You have two dining paths to take during Columbus Restaurant Week, the twice-yearly discount palooza that's scheduled for its summer run from July 22 to 27.
You can look for the best bargains among the 140 restaurants participating. There are those $15 to $35 three-course menus that give you a great meal at places already considered affordable, or you can go for the $40 to $50 dinners at restaurants that aren't in your regular rotation. Use the occasion to try someplace new, move up date night or celebrate someone's birthday early — or late. (How could you forget... again?)
Not good at choices? Maybe do both.
If you look through Restaurant Week menus, which are posted at the website of sponsor 614 Magazine, and compare the special menus to everyday menus, you'll see that most Restaurant Week prices basically amount to free dessert.
Not that there's anything wrong with that. Dessert is a good thing, and with it built into the week's fixed-price menus, you won't be guilted into saying you're too full for a tiny sliver of cheesecake when you know darn well you're going to polish off a pint of Graeter's once you get home.
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So enjoy. Here the 10 places at the top of our list for Restaurant Week, which only lasts six days.
Coming up:Expansion of Ohio sales-tax holiday for 2024 adds restaurant meals to annual exemption
Beer Barrel Pizza & Grill
You could spend more at a fast-food drive-thru.
Starter: fresh-baked garlic-bread knots with house marinara, breaded boneless chicken-breast chunks or fried cauliflower in buffalo sauce and blue cheese
Dinner: 9-inch "Italian Hot Honey Pizza" topped with hot capicola ham, pepperoni, Peppadew peppers and hot-pepper-infused honey; 10-inch, two-topping pizza; bourbon barbecue-glazed shrimp tacos with Carolina slaw and chipotle cream; or apple-walnut-blue cheese salad
Dessert: churros with strawberry and fudge sauces for dipping; New York-style cheesecake; or "Buckeye Blitz," a peanut-butter mousse with chocolate crumb crust and chocolate ganache
Price: $15
Locations: 3993 Morse Crossing, Easton; 2500 Roberts Court, Far West Side; 7482 state Route 161, Plain City; beerbarrel.com
Fukuryu Ramen
The local chain of ramen restaurants has come up with some new dishes for its Restaurant Week menu that hopefully will stick around.
Starter: Okonomi balls sound like they'd be a good addition to a place with already great appetizers. Like takoyaki, the octopus-filled appetizer, these start with wheat batter. They're filled, though, with pork belly, shredded cabbage and aji tamago (soft-boiled marinated egg), and they're topped with Kewpie mayo, barbecue-like tonkatsu sauce, katsuo flakes and nori. Other options: edamame tossed in a spicy teriyaki glaze or a kale and cabbage salad with sesame-ginger dressing.
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Dinner: vegetarian miso ramen, which includes the restaurant's house-made noodles, corn, marinated slices of tofu and wakame seaweed in a vegan miso broth. You can also order a vegan miso ramen, barbecue mazemen (ramen noodles without broth, but with smoked pork, pickled red onion and miso) or udon noodles with shrimp tempura or chili pork.
Dessert: This version of anmitsu, a traditional Japanese cold dessert, includes red beans, sweet jelly and mochi in an agua fresca made with watermelon and minty shiso leaves.
Price: $20
Locations: 2027 Polaris Pkwy., Far North Side; 1600 W. Lane Ave., Upper Arlington; 4540 Bridge Park Ave., Dublin; fukuryuramen.com
Hank's Texas BBQ
Hank's is a comfortable, no-frills place with late-night happy hours and solid barbecue.
Starter: Southwestern wedge salad, topped with corn, tomatoes, bacon, cheddar, house-made ranch dressing and Flamin' Hot Cheetos dust; corn cake topped with birria-braised brisket; or fried pickle chips
Dinner: "Hank's Way," a sandwich with smoked brisket topped with pickled vegetables and white barbecue sauce. (It comes with a side of fries.) Other options are the "Plain Jane" pulled-pork sandwich with fries or birria tacos.
Dessert: banana cream pie or lemon cookies
Price: $20
Location: 2941 N. High St., Clintonville; hankstexasstylebbq.com
Dos Hermanos-Easton
The portions may not be the same, but some combinations of these items on the regular menu at Dos Hermanos' Easton location would come to $46. At $25, it makes for one of Restaurant Week's best bargains.
Starter: "Queso Fundido," a cheese-and-chorizo dip, is made with sausage from Columbus-based Foris Extraordinary Meats, formerly known as North Country Charcuterie. You can also choose birria tacos or guacamole with fried plantains and house-made chicharrónes.
Dinner: shrimp fajitas (other fajita options are chicken, steak or veggies) with rice, beans and guacamole salad; carne asada with rice, beans and guacamole salad; or pan-seared salmon with avocado salsa and saffron rice
Dessert: tres leches cake, which comes topped with strawberry puree; strawberry shortcake; or churros with chocolate sauce and dulce de leche
Price: $25.
