8 Columbus area restaurant openings and 6 closings to wrap the month of June
June was a busy month for the Columbus restaurant scene, with several new openings and closings.
On the opening front, we saw the arrival of a number of new restaurants, including to-go cafe Winn Winn Cafe, The Downtown Exchange food hall in Zanesville, a new Korean street food spot in Polaris mall, fast-casual chain Genghis Grill, a new Whit's Frozen Custard location in Lewis Center and cidery and taproom Retreat 21 Taphouse, located on the event venue's 64-acre property.
On the closing front, we saw the shuttering of several longtime favorites, including Mellow Mushroom in Polaris, 94th Aero Squadron and Zoup! at Lennox.
Here's what's new and what returned to the Columbus restaurant scene in June:
#1 Hawaiian Barbecue
#1 Hawaiian Barbecue opened at 4330 N. High St. at the top of June, replacing Thai2Go, which closed on June 1, according to its website. The Hawaiian barbecue concept features a menu of fried shrimp, Hawaiian barbecue short ribs, fried mahi mahi, spam musubi and more.
Hours are noon to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and noon to 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Winn Winn Cafe
Winn Winn Cafe opened on June 3 at 1212 W. 3rd Ave. on the Northwest Side. Owned by Columbus natives Audrey Plant and Natalie DiSabato Rothschild, the "to-go-style" cafe features a menu of sweet and savory dishes, pastries and drinks, including chocolate chip cookies, banana bread, muffins, sandwiches, granola, coffee, cold brew, tea and more.
Hours are 8 a.m. to 1 p.m Friday through Sunday.
The Downtown Exchange
The Downtown Exchange food hall opened at 527 Main St. in Zanesville, which held its grand opening on June 8.
Inside the former Black-Elliott Block building built in the late 1800s, vendors include familiar names, including Taste of Greece, which has a stall in Columbus' East Market, and Hot Mess, located in Center Street Market in Hilliard. Others include Tacology, Hayai Hibachi, Bee Sweet Desserts, the Lucky Jupiter Bar, Chapman's Coffee House, Wood's Meat & Deli, Pizzeria 1880 and KIK Extreme Desserts. The food hall also features a co-working space and meeting rooms.
Hours are , 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Chung-Chun Rice HotDog
Chung-Chun Rice HotDog is now open in Polaris Fashion Place, in the mall's upper-level food hall. Founded in Seoul in 2017, the Korean restaurant chain specializes in rice hot dogs and has expanded to over 200 locations in 10 countries. The brand recreates the traditional Korean street food made with sausages, mozzarella cheese and various sauces and toppings.
Hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday.
Whit's Frozen Custard
Whit's Frozen Custard opened its latest Ohio location on June 9 at 1550 Lewis Center Road in Lewis Center. The Granville-based custard chain is known for its freshly made custard, sundaes, milkshakes, floats or its signature "whitsers." They also offer a variety of toppings, including candy, cookies and fruit.
The custard shop has additional Ohio locations in the works, including Grove City, Lancaster and Newark.
Hours are noon to 9 p.m. Monday through Sunday.
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Huey Magoo's
Huey Magoo's opened a Marysville location on June 13 at 15720 US-36. The restaurant, the second to open in Ohio, serves grilled, hand-breaded and "sauced" chicken tenders and salads, sandwiches, wraps and sides. The new location features an outdoor patio and a mobile pick-up window.
The restaurant is owned by Tim and Ronda Hobart, also franchisees of bd's Mongolian Grill. They plan to open 20 restaurants in the Dayton and Columbus areas, with their next location slated to open in Centerville in fall 2023, according to a news release.
Hours are 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
Tasty Dawg
Tasty Dawg has reopened at 107 S. High St. in downtown Columbus. As of June 13, the restaurant is once again serving its 100% all-beef hot dogs with toppings, including Chicago and New York style, salads, mac and cheese, tater tots and more.
Hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday.
Retreat 21 Taphouse
Retreat 21 Taphouse is a new taproom on the edge of Columbus at 11433 Industrial Parkway between Marysville and Dublin. The event venue's new taproom, which opened June 15, serves cider brewed on-site, wine and cocktails, snacks, and daily food trucks. The taphouse has indoor and outdoor seating with views of the 64-acre property's vineyards, orchards and lavender fields, and guests can play yard games and rent out private picnic tables for groups.
Hours are 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday and Friday, and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday.
Genghis Grill
Genghis Grill, a fast-casual chain offering build-your-own rice and noodle bowls, opened its only location in Ohio on June 23 at 18 E. 15th Ave. at University Square, near the Ohio State campus. The chain's grilled-to-order bowls include more than 80 ingredient options, including keto, gluten-free, low-carb, vegan and vegetarian ingredients, with white rice, fried rice, cauliflower rice, udon noodles, rice noodles, cabbage, tortillas or potato hash as a base.
The location is the only one in Ohio but not the first. The restaurant follows Lewis Center, Stoneridge and Polaris locations that have since closed.
Hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday through Saturday.
Several spots, including two Polaris eateries and a longtime restaurant, closed in June
Several local restaurants and eateries have closed in recent weeks, citing various reasons.
The Hungarian Butcher, a boutique butcher shop at 2177 W. Dublin Granville Road in Worthington, closed temporarily in late May due to fire damage. The shop is currently raising money for repairs.
Thai2Go, a Thai restaurant at 4330 N. High St., closed on June 1 and was replaced by the aforementioned #1 Hawaiian Barbecue.
The Pit BBQ Grille closed its North Market Bridge Park location, 6750 Longshore St. Two of the original owners, former Ohio State football players Bryant Browning and Chimdi Chekwa, have also stepped away from the business to focus on other interests and their families. One location remains, at Bubbly Hall.
Mellow Mushroom, the Atlanta-based pizza chain, closed a Polaris location at 2170 Polaris Parkway on June 12 after 15 years. In a social media post, the franchise owner, Colby Zachrich, said the restaurant decided not to renew its franchise agreement. The chain has one remaining Columbus area location, at 260 Market St. in New Albany.
Longtime restaurant 94th Aero Squadron announced earlier this year that it would close on June 18. The closure marked over 40 years of business at 5030 Sawyer Road on the East Side.
The Royce announced on social media earlier this month that it was closing its doors at 8791 Lyra Drive in Polaris. However, it's not the end for the gastropub, which noted it would be "opening a new location to be announced soon."
Zoup!, a soup and salad restaurant at 1543 Lennox Town Lane in Lennox Town Center, ceased operations on June 2, according to a post from the owner, Tom Dailey. The chain has two remaining locations, in the Arena District at 155 Nationwide Blvd. and 4189 Weaverton Lane at Easton Gateway.
Columbus openings, closings: Here are the restaurants that opened and closed last month
tmoorman@dispatch.com
@taijuannichole
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: The Columbus restaurants, cafes, bars and more that opened this June
