Ohio Find It Here Road Trip

Ohio find it here road trip

Pretty sure when most people who've never been to Ohio associate it with cornfields and cows - but it's so much more than that! Although I do love the beautiful rural areas with farms and cornfields, there's more than a few major cities and small towns that are absolutely amazing and full of great people, awesome food and really cool places to visit.

In partnership with Ohio. Find it Here, my husband Bryant and I (and Basil) went on a weekend road trip where we hit up three different cities and over 10 destinations for great food & drink throughout Ohio. We had so much fun and I'm so excited to share the story below!

This blog post and trip was sponsored by Ohio. Find It Here 2019 Foodie Fill-Up Road Trip.

| Columbus, ohio

Columbus, Ohio's capitol was the first road trip stop - it's about a two hour drive from where we live in Cleveland. We stayed at the (super dog-friendly) Hilton Canopy Hotel, right in the heart of downtown Columbus. We were able to walk most places we wanted to go and if not, all the Uber rides we took were less than 15 minutes!

Katalina's Cafe
1105 Pennsylvania Ave, Columbus, OH 43201
Katalina's Cafe is a super cool little artsy cafe with Latin and Southern inspired breakfast, sandwiches, soups and salads - we especially loved their pancake balls and breakfast tacos. If you're into hot sauce, they have a giant selection. Gotta love a place that understands how crucial it is to put sauce on well, everything!

North Market
59 Spruce Street, Columbus, Ohio 43215
We had no idea that Columbus had such a large market with super diverse dining options. I've been wanting to try the momo dumplings from Momo Ghar for a long time now and they did not disappoint! Such a unique dumpling flavor compared to most of the dumplings I've tried. The market has everything from ice cream to wine and plenty of places to sit upstairs.

Fox in the Snow
210 Thurman Ave, Columbus, Ohio 43206
This place is exactly what comes to mind when you wake up in the morning and start craving a cozy breakfast - made from scratch baked goods plus a warm environment. We ate a ham and cheese baguette that was honestly better looking and tasting than all the baguettes we saw during our trip to Paris, lol. Since it was the last food stop in Columbus, we decided to go all out and get the egg breakfast sandwich and a huge fluffy cinnamon roll.

| Athens, Ohio

Athens has always had a special place in my heart since I lived there for four years while I attended Ohio University. Bryant and I actually met and started dating there in 2009! It's especially beautiful during the fall, there's so many pretty trees throughout the town and the colors are so gorgeous. There's just something about this town that makes it feel like home...after visiting, you'll feel it too.

As far as lodging, we stayed at the Ohio University Inn, which is about a mile from Court Street but it's definitely the best options for a hotel in our opinion...and yes, it's dog friendly!

Village Bakery & Cafe
268 E Estate Street, Athens, Ohio 45701
True story, I only went here once when I lived in Athens, so I was excited to return and experience it all over again. We ordered the egg and cheese sandwich to share. I think we passed it back and forth about four times, each time eyeing each other to make sure nobody took too big of a bite because it was that freaking good! Something about the craftsmanship that goes into all of the food that's served here, especially their artisanal bread is worth checking out.

Casa Nueva
6 W. State Street, Athens, Ohio 45701
I sadly never really went to Casa as a student at Ohio University, only a few times and definitely wasn't a food blogger back then so this time, I really appreciated every single detail. We ordered a few different kind of salsas with chips to start, and then had the build your own burrito and taco options for dinner. First of all, the burrito was HUGE - I'm so glad that we decided to share, because there's no way I would have been able to eat that whole thing myself! We also loved that Casa is dog friendly, Basil slept on my lap in the booth the entire time we were there - so cute! Notable things about Casa would be that they have tons of vegan and gluten free options, there's live music and the tip is worked into the bill at the end so there's no tipping.

Jackie O's Brewery
22 W. Union Street, Athens, Ohio 445701
I've been going to Jackie O's Brewery for years and I love finding their Razz Wheat beer all over Ohio. I have so many fond memories of visiting this spot with friends in college and eating the fried pickles, which just so happen to be some of the best I've ever had to this day. It's still just as fun to hang out at as I remember, and we loved the Nashville Hot Chicken sandwich, fried pickles and cheese curds.

Other Places to Check Out...
A few other places that I love in Athens that weren't official road trip stops would be have to be Big Mamma's Burritos, GoodFella's Pizza and then Bagel Street Deli - all are located on the main road of downtown called Court Street.

| CincinNati, ohio

I actually used to live in Cincinnati for a few years when I was a younger - I cant remember the exact age but I know I moved back to Cleveland in first grade so I was super young. My family always loved the lay of the land in Cincy, there's so many more hills and winding roads than there are in Cleveland and it gives a different feel than other Ohio cities - hard to explain unless you experience it for yourself!

Findlay Market
1801 Race Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
Findlay Market is incredible. Not only do they have tons of diverse food options available for purchase, but you can eat there too. I honestly felt like the isle we walked down was never-ending, the market is so big, but more narrow than wide so it feels like it goes on forever! We had tacos from Mama Lo Hizo and then bought some beers from a stand that was located outside. There were a few really cute boutique shops right around the market so I would suggest making time to walk around and check some of those out as well.

Rhinegeist Brewery
1910 Elm Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
Rhinegeist is like an adult playground, with beer. They have tons of games like corn hole, foosball, and then a lot of large communal tables so there's plenty of seating inside the hall. My favorite beer there has to be the Truth IPA. I wasn't sure if there was going to be food served at Rhinegeist or not so I was super excited when I saw a pretzel stand in one of the corners of the brewery. We also heard there's a really cool rooftop and view of the city's skyline but it wasn't open during our visit because it was pouring rain the night we went out.

My favorite part about the Ohio. Find it Here road trip was that every city was the perfect amount of close and far away. It was really cool to be able to spend one night at each place with a less than two hour drive to the next destination. Let me know if you have any questions about our trip in the comments below and thanks for reading!

Post Tags: FOJ Travel, Ohio Find It Here Food Fill-Up Road Trip