Three-course meals on a deal. What local spots are doing for Columbus Restaurant Week

Columbus foodies can participate in a campaign to support locally owned businesses while tasting what a variety of restaurants have to offer during this year’s Restaurant Week beginning July 17.

Participating restaurants offer three-course, pre-fixed menus at set prices that do not include taxes, tips or the cost of drinks.

The event began seven years ago when Katie Bishop, co-founder of Yalla Public Relations, and her business partner wanted an event to celebrate the culinary scene in Columbus.

“We also knew, because we’re a marketing company, that a lot of these restaurants don’t have a lot of extra dollars to spend on marketing a lot of the time,” Bishop told the Ledger-Enquirer.

The idea was to raise enough community dollars to put together a marketing campaign for locally owned and operated restaurants, she said. Seven years later the event, sponsored by U.S. Foods and Scofflaw Brewery among others, is one of the busiest weeks for most of the participating restaurants, Bishop said.

“It’s completely free for restaurants to participate,” she said. “We even have people participating in Ellerslie and Phenix City. So, it’s really the Chattahoochee Valley area.”

Here’s a look at some of the businesses participating in Columbus Restaurant Week 2023 that will run from July 17 through July 23.

Foodies can view the full list of restaurants and menus being offered this year on Yalla’s website.

The Food Mill

The Food Mill operates under the nonprofit UGROW, Inc., which is working to create a more sustainable and equitable food system.

This restaurant’s mission aims to help eliminate barriers that lead to food insecurity in Columbus with a focus on community wellness.

The Food Mill partners with organizations and receives donations from Columbus Botanical Gardens, Feeding the Valley and MercyMed Farm to source local food that is used to create “Mindfully Tailored Meals” that can be ordered from its website.

These meals are prepared to meet the medical needs of people who have one or more diet-related illnesses such as diabetes or heart disease.

The Food Meal has not yet posted its Restaurant Week prefixed menu.

The Farm House

There’s a farmhouse about 30 minutes away from Columbus in Ellerslie where foodies participating in Restaurant Week can find traditional southern food.

The Farm House recently closed its kitchen to the public and transitioned into a full-time event venue. But next week foodies must make a reservation to try the kitchen’s Restaurant Week menu.

For $42, customers can choose between chicken and broccoli casserole and meat loaf, three sides, and a dessert.

This 200 year-old former share cropper’s home became The Farm House in 1981 when it became a “gathering place for those who want to return home,” according to the venue’s website.

Trevioli

Foodies interested in an Italian meal can make reservations at either the Trevioli location on Blackmon Road or at the Rapids on Front Avenue.

Trevioli was founded in 2013 by Trevor and Brandi Morris.

“There was no room for signage,” reads the restaurant’s website. “So the customers who supported the restaurant were typically there because someone they knew sent them our way.”

The family-owned restaurant expanded and moved into the larger location on Blackmon Road in 2017 before opening the second location on Front Avenue in 2020.

Both locations will serve the same menu for Restaurant Week featuring Porcini Mushroom Ravioli with sliced New York Strip along with salad and a dessert for $38.

Epic Restaurant

Epic Restaurant was one of 11 restaurants to receive a Distinguished Restaurant of North America Award this year.

The award is one of the most prestigious awards for fine dining, and 686 restaurants across the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean have won one.

Columbus foodies can try Epic’s fine dining experience out for themselves during Restaurant Week for $50. The menu features two “chapters” and an “index” that offers a choice of the gluten-free Chocolate Decadence or the Lemon Meringue Pie.

Golden Donut

Foodies with a sweet tooth can visit Golden Donut to satisfy their cravings.

The donut shop suspended operations at its Manchester Expressway location in 2021 because of the pandemic. After it closed, three local families — the Waldrops, the Callaways and the Mileys — banded together to renovate and reopen Golden Donut.

Then, at the end of last year, the donut shop expanded with a second location in the former Burger King in Midtown on Macon Road.

The shop’s Restaurant Week menu features a parfait, hand-spun shakes and original glazed donuts.