost of going to a mediocre diner, and a lot less than the cost of up-scale, uptown, up-sell trendy foodie places.

Good coffee – better than average diner coffee.

It’s a homey place, kind of like eating in a large farmhouse kitchen.  There’s outdoor seating.

I enjoyed the Huevos Rancheros.  I rolled up the black beans and eggs and salsa in the warm corn tortillas – ruining the beautiful presentation, maybe, but having a lot of fun.  My friend had skillet scrambler and added salmon to it.  The salmon added $2 to the bill, but even with that the whole cost was about $20 for both of us.  You could pay less for breakfast, but it wouldn’t be as good.  This is a good value.

(If you want to see the pictures full-size, click on them, then click on them again.)

4408 Indianola Ave, 43214 — Clintonville, Beechwold

Phone 447-0944

Formerly Rube’s Diner

An ordinary diner with ordinary food.  Eggs, omelets, bacon, sausage, potatoes, et cetera, et cetera.  Good service, though — at least our service at the counter on this day was quite good.

Ordinary diner coffee.  Fair fare.  Your attitude will determine what you think of this place, I guess.  I would call it mediocre, some might call it classic.  I would call it boring, some might call it homey.

I had the vegetable omelet.  I liked the fact that the onions in it were grilled. Not bad, not exceptional.  I also had a side order of corned beef hash, which was fairly typical, from-a-can sort of hash.  Maybe it wasn’t really from a can, but that’s what I thought of it.  Again, not terrible, but nothing special.  Potatoes were bland and un-remarkable.  Hot sauce helped.

One of my friends had the Garbage Omelet.  I mean, really, how can one resist any menu item with the word “garbage” in the name?  Have to try it, right?  Right!  It was very like my vegetable omelet, except with a wider range of ingredients, and the added spices and seasonings that were in the sausage that was in the omelet.

Total cost for three people was about $25.  Not too expensive as far as breakfast out goes, but not a particularly great value for run-of-the-mill food.

It’s an OK place for breakfast, but I wouldn’t go out of my way for it or take special friends or people I wanted to impress.

46 E Columbus St, Pickerington, 43147

Phone: 837-9364

Formerly M’Lee’s Diner

Cozy neighborhood diner with 10 tables and a very dirty carpet.  Popular local hangout with the usual Midwest breakfast items and average diner coffee. The coffee is listed with two prices:  “single refill cup” for 94 cents, and “multiple refills” for $1.39.

I had “Mom’s Special” omelette, with fresh mushrooms, onions, tomato, green pepper, and the homefries in the omelet  – I chose the sausage as the meat in the dish.  It was good.  I liked the freshness of the vegetables, and there were plenty of fillings in the omelet.  Very nice.  There was pasteurized-process cheese foodlike product, both American and Swiss, even though the menu did not mention cheese.

My total was $7.79, a very nice value.  The store accepts only cash, though – so you won’t be able to use credit cards here.

1335 Dublin Road, 43215

Phone: 832-2404

Web site: http://gordonsgourmetofcolumbus.com/

On the West side of Dublin Road between Fifth and Grandview, it’s not very noticeable so you’ll have to look for it; it’s a small place with eight tables inside and some seating outside.  It’s nice and clean, and this morning there was alternative rock music playing on the speakers.

There are seven breakfast sandwiches available, and a few side dishes.  The sandwiches are $4.95.  I had the Western and a side order of hash browns and a cup of coffee.  My total bill was just over $7, which seems to me to be a fair value.

I enjoyed my breakfast.  I would say it was about average quality, though I got a psychic impression that they wanted to be terrific.  If they are aiming for terrific, they missed, but really it’s not bad.  Except for the “hash browns.”  They’re not actually hash browns, they are sort of very-short-cut french fries – that is, they are french fries that are chopped into short pieces and then deep fried.  Mine this morning were very much over-salted so that I couldn’t eat them…  and I don’t have a problem with salt.  If they weren’t so over-salted they would be OK, but they still wouldn’t be hash browns.

The sandwich was OK, but again, not as great as I think the restaurant people were going for.  It was pretty bland, with no seasonings or toppings, and the bread, which is probably fine for a ham or turkey sandwich, didn’t quite stand up to the job for an omelet sandwich; the moisture from the scrambled eggs sogged it up a little too much.

