So… I went to Mac’s Cafe. The first Saturday of every month, Columbus hosts a gallery hop in the Short North on High Street where all the various galleries, boutiques and homeless people throw open their arms to entice consumers (or in the case of homeless people, investors). This last Saturday several fellow members of the Ohio State Fisher College of Business, MBA class of 2011 and myself decided to hop. We didn’t get very far, but that will come in a later post. Our first stop on the magical evening was to Mac’s Cafe, a restaurant/bar rather than a Apple Corp based Internet cafe… which was a minor disappointment.
Upon first entering Mac’s you see the various hanging flags, exposed brick, wood paneling, framed pictures/beer advertisements and various other beer and ale schwag. All in an obvious attempt to resemble and European bar or pub. Mac’s however, is one of the more inviting European facsimile pubs I have been to in recent memory, which was a good start.
They have a very extensive beer/ale/stout list. However as not much of a fan of malted alcoholic beverages, I instead opted for their cocktails menu. Which ended up being non-existent, which was quite a shame, although the waitress mixed me a cosmopolitan… it was only okay.
Their food menu was pretty extensive with some interesting appetizer options, but your usual bar + pub food fare for the most part. I ordered the chicken fingers with a side of french fries. The chicken fingers were relatively thin and small, fried well, but you were only given four, which didn’t really justify the price, if they had added a fifth it would have definitely been a better value. Also there was a touch too much grease, to where it would shoot out or drip down my chin after biting. I would bite into the . The honey mustard based dipping sauce was pretty tasty. The french fries were a good value, at $1.50 for a heaping basket, but they were otherwise forgettable, not salted enough and no seasoning, the tater tots were also just ok, like just fried from a bag from the Giant Eagle.
But all in all, a very relaxing establishment, not too loud or dark and they only had 1 (one)! Television, bucking the whole sports pub thing that is du jor, which was wonderful… except for that I happened to be sitting in front of the lone television, so I thought everyone was checking me out… but they probably were just watching highlights from the OSU v Navy game…
MAC’S CAFÉ BASICS:
Columbus, OH 43215
(614) 221-6227
Recommend? Yes
Hours? Mon-Sat. 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 a.m., Sun. 12:00 p.m. – 1:30 a.m.
Outdoor Seating? No
Tipping? Yes
Clean? Yep
Payment? Cash, Debit Cards, and Major Credit Card
Nudity? None
Cola Affiliation? Forgot to Check… Sorry
Parking? Typical N High Street: aka real crappy
Staff? Very Friendly
Cost? Adult Beverage+Chicken Fingers+ Fries… about 12 dollars
Atmosphere? A better relaxing non-sports pub… lots of pub decor though, nice overall
Overall Rating: 4.1 of 5