The Mercury Diner — Restaurant in Columbus

I spent Easter weekend with Framily in Columbus. While there, I was lucky enough to reconnect with a friend I hadn't seen for about 16 years. After walking our dogs along the river, he took me Mercury Diner. What a phenomenal experience!! It was Easter morning (yes, I passed on church this year... Just wasn't feeling very churchy). Anyway, they of course were quite busy and invited us to sit at the bar until a table was ready. Kendall (I believe was her name) greeted us with great kindness, and I was happy to see they had a great selection of local craft beers. So I got my beer and my buddy got his coffee, but pretty much immediately, the host came and told us they had a cancellation so we got a table. We were very blessed to be seated in Ava's section. Ava is a very friendly charismatic soul in the masters social work program at OSU. I think that says a lot about her kind personality there. Anyway, after not having seen my dear friend for about 16 years, we were ready to settle in a bit. I always tell a server this just so they are prepared. We tried our best to tip well enough for the time we spent, however, Ava didn't care in the least. She welcomed us with open arms and made sure we knew that there was absolutely no rush. I'm actually in the hospitality industry and there is a difference in just having a good meal and drinks at a place. Rather, my mantra is that I want people to leave with a wonderful experience. Ava definitely had this mentality, and she was an absolute pleasure. We were able to have just the morning we were hoping. We sat and talked and talked while Ava checked on us from time to time, but, again, she warmly gave us all the time we wanted and needed to reconnect. Her service was impeccable, and the food...outstanding! I went with what seems to be a favorite and here is the description from the menu.

Hermes' Loaded Hash Don’t shoot the messenger! Feed him our signature hash loaded with seasoned home fries, sautéed peppers, onions, mushrooms, spinach, fresh chives, dill, and parsley and topped with two over easy eggs and avocado slices.

That combination was so delicious and savory! I love breakfast and this topped off our incredible experience (my first) at Mercury Diner. I would definitely try the Hermes, and I would also request Ava as a server if you want to complete your experience for a perfect 10.

Thanks Ava (and the rest of the...

Good things: I have eaten here twice now once a few months ago with my husband and sister. We all loved the decor and vibe. Vegetarian options are awesome! I got breakfast the first visit with vegetarian biscuits and gravy and was really impressed. Yesterday I got the garlic bread grilled cheese and tomato soup with a side salad. Again the food was delicious! The bad: Both times the service was extremely slow. Extremely. The first time I visited they were pretty busy so I thought maybe it was just because of that, the waitress was really nice and seemed to be busy so I chalked it up to a once in a time thing. Yesterday my son and I visited a little after noon. The place was pretty empty we were seated right away and given water. I ordered a coffee which came very fast but given no creamer by the time I got creamer my coffee wasn't very hot (I had to ask another waitress that happened to walk by for creamer)I still drank it but in the whole time we were there (over an hour) I was never given any more coffee or asked if I wanted a refill. My son and I finished our food and waited a long time for a bill. I finally decided to go to the restroom and hope to get the attention of our waiter because my son had an appointment at children's at 2:30 and at this time it was 2! I locked eyes with the waiter coming out of the bathroom who was just leaning against the bar texting on his phone. Finally a few minutes later he brought over the handheld thing to pay I asked for a container for my son's sandwich and paid for the food (still left a decent tip which I regretted) and the waiter took some of our dishes and walked away. 5 minutes later we are still waiting on the container. The waiter is behind the bar putting dishes away so I walked over and said excuse me and he said "oh did you need something else?" I said "yes the container for my son's sandwich" he had completely forgotten and said "oh yeah I'm sorry" 🤦 we walked in this place a little after noon and made it to children's right across the street at 2:25! The service was bad enough that I would probably never return. I thought the first time was a fluke but whoever manages must not expect the best from their staff because this was twice of a...

The food is excellent. We had the omellete and the loaded hash with scrambled eggs and the pancake. The huge pancake was the star of the show. Hot, crispy and delicious.

I did feel abit uncomfortable with our server as she was abit abrupt and condescending at times.

We were told we could sit at the booth. My 2 year ols son accidently went into a booth and she shouted loudly that no no no thats a reserved table. I didn’t see any sign to say it was reserved, but the manner it was addressed embarrassed me as i was witb guests and there were other customers eating who looked over to see what happened.

I then ordered an Iced Vanilla Latte, when she brought it she clearly said if I want to adjust anything, such as the coffee amount, syrup or cream then let her know. I tried it and wanted the coffee abit stronger with another shot so sent it back.

She came back with creamer, coffee and syrup in seperate cups and said “next time you come, dont order the iced latte and just order a coffee so you get what you want instead of what a latte is.” She walked off before I could explain. It was said in a weirdly commanding , condscending way and I felt embarrassed again, especially infront of my guests who I had taken out for this meal.

It kindof ruined our morning and made me feel on edge not to upset her again. We just ate and left.

I really liked the food and was hoping to come again with my brother but Im...