From Columbus Business First, 7/20/05:

 

(NOTE: After this article was published, the NHL players and the league reached an agreement, meaning there will be hockey for the 2005-2006 season.)

 

Arena District restaurants endure lockout aftermath

Kathy Bergstrom

For Business First

 

Conventions, a new crop of office workers and neighborhood residents, special events and promotions are boosting business for Arena District restaurants this summer.  Restaurant managers say they definitely missed the big crowds that more than 40 Blue Jackets games at Nationwide Arena would have brought to their doors after the lockout of players canceled the 2004-05 season.  Hockey remains a crucial part of the Arena District's draw, they say, and all are hoping the National Hockey League and the NHL Players Association can reach an agreement that would allow the 2005-06 season to be played.  They're ready to weather the storm if hockey doesn't return, but as one manager says, it won't be as much fun.

 

Full story at http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2005/07/18/focus3.html?from_rss=1

 

here is the story from cnn:

 

WESTERVILLE, Ohio (AP) -- The central Ohio city of Westerville, once known as the "dry capital of the world," is dry no more.  A pizza parlor on Thursday became the first establishment in Westerville's uptown business district to legally serve a beer since 1875. 

 

Westerville's temperance history dates back 131 years, when the town's saloon was blown up during what's known as the "Whiskey Wars."  The Anti-Saloon League moved its headquarters to Westerville in 1909, and the city became known as the "dry capital of the world."

 

Business and city leaders pushed for the serving of alcohol in uptown establishments as a way to compete with restaurants and bars at two new retail developments near the Columbus suburb.  Voters on November 8 approved licenses for beer and wine to be sold at Michael's Pizza and Pasquale's Pizza & Pasta, whose owner plans to start serving libations February 1.

 

MORE: http://www.cnn.com

Wendy’s plans to open for breakfast

Move to begin in 2007 as part of sales strategy

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

Barnet D . Wolf

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Wendy’s plans to introduce a breakfast menu next year and has been receiving help from some of the world’s largest food and beverage companies to develop it.

 

During a meeting with Wall Street analysts yesterday, Wendy’s officials said the company expects to begin offering breakfast during 2007 after conducting tests this year.

 

 

[email protected]

http://www.dispatch.com/business-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/02/07/20060207-C1-00.html

I think the Wendy's location in down town Cincinnati already offers breakfast. 

The Wendy's in the student union at OSU has served breakfast ever since it's inception. I think there's only one other Wendy's in Columbus that continued serving breakfast even after it was abandoned in stores company-wide. I'm not sure which cities were test markets in this campaign to bring breakfast back, maybe Cincy was one of them.

The 24 hour Wendy's at the corner of Wayne and Wyoming in Dayton (which I must say is by far the best Wendy's anywhere, at least the drive thru service) serves breakfast.  There have been a couple of times after a long night of drinking that I have gone there and they have said they were only serving breakfast at the time...I wasn't too happy because I was definitely craving a JBC.

 

And while we are on the subject of Wendy's, did other Wendy's have "Chili, Chips, and Cheese"?  It was never on the menu here, but everyone always seemed to order it.  The last time I ordered it, they said they no longer served it...what's up with that?

As I recall, Wendy's dropped it's breakfast service a few years ago at all but a few Ohio outlets, mostly because they had a hard time finding enough staff to come in early enough  to break the eggs and bake the biscuits, etc.  In other words, it wasn't cost-effective.  Which always puzzled me, because I thought thier breakfast offerings were (for the most part) superior to Mickey D's.

 

Good to see them get back in the game.

There are several Wendy's in Columbus that offer it (one of note is on Wilson Road).

But the real question is, will breakfast be served later than McDonalds?

The ones in Columbus serve until 11am.  McDonald's is until 10:30.  So yes ;)

From the 2/21/06 Columbus Dispatch:

 

ON RESTAURANTS

McCormick & Schmick’s to open at Easton

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Barnet D . Wolf

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Doug Schmick says there’s a "bit of my body and soul" in each new restaurant developed by his company, McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurants.  That means some of his DNA now is in Ohio.

