Breakfast In Columbus

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.

65 East State St, 43215

Phone: 220-5600

Menu: http://www.sanfranciscooven.com/menus/COLBinder1.pdf
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Breakfast pizzas.  Delightful outdoor seating area across the street from the Statehouse.

Good coffee.

I had the Lombard Lorraine Pizza, with egg, bacon, spinach and Swiss Cheese. My buddy had the Sausalito Sausage Pizza, with egg, sausage, scallions and cheddar cheese.  Mine wasn’t bad, but my buddy’s was better.  You can also choose from a wide variety of toppings to create your own pizza, which would probably be best of all.

There are also pastries and breakfast sandwiches available.

It’s a great place to sit and read the paper in the morning.

$3.29 for a breakfast pizza.  Pretty Good value.

Columbus, OH 43201
(614) 299-2295

Open Daily 9am-12am

Affectionately  known as Vic’s, opens kind of late for a breakfast place, dunnit?  That’s OK, they like to sleep in after staying up late, like the people who love this place — including me!  Nowadays the word is “eclectic,” but as an old boomer I can just call it a hippy bar.  I can get away with that, right?

It’s a bar, it’s a cafe, it’s a coffee-shop with live music, it’s got psychodelic painting all over everything.  It’s got GREAT coffee!  It’s got wonderful, unusual food.  Well, it’s not WEIRD food, but it’s a little out of the ordinary.  Come to think of it, the breakfast here is exactly what I would expect aging midwest hippies to serve, and I love it.  You can get the tofu scramble, you can get vegetarian, but you can also get real sausage.   Pancakes and eggs are available, too.   And although I haven’t yet ordered a drink, the place does have a bar and i think mimosas are on the breakfast menu.

I love Vic’s, and I will certainly be going back soon, so I’ll update the site with more thorough information and pictures for you.  I just wanted to be sure to get this one listed right away, because it’s one of my favorite places to eat breakfast in Columbus.

Matthew

Food Quality: Very Good

Casual atmosphere

Value: Good

Coffee: Excellent

Service: Slow. They get the order right, and they’re friendly, but I do find that it takes some time for the food order to come out of the kitchen.  Bring a newspaper, pick up one of the alternative papers available there, or talk with a friend and enjoy the coffee while you wait.  I like this place, anyway.

Not everybody loves Vic’s, though.  Here are some more reviews by other people:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/victorians-midnight-cafe-columbus

http://chefmoz.org/United_States/OH/Columbus/Victorians_Midnight_Cafe954318662.html

Lilly’s Kitchen Table

4008 Broadway
Grove City, OH 43123
(614) 801-0771  VIEW MAP

The last time I went to Lilly’s I could not resist the unusual, nay, I dare say, unique menu item:  the apple omelet. I mean,  how could I not have that?  Well, I can’t say that the apple omelet is the best thing ever, but hey, it’s an apple omelet! All things considered, it’s really not bad. Heck, I’d travel to Grove City just to be able to say I ate in a place that serves an apple omelet.

The place was clean, service prompt and friendly, everything came to the table as ordered and skillfully prepared.  A warm and friendly atmosphere, plenty of apparently regular local patrons enjoying conversation and pleasant company contributed to an comfortable experience.  A nice place for breakfast.

On a more recent visit to Lilly’s, I ordered from the more conventional Midwest breakfast items on the menu: sausage, eggs, bacon, potatoes, pancakes, etc.  I got customized omelet with mushrooms, vegetables and sausage.  It was delicious.  It was also plenty big.  And the potatoes that came with it were very good, too. The lady I was with had the veggie omelet.  Consistent with my first experience at Lilly’s, our food was prepared properly, looked good, tasted great.  The service was friendly and competent, just the way I like it.

Again, the atmosphere was homey and comfortable, with happy regulars enjoying the morning at this great little cafe.

Matthew

Food: Very Good

Value: Excellent

Coffee: OK, the coffee’s not bad, but nothing special

Clean, Friendly, Small-town atmosphere