Of course we can’t move on from The Arnold without talking about the Columbus, OH food. Before we even left, we picked up about 3 pounds of Ono Kine Grindz Char Siu Chicken, 5 BBQ Kalbi ribs, and one pound of grilled Salmon with mango salsa for the road. We were able to avoid fast food crap on our 8 hour ride and came into Columbus full of yummy protein. We also had an amazing breakfast the next day with the rest of our meat and some oatmeal we brought along. Mmmmmm. Score one for the Hawaiians. By the time we rolled in Friday night I was exhausted. We passed a cute little sign about a block away of the Little Palace and thought about walking down but honestly, I just wanted a burger and a beer and my bed. So we had a burger downstairs in the hotel. We DID get some tasty beer and chatted it up with the very sweet bartender who had been working their for 27 years. I thought that was pretty cool.
The next day I saw a post on Terri Ventress’ FB saying how good the Little Palace was. Awwww damn, we missed out. But later that day, after watching the pro’s throw for a bit (in the warmth and sunshine, but I’m not bitter;) we walked over and had some snacks. The Poutine was the best I’ve had south of the border. SRSLY. And it came out quick. They had some great local beers and Matt enjoyed a smoked Saison which was new for us. The double cheeseburger sliders were the best in burger category I’ve had since leaving Texas. SRSLY. People in Wisconsin go to different places for the “best” burger and it’s shit. Well, maybe not shit. But it’s not the best. It’s bad burger meat. Cooked badly. Without flavor. Yuck. I’ve mourned the hamburger since leaving Texas and just about cried tears of burger joy upon my first bite. (Ya, I know, drama much?) It was a great stop and just a pre-cursor of things to come.
We had scoped out the Schmidt’s sausage house when KCon told us about it and knew we had to go. Yes, we waited for a while to get in…at a bar down the street. Wasn’t hard. And it was soooooo worth it…
Sausage fest buffet and creme puffs. Giddy up. The only bad thing was that the leftover sugar treats got trampled in the Games tent the next day. RIP creme puffs, RIP. The meal was so perfect I couldn’t even stand it. A hearty German beer topped it all off and it was such an amazing night. OH! While we were waiting for our sausage table, we popped over to the Hausfrau Haven for some wine and beer. It was an excellent stop and the bartender took great care of us, even telling us we needed some chocolate with our tasty bottle of Bordeaux so he brought us some. M&Ms, plain. Score.
At this point, it’s hard to pick a favorite. What we didn’t know, is that we weren’t done. After throwing on Sunday, we were talking with fellow thrower (and 3rd place winner!) Melanie and her hubby Dustin. Dustin was talking about some joint just a few miles away that makes grilled cheese sammiches with all types of nummies on them. Huh? You had Bigg at grilled cheese. Matt had the menu up on his phone in record time and said, ‘Ya, we’re doin’ that.’ (He’s decisive like that.) We exchanged digits with Mel and Dustin in the event that our timing worked to share the meal (which it did, and was awesome) and went on our way.
Upon entering Melt, you are bombarded with visual delights of past menu’s and holiday plastic light up thingies…
It was such a blast. They have great local beers on tap and in spite of bartenders who didn’t want to serve us (silly girls, we are big tippers. But not to you) we eventually settled into our table with Zac the waiter and he took good care of us. The grilled cheese sammiches were off the hook and it was one of the best post games meals ever! Both Mel and I went with the War Pig sammich.
It didn’t suck.
Though we had a sub par breakfast at the hotel before heading out, we shared it with our friend Jenn which made it one of the best breakfasts ever. Overall I’d give the Columbus food an A+. One for the books, but thank goodness I don’t live there or I’d weight 4000 pounds. True story.
OH! I guess we need some jams, being Friday and such.
Enjoy the weekend.
One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.
Virgina Woolf
tosabarbell 