Columbus, OH Vegan Travel Guide
By all means I am not very familiar with the Midwest states, but I found myself in Columbus, Ohio twice in one year. Not necessarily by choice, but I was visiting my boyfriend, as he was stationed to work in Columbus for a few months. I was not sure what to expect in terms of the vegan food scene, but with the help of some suggestions from a friend I was able to find some great gems that I would happily hop on a plane for to go back to Columbus.
Cafes
I love myself a good cup of coffee and a pastry on the side just ties the knot. I always love to find great cafes wherever I may be traveling and I am happy that I found not 1 but 2 great places!
Fox in the Snow
This first place is located in the Short North area and it was decorated with an earthy, yet modern vibe. The space inside was well lit with natural lights flooding through the windows and they even had a cute outdoor seating area in the back. I ordered just a simple Americano and it was good and not too bitter. I didn’t need any sugar or milk, so that’s usually how I determine whether or not it’s good coffee haha. I enjoyed my cup of coffee and caught up with my boyfriend’s sister, who attends Ohio State University, and we weren’t shouting or having a difficult time hearing each other, so the volume of the place was great.
Staufs
The second place is located in the Grandview area. When I first walked in I was immediately taken back to my college days. There were college students everywhere in their sweat pants and hoodies with their collection of books and papers and all I could feel was a sense of relief that I was done with college haha. The interior was nothing sophisticated or interiorly decorated like the Fox in the Snow, but it was warm and cozy with brown decor, tables, and chairs. I will admit their coffee was the best! They also had a delicious vegan cupcake in the window that I couldn’t resist, so I was a happy camper sipping my coffee and eating my cupcake.
Brunch
I am always down for a great brunch on a Sunday morning and we found the perfect spot for just that and more!
The Angry Baker
Fork and Knife Burrito 
Sweet Potato Hash 
Carrot Cake Pancakes
This place is located in the Old Town East area and the space inside is fairly limited with a few additional spots of seating outside on their back patio, but it is worth the wait and worth the stay I promise. I have been to this place twice now and everything I’ve ordered has been amazing. I love that they make the food right in front of you in a small kitchen because you can physically see how they make their food with quality whole food ingredients. I’ve order some of their baked goods such as their Cheese Scone, Lemon Bar, and Monkey Bread, which were all amazing. I have nothing but praise for all the food we’ve eaten here and I promise if the wait seems ridiculous that it is worth it and they move fast. This place is perfect for breakfast, lunch, and most importantly brunch!
Lunch/Dinner
I am not a huge lunch person and I usually have a huge breakfast with a huge dinner or snack my way through lunch, but we did find this great taco place in a fun area.
Candados
This place is located in a fun area called Short North. I was never really a big fan of Mexican food such as tacos, burritos, or nachos; however, living in Colorado has changed me and I now can appreciate a good taco and this place served up delicious tacos! We started with an order of chips and guacamole because that is always necessary prior to eating some tacos, then we customized each of our tacos. Starting with the base I loved their firecracker (spicy) tortilla option, for the protein option they had Thai chili tofu, BBQ jackfruit, and roasted portobellos (all amazing), for the toppings they had fajitas veggies, tomatoes, jicama, cabbage slaw, pickled red onions, red cabbage, for the salsas they had salsa verde, pineapple salsa, and salsa raja, and finally for the sauces they had a Mexican chimichurri, dirty sauce, Candado secret taco sauce. Wow that was a mouthful, but all the taco combinations I got to try were very flavorful. My favorite was their Thai chili tofu paired with the pickled red onions!
Sweets
This is probably the most important category for me because I have a wicked sweet tooth and this can range from ice cream to donuts, which are my two favorite sweets. I found my all time favorite vegan bakery here in Columbus and now will actually make my boyfriend pick up some pastries before flying home to bring back for me!
