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.)

1428 Polaris Parkway, 43240

Phone: 4330441

Website: http://www.mimiscafe.com/

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Very nice, atmosphere, upscale and classy.

Our server did a good job of suggestive selling by asking right off if we’d like to start off with a cappuccino, which sounded good so we got it.

We ordered juice, which was fresh-squeezed and quite good.  I don’t think I’ve ever had fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice at a restaurant before.

I had a carrot muffin, which was delicious.  I also had the Crab and Avocado Omelette, which was also delicious. I had a side order of corned beef hash which had good flavor; I liked it, even though the corned beef was ground finer than I prefer.

Johann had the Mixed Berry Pain Perdu (stuffed French toast).  He enjoyed it very much; I tasted it and thought it was great. He got some good sausage with that.

This is a place I recommend for breakfast.  It’s not a unique, local place, but it’s a very good breakfast experience.

Our total this week for two: $28.90.  It’s not cheap, but it’s a good value.

1393 Cleveland Ave, 43211

(Cleveland and 11th)

Phone: 754-1054

Website: http://linden-cafe.com/

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Breakfast from 7 to 10:30

I have been waiting a long time for The Linden Cafe to reopen, so I was excited to read a recent Columbus Dispatch article about the grand reopening of this restaurant and was eager to check it out.

The place is quite attractive and on the classy side; cloth napkins, nice dishes, and on my visit this week my friend and I experienced utterly superb service.

They serve real butter – and you don’t have to ask for it special.

There were several things on the menu that interested me, especially a couple of omelets that sounded great, but of course for this first visit to the newly reopened place, I mean really, how could I have anything other than the chicken and waffles?

Oh, man.  Oh, man.  That was delicious!  I mean it was fantastic!  Possibly the best, certainly some of the best, fried chicken I’ve ever had.  There was just the right amount of peach-honey butter served with the waffles.  Wow.  I certainly recommend it.

I had the loaded hash browns with mine, and the potatoes were excellent.  My buddy had the buttery grits, and they were great.

John was sensible and stopped eating when he was just a little more than full.  I was the pig and ate everything on my plates.  I was stuffed, but happy.

Coffee was good diner coffee.

Our breakfast was a little on the pricey side this time, but that’s because we got the most expensive thing on the  menu. The chicken and waffle is just under $10 – and absolutely worth it. Other menu items are considerably less and it all seems to be priced very reasonably.  For the two of us, the total was $27, (and really, we’ve been places where the total was much higher and we didn’t enjoy the food as much).  I’d have to say I was quite satisfied with the value.

And I definitely want to go back and try those omelets.

On the “cap,” 600 North High Street, 43215

Phone: 225-1536
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Brunch on Sunday only – opens at 10 AM

Nice place to sit outside and eat breakfast on Sunday morning, while watching the High Street scene in the Short North.

Brunch buffet. Food and service both good.  Good coffee.

$11.95 per person – good value.

310 South High Street, 43215

Phone: 220-7007

Web site with menu: http://www.hsgrill.com/

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The food has almost always been very good here, in my experience, although the service quality has varied wildly. It seems to be under new kitchen management now, and today everything was just fine.

They serve Starbucks coffee, and I like it.

I had the breakfast quesadilla, and quite enjoyed it. It tasted fresh, and the guacamole and salsa served with it were good.  My friend had the cinnamon french toast with caramelized banana; he said it was pretty good. (Not as good as the cornflake-encrusted french toast they used to have, though.)

There’s a somewhat refined, relaxing atmosphere here, with nice furniture. It’s a good place for a business breakfast.

At $30 for two, it’s on the high end of pricing, but for an upscale breakfast experience it’s a decent value.

Inside the Ohio Statehouse

60 E. State St.,  43215

Phone: 728-9231

Menu online at: http://www.ohiochannel.org/content_files_user/102199/108914.pdf
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For a good value and a fun experience, try the Capitol Cafe, in the basement of the Ohio Statehouse. You can see the new Statehouse museum while you’re there, and say “Good Morning” to legislators and aides as they pass through the cafe. You could even go upstairs and watch representative democracy in action if the legislature in is session.

The cafe is very clean, and the bright, warm lighting and friendly service almost make you forget about the dungeon-like architechure.

