If you’re looking for a fun and tasty spot to visit some weekend, I would highly recommend the North Market in Columbus’s Short North. Just a fifteen minute car trip (or short COTA ride) away, the North Market is a Columbus favorite. I first heard about this place from my peer advisor in my survey class and was super excited to check it out. When my dad came down for parents’ weekend, we decided to give it a try.
The basic set-up is this huge warehouse in which vendors of food and other various merchandise rent a booth. It’s essentially a large restaurant with multiple tiny restaurants inside. There is an option for literally anyone and everyone! No matter what time of day, one can find breakfast, lunch, dinner or dessert options. If you like ethnic food, you can find an Indian, Italian, Tai, Belgian or Lebanese stand. There are even little “markets” of meat, fish and cheese where you can grocery shop.
We spent a decent amount of time just walking around and gazing at all the delicious options before deciding what to eat. I went with Pastaria, which makes their own pasta noodles. You could pick your kind of noodle, sauce and toppings. My dad traveled upstairs to Hot Chicken Takeover, which I’ve been told is the best chicken ever (sorry, Canes). His food took a little longer, but he absolutely loved his chicken sandwich. Afterwards, we had to make another loop around to scope out the desserts. Destination Donuts caught my eye for their very large and gorgeous donuts. Their flavors were not just your average glazed donut, although that was an option, but raspberry hibiscus and chocolate peanut butter as well. We grabbed a to-go box of four!
Overall, the North Market wasn’t too crowded, and there was ample seating upstairs for everyone. It was a great place for friends and family to chill and get really yummy food. I haven’t been back yet, but I definitely will return; there was too much food I wanted to try! So, the next time you’re hungry and in need of a cool place to visit, hop on the COTA and take it to the North Market.