How can a place fly so under the radar after being open for 61 years? Is the location of Johnnie’s, a rural looking Trabue Rd. just across the river from Scioto Country Club, keeping Johnnie’s from finding major popularity? These were questions I pondered as I waited for my meal at Johnnie’s Tavern. The place is the epitome of the words “old school.” One walks in and gets the feeling that absolutely nothing has changed since it opened, besides the neon beer sign in the window. In fact, every single person in Johnnie’s appeared to be a regular; two or three guys were hunched over at the bar, talking about the Cavs’ chances over a bottle of beer, and a few booths were occupied with couples or old fathers and sons.
The menu is very easy to miss. It’s written on the wall behind the bar, but for those sitting at tables, it’s simply printed on a little tabletop menu sign. I will print the menu, in whole. Cheeseburgers, Roast Beef Sandwiches, Fried Bologna, Coney Dogs (only on Wednesdays), French Fries, Onion Rings. There are a few bar-appealing appetizers, consisting of mostly fried vegetables, but I don’t think they are very popular offerings. Oh, and drinks come in frostily iced mugs, a nice touch that doesn’t exist anywhere else in Columbus, I don’t think Cheeseburgers come with the option of quite a few cheeses—swiss, pepper jack, provolone, cheddar, and American, I think.
I'd imagine that not much has changed since Johnnie's opened 61 years ago...
The cheddar cheeseburger took 6 or 7 minutes to come out, rivaling any local fast-food chain. But the burger is beyond comparison of a chain. Around ½ or ⅔ pound beef, cooked medium well, with a healthy serving of crisp onion, pickle, tomato, and lettuce on an unobtrusive sesame seed bun. All of these toppings aide the overall success of the burger, but stand aside to let the burger shine. This is beef at its finest. Beef flavored beef. It’s as if the beef came from cows that ate beef which came from cows that ate…grass. The beef is barely seasoned, and even the cheddar struggles to get its say in because the beef is so powerful. It’s extremely delicious, however. A burger from Thurman’s, which is generally regarded as one of the best in Columbus, is very comparable to Johnnie’s (Thurman’s is 67 years old, making both restaurants ripe for comparison. Thurman’s burgers tend to get a little bogged down in toppings, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Thurman’s and Johnnie’s burgers are cooked nearly the same amount of time—medium well, although Thurman’s picked up a little crispiness on the edges. Thurman’s, if one orders just a cheeseburger, would find the beefy flavor very good, but I don’t know if it’s as intense as Johnnie’s, or if the other stuff on the burger just makes it not seem as strong. And it’s worth noting that Johnnie’s burgers aren’t nearly as stomach-stuffing as the Thurman behemoths. Regardless, they are both good burgers, and easily up there as the best in Columbus.
The Johnnie's Burger (left) is right up there with Thurman's (right). Pictures not to scale.
French fries are the typical, double fried diner sort, extra crunchy. Nothing extraordinary, but what you’d expect from a place open 61 years. After the close of Nancy’s, it’s the next restaurant I’d nominate for Jane and Michael Stern’s “Roadfood” series (the feeling you get driving around San Margherita is roadfoody—it’s hard to believe that Johnnie’s Tavern and the surrounding country houses are so close to Columbus. And what little Johnnie’s does, it does very well. San Margherita may be a tiny little village whose existence is in doubt, but they have a treasure in Johnnie’s.
Johnnie’s Tavern
3503 Trabue RdColumbus, OH 43204
614-488-0110
