These Columbus restaurants opened and closed in October
October was busy on the Columbus restaurant front, with a few long-awaited openings, including gluten-free bakery Bake Me Happy's new South Side digs, and Nativo614 at Gahanna's Creekside. The month also saw a few losses, including Couscous House on the Northeast Side and Natalie's Coal-Fired Pizza and Live Music in Worthington.
Not to be overlooked, two restaurants reopened, including Service Bar — after an 18-month hiatus — and Smokehouse Brewing Company, which closed in August.
Plus, a few chains Columbus residents love and a few new to the scene opened their doors.
Here's what opened and closed in Columbus this month:
Bake Me Happy
After briefly closing to relocate, Bake Me Happy is now back open, at 500 E Whittier St. in Schumacher Place in a former post office building. The gluten-free bakery continues to offer a wide range of baked goods and drinks, including cookies, snack cakes, muffin bread, brookies, blondies, Rice Krispie treats, coffee, tea and more.
Hours are Tuesdays through Fridays, 7 a..m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Poke Bunny
Poke Bunny opened at 100 E. Gay St. Downtown in late September in the former home of Poke Bros. The restaurant offers poke bowls — including tuna, veggie, chicken and salmon — along with ramen and udon soups, bento boxes, smoothies, bubble tea and fruit tea.
Hours are Mondays through Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Dave's Hot Chicken
Dave's Hot Chicken, at 3590 W. Dublin Granville Rd. on the Northwest Side, has opened in a former Payless shoe store. The Nashville-hot chicken restaurant uses halal chicken tenders — processed in the Islamic tradition — served on their own or as a slider with fries, and features seven sauces ranging from no spice to reaper.
This is the first Columbus location for the California-based chain, which is planning 12 to 15 more area restaurants in the next five years.
Hours are 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 10:30 am. to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.
614 Kabob
Fast-casual Afghan restaurant 614 Kabob has opened at 1611 Morse Rd. in the Northland area, replacing Couscous House, which closed in early October. The eatery's menu features lamb, chicken and beef kabobs, hummus, baba ganoush, rice and banana pudding, and more. Customers can also choose a family platter or create their own plate.
Hours are 10:45 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.
Raising Cane's
Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based chicken finger chain Raising Cane's continued its stronghold on Columbus with the opening of its 15th area restaurant, at 3661 E Main St. in Whitehall on Oct. 4, near another recently opened chain, Captain D's, which is trying a new, smaller, format.
Hours at Raising Cane's are Sundays through Thursdays, 10 a.m. to midnight, and Fridays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 2 a.m.
The Laundry
The owners of German Village wine and beer shop Hausfrau Haven have opened the wine bar The Laundry, right next door at 769 S. Third St. in a former laundromat. The bar serves wine by the glass and draft beer, and will eventually feature a small cocktail menu.
Hours are Fridays and Saturdays 4 to 9 p.m.
Smokehouse Brewing Company
Following a temporary closure in early August due to staffing, Smokehouse Brewing reopened Oct. 12. The longstanding brewpub, at 1130 Dublin Rd. near Grandview Heights, has a new chef and changes to the menu, including a wing challenge in which customers who eat wings coated in Carolina reaper or scotch bonnet peppers in five minutes receive a T-shirt.
Hours are Wednesdays and Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Fridays, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Saturdays, noon to 10 p.m. and Sundays, noon to 9 p.m.
Soon-to-open Downtown:Esco, restaurant founded by rapper 2 Chainz, to open this fall
Porter's Coffee House & Bakery
Porter's Coffee House & Bakery opened its second location at 201 Clint Dr. in Pickerington on Oct. 12. The coffee shop opened its first location in 2019 in Olde Pickerington Village.
The shop features the same menu as the original, including drip and pour-over coffee, tea, lattes, smoothies, sandwiches, bagels, scones, Danishes and cakes, and features a drive-thru window.
Hours are Tuesdays through Fridays, 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Service Bar
Service Bar has reopened on the edge of the Short North. The restaurant housed inside Middle West Spirits at 1230 Courtland Ave. reopened its doors on Oct. 13 after an 18-month closure. The current menu features hot and cold starters, including beets and burrata and gnudi, entrees like the hearth-roasted lamb belly, risotto and a fried chicken sandwich, plus beer, wine, and a sizable cocktail menu.
Hours are Tuesdays through Saturdays, 5 to 11 p.m. (with the kitchen closing at 9:30 p.m.)
