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Love him or hate him, there’s no arguing that Cameron Mitchell is a big name in the central Ohio restaurant scene. With 33 restaurants (rumored to go down to 11 soon since many are being sold to Ruth’s Chris), he has a place for every budget and every palate. One of our long time favorites has been Cap City Fine Diner. It’s been a while since we’ve gone, but once I found out they just had a major menu revamp, we decided to stop in on Saturday afternoon for lunch.
Because there was an OSU game that afternoon, Columbus was like a ghost town, with people either crammed into the Shoe or tuned in from their couches at home. The place was fairly empty when we were there, but our server was expecting a rush right after the OSU game – it’s location on Olentangy River Rd. makes it a popular choice for post-game partying (or drowning of sorrows, as was the case after Saturday’s game).
The strange thing is, even though there are tons of new choices on the menu, we went with old favorites, which haven’t changed a bit (except for an increase in price). Even so, as the most casual of the Cameron Mitchell restaurants, it’s still fairly affordable. The pics didn’t come out as sharp as I would have liked, because of a low light situation.
Every table at Cap City gets bread service – a basket of fluffy, buttery yeast rolls, still warm from the oven. These are addictive, and if you’re not careful, you can end up filling up on bread before even getting your appetizers.
For our appetizer, we chose Maytag Blue Cheese Potato Chips ($7.50), a huge plate of crispy house-fried potato chips topped with a creamy Alfredo sauce, chunks of pungent blue cheese, and scallions. Even with two people sharing, this is an imposing appetizer, almost too much for us to finish. We absolutely love the combination of flavors, though – while neither one of us are big fans of blue or green cheeses, this had enough of kick without being too medicinal.
Since this was a lunch, and I wanted to keep it fairly light (read: wanted – I left the place stuffed to the gills anyway), I ordered a soup and sandwich. Cap City’s Triple Decker Grilled Cheese Sandwich ($6.95) is a tasty three layer concoction, with fried egg, scallions, tomato and dijonaise on country white toast, served quartered (with the crusts cut off, even) surrounding a huge pile of fries (healthier eaters can opt for one of many other sides). Other than the fact that tomatoes never taste really good out of season, this sandwich definitely hit the spot, without hitting the wallet too hard.
For my soup, I opted for a cup of Steak and Black Bean Chili ($3.95), topped with some red onion and cheddar cheese. Their chili has long been one of my favorites, and inspiration for my own, with tender chunks of sirloin taking the place of the ubiquitous ground beef. Thick, with a depth of flavor I haven’t seen in many other chilis I’ve had, this is a classic I’ll return for again and again.
My husband opted for a lunch-sized order of their Cap City Diner Meatloaf ($10.95), which is a nice-sized hunk of their tender, flavorful meatloaf (thanks to the combination of shiitake mushrooms, shallots and cream), topped with buttermilk-chive mashed potatoes, a huge onion ring, their BBQ gravy, and with a side of skillet beans with pecans. The beans aren’t even necessary – Mitchell’s interpretation of an American classic stands alone even without all the extras. The presence of potatoes and gravy act as a complement, but don’t elevate an already tasty entree.
For his soup, my husband chose a cup of their Roasted Creole Tomato ($3.95), which would have paired quite well with my triple decker sandwich. I’m not a huge fan of tomato soups (they tend to be rather flat), but this had a nice, smooth, creamy tomato flavor which slowly developed into a nice warmth on your tongue. Easily the best tomato soup I’ve ever had, hands down.
We were far too full to even consider dessert, but if past experiences are an indication, you can’t go wrong with their Banana Foster Bread Pudding ($5.95) – just make sure you have someone (or someones) willing to split it with you; it’s absolutely massive, and even sharing it, has nearly sent me into sugar shock on more than one occasion. But so totally worth it – the rum caramel sauce alone makes it worth it.
Even if you’re one of these people who run like hell from any Cameron Mitchell restaurant, give this one a try. It’s casual, it’s fun, it’s affordable. And while it’s *technically* a chain (since there’s also a Cap City in Gahanna), it doesn’t feel like one.
If you’d like to go: Cap City Fine Diner, 1299 Olentangy River Rd, Columbus. 614.291.3663.
I’ve never had a bad meal at Cap City. :D
I do the same thing! For me, I can’t avoid the grilled salmon BLT w/ tarragon mayo.
It technically might be a “chain”, but not in the same sense as applebee’s or friday’s. They’ve actually got fresh food that doesn’t taste like it was shipped cross-country in a refrigerated trailer. To add to that point, I participated in a market research focus group for a chain restaurant and Cap City Diner continually came up when people talked about examples of what a casual dining restaurant should be like.