The coffee was strong.  I had trouble deciding whether I liked it.  I do like strong coffee; but there’s more to good coffee than making it strong.  I added milk and sugar and it seemed a little better.  I guess it was a little too bitter for my taste.  Opinions vary on coffee.

Overall, this is not bad, it’s just not special, not a regular diner, not a special atmosphere or terribly impressive food, but it’s an adequate breakfast if you’re in the area and there’s not much else nearby.  It’s better than McDonald’s.

1144 N High St, 43201

Phone: 291-8512

A tiny, classic diner with stainless steel counters; no tables or booths. Outside it looks like it’s falling apart, even with the improvements and paint put into it over the past year or so — you shouldn’t seen it BEFORE they spruced it up! It’s cleaner inside now.

You’d think the place would be cheap from the looks of it.  It’s not particularly cheap.  But it’s a fair value because, hey, the food is good.

The coffee is decent diner coffee; maybe a little better than average.

I got the spinach omelet with tomato, onion, and mushroom.  The veggies were plentiful and fresh, even the mushrooms.  It was delicious.  It had real cheese on it, and in it.

The potatoes were very tasty.  The toast wasn’t artisan, but it wasn’t crap either; it tasted good.

Friendly service from both the waitress and the cook.

The bill was added up wrong today; when I looked at it it said $12 – that would have been too much.  I pointed it out and they added it up again, and it came to $9, which is a decent value.

If you like classic, neighborhood diners, this is a place you’ll want to have experienced.

2563 N High St, 43202

Phone: 263-0242

SEE MAP

Web Site: http://www.jackandbennys.com

I guess the most notable thing about Jack and Benny’s is how much people rave about it, and the big crowds, even though there’s really nothing special going on here.

Jack and Benny’s does a whopping business;  on weekends there are often people lined up outside the door. I’m not sure why.  Jack and Benny’s isn’t bad; it’s all right.  But the number of people who give this place raving, 5-star reviews is puzzling to me. (So was the same phenomenon with regard to Nancy’s before it closed.)  “Best Breakfast” four or five years in a row???  Come on!  It’s OK, but it’s absolutely NOT the best breakfast. Then again, those “Best Breakfast” awards are from the same audience that votes for Bob Evans as best breakfast.   It’s about average for a diner, in some ways maybe slightly better than average, in some ways maybe slightly below average. Maybe it’s fashionable – people praise it because other people praise it?  Is it the only not-terrible diner that’s well-known among OSU fans?   Well, there’s Tommy’s, which is better and is also popular with OSU fans, but that’s further away from campus. (I think a lot of the people who say how wonderful this place is just don’t have much experience with eating breakfast out.  A lot of them write that Jack and Benny’s is small – it’s really not small at all compared to other diners in town.)

At first it looks like the breakfast menu is huge, but then you may notice that every tiny variation gets its own menu name and listing.   So it’s really mostly traditional local breakfast food with a lot of Latin-American variation added.

Coffee is decent diner coffee.

Today I had Huevos Rancheros.  It was OK, with fresh vegetable ingredients.  There was plenty of it.

My total was $9.  Average value.

3001 Reynoldsburg – New Albany Road. New Albany, OH 43054

Corner of Clark State Road and Reynoldsburg – New Albany Road

Phone: 855-7472

Website: http://www.flanaganspub57.com/

SEE MAP

I get the impression this is a serious drinkin’ bar; but breakfast is served Monday – Saturday / 8 am till 10:30 am.

The napkin dispenser was filthy and I felt like I needed to wash my hands after touching it.  I didn’t particularly notice any other problems with cleanliness, but that makes me wonder a little about what I might not have seen.

Small menu of typical Ohio breakfast food: eggs, sausage, hash browns, pancakes, etc.  Nothing unusual.

This morning the coffee was slightly worse than average diner coffee.

The western omelet was pretty good, even though the vegetables were raw and the mushrooms seemed canned.  It did appear to have real cheese on it, which was a surprising plus. This was easily the best of all the items we had here today.

