Rankings

Best Unique Dining Experiences in Columbus, Ohio

Great food. Real reviews. A stronger 614.

Photo: Niagara66, CC BY-SA 4.0

Best Unique Dining Experiences in Columbus, Ohio

We ranked seven Columbus restaurants whose format is the reason to go: a counter where the chef sets the courses, a charcoal oven, a 10th floor rooftop that becomes a club, and German Village rooms with long histories. We built this list from each restaurant's own website and menus, read on October 30 and 31 for format, prices, seating times, hours and history, then matching addresses and phone numbers to those pages. Every detail below comes from what the restaurants publish, not from our own meals, and we did not visit for this list. Where a menu page looked out of date or listed only event dishes, we left the prices out rather than guess. Book ahead for the counter and the rooftops, since both publish limited times.

7 experiences

2026 Winners Winners announced Sep 17, 2026 Picks by Bart Rian

2026 Best Overall
2026 Best Overall
Schmidt's Sausage Haus und Restaurant storefront with 1886 crest in German Village

Photo: Niagara66, CC BY-SA 4.0

Schmidt's Sausage Haus

German Village institution German Village

Since 1886 on East Kossuth: four family sausage recipes on one platter, then a Jumbo Cream Puff.

240 E Kossuth St, Columbus, OH 43206

  • Why it was picked:
  • Recipes from the 1886 Schmidt packing company
  • Bahama Mama sausage platter
  • Jumbo Cream Puffs
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Why Schmidt's Sausage Haus Is Our Best Overall Pick

Schmidt's Sausage Haus on East Kossuth Street traces its menu to J. Fred Schmidt Packing Company, the family meatpacking business that began in 1886 before the restaurant grew out of it. Its signature sausage platter puts four of those recipes on one plate, the spicy smoked Bahama Mama, the Milder Mama, bratwurst and knockwurst, over hot kraut. Dessert is the Jumbo Cream Puff. The German Village room is open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and until 9 p.m. Sunday and Monday, and the sausages ship nationwide.

Checked Oct 31, 2026, owner site and menu

  • Recipes from the 1886 Schmidt packing company
  • Bahama Mama sausage platter
  • Jumbo Cream Puffs

2026 Finalists