Curio

These people know what they are doing. Love, love, love everything.

What. The. What. I had the BEST cocktail of my life at this place. The drinks are creative (but no too fancy pants) and delicious. Serious art. We have lived in the area for about 5 years and just made our way over to this gem last Friday. I had always wanted to try it, but everyone scared me off by saying how tiny and crowded it always is. People, yuck *shudders* Amirite? Anyway we decided to take a risk and went around 7ish on a Friday night. We grabbed a spot at the bar right away and after a few minutes, a couple more two tops opened up. Around the corner is more bar space and a few (3 or 4 maybe?) cozy booths. I overheard the bartender explaining that it’s usually much busier but he liked this pace. Full but not crazy. The later it got the more it filled up obviously. By the time we left people were waiting to take our seats. The bathroom was beautiful, clean and smelled great too which was unexpected. Overall this place is superb. Ambiance, drinks, service, clean bathroom everything is top notch. We’ll definitely be back.

Hands down the best cocktails and bartenders in Columbus! Everything here is done the right way. The essence of classic cocktails! I want to go here every time we are in Columbus!

My girlfriend and I have been coming here for a very long time. Recently we went and the bartenders were very rude and not fun at all. We used to have such a fun time here and spend a lot of money but we will probably not he coming back anytime soon.

CURIO. This bar has been on my list for years and now that I’ve finally gone I can’t believe I waited so long! There is a lot to choose from on the menu no matter which liquors you prefer. I got the HBIC and it was phenomenal. Each drink has so many layers of flavor and unusual ingredients that you won’t find in most bars. The bartender was extremely knowledgeable and efficient and had a handful of fancy techniques to show off while he made drinks. There is limited seating and not really any standing room so I’d suggest going early in the night to get the best experience possible.

Great vibe… excellent service … Ambiance is ecclectic mix of old world fun and romantic chill… pizza is spot on delicious and selection of interesting craft mixers makes for an perfect night out! Must try is the spicy Yuma!

It’s just too small to be a bar. At 6 pm it was packed! And the décor is cool, but seems a little staged and only half the bar seemed in character. It seemed like they were trying to also be a restaurant and that takes away from the prohibition feel. Loved the special where they sell you a 1oz pour from a bottle priced at what they paid for the bottle! Great deal.

The best true cocktail bar in the city. Excellent Moscow Mule. Can’t complain about the price, you get exactly what you pay for and it’s worth every penny.

The perfect cocktail bar. Loved the theme & décor; not to mention the delicious drinks. Was able to taste a few cocktails with our group and liked them all. Exquisite and well infused flavors. They open at 5pm on Saturdays.

Mushroom pizza may be the best I’ve had in Columbus in 24 years. Brussels sprouts: superb. Kale Caesar salad: superb. Try the «Embers only» cocktail. Ambiance here is 5 star. Loved it!

Great pizza. Real good pizza. I ordered the goat cheese and didn’t finish it. But late at night, I got called to it and ate it cold. Still good. Like yumminess.
The service was slow as all get out. Like they were trying to keep us there long enough so they can charge us rent. It wasn’t really busy either. They weren’t rude or nothing, just that I was there too long.

This place takes you back in time with the interior décor and with every sip your taste buds do the tango. Sophisticated palates will delight in the unique concoctions. Novice drinkers will be pleasantly surprised.

High end cocktails at a high end price, but the atmosphere is chill and nice.