Location: 3946 Morse Crossing Road, Easton; doshermanoscolumbus.com
Everest Cuisine
It's easy to see why Everest is a favorite for fans of Indian and Nepali food.
Starter 1: Samosas are stuffed with spiced potatoes and peas. Other options are chicken pakora or vegetable pakora.
Starter 2: Everest has four courses on its menu, including a choice of plain or garlic naan.
Dinner: Palak paneer is a vegetarian dish made with cubes of a nonmelting cheese (paneer) in a sauce of pureed spinach (palak). There are four other choices: chicken or vegetable dumplings called momo, chicken tikka masala or lamb korma. You can get spice levels from mild to extra hot.
Dessert: Gulab jamun is made with another type of cheese, which is fried and served in a warm honey syrup.
Price: $25.
Location: 652 High St., Worthington; everestcuisinecolumbus.com.
Goji Korean BBQ
Don't be intimidated by the prospect of grilling your own dinner at your table. It actually makes for a leisurely meal.
Starter: seafood pancake, kimchi pancake, five fried dumplings or stir-fried rice cakes with vegetables
Dinner: You have your choice of meats for the grill-it-yourself portion of the meal: six types of short rib, steak and brisket; thin- or thick-sliced pork belly and pork chop; or marinated and spicy chicken breast.
Dessert: cheesecake or matcha and red-bean mochi
Price: $35
Location: 1138 Bethel Road, Northwest Side; gojikbbq.com
Asterisk Supper Club
The uptown Westerville restaurant known for its afternoon tea service and elevated comfort-food dinner menu is going coastal for Restaurant Week with an all-seafood menu.
Starter 1: Asterisk is adding roasted red peppers to its bagna càuda, a hot dip made of anchovies and garlic. It's served with fresh vegetables and crusty bread. Other choices: Aleutian-style octopus cakes, skewers of bacon-wrapped scallops and chili-dusted pineapple or ceviche of white sea bass and shrimp.
Starter 2: New England-style crab chowder, shrimp and orzo salad with pesto and feta cheese or Greek salad with salmon
Dinner: beer-braised mussels with parmesan- and lemon-roasted potatoes; linguine in a creamy white wine sauce with salmon, spinach and capers; or crab imperial with parmesan- and lemon-roasted potatoes
Price: $40
Location: 14 N. State St., Westerville; asterisksupperclub.com
FYR
Chef Sebastian LaRocca has created a Restaurant Week menu that includes a few of FYR's favorites and a lot of new dishes. Here are your options:
Starter: The chilled, wood-oven-roasted tomato — a charred, softened tomato with honey, goat cheese, charred onions and lemony sumac — is a signature at FYR. Your other choice is mussel ceviche in a Peruvian marinade called leche de tigre.
Dinner: Grilled hamachi collar is served with white-bean puree and a crispy Thai basil-shallot salad. Other options are a gnocchi souffle or a double-cooked pork-belly steak.
Dessert: banoffee tart or caramel flan
Price: $50
Location: 404 N. High St., inside the Hilton Columbus Downtown; fyrshortnorth.com
Bar Cicchetti
The Italian restaurant at Downtown's Westin Great Southern Columbus hotel doesn't get enough love.
Starter: Burrata is served on arugula and sautéed peppers and onions. Other options include spicy garlic wings; crostini with whipped ricotta, charred grapes and truffle honey; or an oversized meatball.
Second course: soup (tomato basil or minestrone) or salad (house or Caesar)
Dinner: Seafood campanelle is pasta with scallops, shrimp, mussels, sun-dried tomatoes, artichokes and spinach. Other dinner choices are a 10-ounce New York strip, chicken marsala or orecchiette pasta with bolognese sauce.
Price: $50
Location: 310 S. High St., Downtown; bar-cicchetti.com
Lindey's
The king of fine dining in Columbus offers 12 dishes over three courses that represent a variety of classic and new flavors.
Starter: Stracciatella is an egg-drop soup, a flavor of gelato and a type of cheese. Confusing, right? The word means tatters in Italian. A guess is Lindey's creation is a salad; it includes heirloom tomatoes, peach-bourbon jam and basil oil. Other starter choices are gazpacho, a Japanese-inspired wedge salad or a crab cake.
Dinner: Grilled-vegetable rigatoni with a pistachio-lemon pesto, crème fraiche and herbed breadcrumbs sounds like a delicious and decadent vegetarian option. Other dishes are a 6-ounce filet with buttermilk-chive whipped potatoes, haricot verts, confit mushrooms and a truffle hollandaise sauce; sous vide and grilled pork collar with bacon-braised green beans, jalapeno-corn spoon bread and roasted poblano jus; or artic char with roasted cauliflower and romanesco, pine-nut puree and a golden raisin and caper compote.
Dessert: summer berry pavlova, chocolate tartlet, crème brûlée or key-lime pie.
Price: $50
Location: 169 E. Beck St., German Village; lindeys.com
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