Katalina's, Too! — Restaurant in Columbus

First time visiting Katalina’s after it came highly recommended from the Columbus subreddit as a good brunch spot. We initially tried to go to the downtown location but they had had an electrical fire and were only doing pickup, so we drove the extra 10 minutes to get to Clintonville.

It was busy and there was a line which is usually a good sign. The parking situation is a bit wonky, you have to go past Katalina’s and down an alley that’s only accessible from one side of the restaurant feeder streets to park in back. Go in through the back door, and someone takes your name to be put on the waitlist for dine in. There were maybe 5-6 groups in front of us and we waited about 25 minutes.

First - the experience - We ordered, GF got Dulce de leche pancake balls, sweet and spicy bacon and a side order of elote. I got the breakfast tacos with chorizo.

After you order you are given a number and told to seat yourself. We went outside and were pleased to see the host who took our name cleaning off the only available outside table, but when we got close he said it was reserved. Weird - there was no indication anywhere I could see where there was a process to reserve tables. As far as we saw it was first come first serve but maybe we just didn’t ask/see. Whatever - we went back inside and sat down at the only available inside table which happened to be right next to the service entrance. We watched as the family of 3 that had arrived just after us were seated at the outside table we were told was reserved. We also watched as they were served food before us and the couple sat immediately before us. I don’t want to make any assumptions about their situation or why they were singled out for what appeared to be special treatment, but in the moment the optics did not look good to first time customers. Staff was otherwise friendly and personable in our interactions.

Onto the food:

My tacos were tasty - The shells were awesome, craggy and soft and crunchy in all the right spots, but the chorizo was flavorless and not at all how you typically expect chorizo to be. If you had asked me to guess the ingredients on a blind taste test I would have had a hard time identifying it. The hot sauce offering at the table is good, and saved them from being overly bland.

The elote was not our style - the corn was amazing by itself, but it was covered with what was billed as Parmesan on the menu but tasted closer to better cheddar powder and was so fine it made the mouthfeel of each bite gritty and ruined it. Girlfriend and I are huge fans of elote and were both not feeling it.

Her pancake balls were exactly as described. Slightly larger than a golf ball each - crispy outside crust, dense moist inner batter + filling. The filling was 10/10 but I prefer a fluffier batter - it’s a likely a result of the ball shape so no big deal - it’s why I didn’t get them myself. She enjoyed them.

Bacon was thick cut and had a chewy jerky like consistency. Flavor was awesome, meaty and a hint of sweetness and a little spicy. I thought it was excellent, but the GF wanted something a bit more crispy.

Overall it wasn’t bad, but the reserved table thing left a bad taste in my mouth, and the food wasn’t especially good to compensate for the little inconveniences that...

Three strikes and you’re out for Katalina’s Clintonville.

My husband and I have loved Katalina’s since we lived in Harrison West and frequented their third Street location. The food is a bit pricey and the wait/lines can be long, but the food is great and made the experience worthwhile for us.

Unfortunately, post Covid, we have tried to eat at the Clintonville location multiple times and have been denied service long before the posted closing times.

The first time we were denied, we arrived at about half an hour to close and were told that they had too many online orders and they would not be able to serve us. Frustrating but OK. The next time, we arrive approximately 45 minutes to posted closing times and were told the kitchen is already closed because they were closing early that day. Very confusing, and frustrating, but OK. Today we arrived at Katalinas just over an hour before posted closing time, keeping in mind what we have been told previously about the kitchen closing early. Once again we were told they were closing early. We were told we could order our food for takeout, but we were not allowed to eat there inside or out.

As we stood there waiting for our food, we watched them turn away numerous guests who had presumably checked the hours online and were confused why the restaurant was already closed. As people were still eating and waiting on their meals, the staff was in full clean/close mode. Taking out the trash, vacuuming, cleaning the tables, restrooms. My husband, having worked in restaurant kitchens before was very weary of the level of cleaning that was occurring while food was still being prepared, so he was watching the kitchen staff closely as they shutdown the kitchen while preparing meals. He saw one of the kitchen workers using a solution to clean the griddles, then without changing gloves or washing his hands, grab cheese slices and put them on a sandwich. At that point we immediately canceled our order and asked for a refund. The manager apologized and immediately obliged. Today is a holiday, so if this had been the only time we have experienced these issues, we would have given grace, however it unfortunately was not.

Katalinas is too expensive to have such a poor guest experience. The staff is rude and almost frustrated that you are trying to order from them. The manager handled the situation well, she ran out to speak to us as we were leaving and was sincerely apologetic. We are disappointed to have to write this review, however, the point of these reviews is to advise other guests and unfortunately we are not able to recommend...

I was there around St Patrick's day with my mom and honestly I forgot until Google prompted me but I'm glad it did.

Food wasn't anything to write home about but it wasn't bad, either.

Service was fine but you could tell they were understaffed, which is part of the world right now and I in no way blame workers. Employers need to offer more than a paycheck but that's neither here nor there.

Here's the one star. The owner was so rude and awful to the employees while we were right there. I hate to think how she acts in private. I know she was the owner because I asked another server if that was the manager and this person (who did not serve us so will not be in trouble if found on my receipt) said the was the OWNER.

Never again. I don't care if you serve Michelin star food in here I'm NOT supporting an owner who owns a business just to degrade others. Bye.

Edit: The reply from Katalina's is insisting I'm incorrect, that she wasn't even there that week while the place was open. I do not know exactly what day I was there, but regardless I'm sure that the person I spoke to didn't just make up that the person who was rude was the owner lol. It was in passing, as the person was walking through she was being rude and nasty to an employee. So sure, there is absolutely no way that the owner happened to walk through her Cafe. Much more likely that they lied to me about who she was. (Sarcasm) Just further reiterates my decision to not go back.

Heaven forbid you apologize to someone. Hope this place suffers and they can blame lazy workers or some other bull while Katalina is the problem. Went ahead and shared my thoughts on another platform and several people from Columbus agreed or said they would not be going here based on this and other stories they have heard from friends. Keep the...