Columbus’ Most Interesting Additions to the Food Scene in 2025
From chef Andrew Smith's fine-dining restaurant Isla to a small eatery for Japanese katsu, here are the newcomers that captured our attention this year.
These New Additions to the Columbus Food Scene Caught Our Attention in 2025
By Erin Edwards
If you want a unique dining experience hosted by one of the city’s best chefs…
There’s nothing in Columbus quite like Isla, the tasting-menu restaurant from chef Andrew Smith and his wife, Devoney Mills. Intended to recreate the intimate, communal dining experience of the couple’s Roys Ave Supper Club, their new Merion Village restaurant comes close. In many ways, Isla is trying to do something we lost sight of during the pandemic–which is to enjoy other people’s company. Like Roys Ave, seating is communal at Isla, and the dishes are seasonal, with vegetables more than carrying their own weight. Smith arrives tableside throughout the evening to describe each course, while Mills serves guests in her gentle, attentive manner. For those wanting a close-up view of the action in the kitchen, Isla also offers six seats at a chef’s counter. Read our story here.
If you’re looking for an authentic Japanese spot that’s not sushi or ramen…
Maybe one of the biggest surprises of the year came in the form of this small Japanese restaurant that arrived Downtown in March not far from Columbus Commons. Osaka Ton Katsu does something that a lot of local restaurants are loath to do, which is to focus on a small menu and knock those dishes out of the park. Here, the focus is katsu, pounded and deep-fried pork or chicken cutlets that star in traditional dishes such as katsudon and katsu curry. You can read about our first visit here.