It’s cafeteria-style, with mostly traditional Midwestern breakfast items. The online menu doesn’t seem to list quite everything; there are also omelets and “The Scrambler,” which mixes eggs, fresh vegetables, choice of meat, and potatoes, with gravy and cheese on top. The Scrambler I had this morning was very good, with actual cheese, delicious gravy, fresh vegetables, fresh mushrooms, very nice hash browns, and it smelled terrific.

The coffee is very good, and it’s cheap.  There is Starbucks coffee; and there is the house coffee, which is quite good, just not as bold and bitter as the Starbucks.  The house coffee is only 60 cents for a regular size.

The whole thing is really quite a good value.  My total today was $8.15 for a very large “Scrambler,” a cup of fruit, and coffee.

Check out this place;  you can get to know Ohio history a little better, and maybe even go upstairs and watch the legislature in session.

5916 Westerville Road, Westerville – 43081

Phone: 776-5788

Web Site: http://thebestrestaurant.info

See Also: Facebook Page
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A big Thank You! to zingster for the tip on this one.  I don’t think I would ever have seen this one from the road; I know I have driven past it several times, looking for breakfast.

Choose your own omelet ingredients;  BIG omelet, fresh ingredients…  Delicious!

Potatoes very nice, good seasoning.

I had the best corned beef hash I’ve had in Columbus.  Very nice, homemade!  Absolutely nothing like the alleged corned beef hash I had the day before at another place.  This was real corned beef hash. Fat trimmed out, corned beef cut into chunks and cooked on the grill with potatoes.

Coffee a little better than average diner coffee.

BEST TOAST AWARD!  As John put it, “Intense toast.”  I’ve had breakfast at specialty bakeries where the toast wasn’t this good.  I do believe this is the best toast I’ve ever had at a breakfast restaurant in Columbus.

Friendly, efficient service — enthusiastic, even; these people seem to actually care about what they are doing.

At $20 for two, The Best Breakfast & Sandwiches is a very good value.

Hey, this little place is pretty good!

3900 Chagrin Drive, at Easton Town Center, 43219

Phone: 414-5000

Web Site:  http://www1.hilton.com/en_US/hi/hotel/CMHCHHF-Hilton-Columbus-at-Easton-Ohio/dining.do
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If you want to impress someone, or just enjoy a refined and relaxing breakfast, The Hilton Easton is a classy, even elegant, place, with professional serving staff, white tablecloths, classical music, and silver-plated flatware.   I have enjoyed the breakfast buffet here before, with nice pastry and omelets cooked to order. Today I selected one of the fine items on the menu; I had the Roasted Parmesan Aparagus, with poached eggs, prosciutto, and hollandaise sauce.  It was very nice, with more than twenty asparagus spears cooked properly (not overcooked, still crunchy).

Good toast, nice jams and jellies.  Good coffee – I think it’s Starbucks.

At $15.43 for one, it’s a little on the high side, but I consider this to be very good value for such a high-quality breakfast experience.

1565 West Fifth Ave, 43212

Phone: 481-8848

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Web Site: http://paulsonline.com

According to the web site, Paul’s in Grandview has been there over 35 years.  I have been pleased with the experience every time I’ve been here.

I sat outside today. The outdoor seating was very nice, but I do have to report that every now and there there was a bad smell drifting in from some garbage dumpster somewhere in the area. That was the only problem with today’s breakfast, and I don’t know if it’s the restaurant’s fault.

The coffee is good; much better than average diner coffee.

I started off with banana bread, which was good; dense and flavorful.  And it was served with real butter.

Choosing from a nice selection of omelets (you can order your own custom omelet, too), I had the Louisiana Omelet, with sausage, black beans, onion and spinach.  I chose it over the Sante Fe omele because the menu didn’t say there was cheese in it, but it did have cheese in it. It was delicious, anyway.

The Italian bread toast was good.

My breakfast was $10.35, which is a very good value.

2885 N High Street (Clintonville), 43202

Phone: 268-3687

Cafe Menu

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

A delightful place for breakfast, with good coffee and great food. The service at my outside table this morning was very good. I started with coffee and a croissant. The croissant was excellent; very flaky, as a croissant should be.  I had the “Tyrolean Special,” potatoes sautéed with onion, diced smoked ham, and bacon topped with two fried eggs over easy, for  $6.95. It was delicious. Really good value!

The pastries at Mozart’s are really beautiful.

OH!  And the jam for the toast was the best I’ve had in Columbus.