Grandad's Pizza
Grandad's Pizza & Pub's fourth location opened at 1490 Bethel Rd. on the Northwest Side in mid-October. The Columbus-style pizzeria, which also has locations in Hilliard, near Grandview Heights and on the Northeast Side, features a menu of starters, salads, wings, build-your-own and specialty pizzas, strombolis, subs and sandwiches.
Hours are Wednesdays and Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Fridays and Saturdays, 11 a.m. to midnight.
El Vaquero
El Vaquero's 19th location recently opened at 8231 N. High St. on the Far North Side near Worthington. It's the 12th central Ohio location for the longtime Columbus-based Mexican restaurant chain, which also has locations in the Toledo, Cincinnati, and Monroe, Michigan areas.
Hours are Mondays through Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. and Sundays, 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Restaurant openings:Cuban-style restaurant to open at North Market Bridge Park
FYR Short North
Hilton Downtown Columbus' new signature restaurant, FYR Short North, opened in the hotel's new tower on Oct. 14. The street-level restaurant features a menu of American fare with Latin influence cooked over a wood-burning grill, including avocado toast, a smoked salmon bowl and fried chicken and waffles for breakfast, and cured duck breast, ember-cooked shrimp, filet mignon and wild mushroom pizza for dinner. The restaurant has full wine, beer and cocktail service.
Breakfast hours are Mondays through Fridays, 6:30 to 10:30 a.m., and Saturdays and Sundays, 7 to 11 a.m. Dinner hours are Mondays through Wednesdays, 5 to 10 p.m., and Thursdays through Saturdays, 5 to 11 p.m.
Pizza Pizza 007
At 3027 Indianola Ave., Clintonville's newest pizzeria, Pizza Pizza 007, opened in mid-October in the former home of Papa Giorgio's. The menu features homemade pizzas, kofta kebab platters made from house-ground brisket, and a shrimp-and-mushroom platter.
Hours are 11 a.m. to 4 a.m. daily.
Peach Cobbler Factory
The Peach Cobbler Factory, at 4691 Morse Rd. in Stoneridge Plaza in Gahanna, opened on Oct. 22. The dessert chain's first Columbus-area location features 12 kinds of cobbler, 12 types of banana puddings, 6 kinds of cinnamon rolls, sweet tea and cold-brewed coffee. The cobblers, including peach, sweet potato, pecan, blackberry, cherry and apple walnut raisin, are served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Hours are Mondays through Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sundays, noon to 9 p.m.
Tupelo Honey Southern Kitchen & Bar
Tupelo Honey Southern Kitchen opened its first Ohio location at 1678 W. Lane Ave. in Upper Arlington on Oct. 26. The Southern restaurant chain, based in Ashville, North Carolina, offers "scratch-made" Southern dishes with a modern twist, including bone-in fried chicken with "bee dust," shrimp and grits, a New Orleans-inspired roast beef "debris" and four kinds of eggs benedict.
Upper Arlington marks the chain's 20th location, with three more expected to open soon, expanding the company's reach to 15 states.
Hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays.
Nativo614
Latin American restaurant Nativo614 is set to open Oct. 31 at Creekside, 64 Granville St. in Gahanna, in the former location of J Gumbo's.
The restaurant will serve Latin American and Mediterranean cuisine and will offer wine and cocktails. Menu items include Mexican bowls with steak, chicken or seafood; and a Nativo burger made with certified angus beef patty, lettuce, tomato, onion, Cambozola cheese and diced bacon.
Hours are Mondays through Wednesdays, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Thursdays through Sundays, 11 a.m. to midnight.
Closings
As previously noted, the Moroccan restaurant Couscous House at 1611 Morse Rd. closed in early October, replaced by 614 Kabob, and Papa Giorgio's closed at 3027 Indianola Ave. in Clintonville, replaced by Pizza Pizza 007. Papa Giorgio's opened just over a year ago.
More closings:Smith & Wollensky steakhouse to leave Easton for Downtown
Barra Tacos, at 3051 Northwest Blvd. in Upper Arlington, closed late last month. The taco restaurant's two remaining locations in Sandusky and Amherst remain open.
Punk Pigs announced on social media it would be closings its North Campus sandwich shop at 2515 Summit St. on Oct. 21, after two years in business.
And Natalie's Coal-Fired Pizza and Live Music in Worthington closed Oct. 30, concluding over 11 years of business. Natalie's original Grandview Heights location will remain open and has plans to expand.
Know of a restaurant opening or closing? Contact reporter Taijuan Moorman at tmoorman@dispatch.com.
@TaijuanNichole
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus restaurants that opened, closed in October
