Northstar Cafe in the Short North — Restaurant in Columbus

The Northstar Cafe is a quick service breakfast spot in downtown Columbus in the Short North area. This cafe has a sizable outside seating area with a great view of High Street that is noticeable as you walk into the establishment. Not realizing it was a quick service restaurant and worried about the morning brunch rush on Sunday morning I bypassed the empty line and got one of the few seats remaining to wait for a friend I was meeting. After she arrived, I began to wonder why none of the servers would stop by my table and take my order. I finally stopped the server that first greeted me when I came in and he informed me I was supposed to order when I walked in and someone would eventually bring the order to the table I chose.

What was once an empty line became a busy line just 10 minutes after I walked in. The server I talked to kindly took my order with my credit card up front so we didn't have to get back in line and wait to make an order. I decided to order " The Cowboy Breakfast" which consisted of two scrambled organic Ohio eggs, two house made breakfast sausages, and a large buttermilk biscuit. I also ordered a drink called "The Shooting Star". The drink tasted like a carrot flavored V8 instead of the tomatoes and much sweeter. The natural sweetness of the carrots, the citrus of the orange, and the tart flavor of the lemons made a subtlety sweet morning beverage that was also refreshing. That is something I cannot say about regular V8 and other healthy beverages.

When my ordered arrived after a short waiting time. They mistakenly put the Applewood smoked bacon on my plate instead of the breakfast sausages I had ordered. After informing the server, the breakfast sausages arrived at my table a few minutes later. As a bonus I was able to keep the bacon. I tried the biscuit first and it was warm and moist. It pretty much melted in my mouth. The bacon was cooked well and you could taste that slight sweetness from being smoked in apple wood. I'm not much of an egg eater, but I enjoyed the eggs. The eggs were fluffy and airy, as well as soft. The sausages well seasoned and not dry for being small patties. However, the patties were a little smaller than I would have liked. The Northstar cafe is more on the higher end when it comes to pricing. It is definitely not a cheap breakfast place and not some place I would come to every week, however the food is really good and it is a nice place to visit every...

Frustrated to say the least. My family and I absolutely LOVE North Star. But that past 2 times we have went were VERY disappointing. The first time only being a minor not normally a common problem but.... our buns looked like they have decided to take a nice summer swim in butter and after patiently waiting for our curbside pick-up NO-ONE, not once came out to us. We shook it off, went in and grabbed our food; it happens, and decided to just remove the bun due to the butter bath. Upsetting but moved on.

Alright... now this time..... I decided to click on the 'dairy free' button while ordering my fish sandwich... To be honest, what I really wanted was NO or light butter so I didn't run into the same issue; but there are no options for this so 'dairy free' it was. Went to pick-up our food...patiently waited...once again, NO ONE. :/ Ok, so we go in pick up our food.

Go home and this is what I got check out the photos.

My bun which was not a bun - it was focaccia bread. I was NOT stoked about this, I do wish this was posted under the 'no dairy' so I could have been prepared for the change but alright, focaccia is fine I guess :/

Picks up sand-which = instant anger, regret, and sadness because the focaccia was litterally burnt and OOZING OIL. OOZING. WHYYYYYYYYY :( & my side of sauce... I put more Ketchup on a toddlers plate than what I received.

Like I said I LOVE. North Star. I limit my intake because my wallet is not exactly jumping for joy with the prices. However, I am willing to pay there price for what normally is QUALITY, DELCIOUS, YUMMYNESS food. This trip left my family dis-uhhhhhh-pointed to...

TLDR: Food fantastic, service inconsistent.

When I arrived, I waited to be seated as there was no one near the door. After a few minutes, someone came over and informed me this is "cafe style," where you order at the counter and take a seat (except if you sit at the bar, I learned).

I ordered the sweet potato & turkey hash and a side of bacon. While the gentleman who took my order didn't ask, hash traditionally is over-easy eggs. When they arrived, the eggs were over-hard. I tried to flag down someone to ask about it. I made eye contact several times and was ignored until the bartender saw me not eating and asked if I needed assistance. She brought the dish back to the kitchen, and the gentleman who took my initial order brought it back asking if I just wanted new eggs or a remake (I had only cut the egg, so really I neither understood the question or why the kitchen wouldn't just take the eggs off and put over-easy eggs on it).

When my remade breakfast arrived, it was absolutely delicious. The bartender offered me a baked item on the house to make up for the eggs. It was greatly appreciated - but all I wanted as a to-go coffee.

The bartender completely made up for the service experience I had with the rest of the staff. I didn't catch her name, but I hope the managers can deduce who was on the bar...