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The Jury Room has the distinction of being one of the oldest bar/restaurant operations in Columbus, originally opening their doors back in 1831 (when the City of Columbus was a mere 19 years old). After 180 years, the restaurant underwent a transformation in 2011, under the guidance of Elizabeth Lessner and her Columbus Food League restaurant group. The venue was given a deep cleansing and a modern day menu that features Italian-American inspiration and a cocktail list filled with fun beverage names (“Double Jeopardy”, “The Felony” and “Jury Juice” just to name a few).
There’s a wide range of starters, soups and salads on the menu at The Jury Room, and I decided to test out a staple item with their Classic Caesar Salad ($5 small /$8 large). It includes romaine lettuce tossed in a Caesar dressing, and topped with Parmesan cheese and croutons. It’s a pretty basic take on a Caesar salad, but the lettuce was crisp and fresh. It’s also topped with shaved Parmesan, not powdered, which is a nice touch. Not a bad portion size for a side and it came with a chunk of bread.
A group of ten pasta specialties have their own place on The Jury Room menu, ranging from Chicken Parmesan to Shrimp Scampi to Spaghetti and Meatballs. The Beef & Noodles ($11) is an entree that includes pulled braised beef, penne pasta, sauteed mushrooms, red onions, peas and a creamy mushroom sauce. This dish could easily embody the “comfort food” description as it comes across exactly as something mom used to make when you were a kid. The beef is tender and juicy, the peas are warm but not mushy, and the cream sauce ties everything together nicely. I thought that the penne was an interesting choice, as I would imagine some type of wide flat noodle as being a little more home-style, but regardless, the dish works really well.
The Jury Burger ($8.50) is topped with provolone, arugula, tomato, red onion, and a zesty house mayonnaise. The burger itself was prepared medium and seemed to be hand-formed and not a frozen patty. The mix of ingredients were a nice nod to Italian-type flavors without straying too far from being a straightforward and solid burger. I upgraded the side from chips to Truffle Fries (an extra $1), which are tossed in truffle oil topped with Parmesan and served with a side of spicy aioli. The fries were semi-crisp and golden brown, and the sauce added a great creamy kick. I’d certainly go out of my way to order these again upon a return visit.
Another entry on the sandwich menu is the Meatball Hoagie ($8), which includes four house made meatballs topped with melted provolone and a house made marinara sauce. The commitment to making both the meatballs and the sauce from scratch is what elevated this sandwich from being just another meatball sub. The sauce was sweet and tangy with a dusting of Italian seasonings. The meatballs were large and juicy with just a mild spiciness. They are nicely put together with meat that’s finely ground. Not quite as amazing as the veal meatball at Marcella’s, but still a solid version for a sandwich. The overall size of the bread and the meatballs (it’s a huge sandwich!) made it a bit of a challenge to bite into. Get a few napkins!
Overall, I was pleased with everything I tasted during my trip to The Jury Room. It’s a perfectly fine addition to the sit-down mid-range restaurant category, and all of the food here simultaneously exhibits signs of childhood comfort and modern day updates. The Jury Room is the least quirky of the Columbus Food League restaurants, which gives it a more subdued character and laid back atmosphere. At first glance, the menu might not look like it takes itself seriously enough, but the details really shine upon closer inspection.
The Jury Room is located at 22 East Mound Street and open Sunday through Thursday, 11am to 11pm and Friday & Saturday 11pm to 1am. More information can be found online at www.juryroomcolumbus.com.
Those are some macro shots whewwweee!
Columbus Food League seems to be getting a bit of bad press lately. Health code issues at several of their restaurants.
http://www.10tv.com/content/stories/2012/05/23/columbus-restaurant-owner-not-taking-health-code-violation-lightly.html
And by several you mean Betty’s ONLY?
Also did you even read the article? Nothing in particular was off putting about the Columbus Food Leagues, other than an issue with a food cooling unit which looks to be fixed.
Try again ColdRoller. Thanks for posting, troll. Go back to the dispatch where you came from.
Yeah futureman go! Get that troll! You showed him haha!
Hey futureman I think the coldroller was referring to the health violations at Dirty Frank’s (roaches) that have been discussed at length on this messageboard. Don’t get so worked up!!
This is a restaurant review of the Jury Room. Health code violations at other restaurants really has nothing to do with it. Keep it on topic please. Thanks.
The new Jury Room is a solid restaurant with an interesting drink menu. I do miss a bit of the hole in the wall, old school quirkiness of the previous version.
They do have something to do with each other, Jury Room and these other restaurants with health code violations all have the same owner.
Meet you at Ruby Tuesdays, ColdRoller.
Social media! User-generated content! Yay!
I ate here before the new menu and enjoyed my food, I had a salad and some sort of ground meat and eggplant special but cannot remember what it was called.
I really enjoy the bar’s atmosphere and the drink prices are reasonable enough. Infused vodkas are my favorite!
Today, I ate here during lunch off their new menu but I wasn’t impressed with what I had, to be honest. The prices are a bit high, as they have no lunch menu, and the food did not stand out for the price. Sandwiches were the bulk of the menu, but I can find sandwiches everywhere Downtown. Then my order, the burger, was wrong and I sent it back because, to me, it was inedible, but they brought me a meatball sub instead. The meatball sub ended up tasting like I thought it would, tasty meatballs but an overall bland sandwich; not that I ever expect much from meatball subs. The chips were average.
I probably won’t be back for lunch; but once specials return I may try dinner. I like Surly Girl and Betty’s, I was really disappointed with my previous visit to Jury Room though!
I hope their menu improves and there are other offers for lunch, small entrees or something.
Thanks for such a kind review. On behalf of all our crew at Jury Room, thanks so much for stopping in and checking us out.
Polis, I’m so sorry to hear your experience today was not good. Today was the first day we launched our new menu and it sounds as if we have some kinks to work out, I appreciate your feedback. If you’d be willing to allow us a do-over, I’d love to buy you lunch, just DM me a good mailing address (or send it to my email address below) and I’ll send a gift certificate out to you for lunch for two right away. Also, once our kitchen has mastered the new menu items, our daily specials will be back, probably starting on Monday.
Regarding our other restaurants, I’m happy to answer any questions you might have or clarify any information. I am at your service at elizabeth@columbusfoodleague.com or call me at 614.429.0331.
Thanks for the opportunity to serve you, we love being downtown!
Elizabeth Lessner
The squeaky wheel gets the grease. I like the Jury Room but it has been hit or miss when Liz is not watching. It got much better when she got more hands on…
We’ve really been working hard to provide a consistently great experience. We recently hired a new General Manager, Steve Heighton, many of you know him as the former Bar Manager of Tip Top (since Tip Top opened 5 years ago). Also, our bar manager, Keith Egert, has been working hard on providing more great beers and some pretty interesting infusions. We are so grateful to the downtown community who has helped us through the first (and hardest) year of business I’ve ever encountered. We truly aim to please and appreciate all the feedback.
~liz
I’m glad to see the Chicken Parmesan made it to the new menu… it is seriously the best I’ve ever had and my husband’s favorite Columbus dish. I also recommend pairing the Pumpkin Pasta with Italian sausage – just delightful! We love spending special occasions and not-so-special occasions at The Jury Room!
I agree about the chicken parm. It reminds me of the mom & pop Italian joints in Upstate NY that I frequented in my teens & early 20′s. Delicious nostalgia.
I also love that they have ginger beer on the drinks menu – it’s a hard thing to find, but man, it makes a huge difference in the right cocktail.