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/

SEE MAP

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.

310 South High Street, 43215

Phone: 220-7007

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

SEE MAP

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.

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
SEE MAP

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.

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.

680 North Pearl Street, 43215

Phone 222-0788

VIEW MAP

Website: www.tasicafe.com

A diner atmosphere with creative, modern cuisine, Tasi is fairly small (there are four 2-top tables, one 4-top, and three larger tables you can share with other breakfasters), but I’ve always managed to get a seat. The food is good quality, fresh, and prepared with skill.

Today I had the huevos rancheros with queso fresco and tortilla.  The tortilla seems slightly thicker than a regular tortilla, almost like a flatbread. This dish costs $7.

My companion had one of my favorites, the poached eggs with black bean cake and jalapeno butter sauce. Menu price is $7.  The black bean cake is fine-grained and smooth, slightly spicy with the jalapeno butter sauce. It comes with sourdough toast.

There is good coffee here.  My fellow-breakfaster today ordered iced tea, not realizing that the house iced tea is a daily special herbal tea; if you want iced tea you’ll need to order hot tea and add ice to it.

Other items on the menu include cinnamon challah french toast with bananas, bagel and lox, veggie omelet, and greek scrambled eggs with zucchini and tomato feta, along with granola, biscuits and gravy, and fresh pastries.  Today I had one of the delicious-looking blueberry muffins, but it didn’t taste as good as it looked. It wasn’t bad, just but wasn’t very flavorful.

I like Tasi; I’ve been there several times and will be back.

There isn’t much parking here; the three spots on the right are OK, but don’t park in the spots reserved for the apartments that occupy the other part of the building.

Huevos Rancheros

Poached Eggs with Black Bean Cake

Two locations:  951 N High St in the Short North ( 43201 )

and 4241 North High in Clintonville ( 43214 )

VIEW MAP

Website: http://www.thenorthstarcafe.com/cafes.html

Yesterday was a beautiful day for breakfast on the outside patio at The Northstar Cafe. Both locations have outside seating available; we ate at the Short North location.

The fresh, creative, very modern take on food here is delicious. Tweaks in the recipies over the years mean the food just gets better. My turkey hash was made with applewood smoked turkey, red peppers, sweet onions, and sweet potatoes; it was very satisfying.  The Big Burrito comes with eggs, black beans, sweet potatoes, sauteed peppers and onions, and white cheddar cheese; also yummy.

I also recommend the mushroom frittata and the breakfast sandwich.

You place your order at the counter and a smiling, knowledgeable server brings it to you at your table in a casual atmosphere.

Northstar has some of the best coffee in town.  Fresh juices, including fresh carrot juice, are also available.

Excellent food

Wonderful coffee

Price is moderate, with good value.  The hash is $9.80; the burrito is $7.90.

By the way, even though it’s not a breakfast item, the Northstar veggie burger is THE BEST veggie burger, ever!

Click here to read OTHER REVIEWS of this restaurant, these are from tripadvisor.