Updated: August 13, 2026
These restaurants represent the best of Columbus’ East Side.
I’m pretty much a product of Columbus’ east side. It nursed me as a babe, raised me as a kid, and taught me life lessons as an adult with some pretty tough love. I may have spent some time away, but east Columbus will always be home. So that’s why I have to show some love to all the diners and eateries over on this side of town.
Whether you live out here and you need help finding your new favorite restaurant or you live on the West side of town and need to recognize our restaurant superiority, here are 15 places on the east side that everyone in the city needs to try.
Pita House
Pita House keeps its menu tight, built around gyros and falafel plates. It’s the dependable option on this stretch of East Broad.
Where: 2996 E. Broad St., Columbus
TAT Ristorante Di Famiglia
TAT is generally reckoned the oldest Italian restaurant in Columbus, and it still runs as a family operation out of the same James Road dining room.
Where: 1210 S. James Rd., Columbus
Khaab Indian Kitchen & Bar
This was Aab India for years, until Dalbir Mavi took it over and rebuilt it around Punjabi cooking. Khaab means dream in Punjabi, which is what owning a restaurant had been for him.
Where: 2400 E. Main St., Bexley
Giuseppe’s Ritrovo
Giuseppe’s opened on East Main in 1996 and hasn’t chased a trend since. The menu runs from pizza to classic Italian plates.
Where: 2268 E. Main St., Bexley
HangOverEasy
HangOverEasy took over the room where Black Creek Bistro spent a decade. The kitchen shuts at three, and the name tells you what the menu is built for.
Where: 51 Parsons Ave., Columbus
The Top Steakhouse
The Top has barely changed since it opened in 1955, and that’s the appeal. There’s still a live piano in the dark-panelled room, and the beef is still aged six weeks.
Where: 2891 E. Main St., Bexley
Rubino’s Pizza
Nothing at Rubino’s has changed since 1954, not the thin crust and not the cash-only register. It closes Monday and Tuesday, so plan around that.
Where: 2643 E. Main St., Bexley
Lalibela Restaurant and Bar
Alemu Getachew has run Lalibela out of a Whitehall strip mall since 2004, long enough that Columbus Monthly called it an Ethiopian institution. The beyaynetu gets you the widest spread on one platter of injera.
Where: 1111 S. Hamilton Rd., Whitehall
Osteria Pizzeria
Osteria opened in April 2026 in the Oak Street space Yellow Brick Pizza held for years, and Columbus Monthly named it one of the year’s best new restaurants. The hand-tossed pizza is the reason to go.
Where: 892 Oak St., Columbus
East Market
East Market fills a restored trolley barn near Franklin Park with close to twenty vendors, so it solves the problem of a group that can’t agree. There’s a full bar in the Railhouse and a speakeasy in the basement.
Where: 212 Kelton Ave., Columbus
B & K Smokehouse
Hickory smoke has been coming off East Main at B & K since 2013. Pork ribs and turkey ribs are the headliners, and the sauce leans sweet.
Where: 1114 E. Main St., Columbus
Noahla Cajun Seafood
Noahla is the closest thing to a proper crawfish boil on this side of town, run by owners who came to it from the seafood wholesale business. The spicy garlic butter does most of the work.
Where: 2510 E. Main St., Bexley
El Pulgarcito
El Pulgarcito is a family-run Salvadoran kitchen in Whitehall that opens at six in the morning. The pupusas are the whole point, and the chicharron con queso is the one to start with.
Where: 5133 E. Main St., Whitehall
Stav’s Diner
Stav’s is a Greek-run diner on East Broad that closes at one thirty, so breakfast and lunch are the whole business. Expect a wait on weekend mornings.
Where: 2932 E. Broad St., Columbus
Flavor 91 Bistro
Flavor 91 has been family-owned in Whitehall since 2016, and it cooks from scratch with food from Ohio farms. The beef is grass fed and the patties are made by hand.
Where: 5186 E. Main St., Whitehall
