Dig into the storied restaurant history of the Buckeye State's capital city.Ohio's capital city has long had a vibrant restaurant culture that included German immigrants, High Street eateries and the fads of the times. Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas wrote their thanks for a great meal at the Maramor. Yankees star Tommy Henrich held his customers spellbound with stories in his Diamond Room. Mama Marzetti dropped William Oxley Thompson's birthday cake and swept i...

The Church of Tiki To aficionados of Polynesian Pop, the Kahiki Supper Club was and remains the touchstone for all things tiki. The epitome of a fad that started at the end of Prohibition, it has been rediscovered by each successive generation, with relics of the original "mothership" proudly displayed in tropical restaurants and bars throughout the country. Years after its razing in August 2000, the legacy of the Kahiki continues to inspire artists, entrepreneurs, and other visionaries, m...

From remote diners to downtown political havens, the restaurants of central Ohio satisfied palates for generations. In the era of Sunday drives before interstates, fabulous family-owned restaurants were the highlight of the trip. Sample the epicurean empires established by Greek, Italian, German and Chinese families. Recall the secrets of Surly Girl's chandelier, the delicious recipes handed down by chefs and the location of Flippo the Clown's former jazz hideaway. Following their previous...

Inspired by Florida's famed Mai-Kai restaurant, Bill Sapp and Lee Henry opened the Kahiki Supper Club in 1961. Patrons lined up for hours to see the celebrities who dined there--everyone from Betty White to Raymond Burr. Sapp and Henry set out simply to build a nice Polynesian restaurant and ended up establishing the most magnificent one of them all. Outside, two giant Easter Island heads with flames spouting from their topknots stood guard while customers dined in a faux tribal village wi...

Hula girls, palm trees and Tiki gods beckoned Ohioans of the 1950s and '60s as tropical hot spots sprang up in suburban neighborhoods and concrete jungles alike.The Kon Tiki restaurants of Cleveland and Cincinnati slung rum cocktails to patrons eager for escape to a South Seas paradise. Visitors to the famed Kahiki Supper Club of Columbus, the Tropics in Dayton and Toledo's Aku-Aku could spot celebrities swaying to the exotic sounds of steel guitars and native perc...