Brunch Review: Spagio's in Columbus, OH
My brother was in town last weekend, and being inspired by my previous two brunch reviews, decided that some "Is it breakfast, or is it lunch?"-y goodness was in order. So last Sunday morning we went over to Spagio's in Grandview, the closest thing I have to a "default" brunch place in Columbus, and this Sunday morning (after visiting for a second weekend in a row!) he has reminded me that I never got around to writing up what I think of brunch at Spagio's.
First off, Spagio's is one of my favorite restaurants in Columbus. It is one of the default places several people in the astronomy department take visitors (colloquium speakers, prospective graduate students, and the like); I unequivocally recommend it for dinner. The restaurant is attached to a decent wine store, so the wine selection is understandably good (and unlike many restaurants, they have a decent list of wines they serve by the glass). The decor is kind of random: there are hammocks hanging from the ceiling (which certainly hundreds of people who have dined there never noticed), random art hanging on the walls (including a weird wooden sculpture of a pig's head and a napkin one of the restaurant's owner's [or the chef's?] friends spilled some wine on and then went to town on turning into Art), and generally just an eclectic collection of decorations which somehow jive together into a neat atmosphere. Pretty much everything I've tried there for dinner I've enjoyed, so it was a natural choice for a first attempt at brunch in Columbus.
So, brunch. Spagio's is a few doors down from Columbus's Stauf's Coffee, and so that is what they serve. Delicious. Unfortunately, this is Ohio, and so no alcohol can be served before 1pm. So much for a bloody Mary for my brother. My normal fare is the croissant French toast with maple cream cheese; oh gods it's so good. Last week I decided to try to jump out of my comfort zone, and I tried the steak and eggs. The steak was fine, but the eggs were kind of flaky and weird and I didn't end up eating them. My brother at least enjoyed his eggs a la maison ("it was food"), but generally I was unimpressed last week. But hey, if someone else is willing to pay for it, I wouldn't turn it down. Just stick to the French toast.
1 comment:
I used to work at Spagio and I could give you a laundry list of reasons why you shouldn't eat there. First off, the Chef and His wife are some of the meanest people in the city. Hubert is a RAGING alcoholic and around noon, once he's good and buzzing, he'll come out and swoon the diners, drink with them, and then begin to publically undercut the staff. Usually this will lead to some lude and invasive comment to the female staff or insults to the men. Since the entire staff is scared shitless, no one ever says anything for fear of being humiliated in front of a restaurant full of people. They also make the morning staff come in early once a month (while paying them the server wage-now $3.10/hr.) and make them deep clean the entire dining area of the restaurant. (That is illegal by the way).
Oh, and the rolls you get...they're recycled. If you leave a roll in your bread basket after dinner, they will take it and put it back to serve to other guests.
So not to completely crash your admiration for the restaurant, but I cannot believe they have managed to stay open and be such a staple in Granview with the crap they pull inside those 4 walls.
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