Where to Find a Full English Breakfast in Columbus
Bethia shares a helpful explainer on all-things full English, plus Erin lists some local bars worth visiting this Dry January.
On the Hunt for a Full English Breakfast in Columbus
By Bethia Woolf
What is a full English breakfast, anyway?
Asking a Brit what a “full English” or a “fry-up” is… well, that’s like asking an American, “What is Thanksgiving dinner?” While there are basic components of a full English breakfast and plenty of overlap, opinions differ on the essential elements. Regional variations, personal taste preferences and generational differences also play a role. For instance, in Scotland, you might find tattie scones, while in Wales you might encounter laverbread.
Here’s a list of the most common components in a full English:
Bacon: A fry-up almost always includes back bacon, which combines pork belly and pork loin in one cut. In Britain, a slice of bacon is called a “rasher.”
Sausage links: Often a generic “banger” but sometimes a regional variety like Cumberland or Lincolnshire.
Eggs: Usually fried sunny-side up.
Beans: A controversial addition, almost always Heinz canned beans in tomato sauce. These are less sweet than American-style baked beans. Some prefer them served in a separate ramekin to avoid what British food writer Peter Wise calls “improper mingling.”
Mushrooms: Typically quartered and fried
Tomatoes: Either fresh, halved and grilled, or canned plum tomatoes warmed up
Fried bread or hash browns: Fried bread is the traditional choice but has largely been replaced by hash browns in modern fry-ups.
Black pudding: A type of blood sausage
Served on the side: A pot of English breakfast or “builder’s tea” (a colloquialism for a strong cup of tea), buttered toast and red or brown sauce (ketchup or HP Sauce).
Where to find a full English breakfast in Columbus
In Columbus, several places offer Irish breakfasts, which are very similar but may include white pudding instead of, or in addition to, black pudding. A couple of places in Central Ohio offer a British breakfast and you’ll have to drive a ways for the more “authentic” of the two. Black pudding and baked beans are particularly hard to find on menus, and no place seems to offer both. Most breakfasts are more of an American take on the full English, which isn’t surprising given the location, availability of ingredients and customer preferences. Still, the options below can satisfy the cravings of a homesick expat.
Cafe Elena
Located on Bethel Road, Cafe Elena offers a British Breakfast ($16.75) that includes two eggs (any style), a British banger, double-smoked applewood caramelized bacon, grilled homestyle potatoes, roasted mushrooms, baked beans, grilled tomatoes and white toast.
Fado Pub & Kitchen
Fado’s spacious restaurant and bar in Bridge Park serves an Irish Breakfast ($17) featuring two eggs (any style), Irish sausages, rashers, black and white pudding, mushrooms, tomatoes and sourdough toast. The same dish is $1 cheaper at Fado’s Easton location.
McClellan’s Pub
McClellan’s, a Liverpool FC hangout in Dublin, offers an Irish-American bar menu, including an all-day Irish Breakfast. Opening at 11 a.m. or noon (depending on the day), it’s more of a lunch or dinner option. McClellan’s breakfast includes two eggs, bangers, sausage patties, bacon, chunky potato hash browns, tomatoes, mushrooms and toast. Word has it that if you bring Heinz beans to McClellan’s, they’ll cook them and add them to your breakfast.
Dempsey’s Food & Spirits
Located Downtown on South High Street, Dempsey’s serves an Irish Breakfast on weekends for $18. It includes sausage links, Falter’s bacon, beans, hash browns, over-easy eggs, Irish bread pudding and toast.
The Last Queen
If you’re up for a day trip, The Last Queen, a British pub in Enon, Ohio (about 45 minutes from Columbus), serves breakfast 9:30-11:30 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. The pub’s full English breakfast includes bacon, sausage, eggs, tomatoes, mushrooms and a generous serving of baked beans. Sadly no black pudding. It’s served with toast and costs $16.75, with a smaller version available for $9.50.
Interestingly, the Brewdog locations in Columbus no longer offer a full Scottish or English breakfast, although I enjoyed a pretty good one at Brewdog Manchester on our Epic Beer Trip last year. I have also seen Cambridge Tea House offer English breakfasts as a special, but it is not on the regular menu.
Making a full English breakfast at home
If you’d prefer to make an English breakfast at home, many ingredients are available locally. Here’s where to find them:
Weiland’s Market: Offers black and white pudding, Winston’s Irish-style bangers, Irish-style bacon and Heinz baked beans
World Market, Kroger and Walmart: All three carry Heinz baked beans.
Jungle Jim’s International Market: This Cincinnati-area market carries the biggest selection of British foods we’ve found in Ohio. It’s a great excuse for a road trip!
For mail-order British ingredients, try:
Parker’s (particularly good for sausages)
Dive deeper:
For more information about the regional variations, history and traditions of the Full English, check out:
“Red Sauce Brown Sauce: A British Breakfast Odyssey” by Felicity Cloake
Finally, you can experience a Full English Breakfast in its homeland by signing up for Columbus Food Adventures' collaboration tour to England and Wales this fall with Epic Beer Trips.
Booze
Support a Local Bar During Dry January
By Erin Edwards
Partaking in Dry January doesn't have to dry up your social plans. Columbus bars and restaurants have come a long way in terms of improving their low- and zero-proof beverage offerings. Go ahead and dampen your whistle a smidge at these six spots, which surely could use your support during the leaner winter months.
Cobra’s own David Yee was recently featured in this Forbes story which asked bartenders around the country to predict beverage trends for 2025. His take: We’ll continue to see bars “doubling down on the importance of low and no-proof options.” Fans of Cobra’s Above Ground Pool cocktail (count me as one) can opt for the Pool Float, featuring the same delightful mango cordial as the alcoholic version, plus lime, cilantro and serrano—hold the Patron.
Grandview’s I Like It Like That, which was our favorite new bar of 2024, doesn’t mail-in its NA offerings. Be sure to try the aptly named Are You Sure This Is Non-Alcoholic? featuring Ritual Zero-Proof Rum and coconut water infused with cacao and Royal Flamingo coffee.
Cameron Mitchell’s The Guild House is hosting a Lyre’s Non-Alcoholic Happy Hour event on Tuesday, Jan. 28, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. The happy hour features apps from chef Sonny Pache and Lyre’s Non-Alcoholic Spirits. Get your tickets here.
The cocktail bar Law Bird still has seats available for its Non Alcoholic & Low-Proof Cocktails Class at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 26. Get ’em before they sell out. To learn more about Law Bird’s cocktail classes, check out our story here.
The Bottle Shop is back after being taken over by Ebenezer’s bah humbug bar during the holidays. The King Avenue watering hole offers several no- or low-ABV beverage options, including the Rosty Toasty with coconut water, lime, mint and black salt.
Comune, which just released its new winter menu, offers two zero-proof wines from the German winemaker Leitz, available either by the bottle or the glass, plus a pair of NA cocktails, including a Paper Plane and French 75. Comune also offers house-made sodas.
I love frying up a full English at home, and Weiland's is my go-to for ingredients. I'll have to check out some of the other spots; we've been meaning to try The Last Queen at some point!