Updated: August 19, 2026
When it comes to nostalgia, everyone likes to think about what we can’t have anymore.
There’s something especially nice about realizing that the restaurant you remember from family birthdays, post-game dinners, or those weirdly long Sunday lunches is still sitting right where you left it. Maybe the booths are the same. Maybe the menu hasn’t changed much. Maybe your parents still order exactly what they did 30 years ago.
Columbus has quite a few of those places. Some have been around for generations, some have changed hands, and some have changed plenty over the years, but they’ve all managed to stick around while the city around them kept changing.
Ringside Cafe has been pouring drinks downtown since 1897. Grandview Cafe has been on the same corner since 1925. TAT Ristorante has been serving family recipes since 1929, and Schmidt’s has roots stretching all the way back to an 1886 meatpacking operation in German Village.
So, yes, you can spend a little time reminiscing about the restaurants that are gone. Or you can pick a place and go make some new memories at one of these.
| Restaurant | Serving since | Neighborhood |
| Ringside Cafe | 1897 | Downtown |
| Grandview Cafe | 1925 | Grandview Heights |
| TAT Ristorante di Famiglia | 1929 | East Side |
| The Old Mohawk | 1933 | German Village |
| Plank’s Cafe & Pizzeria | 1939 | Parsons Ave |
| The Thurman Cafe | 1942 | German Village |
| Johnnie’s Tavern | 1948 | West Side |
| Massey’s Pizza | 1949 | Whitehall |
| Tommy’s Pizza | 1952 | Upper Arlington |
| Rubino’s Pizza | 1954 | Bexley |
| Chef-O-Nette | 1955 | Upper Arlington |
| The Top Steak House | 1955 | East Main St |
| Ding Ho | 1956 | West Side |
| Varsity Club | 1959 | OSU campus |
| Plank’s Bier Garten | 1960 | Brewery District |
| Red Door Tavern | 1964 | Grandview |
| Schmidt’s | 1967 | German Village |
| Wing’s | 1970 (the Far East since 1930) | East Main St |
| Windward Passage | 1973 | Upper Arlington |
| York Steak House | 1974 | West Side |
| Refectory Restaurant | 1976 (The Refectory since 1981) | Northwest Side |
| Tommy’s Diner | 1989 | Franklinton |
Ringside Cafe (1897)
What: Ringside is widely considered the oldest restaurant in downtown Columbus. The bar at 19 N Pearl has been serving since 1897, first as the Board of Trade Saloon, and it took the Ringside name and the boxing theme in the 1930s. Nearly 130 years in, the burgers are still the draw.
When: Opened in 1897
Where: 19 N Pearl St, Columbus
Website: Ringside Cafe
Grandview Cafe (1925)
What: Grandview Cafe has held the corner at West 3rd and Grandview Avenue since 1925, and it crossed the hundred-year mark in 2025. The building has changed hands plenty of times over the decades, but it never stopped being the neighborhood’s restaurant. These days it’s a brunch-and-burgers spot with a rooftop patio that fills up fast on weekends.
When: Opened in 1925
Where: 1455 W 3rd Ave, Grandview Heights
Website: Grandview Cafe
TAT Ristorante di Famiglia (1929)
What: For nearly a century, TAT Ristorante has been serving authentic Italian dishes to Columbusites. We even have TAT to thank for bringing pizza to Columbus. This is the kind of place that your family can enjoy for generations.
When: Opened in 1929
Where: 1210 S James Rd, Columbus
Website: TAT Ristorante di Famiglia
The Old Mohawk (1933)
What: The Old Mohawk has anchored its German Village corner since 1933, the year Prohibition ended. It’s a tavern first, but the kitchen takes the food seriously. The turtle soup has been the signature for decades.
When: Opened in 1933
Where: 821 Mohawk St, Columbus
Website: The Old Mohawk
Plank’s Cafe & Pizzeria (1939)
What: The Plank family has run this Parsons Avenue spot since 1939, and the walls of memorabilia tell the story better than any plaque could. The pizza is classic Columbus: thin crust, cut in squares, loaded to the edges.
When: Opened in 1939
Where: 743 Parsons Ave, Columbus
Website: Plank’s Cafe & Pizzeria
The Thurman Cafe (1942)
What: Thurman’s is a family-owned restaurant in German Village. Of course, it’s known for its legendary burger, The Thurminator, and it’s been recognized as having some of the best hamburgers in the country.
When: Opened in 1942
Where: 183 Thurman Ave, Columbus
Website: The Thurman Cafe
Note: Temporarily closed after an April 2026 fire; the owners plan to rebuild and reopen.
Johnnie’s Tavern (1948)
What: I’m not really sure how this city has been able to keep something as amazing as Johnnie’s Tavern “sort of” secret for over seven decades, but it remains one of the most underrated dives in the city. They are known for their burgers, and just so you can’t say I didn’t warn you, they are big. And very delicious.
When: Opened in 1948
Where: 3503 Trabue Rd, Columbus
Website: Johnnie’s Tavern
Massey’s Pizza (1949)
What: Massey’s calls 1949 its founding year, and the pizza historians who quibble only move it a year or two. Either way, no pizzeria in the Columbus area has been at it longer. The original East Main Street location in Whitehall is still the flagship, and the cupped pepperoni is exactly what Columbus-style pizza is supposed to look like.