Alchemy
This smoothie bowl and fresh juice place located near German Village and was exactly what I needed after our workout in the morning. I decided to list this place under sweets because I ordered a smoothie bowl and some raw bites. I loved everything that we got and the inside was very open, lots of natural light, and had some cute couch seating for us to enjoy our food. A couple of items I ordered were the Charcoal Smoothie Bowl (fruity banana smoothie bowl with charcoal) and No-Bake Bites (cranberry pecan, peanut butter cacao, matcha, and cookie dough). I never really got into the whole charcoal fad, but I decided to try it out and honestly I couldn’t taste anything but fruits and bananas in my smoothie bowl. I couldn’t decided on which flavor to get for the No-Bake Bites, so I got one of each, naturally haha. This was the first time I ever had raw bites and ever since then I have been hooked and love making these at home now!
Pattycake Bakery
This place is located in the University District and is a cute and small little bakery that serves up a multitude of amazing vegan pastries. I’ve ordered my weight in pastries from this place and every bite gets better and better. We’ve ordered their cakes, cupcakes, muffins, cookies, but most importantly their sticky buns! If I can’t stress anything enough, then you need to listen up because their sticky buns are what makes the world go round. I highly recommend trying their orange sticky bun. You will not regret.
Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream
This place is very well known in Columbus and have multiple locations. In fact they even sell their Ice Cream in the Whole Foods in Denver, Colorado. But we went to their Short North location and I would say this place is equivalent to the ice cream quality of Salt & Straw, but the Midwest version. They had a couple of vegan options and I couldn’t get over the texture. It was like the ice cream was smooth and sticky. It didn’t really melt, but it was cold, rich, and creamy, so there were no complaints on my end. I ordered their Dark Chocolate Truffle ice cream in a sugar cone and happily enjoyed each and every lick!
Drinks
We went out for drinks one night in Short North and had fun bar hopping around. The place was packed with people of all ages, but mostly young adults.
Standard Hall
We started here with a couple of drinks and the space was huge inside and outside. It was exactly how the name perceives it to be, a great giant hall. There was music blasting with a huge outdoor patio, which is where we mostly spent our time. This is most definitely a stand and drink kind of place, not sit down and converse.
Oddfellows
I liked this place the best because it was smaller than the first place we stopped at and we were able to sit at a table outside and enjoy our drinks. The outside patio was smaller than the other place and decorated with some lights and had music playing, but it was much more cozy. It really all depends on what kind of night you are looking to have and enjoy.
Areas to Explore
Short North
I mentioned Short North a decent amount of times already and it’s mainly because it is where we spent a good amount of time. This area is an up and coming area for young adults to live and there are great food places, bars, shops, and everything young adults and millennials love to do. We enjoyed walking up and down the main street and popping in and out of all the different places along the way.
North Market
I am in love with the new concept of taking a large warehouse and having a multitude of different kiosks or shops within the warehouse. North Market is really cool because you can walk around and try all the different foods from different kiosks. I found this great soft pretzel place called Bretzel that serves soft pretzels in different flavors in the form of a stick. They were delicious and reminded me of the pretzels I enjoyed while in Berlin. This is a great place to get a bite to eat with different people craving different foods.
Columbus Park of Roses
Before heading to the airport around sunset, we wandered around this cute garden. There were gazebos dispersed around the park and a multitude of different flowers and roses. It was a great way to wrap up my trip and the weekend itself.
Areas to Walk/Run
Scioto Audubon Metro Park
We parked and ran along the Scioto River, which is nearby German Village and the Downtown area. The weather was perfect and I am always up for a nice run outside if the weather permits. The path was perfect because it took us through some forest areas and ended up popping out and running along the Downtown buildings and river. I was shocked at how empty it was for a Saturday morning, but it was quiet and relaxing.
Olentangy River
If you park at the Park of Roses you can then run along river. We didn’t get a chance to check this running spot out because we woke up late and had gone out drinking the night before, but based on the scenery I saw while at the Park of Roses I am sure it makes for a great running venue.
Overall, I had a great time in Columbus, Ohio and there were more places that I wanted to try and didn’t get a chance to unfortunately, but if you have any other places you would recommend, then please leave a comment and let me know!
– Janelle