About a week and a half, two weeks ago, I was in Columbus, Ohio for the Plexus convention. We had a jam packed schedule while we were there, but Saturday night was our night, as a team to go out and have dinner together, explore Columbus, and just connect as a team outside of the convention walls. If you have (or haven’t) been to downtown Columbus, Ohio before, there are a TON of restaurants to choose from. I volunteered to locate a restaurant and make a reservation. In part, I did this because I have food allergies and eating out can be tricky, but also because I like to plan things. What I didn’t know was that I would STILL be thinking about the food I ate at this restaurant almost 10 days later. I also did not think that I would be hitting up ChatGPT to help me come up with a dupe recipe! That’s why I had to share this awesome restaurant recommendation with you all.
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Restaurants in Downtown Columbus
When I started looking at restaurants, I had a couple parameters that I was trying to adhere to. First, I wanted the restaurant to be within walking distance to the hotel. No one wanted to have to get their car out of the valet lot or get an Uber. Not when we were spending so much on valet and the hotel! Secondly, I was looking for a restaurant that was food allergy friendly. I will say, a lot of the restaurants in Columbus, Ohio put labels on their menu. That is very helpful and very much appreciated. And finally, the third thing I was looking at was the price point. There are a wide variety of price points in the city! I remember looking at one restaurant and it had a 6oz steak for $100! That may be normal to some, but to me…it is not!
Restaurant Recommendation – SoCal Kitchen + Bar
As I went through restaurant after restaurant, there was one I kept coming back to and that was SoCal Kitchen + Bar. Almost immediately upon looking at their menu, I knew I wanted to eat here. The dishes looked amazing; the prices weren’t bad; and they had allergen information right on the menu. The food is inspired by the best of Southern California. I’ve never been to Southern California, but if this is what the food is like there, get me on a plane! I will admit, I was very nervous as we all looked at the menu. The food looked delicious to me, but would it look the same way to everyone else? Spoiler alert, it did!
What Did We Order?
I knew before I even walked in the door, I was getting the Chili Peanut Chicken bowl. It sounded delicious. In fact, I think three of us got this same dish! Some other things I remember people ordering are:
- Seared Salmon
- Carne Asada
- Barbacoa Tacos
- SoCal Burger
I know I am forgetting a couple dishes, but as you can see, we ordered a wide variety of things and everyone enjoyed their food! Thank goodness! I was nervous, remember?! The Chili Peanut Chicken bowl was so good that I have, what I think is a pretty good dupe recipe, to try tonight or tomorrow night. I’m really hoping it’s good or my husband is driving us to Columbus soon just so I can eat their again. It was that good!
So…were they good with allergies?
They were fantastic with allergies. The very first thing the server said when she approached out table was “does anyone have any food allergies?” That makes me comfortable at a restaurant. Sure, cross contamination can happen any time, but I felt secure in that they were going to do their very best to accommodate me. And they did! My food came out first, and it had a little stick in it that said allergy. I knew I was going to be just fine eating the food. And since I still had two more days in Columbus, the last thing I wanted to do was gluten myself!
Final Details
This restaurant recommendation is one that I am excited to share. It was that good. It was a fun atmosphere that wasn’t too loud, but wasn’t quiet either. In fact, there was a fun bachelorette party there when we walked in. Everyone was dressed in wedding gowns! Making reservations were super easy. They have a link on their website for you to do so. They do require a credit card, but only to hold the reservation. Nothing is charged on the card, unless you decide to not show up without canceling. Then they charge $25 per person that the reservation was for. Also, the server was more than willing to split the checks for us. This restaurant is definitely a 10/10 in all categories!
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