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About the Business
Our cuisine offers South American-influenced, small-plate dishes with a Spanish flair (tapas). Our focus on quality is second to none, including our service, food, wine and cocktails. Our wine list is user-friendly, non-pretentious and appropriate with our cuisine. Our bartenders specialize in pre-prohibition era cocktails. We invite you to savor our culinary delights with a drink of your choice and to enjoy our sophisticated fare and relaxed atmosphere. ¡Salud!
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- Jan 20, 2024Updated review
I don't eat here often enough and if you get a chance, I absolutely recommend Sidebar. Really nice for sharing plates with a date, a friend, or going out with a group. The atmosphere and dishes offer an intimate and relaxed environment even with a crowd around. There is just something about it. Service can be kind of slow like this last time but it's still good service.
This visit we enjoyed the:
-Beef Empanadas
-Spicy Potatoes
-Chicken Skewers
-Beef Fillet Skewers
I recommend all these options! For reservations go to sidebarcolumbus.com or directly via TouchBistro at www.tbdine.com/book/restaurant/sidebar-columbus.Helpful 12Thanks 3Love this 13Oh no 0May 21, 2023Previous reviewWhat a surprising wonderful meal! I had forgotten all about Sidebar and how great food the food is. We decided to grab some early dinner before a concert at the Southern Theatre. We had made reservations in advanced and parked in the Columbus Commons parking garage for the evening but there were meter parking spots around.
We were greeted upon arrival and promptly seated. Cute interior and such a nice atmosphere. The bar area and some seating when you first walk in, but we sat in the dinning area in the back section. The service as good, but a little slow. There were several times we wondered if our server was going to be back but he was extremely friendly and was great overall. He asked if we were going to one of the two shows and after discussing which one and the start time he mentioned he would have our checks on the table no later than 6:30pm so we could make the 7pm show just in case time got away from us.
They have dinner plates and/or sharable tapas plates. In addition to any beverages, my partner and I decided on ordering 5 tapas plates to share and it was plenty of food (with some potatoes to spare).
I recommend all of these choices, not a bad one of the bunch:
-Chicken Skewers ($13) and these were delicious. Grilled and topped with a chimichurri sauce. This was one of my favorites.
-Spicy Potatoes ($10) with a nice spicy garlic aioli sauce. I thought these were a generous portion and enjoyed the onions and peppers with them.
-Shrimp & Garlic Sauce ($14) - these were a little messy and those chilies are hot! Careful if you grab a whole one.
-Cheese Empanadas ($12) and these were surprising another one of my favorites. Simple and perfect.
-Beef Meatball ($13) which was also good and i was a fan of the marinara sauce and loved the grilled baguette.
It was a great dinner and prelude to our evening and can't wait to come back. The food is really that good. - Jan 22, 2024
Great tapas bar on the south side of downtown Columbus. Could easily be missed if you're just driving through, especially since downtown tends to be quiet.
The hostess, bartenders, and servers were all nice and helpful. We sat at the bar for happy hour and were given menus and explanations of various offerings. I got sangria, which was really good and had very fresh, sweet berries (even in the winter). We also shared a few dishes which were the cilantro hummus, beef empanadas, and ceviche. I love cilantro and thought the hummus was great, very herbal and punchy. The beef empanadas were also tasty and came with a sauce that, personally, could have used more spice. The ceviche wasn't super impressive to me, could have used more salt and maybe more of a vessel to eat with it.
I will say, cost wise, its a bit on the higher end, even for happy hour but food and drink were mostly worth the price. Definitely a tucked away bar worth checking out!Helpful 4Thanks 2Love this 3Oh no 0 - Dec 28, 2023
We stopped by for happy hour and I can safely say we will be back on the near future. The bar and immediate dining area are a bit snug, but I believe there is additional seating for more formal dinner around the corner of the bar in the rear of the restaurant. If it's your first time visiting, the entrance is located on the side of the building near the alley. The ambiance is elevated and we felt as though we were no longer in Columbus.
Now, for the food. The beef empanadas were tasty, well-seasoned, and fairly substantial, but the dipping sauce could have had more of a kick. Ask for hot sauce or bring your own, perhaps. The cilantro hummus was refreshing and my personal favorite of the night. You receive a generous helping of pita bread to go along with it. We also had the white fish ceviche (not pictured), which was again very fresh and a bit buttery. All of the above would work great as tapas or appetizers for a small group. The Moscow mule was pretty strong for a happy hour special as well.