The fried potatoes were certainly crispy enough.  Not a lot of flavor, but I’ve had worse.

The pancake was OK; maybe a little worse than average.

The sausage wasn’t very good.

The toast was worthless.

The total food experience was a little worse than an average diner breakfast.  But it was cheap.  The total for two people came to $11.50.  Pretty damn cheap.  So this leaves me in a quandary about the value: it’s not very good food, but it’s really cheap.  So like all value questions, it’s all about what exactly you’re looking for.  If you just need some food and don’t really care how good it is, well, I’ve eaten at places with worse food where it costs twice as much, so this could be considered a good value.   If what you’re looking for is excellent food, this isn’t going to it for you.

2160 West Case Road, Columbus, OH 43235

7:00 AM – 3:00 PM Monday – Saturday
SEE MAP

Website: http://www.osuairport.org/Services/Barnstormer/

The coolest thing about this tiny restaurant is that it’s at Don Scott Field, where you might not think of looking for breakfast.  It’s a cozy little spot for flyers.

There’s small menu with the just the basics of local breakfast items: eggs, bacon, sausage, gravy, potatoes, pancakes, toast and juice.  You can see the menu at the link above.

On my visit this week the coffee was a little worse than normal diner coffee.  The pancake was OK; it reminded me a lot of Ethiopian flat bread ( though I am absolutely certain that wasn’t the intention ). My sausage and potatoes were very, very greasy.  The potatoes looked repulsive, but they didn’t taste as bad as they looked.  If you have a problem with grease, or if you’re about to take a flight on a small plane, don’t order these things here.

$10.68 for my breakfast here was too much.  Not a good value.

4 South High St., Canal Winchester, 43110

Phone: 837-9206
SEE MAP

It looks like a classic, small-town diner.  It’s been there a long time, though not with the same owners.  I’ve seen other people eating there every time I’ve been there over the years. It was quite busy this Saturday morning.  Must be because there’s not a lot of choice in Canal Winchester.

The coffee tasted like hot water.  If it weren’t for the fact I could see it was black, I would have thought it was plain water.  By the time I got to the bottom of the cup — the server never refilled it the whole time I was there – I was aware of thinking about places to go get a cup of coffee after breakfast.

They’ve got the standard eggs, bacon, gravy, pancakes, etc., etc.  blah, blah, blah.

I had the menu item they call the Turntable: 2 pancakes, 2 eggs, home fries and for meat I chose corned beef hash. The waitress said she was bringing “syrup and butter,”  but I don’t believe it was butter – yuck.  The pancakes tasted OK.  But what is it with tough pancakes?  Are you supposed to need a knife to eat pancakes?  The home fries looked good, with a beautiful crispy crust, but they were bland and didn’t taste like much of anything. The corned been hash was lousy. Really, the hash I had a couple of weeks ago, that I compared to canned dog food, was better than this.

My total was $10 — this is not a good value.

After breakfast I did go across the street to Harvest Moon and got a good cup of coffee.  They also had some good-looking breakfast sandwiches; next time I eat breakfast in this neighborhood I’ll get one.

193 Thurman Ave,  43206

Phone: 443-8900

SEE MAP

If you like genuine old diners, you just might love this one. With old-fashioned wood paneling, it’s the kind of genuine neighborhood diner that won’t be around forever, even though it seems like it already has been. The German Village Coffee Shop is a Columbus institution, a landmark with a large and extremely loyal following.  It’s always busy.  If it’s a Sunday, expect a line and a wait.

It’s homey and friendly, and I’ve always had good service here.

The coffee is better than average for diner coffee.

A nice selection of expected Ohio-style breakfast food: egg, bacon, omelets, pancakes and so on.  Nothing unusual, or innovative, but good, solid, tried-and-true Midwestern fare prepared with skill and care.  It’s like they actually want the person who is eating the food to enjoy it. The food is better than most diners. Portions are plentiful.

My friend and I both had the Western omelet today.  We added a side of hash browns, since the potatoes aren’t included. The omelets were plenty plump with lots of filling.

The hash browns came with American cheese and grilled onions, and they were delicious.

For two people, the total was $19.75.  This is a good value.