 

The company is scheduled to open its first Buckeye State fishhouse at tony Easton Town Center on Monday, following several invitation-only events this week.  Schmick said he looked at Easton as a possible site for several years, calling it a "great example of a suburban environment creating an urban feel."

 

This is the 60th restaurant for the chain, which dates to 1972 when William P. McCormick bought Jake’s Famous Crawfish, a century-old restaurant and saloon in Portland, Ore.  Schmick, then a management trainee, soon became McCormick’s partner. The first McCormick & Schmick’s-branded restaurant opened in 1979.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/business-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/02/21/20060221-C1-04.html

 

From the 2/21/06 Columbus Dispatch:

The Easton location has generated some controversy. Local restaurateur Cameron Mitchell, whose empire includes the seafood-themed Ocean Club at Easton, was upset that the developers didn’t tell him personally about the addition.

 

"We know we have competition everywhere," Mitchell said, "but I was unhappy with how (Easton officials) handled it."

 

I've not personally eaten there, but if reports given to me by mutiple friends that have dined at the Ocean Club are accurate, it could be in trouble.

It is good to hear that this fantastic restaurant is sharing the wealth with all of Ohio (for the most part).  Easton.....Fountain Square....where next?!?!?

Schmick said he looked at Easton as a possible site for several years, calling it a "great example of a suburban environment creating an urban feel."

 

Sadly, it's more urban than downtown Columbus.  Trolley and all.

isnt this the place thats going into downtown cincy?

Yes-Fountain Square

just remember one thing, fresh shucked oysters at happy hour there are fifty cents apiece!!! they have lots of other happy hour food specials too & i hear they even have a later evening happy hour like from 10-11pm.

 

if i lived near midtown out here where our m&s is or near easton or in downtown cinci i would be in there every day i could be....& i generally hate chains.

 

It sounds like a very cool concept, but in the Discovery District? This guy is making a pretty huge bet on the success of this venture...

 

'I hate all the Cowtown crap'

By Jordan Gentile / March 30, 2006

 

In the late 1970s, a couple of steakhouse owners named Steve Rubel and Ian Schrager realized you could create the hottest nightclub on earth with just the right mixture of tyranny and meritocracy.  The rich and famous got in to Studio 54, their landmark club, automatically.  Everybody else had to beg, and only those deemed "interesting"—through their personalities or attire—were granted access.

 

In this new system, doormen for the city's hottest clubs were so powerful they became celebrities in their own right.  For a number of years during the 1980s, Hilliard native Tom Starker was one of them.  Now Starker is back in Columbus, and he's trying to bring that velvet-rope experience home.  His new club, the Bar of Modern Art—still in the dusty phases of construction—is scheduled to open in just two months.

 

More at http://www.theotherpaper.com

area? palladium? heh. he sure was in ny in the 80's. contrary to what i would have guessed it seems the church/club theme will never die.

 

mustard's ruled so i'm sure he can pull something fun off here. good luck to him.

 

Suburban Columbus restaurant wins best bathroom award

 

COLUMBUS, Ohio - They're flushed with pride at an Ohio restaurant that has won an annual search for America's tidiest toilets.  The sleek and spiffy sports-themed restrooms at Wendell's, in the Columbus suburb of Westerville, were chosen the nation's finest Thursday in a nonscientific online poll sponsored by a bathroom supply company.  Wendell's prize-winning potties are always well-supplied with towels, soap and mouthwash and are a hit with sports fans big on cleanliness, said Cintas, the Cincinnati-based manufacturer of restroom supplies.

