At the beginning of every month, we offer a look at upcoming dinners, tastings, special events for food and drink lovers, and changes on the menus of restaurants and bars across central Ohio.
Here’s your foodie guide for April 2025.
Eddie Merlot’s wine-pairing dinner
Eddie Merlot’s, 1570 Polaris Pkwy. on the Far North Side, will host a five-course dinner April 9 featuring wines from Napa Valley’s The Prisoner Wine Co.
The dinner, which starts at 6:30 p.m., features a fried goat cheese salad, seared scallops, espresso-rubbed lamb strip, bone-in filet mignon and peach flambé. Five wines are on the menu as well.
Tickets are $120 and can be reserved by clicking on the promotions link at eddiermerlots.com.
Columbus beer, Columbus food
All for Ohio Fest, a celebration of all things local, is scheduled for April 12 at 11 a.m. at the Columbus Brewing Co. Beer Hall, 200 Kelton Ave. on the Near East Side.
The festival will feature vendors selling Ohio-made goods and games with Ohio-centric prizes for the winners. Columbus Brewing Co. will offer beer pairings with local bites: Bodhi with pretzel bites from Brezel, an IPA paired with pub mix from Bite This by Annie, Ohio Light paired with fried cheese curds from Blue Jacket Dairy and Miss Pinky paired with a strawberry oatmeal cookie from Chonny Bakes.
Central Ohio Brewery Bracket: Cast your vote in our search for the region’s favorite brewery
Southern Fried Vegan pop-up
Southern Fried Vegan, a traveling pop-up described by USA TODAY as “delectably unique with layers of flavor,” will be at Antiques on High, 714 S. High St. in the Brewery District, on April 16 from 6 to 9 p.m. Its menu includes plant-based versions of fried chicken, smoked meats, mac and cheese, jambalaya and other Southern dishes.
Champagne and fries tasting
Columbus 10 for $10, which has been hosting wine-tastings around central Ohio for more than a decade, will host a night of champagne and French fries April 17. It’s from 6 to 9 p.m. at The Speakeasy, 460 S. Front St. in the Brewery District.
The event features five champagnes. Tickets are $30 or four for $90 and can be purchased through an Eventbrite link on the host’s Facebook page.
Alton Brown at the Mershon
Alton Brown’s “Food for Thought,” a collection of essays, was released in February 2025.
Alton Brown, host of the long-running Food Network series, “Good Eats,” brings what he calls a “culinary variety show” to Mershon Auditorium, 1871 N. High St., on April 22 at 7:30 p.m. The tour follows the release in February of his 10th book, a collection of essays called “Food for Thought.”
Tickets for “Live: Last Bite” start at $42 and are available through schottensteincenter.com.
The show, which Brown teases will be his last — promotional materials, though, add, “maybe?” — includes audience participation and what the host says is a “really, really, really large, really bizarre food demonstration.”
Beer and bacon, together at last
The Daily Growler and Hungarian Butcher have teamed up to offer a beer-and-bacon pairing that comes in two forms.
On April 26 at 12:30 p.m., you can try a flight of six different beers paired with six different flavors of burnt-end bacon pieces at The Daily Growler location at 2812 Fishinger Road in Upper Arlington. For $180, you can order beer and bacon for six to pick up or take home. Tickets can be purchased or orders can be placed through a shopping link at The Daily Growler’s website.
German Village Makers Market
How popular are monthly German Village Makers Markets? Organizers say they received more than 500 applications from potential vendors for this year’s run. Sixty-five have been chosen; they sell baked goods, jams, sauces and other food, as well as art, home goods, clothing and plants.
The market’s 2025 season starts April 27 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at City Park and Thurman avenues, south of Schiller Park. Markets will continue May 18, June 22, July 20, Aug. 17 and Sept. 14.
Ready, set, grow: When do farmers markets open in central Ohio? Here’s a guide for where and when to go
What’s new on Columbus menus?
Shawnee Station Taproom & Kitchen: As it marks its first year in business at 6058 Glick Road in Shawnee Hills, the restaurant from Toledo’s Maumee Bay Brewing Co. has added several new dishes to its menu. They include a chicken gyro bowl with pulled lemon-oregano chicken, lettuce, tomato and cucumber salad, crispy chickpeas, feta cheese, pita and a dill-yogurt sauce, as well as a tuna carpaccio with cured egg yolk, crispy capers, lemon oil, gremolata, scallion aioli and crostini.
Law Bird’s okonomiyaki hot dog will be back on the menu for this year’s Sakura City Pop menu. The April cocktail and food lineup at the Brewery District bar is Japanese-inspired, in homage of cherry blossom season.
Law Bird: As cherry blossoms reach their beautiful peak from Columbus to Kyoto, Japan, the Brewery District bar at 740 S. High St. is reviving its own springtime celebration. From April 2 to May 3, James Beard-nominated Law Bird will present Sakura City Pop, a menu of Japanese-inspired cocktails and small-plate noshes.
Flour Modern Pasta Bar: Chef and owner Yash Kishinchand has added brunch service at the Polaris restaurant honored as one of 10 Best New Restaurants earlier this year by Columbus Monthly. Flour’s brunch menu, like its dinner dishes, features plenty of twists on traditional flavors: North African shakshuka gets an Indian makeover, Italian carbonara gets Japanese additions and good old American waffles are reimagined with the flavors of tiramisu. Brunch is served Saturdays and Sundays from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Flour, 1540 Polaris Pkwy.
Flour Modern Pasta Bar opened in late 2024 and was named early this year by Columbus Monthly as one of central Ohio’s Best New Restaurants.
Combustion Brewery: Two cider releases are scheduled in April at the brewery’s Clintonville taproom at 2971 N. High St. A cranberry cider, Dreams, will debut April 12. Combustion describes the flavor as tart, bright and invigorating, but balanced with notes of sweet apple. Raspberry Beret, a slightly tart cider, will be offered up April 22.
Forno’s speakeasy pop-up: Forno Kitchen + Bar’s latest cocktail pop-up is called “Marmont,” inspired by L.A.’s legendary Chateau Marmont hotel. Classic cocktails on the menu include vodka and gin martinis, whiskey sours, old fashioneds and a house punch with cognac, rum and peach brandy that has a two-per-person limit.
Restaurant recommendations: Check out Columbus Monthly’s listings for dining options
Dining Reporter Bob Vitale can be reached at rvitale@dispatch.com or at @dispatchdining on the Instagram social platform.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus food guide: April 2025 dinners, events and new menu items
