Downtown Columbia has tons of restaurant choices, all packed with delicious food. If you are looking for something new to try, I have listed some of my favorite dishes at many of the choices that you can walk to from campus.
- Le Bao Asian eatery
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Le Bao has so many choices including bao, buns and ramen. My personal favorite is the Pork Belly Bun. The buns are made with the same fluffy dough as the bao, but are little mini sandwiches. The pork belly is extremely tender and almost melts in your mouth. The sauce on it is sweet but there is a smokey taste to the buns. They are on the smaller side, so you can get one bun and one bao, or try a couple of buns!
- Flat branch pub & brewing
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Flat Branch has so many different options, but my personal favorite is their Sausage and Chicken Bayou Pasta. It has some kick, which I love, and has a good mix of sausage and chicken, but my favorite part of the dish is the pasta and the spicy cajun cream sauce that it’s cooked in.
- Broadway Brewery
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Broadway Brewery‘s food is amazing, no matter what you choose. Every time I go I order their Porter Dip. It comes with pretzels to dip in their delicious beer cheese. I have gone with friends just to order it. The pretzels are perfectly warm and soft and the dip has the perfect blend of cheeses. For entrees, my favorite dish is their ‘Chicken Fried Chicken.’ It comes with the biggest, most tender piece of deliciously-breaded chicken smothered in gravy. I’ll even ask for extra gravy because I enjoy it that much.
- Cafe Poland
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This little building downtown is very unsuspecting but has so many little delish dishes. My absolute favorite is their ‘Potato and Farmer’s Cheese Pierogies.’ They come with sour cream, and I can eat a whole order of them myself (and more). The restaurant is owned by the cutest couple, and they make all the food themselves, so it’s like going to your Polish grandma’s house for food. They serve breakfast too, with sweet and savory crepes. My favorite crepe is the Eggs, Bacon and Ham Crepe.
- chim’s thai kitchen
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I love the Thai food here; I have been obsessed with Thai food ever since I took a trip to Thailand. I found a dish here that helps me remember my trip that I still dream about. I get the ‘Kang Dang’ with sticky rice. Kang Dang is a red curry dish and you can choose which kind of protein you want in it. I like to get chicken, and I love soaking the rice in the curry sauce. You can choose which spicy level, too. I like to get a middle level that is still spicy but only mildly burns my mouth.
- 44 canteen
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44 Canteen is a downtown staple. I am obsessed with the ‘Sloppy Disco Fries.’ It is on the many as an appetizer, but I get it as my meal because I like it that much. I have taken my friends and my family to try and enjoy the fries. The fries are shoestring fries with queso, chicken chorizo, pickled jalapeños and more cheese on top. They have some other really good options on their menu, but these fries are a must-try!
- Glenn’s Cafe
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There isn’t anything you can go wrong with at Glenn’s. From breakfast to dinner, they have delicious food all over their menu. The best thing on their breakfast menu is their ‘Chicken and Waffles.’ Their chicken is crispy and tender and you must dip it into the cayenne maple bacon syrup. If you like biscuits and gravy, you should try theirs as well. Their biscuits are homemade cheddar biscuits with gravy.
- The social room
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The Social Room is known amongst my friends as more of a bar, but if you don’t get anything from the kitchen, you are missing out. I love their pulled pork mac and cheese, called “The People’s Elbows.” The mac and cheese is made from scratch with a delicious pepper jack. The pulled pork is fresh from farmers in Missouri and is made in-house.
These are just a couple of examples of places I like to eat at and meals I enjoy here in Columbia. I recommend that while you are here in CoMo, you go and try as many foods as you can.