When: Opened in 1949
Where: 4464 E Main St, Whitehall
Website: Massey’s Pizza
Tommy’s Pizza (1952)
What: Tommy’s Pizza has been providing authentic, delicious pizza since the 1950s. Founder Thomas Iacono grew up in Silver Creek, New York, in a first-generation Sicilian family, and brought the family recipes with him when he landed in Columbus after World War II.
When: Opened in 1952
Where: 1350 W Lane Ave, Upper Arlington
Website: Tommy’s Pizza
Rubino’s Pizza (1954)
What: Rubino’s has been in the same Bexley storefront since 1954 and acts like it. The crust is thin and cracker-crisp, and the room hasn’t changed in decades. It’s cash only, so hit the ATM first.
When: Opened in 1954
Where: 2643 E Main St, Bexley
Website: Rubino’s Pizza
Chef-O-Nette (1955)
What: Chef-O-Nette closed in 2024 for a top-to-bottom renovation and reopened in June 2025. Mike Purdum, who founded Old Bag of Nails, runs it now with his family, and they’re only the third owners in the restaurant’s seventy years. Breakfast still runs all day, and the drive-thru window, one of the first in the nation when it opened, still works if you order carryout.
When: Opened in 1955
Where: 2090 Tremont Center, Upper Arlington
Website: Chef-O-Nette
The Top (1955)
What: This midcentury throwback is truly one of a kind. The Top, which was opened by the owners of the legendary Kahiki, will have you feeling extremely realistic Mad Men vibes. In fact, The Top is so authentically old school that one pianist, the legendary Sonia Modes, held the piano bar from 1965 all the way to 2020. The piano is still the centerpiece of the room.
When: Opened in 1955
Where: 2891 E Main St, Columbus
Website: The Top
Ding Ho (1956)
What: This Cantonese restaurant has been serving families on the west side of Columbus for decades. Generations of families, including many friends of mine growing up on the west side, have been going to Ding Ho.
When: Opened in 1956
Where: 120 Phillipi Rd, Columbus
Website: Ding Ho
Varsity Club (1959)
What: The Varsity Club has been the pregame stop on Lane Avenue since 1959, and the Mollica family has run it since 1973. On football Saturdays the patio is shoulder to shoulder hours before kickoff; the rest of the year it’s a neighborhood bar and grill that sits up the street from Ohio Stadium.
When: Opened in 1959
Where: 278 W Lane Ave, Columbus
Website: Varsity Club
Plank’s Bier Garten (1960)
What: Willie Plank, son of the Walter Plank behind the Parsons Avenue original, opened this South High Street beer garden in 1960. It’s the more social of the two Plank’s, with a patio that fills up whenever German Village gets decent weather.
When: Opened in 1960
Where: 888 S High St, Columbus
Website: Plank’s Bier Garten
Red Door Tavern (1964)
What: The Red Door has been Grandview’s neighborhood tavern since 1964. Burgers, cold beer, dark wood, and regulars who’ve kept the same barstools for decades.
When: Opened in 1964
Where: 1736 W 5th Ave, Columbus
Website: Red Door Tavern
Schmidt’s (1967)
What: What started as a meatpacking plant in German Village has grown into one of the most iconic restaurants in the city. Schmidt’s may have been making sausages in the 1880s, but their first venture into restaurants was in 1914 when they opened a concession at The Ohio State Fair. Although it wasn’t until decades later when the German Village location opened its doors, Schmidt’s, in one form or another, has been a part of Columbus for over a century.
When: Opened in 1967
Where: 240 E Kossuth St, Columbus
Website: Schmidt’s
(More of the best places to eat in German Village)
Wing’s (1970)
What: The restaurant at 2801 E Main St has been serving Chinese-American food since 1930, when it opened as the Far East. Wing Yee, who came to the U.S. in 1947 and worked there for years, took over the space in 1970 and put his name on it. The menu is old-school Chinese-American and proud of it.
When: The Far East since 1930; Wing’s since 1970
Where: 2801 E Main St, Columbus
Website: Wing’s
Windward Passage (1973)
What: Craving that old-school seafood and maybe a side of cottage cheese? The 1970s are alive and well at Windward Passage. This decades-old restaurant is nautical in theme and super fun in vibes.
When: Serving since 1973
Where: 4739 Reed Rd, Upper Arlington
Website: Windward Passage
York Steakhouse (1974)
What: York Steakhouse was a megachain in 1970s-1980s suburban America. The last remaining location is on West Broad Street, and it’s truly a portal back in time.
When: Opened in 1974
Where: 4220 W Broad St, Columbus
Website: York Steakhouse
Refectory Restaurant (1976)
What: The Refectory has been an iconic restaurant in Columbus for many years and is, let’s be honest, possibly the fanciest place we have to grab a bite to eat. This old church turned award-winning French restaurant has seen many special occasions throughout the years.
When: A restaurant since 1976; The Refectory since 1981
Where: 1092 Bethel Rd, Columbus
Website: Refectory Restaurant
Tommy’s Diner (1989)
What: Tommy’s Diner is an institution in this city, well beyond the Instagram moment. There’s something about stopping in Tommy’s for breakfast that feels a little bit like coming home, and that’s why they’ll hopefully be in business forever.
When: Opened in 1989
Where: 914 West Broad St, Columbus
Website: Tommy’s Diner