 

More at http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/14389676.htm

 

Link to video:  http://www.nbc4i.com/video/8859112/index.html

Arena District restaurants enjoy the thaw

Eateries rebound with hockey's return, and look forward to next year

Business First of Columbus - April 21, 2006

by Dan Eaton, Business First

 

With an overtime victory April 18, the Columbus Blue Jackets closed the book on its fifth season, one that began with disappointment, but ended in promise - a ride not unlike the last two years of business for Arena District restaurants.  The lockout that canceled the 2004-2005 hockey season put a dent in the bottom lines of many area eateries, but what a difference 44 nights of hungry and thirsty fans makes.  Restaurants are heading into the offseason happy to have hockey back and hoping for a fruitful season on the ice next year to drive more crowds to their establishments.

 

More at http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/

^ I believe that this is why the city decided to go with the current ballpark site rather than the one in RiverSouth.  It'll provide a nice year-round balance for restaurnats and entertainment.

Here’s the BEEF

No brotherly love between chains vying to be cheesesteak king

Sunday, May 28, 2006

Barnet D . Wolf

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

No one can mistake Columbus for Philadelphia.  But if you’re a fan of the Philly cheesesteak sandwich, Columbus bears a strong resemblance to the City of Brotherly Love.  Central Ohio has given birth to the nation’s three largest Philly cheesesteak chains and remains the home for two of them, Steak Escape and Charley’s Grilled Subs.  These two companies and the third conceived here, Great Steak & Potato Co., have survived more than two decades.  The competition, at times, has been less than brotherly.

 

On a few occasions, the chains have met in court to do battle on issues ranging from trademark infringement to franchise poaching. But skirmishes among chains that offer similar sandwiches, fries and fresh-squeezed lemonade seem as inevitable as a return punch from Rocky Balboa.  It’s not unusual for one city to develop several chains in the same restaurant segment, said Jeff Davis, executive vice president of market-research firm Sandelman & Associates.

 

Full story at http://www.dispatch.com/business-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/05/28/20060528-E1-00.html

 

To be honest, I've been to atleast four cheesesteak places in Philadelphia (Pat's; Gino's; some D place; and Jim's) and none of them have yet beaten Penn Station's cheesesteak (though it's Cincinnati-based; you get my drift).

I always figured that the Great Steak and Potato Company is more of a Cinci thing starting in Hamilton and the Lanni's pretty much living in cinci anyway

Penn Station's cheesteak does kick ass.

Trio prays church's change into club works

Business First of Columbus - July 7, 2006

by Dan Eaton, Business First

 

The only sounds emanating from the First Baptist Church on East Broad Street for the last 108 years were the voices of parishioners and the heavy tones of the church's pipe organ.  But those sounds will become something different this summer - pounding beats of dance music, bustle of a busy restaurant and hushed discussions over a work of art - as the Bar of Modern Art opens in the space at 583 E. Broad Street.

 

High-end and high-concept are words that come to mind when chatting with Tom Starker, one of several owners of the establishment and the driving force behind its creation.  Part nightclub, part restaurant, part art gallery - the space will offer plenty to see and do, provided one can get in.  "Columbus is a major market," said Starker, a veteran of multiple New York City clubs.  "It is time for the community to support this. In L.A., in New York, in Las Vegas, this would be a monster."  Starker meant monster as in monstrously popular, but the term could easily apply to the job he and investment group 583 E. Broad St. Partners LLC undertook in the conversion of a church into a happening destination.

 

More at http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/

Nightclub owner makes apologies

Business First of Columbus - July 7, 2006

by Dan Eaton, Business First

 

The backers of the Bar of Modern Art are building it, but will people come?  A skeptic can look at the project and might think a high-end club is too big-city for Columbus.  They might think the East Broad Street location is out-of-the-way from the city's other nightlife districts.  But co-owner Tom Starker disagrees.

 

"I hate that cow-town crap," he said, which is exactly why he dreamt up the project.  Columbus has a large, growing population and an active and respected arts community, factors that Starker said means there is a population wanting the experience he hopes to provide.  "Will this go over people's heads?" he asked. "Maybe. It scares me a little, but there are 1.3 million people here. There has to be X-amount of cool people."

