Miriam Bowers Abbott

1 week ago | columbusunderground.com | Miriam Bowers Abbott

Although pizza is a core element in Osteria Pizzeria’s name, this discussion is going to need to make an immediate detour for a side mission into its sandwich department. In fact, this issue is important enough to float right up to the top of the priority list here. The pizzeria has several sandwiches on its menu, and at this moment, the matter of the Italian Sub is pressing. It’s summer, it’s sandwich season, and we live in an age in which a good sandwich is important, generally speaking.

2 weeks ago | columbusunderground.com | Miriam Bowers Abbott

TaKorea started out as a local ghost kitchen. While it has a neat name and an intriguing theme, its ghost kitchen status always felt like a suspicious warning sign. Too many times, cool-sounding ghost kitchens turned out to be TGI Friday’s or Chuck E. Cheese in disguise. No one wants to be duped into patronizing some alleged local project that turns out to be run by a large, faceless corporation. Okay, Chuck E. Cheese has a face. But you know what we meant there.

3 weeks ago | columbusunderground.com | Miriam Bowers Abbott

At one point in Columbus’ culinary history, Block’s Bagels was the champion of All Things Bagel. It had not only freestanding locations and a joint in the North Market, but it also had storefronts in local Kroger stores, like a Starbucks. Even as a big operation, Block’s maintained a certain commitment to process integrity that guaranteed a stable selection of good quality bagel craftsmanship. Over time, competition from other bagel-makers and low-carb diet trends changed the bagel landscape.

4 weeks ago | columbusunderground.com | Miriam Bowers Abbott

It’s easy to overlook Ridiculous Eatz. Despite its attention-getting name and an address on Henderson Road’s main thoroughfare, its location around a bend puts it just outside the limelight. If the joint’s name suggests a casual destination where you might score a sandwich or burger and fries, that’d be a fair expectation. That said, Ridiculous Eatz has a menu that also features gumbo, grits, fried fish, and fried chicken.

1 month ago | columbusunderground.com | Miriam Bowers Abbott

The call of the cinnamon roll at Hilliard’s Olympic Diner cannot be ignored. Its soft layers of tender pastry are covered, and I mean all covered, in sweet sugary icing that runs down the sides and dribbles into the crevices where it oozes, merging with the roll’s glistening mahogany cinnamon filling. Are you picking up what we’re putting down here?