Their happy hour menu is included below as of December 2023.
Overall, I had a great experience and will be visiting again soon!Helpful 0Thanks 0Love this 2Oh no 0 - Kyra B.Los Angeles, CA2310May 17, 2024
Truly one of Columbus's best restaurants. The happy hour menu is top-notch, and the staff members are very attentive. This is an upscale restaurant but it's also very casual. Service is always quick. The food is delicious and you will want to come back for more. We need more restaurants like this in Columbus!
Helpful 1Thanks 0Love this 0Oh no 0 - Amy L.San Francisco, CA5173May 21, 2024
We had a wonderful meal at Sidebar. Tasty food, friendly and helpful service. A real treat!
Helpful 0Thanks 0Love this 0Oh no 0 - 169217391Apr 7, 2024
Visited on a Friday for their happy hour. The restaurant was big, and wasn't packed so it was easy to find a seat. The HH is throughout the place, not just the bar, so that was nice! The tapas were good, but definitely small portions. The prices add up when you need to order 4+ tapas for two people, so it defeated the purpose of saving money on the happy hour. We loved the cilantro hummus! Super refreshing. We asked for a side of cucumbers to finish it off. The place had about 8 mini slices. That was fine - but we were charged $4 for them. So don't ask for cucumbers! The seafood dish with shrimp, mussels, and calamari was phenomenal. The sauce it was in was so rich and creamy. We really loved this one. The tuna tartar was good. Wish we had more crackers/cucumber again. We thought the pork was just okay. It was cooked pretty well done and was dry because of that. All in all, I'm not sure if I would come back to Sidebar. It wasn't very memorable.
Helpful 0Thanks 0Love this 1Oh no 0 - Nov 1, 2023
We were a party of 8 and decided to have dinner at Sidebar before going to see Frozen at the Ohio Theater. We did have a reservation and as soon as we arrived we were seated right away. Our server was very friendly, took our orders and gave recommendations. For the amount of food that we ordered, the food came our pretty quickly.
We ordered beef empanadas, cheese empanadas, chicken croquettes, plantains, queso and guava, chicken skewers, shrimp with garlic sauce, calamari tapa, coco flan, and Tres leches cake. Everything was excellent. However, the chicken croquettes and the plantains were my favorites. The coco flan was my least favorite, but it was still very good. All the other items we had tasted great, every single one of them. The portions were good size, easily can be shareable
Definitely recommend this place and can't wait to go back again.Helpful 1Thanks 0Love this 2Oh no 0 - Jul 17, 2023
This was a great place for family dinner and celebration! They were also very nice and accommodating to fit our 4 month old and stroller at our table. Parking can be tricky as it is downtown but there are lots nearby.
We enjoyed a mezcal cocktail, goat cheese and tomato dip, eggplant parmesan, Caprese salad and guava cheese plantains. All were shareable and delicious. We did order 2 eggplants Parms for 6 of us since the portions are tapas style.Helpful 2Thanks 0Love this 3Oh no 0 - 6237792160Jul 2, 2023
Sidebar was a perfect summer evening spot. Cold sangria and spicy tapas to start the weekend.
They were very gracious about seating us on a busy night without a reservation. So welcoming. Our server was Dennis and he was excellent. He had the best personality and made helpful menu recommendations.
Although they do have entrees, most of the menu is tapas. I love that because you can try so many things. The standouts were the meatball, the spicy potatoes and the chicken croquettes. There was not a bad dish in the bunch. We tried the coconut flan for dessert and enjoyed it, but next time would go with the tres leches cake.
They have Happy Hour from 4-6 pm Monday-Friday.Helpful 2Thanks 0Love this 1Oh no 0 - Aug 10, 2023
This is my third time at Sidebar and it is still as lovely as ever! The service is very friendly and the food comes out FAST.
Highlight of the meal was the Lobster Ravioli and the Ceviche. Both delicious, the Ceviche was very fresh. The Mushrooms and Garlic severely needed salt. Meatball was good as well, we needed more bread to get all of that delicious sauce!Helpful 0Thanks 0Love this 1Oh no 0
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