I've been saying for a while now that Ohio is really starting to turn into a foodies paradise. Between Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati, there are a plethora of fantastic eating establishments to check out. Even the fast food places know what's up because most of Ohio is considered a "test market" for a lot of establishments. There's a good chance that new menu item at McDonald's was probably introduced a few weeks earlier in Ohio.
I'm lucky enough to have some family that lives in Ohio, and although it is a bit sacreligious for me to say (coming from Michigan), I really enjoy visiting Columbus, seeing my family, and eating some good food. Although we do occasionally eat in when we go down to visit, the majority of our meals are usually eaten out which despite what you might think from my posts is a rarity for @mrsbozz and I.
That is to say, we may eat out more than some folks, but we certainly eat out a lot less than many other people (in the US). There are so many great places in the greater Columbus area to eat at, that it is hard to decide if we want to try someplace new or visit the old standbys that we know will hit the spot.
Columbus offers a wide range of options from dive bars to fine dining, food trucks to pretty much every fast food joint you can imagine. On this last trip, we went back to a place we have visited once before in the past called The Rail. My niece was hungry for a burger, so we made the decision to head to one of the three locations they have in Ohio. You might want to check this place out sometime when you are home @ericvancewalton. Standard gastropub fare, but it's quite good.
The Rail specializes in craft items specifically from Ohio which kind of fits that farm to table vibe that a lot of places are leaning into these days.
With our middle niece off to college, it was just @mrsbozz, her sister, our brother in law, our oldest niece, her daughter, and myself on this trip.
It was happy hour, so we started off with some drinks and appetizers. I got the old fashioned made with a local Ohio distilled whiskey, and @mrsbozz got some fruity thing that she said was very very good. I should have taken a sip. The old fashioned wasn't the best one I have ever had, but it was tasty and it definitely hit the spot after the four hour drive down to Columbus.
We also got a large soft pretzel and some deep fried pickles. I liked that the pickles had just a lite batter on them versus some of the heavier beer batters you see on deep fried pickles. The pretzel came with a delicious beer cheese and honey mustard to dip it in.
As I said, it was happy hour, so they had some killer deals going on both food and drinks. The smash burger was on special for $6 USD a piece, so each of us got one of those with the exception of my wife and the little one. I paid a little extra to get the "loaded fries" with mine and while they were good, I was only able to eat about half of them (@mrsbozz had some too).
The burger was probably one of the best burgers I have had in a while and definitely the best one I have had for $6 at a place like this. It was the perfect size and the flavor was phenomenal. I stole one of my wife's onion rings and those were dang good too! Everything at The Rail was top notch!
With our delicious meal on Friday night a distant memory, on Saturday afternoon we decided to walk down to a local place called Condado to get some tacos. Condado is actually a national chain that specializes in craft tacos and tequila. I do love me a good taco, so I was excited to visit this place again.
They have some specialty tacos that already have a specific combination of ingredients, but then you can also make your own taco a la cart by picking the different protein and toppings you want. I went with the Korean BBQ and Chicken specialty, and then I had them make a traditional carne asada with cilantro and onions as a third option for me.
@mrsbozz got one of their bowls and she said it was really good. We also got some queso, guac, and salsa to share. I think my favorite taco was probably the Korean BBQ one. It had some good heat and amazing flavors. One of the things that is really special about Condado is their craft shells. They take a flour tortilla and spread either guac, queso, beans, or something else on it, then they wrap it around a corn tortilla for a really fantastic flavor profile. You can see in the taco photo above the flour tortilla wrapped around the corn tortilla.
Now just imagine something amazing spread in between the two and you will see how fantastic Condado can be.
The closest Condado to where we live is 86 miles away, so it is always a treat when we get to visit one of the locations across the nation.
If you ever make it down to the Columbus, Ohio area, I highly encourage you to check out both of these places. It's going to be hard with so many other options, but these places are top notch. Great food and not too pretentious. Casual, fun, and fantastic!
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All pictures/screenshots taken by myself or @mrsbozz unless otherwise sourced