Pulling up to the Ohio Deli, we were surprised by the lack of parking. Showing up to lunch at the fashionably late hour of 1:30 p.m. or so typically rewards us with a pretty nice parking space. This was not the case here. Not only was the parking lot completely full, all of the quasi parking spaces that you are only allowed to use when there is no other option were taken as well. There was already a guy double parked by the entrance and someone had already crammed their vehicle in between the fence and the dumpster.
The bank next door looked like a good option, but they must have also noticed this; there were “No Deli Parking” signs everywhere. This is a bit ridiculous because, unless they are expecting a run on their branch, why do they need 40 empty parking spaces? After spotting a group that had finished their lunch (and waiting for a passenger to smoke an ENTIRE cigarette while standing next to the idling car) we scored a spot and headed inside.
Once inside we were quickly seated by one of the three different servers that we would have for the afternoon. The first server was very polite and accommodating. It was the second one who broke our hearts. She delivered the unfortunate news that this deli was out of pastrami. How can a deli run out of pastrami?
We ordered a side of sauerkraut balls to munch on while we mulled over the abundance of options listed in the surprisingly large menu. The sauerkraut balls were pretty tasty, but obviously of the frozen variety. This left a bit of lingering suspicion about the product heading into the main course.
Now, on to the breakdown.
Juror # 12
Having seen the Man vs. Food episode filmed in Columbus and read a lot of stories on the Internet, I was very curious to see what all the fuss was about. However, I did not order a Dagwood. To be completely frank, the sandwich just doesn’t look very good. I saw a few of them heading out to tables while contemplating my order and it reminded me of the sandwich you see in the grocery store deli: big random piles of cold cuts sliced thin and stacked high.
After finding out that pastrami was off, I did not back down from my original decision. I ordered a sandwich called the “Manhattan,” which promised corned beef and pastrami with swiss on rye. I substituted roast beef for the pastrami. The sandwich came out and I was relived to find thick, juicy slices of meat that were definitely made in house. The roast beef was moist and flavorful and the corned beef was juicy and delicious. My only complaint was the tomato, which was as close to being ripe as a grocery store peach.
The coleslaw was extremely bland and below average. On a side note, why are good sides so hard to find in a deli around Columbus? Right now, the sides at W.G. Grinders surpass anything I have seen. Anyway, the service was also below average and my partner’s soup was questionably close to containing bad seafood. The last straw was the milkshake I ordered to-go. There isn’t a nice way to say this so I’ll just come out with it: the worst milkshake I’ve ever had.
Verdict: 4/8 PJs
The deliciousness of the roast beef saved the place (I still can’t believe they didn’t have any pastrami).
Juror # 11
The Ohio Deli & Restaurant was very busy when we got there – so busy we had to wait for someone to leave in order to get a parking spot, which caused our trip to be 15 minutes longer then it should have been. We were seated rather quickly, but the service was terribly slow. The whole experience took about an hour and forty minutes.
The first thing we had to eat was deep-fried sauerkraut balls, which were pretty good; although, it seemed like they were prepackaged, which kind of became the theme throughout the meal. I then made the mistake of ordering their clam chowder. It was awful; I couldn’t even finish it.
I was excited about the reuben I ordered because they said the corned beef was cooked in house. The problem was there was barely any beef on the sandwich. The other problem was the sauerkraut was just average canned stuff, and the thousand island dressing tasted suspiciously like the Kroger brand. The beef was pretty good though, but everything else about the sandwich was kind of a disaster.
I wish the menu or server would have let me know the sandwich came with a heaping side of Ruffles potato chips so I could have upgraded to french fries. At the end of the meal, I ordered a strawberry milkshake, which was almost as bad as the clam chowder. I couldn’t finish it either. The whole experience was an utter disappointment, especially after all the positive reviews and comments I read about the place.
Verdict: 2/8 PJs
Maybe 3 if I wasn’t so excited about going there in the first place.
