Ringside Café — Restaurant in Columbus

I met some co-workers here during Pearl Market at about 12:30 (just after their main lunch rush). I got stuck at work and asked them to go ahead of me. By the time I arrived, they were at a table outside and had just gotten their food. The waiter was extremely brusque, handing me a menu and demanding that I had to order immediately (I would understand if there were people waiting for tables, but there were empty tables all around us). I had never been here before, so I just picked the first thing I saw (a chicken sandwich) and ordered a water. I commented to my co-workers about how rude he was being, but they said that he was "just trying to be funny". I was not amused.

After waiting for about ten minutes, my co-workers let a passing waitress know that I was waiting for my water and my food. The waiter returned a few minutes later with my food but still no water. When I asked again for a water he seemed extremely irritated. I actually ended up apologizing for "bothering" him. At this point even my co-workers agreed that he was being rude to me. Everyone else loved their meals, but in my opinion my sandwich was only okay, and the kettle chips were inedible. When the waitress came back with our checks she proudly announced that she had not charged us for drinks (which made no real difference because out of the six of us only one had ordered anything other than water).

I usually would give an "okay" meal another chance, but given the rude treatment from the waiter I will likely never go...

BEST burger I've had in a long time! You might say what's the big deal about a burger? Burgers are just burgers. However, if you like your stuff medium rare & bitten in to the middle of a med-rare burger just to find it raw...gross, you know how a nicely prepared med-rare burger can be tough to get when the burger is about ½" thick. Mine was topped with coleslaw (not the mayonnaisey disgusting kind). Ringside Cafe's slaw has a light mayo base which was just a little sweet but kept the veggies crunchy and delicious! I'm not much of a potato chip person so when my burger came loaded with fresh home made chips, I set them aside & got to work on the behemoth burger! The burger was so large I wrapped up ½ to take home for later, which was tough cuz I just wanted to keep eating & eating. Was motivated by thinking about having rest of it the next day. Decided to try one of the chips, could not believe how delicious it was, I ate the rest! I'm lucky I live 1½ hours away, I would go back right now (& keep going back) for more of those chips. I will next time I'm in Columbus! My daughter, who lives in Columbus, took me to the Ringside restaurant. I might not have found it otherwise. It's down an alley, which adds to it's old school charm. It's worth looking for! Look at it like it's a treasure hunt, because this restaurant is definitely a gem!

PARKING: Even though there are no parking meters you still need to pay for parking, look for the Kiosk -...

While in Columbus Ohio today. Tony and I opted to have lunch at Ringside Cafe located in an alley off third street downtown near Capital building.

First of its kind style standing today,, built in 1895.

There was some construction going on that hinder us a bit. No parking lot but was able to find on street meter. There are some tables outside for dining [ in the underconstruction alley] Or very nice wooden high back narrow boothes Inside very tight,but you can definitely feel like you stepped back into time.

Stained glass windows, one of elephant and donkey (old political party symbols) Tony ordered " the brown bomber" burger well done with Swiss cheese and mushrooms and fries. I went with Cajun Chicken Sandwich with deep fried homemade chips.

The food was wonderful. Tony enjoyed 2 PBR beers and I had a Coca Cola. It came to $35 with tips, taxes but I had snagged a Groupon Coupon for $20 off for only $9. So, my final payment at restaurant was only $15. Great food, great service, great historical experience definitely recommend and will definitely go...