CMH Gourmand – Eating in Columbus & Ohio

In the last deal installment, I shared the downlow on how to get high end grub on the cheap. This time the focus is on high value for low investment at mid range restaurants and eateries.

Special thanks to CMH Gourmand readers and Columbus Underground posters for some hot tips, reminders of deals forgotten and research support. As you will read – it is hard to go wrong with this mostly B list.

Banana Bean Cafe
www.bananabeancafe.com
Banana Bean hosts a Happy Hour Monday to Friday from 4 PM to 7 PM. Features include a free basket of chips with house made Salsa and $2 Margaritas and Hemingway’s (rum based). I would avoid the twitter feed for this place as it tends to meander.

Barcelona Restaurant
www.barcelonacolumbus.com
The best deal here is on Wednesdays, when a three course paella dinner is offered for $25. You will have leftovers for sure for the next day.

Barrio Tapas Lounge
www.barriotapas.com
On Tuesdays Tapas are two for one all day. Come in with a couple friends, explore the menu and eat on the cheap with a mojito on the side.

Basi Italia
www.basi-italia.com
Basi is not a spaghetti and meatballs type of place but on Mondays, the restaurant goes retro with a twist. For $20 you can order a three course meal: salad, generous plate of pasta with a giant meatball and dessert. Meatball Mondays has been rolling on for about one year as a wonderful introduction to this Victorian Village gem.

Bodega
www.shortnorth.com/BodegaCafe.html
Too cool to have a easy to find web site but hip enough to have 50 excellent beers on tap and good bar food to boot. Bodega boasts the best (not the most, but the best choices) draft selection in Columbus. Every one of those drafts is half-off during Bodega’s happy “hour” from 4 PM to 8 PM weekdays. The crowd favorite is the $1 grilled cheese special on Mondays.

Burgundy Room
www.burgundyroom.net
The deal of deals for wine lovers are the monthly 30 for 30 wine tastings – 30 wine samples for $30. This is great practice for becoming a wine judge. Burgundy Room recently extended their happy hour to both the bar and restaurant and added an extra hour making it from 4 PM to 8 PM. There are drink specials starting at 4 PM and a limited menu of half-priced tapas from 5 PM to 8 PM.

Columbus Brewing Company (CBC)
www.columbusbrewingco.com
Pizza and a Pint Nights: Monday through Thursday. Get a wood-fired pizza and a pint of Columbus Brewing Company beer for $12. This was a deal when it was $10 but still not a bad meal for less. If you have not had a CBC beer before, the beer flight is a great introduction to their craft brews. It is worthwhile to sign up for the CBC mailing list, they rarely send anything to you, but when they do, it is a deal, such as when they tap the first keg of a new brew. The keg tappings are on Thursdays with free appetizers flowing at the bar for the event.

Due Amicci
due-amici.com
Moving on to the D’s, Due Amicci is on the A list for many downtown lunchtime diners. After work, there is a $10 Pizza & Drink Happy Hour from 4:30 PM to 6:30 PM Monday to Friday. If you love the pizza and pastas you can buy $125 in gift certificates for $100 to save more down the road.

Other deals:

Cocktails at the Conservatory
www.fpconservatory.org/cocktails.htm
If you have never been to the Franklin Park Conservatory, try a Thursday evening. Ten dollars gets your through the door and in exchange you get $10 in food and drink tokens, music, the deserts, rainforests, and other microclimates of the Conservatory with a side of Chihuly. I feel down right sophisticated and peaceful sipped on a cocktail by a waterfall in the rainforest. In the dead of winter when I am craving my other home in the southern hemisphere, this is my consolation prize.

(most) Thursdays from 5:30 PM – 10 PM
Free Parking
21 and over.

Did I miss some spots? Absolutely, there are two I am keeping to myself. If you have more suggestions, please share via the comment section.