 

More at http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/

I hate skeptics! That club sounds hot in the Paris Hiltson usage of the word.

has this opened yet in either location?

 

i just went again to the one in midtown in ny. the happy hour oysters & chow is still stellar.

Easton is open.  The happy hour special I took advantage of was two regular price drinks (any kind), then $2 appetizers til happy hours over.

Been meaning to mention this:

 

Danny's Deli.... a Cleveland institution for great corned beef sandwiches.... has been open for the last couple of months in downtown Columbus.  It's at the Southeast corner of South Front Street and West Broad Street, across from the Ohio Department of Education building.

 

I used to go to Danny's in Cleveland when I worked at Fox 8 and those corned beef sandwiches were (and still are) incredible.  Danny's Columbus is ever bit as good.  If you're there in the morning for breakfast, try the corned-beef omelet.... Wow!  Good people and good food.  They're open for breakfast and lunch only.... but you can also get their deli meats by the pound to bring home.

aww man thats awesome expansion news. you dont expect clevo's corned beef joints to do that. i am a fiend for those corned beef sammies.

I know it's not big news (and I'm not sure if I even have this in the right place), but Sonic has an ad on Careerbuilder hiring managerial positions for a new location in Columbus.  Doesn't say where or when, however.

 

 

Mmm, Sonic..

They have Sonic in the south Dayton area and it's pretty tasty.

Shouldn't this be in the "What Columbus needs" thread? :)

Shouldn't this be in the "What Columbus needs" thread? :)

 

It's what EVERYONE needs :'( It makes me so sad that the closest Sonic to Cleveland are in Nelsonville.

oh yeah sonic is good stuff!

 

Why would one go to a Sonic when you can go to a Swensons?!

Screw Swensons.

 

Sonic has got those cheap-ass shakes!!!

True Story:

My dad had one of their shakes in 1998, he was in the hospital for 3 days.

 

 

And now Hamilton is getting blighted with one at Mosler.

True Story:

My dad had one of their shakes in 1998, he was in the hospital for 3 days.

 

 

And now Hamilton is getting blighted with one at Mosler.

 

But I bet he paid damn near 90 cents!!!

LOL...plus the $3000 hospital bill. ;)

Why would one go to a Sonic when you can go to a Swensons?!

 

Swensons is still in business?  Last time I was in one had to be in the mid 80s.

They're still slowly expanding.  They've gone North to Broadview Hts area of Cleveland and they've added South to N. Canton and Jackson Twp.  They also updated their original location with a new 2 story- prototype-I'm guessing, in Wallhaven part of Akron as seen in the current Akron pics in the Ohio pic thread.  Swensons has been competing for over 50+ years with its Akron nemesis Skyway.  That should mean that they are a pretty tight operation.  I think Swensons would rule the world if they bothered expanding outside of Northeast Ohio's cloudy/rainy/snowy environment which can't be that conducive to this type of business.  It'll be interesting to see how well Sonic does if and when it gets to Akron. They can't be too eager to do that. 

screw swensons? more like screw loose. swensons is all ohio and its great. sonic is a chain from out of state. it's from somewhere out west like arizona i think. the homeboys come first.

Uhh...not of I prefer Sonic's selection.  Hell, I prefer Culver's (Wisconsin) over Ohio-based Wendy's.  So homeboy's don't always come first.

 

Though Swenson's galley boy (or whatever) is quite tasty.

UM...Sonic is actually from Oklahoma City.  I personally am happy we are finally getting them up here in Ohio.  I miss my Cherry Chocolate shakes around Valentines Day.

UM...Sonic is actually from Oklahoma City.  I personally am happy we are finally getting them up here in Ohio.  I miss my Cherry Chocolate shakes around Valentines Day.

 

You do know there is a Sonic's near Mason, right? ;)

^Do you call it Meijer's too?

 

The Middletown location has been there since at least 1995.