The food ther esi awesome. I thinik the envorinment is a bit loud at time. I did recently have a situation there that resulter in a complete comped check. OS mehow they lost mmy tables order twice and it took almost an hour and forty five minutes to get what we ordered. Our waiter became m.i.a. and the manager ended up waiting on us. Verry odd, but I have been back since and will go again for sure.
Those bleu cheese chips are disasterously wonderful.
open face chili dog yum yums anybody?
Yep, they do a good job making the basics interesting and tasty.
Out of all of CM’s restaurants, M is still probably my favorite … but I’ve only been there once, for a special occasion. I’ve been to Cap City close to a dozen times (and I’m sure many have been there far more than that) and never need much of an excuse to go again. I can’t believe he’s only opened two of these. Either my tastes are really idiosyncratic, or this thing has the potential for as many locations as the Fish Market and more. Maybe it’s just not as high-margin as his more upscale offerings and thus doesn’t get the same attention. Meh.
Somewhat funny story: My roommate at OSU was from New Jersey. His mom came out to visit and offered to take the two of us to a lunch/dinner (late afternoon, whatever you call it … I called it a late lunch and then skipped dinner because I was stuffed, especially after the Seriously Big Chocolate Cake). Before his mom came, my roommate asked me if I had any good ideas of restaurants in town and I said Cap City Fine Diner. He was like, “no, really, we don’t have to go to a diner.” (He thought I was lowballing because his mom was picking up the tab and I didn’t want to mooch.) A couple of hours later, his mom showed up and asked the same thing, and I told her there was a place called Cap City Fine Diner, and she said the exact same thing. No prodding.
They still didn’t believe me that there’s a difference between New Jersey diners and Cameron Mitchell diners until we got there.
They left convinced. (And we all left stuffed.)
^ It’s definitely a great place to take people who you know are buying. Not too expensive and reliably good.
I LOVE their bread service. Theirs and Spaghetti Warehouse’s are my favorites in the city. I could go there and just eat so much bread that I would have to have my meal boxed immediately!
Peel and Eat Shrimp with the Crab Louise sauce….YUM.
I love the Romano Crusted Chicken – the only reason I *don’t* get it every time is that I’m just not always up for that much food / something that heavy.
The Maytag Blue Cheese Potato Chips are insanely addictive as well.
The one thing I’ve had there that I really did NOT enjoy was their Beef Hash & Eggs from the brunch menu — it’s made with pieces of steak / as opposed to corned beef, and that just doesn’t taste right to me.
a.
Five of us went to Cap City yesterday for the first time since the menu changed.
I found fewer items to be excited about.
The bleu cheese chips are still great.
The bleu cheese slaw doesn’t have any bleu cheese flavor at all.
I settled for the cheese steak but won’t make that mistake again.
The place was packed at 7:00 so we waited an hour for a table. By 8:45, it was pretty slow.
i havent been here in years.
I haven’t been since the menu change – from looking at the new menu on their website, it looks like all of my favorites are still on there, except the calamari looks different now (salt & pepper instead of sweet & sour?).
Otherwise, the menu looks a little smaller now? I mean it’s still 7 pages, so it’s not tiny, but it seems like there are fewer options now?
They removed the cheddar chipotle mashed potatoes and the potato leek soup from their menu. :shock: :(
I used to love Cap City, and probably went there once a month at least. Now I haven’t been in over 6 months, mainly because of their menu change. I think they’re out of their minds, whoever made the menu change decision. They made their portions smaller and raised prices (which inevitably happens everywhere, but I’ll still complain about it) and expanded/added two pages of children’s/young adult items. If you have been to Cap City as often as I have, please tell me how many children you see dining there. Not many. Certainly not enough to warrant that many menu items. Last time I went there on a Monday around 7, there was one child present, and it was a baby.
The last time my boyfriend and I went, his chicken was raw in the middle and he actually became ill later that night. Our meal was comped, but regardless, we have not returned. I learned how to make romano crusted chicken myself, and when I get the craving, I just make it. At least I know it will be done, and the portion won’t be smaller for a higher price.
Too bad, since it used to be my favorite. I heard a rumor that the Gahanna location didn’t change their menu. Is this true?
Just an update while I’m thinking about it. Cap City went back to their old menu so it’s safe to eat there again :)
Bf and I decided to try it one more time before we gave up forever, and good thing we did because all the old favorites are back and our service was great too.
I sent them an email about the new menu at Cameron’s worthington location. Got a nice reply and then got another one when the new menu came out. It didn’t do anything for me and I haven’t been back.
Paul
Cameron’s and Cap City are different animals.