If you’ve read my reviews, I don’t give out 5 stars like they’re candy. If you read my reviews, you know I’m about to write a novel, because when you hate or love a place, you want to tell someone all about it. Short reviews are for places I feel mediocre about. I do not feel mediocre about Curio.
I happened to be in Columbus for the entire month of June (sans weekends) for business. I have friends who have lived or visited Cbus who gave me all sorts of recommendations and I of course relied on Unilocal to guide me as well. I tried to do a bit of every kind of food while I was there, because, well, when you’re not paying for your food, you should really take advantage of all there is to offer in this town. My friend who had spent two years in Columbus told me I had to check out Curio claiming it was «a hipster bar with fancy cocktails». I decided to save it for my last night; a goodbye to Ohio.
I’m no hipster. Well, people who are definitely not hipsters may call me one, but people who I consider hipsters would call me pretty basic. I didn’t feel there was an overly hipster vibe here, actually there were all sorts of people in the bar the night I visited, from douchey post college guys to single girls, couples of all ages, and then there was me, a lone girl who just wanted to sit at a bar and have some good drinks and food.
I was able to squeeze in on the end of their L-​shaped bar. As I’m sure you’ve read in the reviews and summary of Curio, this place is a bar that is associated with Harvest Pizzeria, but is its own entity, however, you can order the full Harvest menu from Curio. Curio is a rather small bar which I think is perfect for what they’re doing. An L-​shaped bar seats probably 10 – 12 people and then there are a few high tops scattered. Basically, don’t come here with a group of 8. This place is intimate in every way. I do see in the Unilocal photos that there is an upstairs, I never checked it out so I haven’t a clue. The crowd was a mix of people getting a drink while they waited for their table at Harvest and people like me that were hunkered down for the long haul for the night.
I was greeted with a friendly but not overbearing bartender named Travis. Travis was great. Gave me water immediately and a menu. The menu was well designed and presented nicely. There were cocktails of all kinds — specialty, seasonal, traditional, and twists. I like that they try to use some of the local spirits as well as use higher end stuff. I went with the Pleasant Pheasant, a bourbon based concoction, as that’s what I lean towards pretty much always. It was served in a rounded stemmed cocktail class with a twist of orange and soaked cherries. The bourbon was prominent with just a bite of Fernat and refreshing citrus.
The hard thing about trying out new restaurants by yourself but not being limited by money necessarily is that I wanted to try everything. It’s one thing when you know you’ll be able to come back to a place again, but, this was literally my last night in Ohio with no idea of when I’d return so I went all out. I had checked out the menu before I arrived, so, I knew what I wanted. Unilocal has a limit on how much I can type, so I’ll just tell you that I got the Brussels sprouts, the kale Caesar salad, and the roasted garlic pizza. All were top notch and perfectly executed. Head over to my Harvest Pizzeria review to read more about those.
What’s truly complimentary about this review is that I’m really giving 5 stars to both the food and the bar — I’ll hop on over the Harvest Pizzeria and leave the same review because the food on its own was worth 5 stars and here at Curio, the drinks and service were also worth 5.
I ended my night with the proper dessert you should get at a fine bar — another cocktail. Travis and I chatted minimally but we shared enough information that I trusted him to make me my second drink, his choice. A twist on a Manhattan (which I didn’t even tell him was my go-​to drink), my second drink was wonderful and a great way to end my night. We ended up chatting about liquor, sharing a digestif, and being entertained by the comings and goings of the bar patrons.
I will warn you now — this is not where you go for a cheap drink. This is not where you go to get a Budweiser or a strawberry daiquiri. You go here to try something new, innovative, creative. These people are artists. I believe the prices are fair for the service, craftsmanship, and care put into your drink. Be prepared to pay $ 8 – 15 for a drink.
If I’m ever up in Columbus again, I’ll be back. Heck, if I had just one night in Columbus, this is where I’d go. Hands down. Thanks, Curio, till next time.

One of the best spots in Columbus. If you really want to knock someone’s socks off take them here. Curio is rustic and swanky, they play vintage music from the 30s and 40s and serve beautiful cocktails. They partner with harvest next door and serve their food. Great pizzas– try the spicy Yuma.

A wonderful place with real atmosphere.
The décor of the bar is heavily influenced by the 1930s, and you might feel as though you’ve stepped into a speakeasy. The place is going to be crowded during peak hours, so plan on standing if you go on a Saturday night.
The selling point of the drinks is that they’re older cocktails, with an entire section just devoted to varieties of Old Fashioneds. It can be a little hard to get the bartender’s attention, but the guy who served us spent a great deal of time walking us through the cocktails being offered and what worked. The Flop the Nuts was my choice, and it was fascinating. I’d never thought to use peanuts in a cocktail, but it worked.
Best of all, it’s attached to Harvest pizzeria, so you can get a pizza while you wait.
Prices are high, but you do get what you pay for. Overall, a great bar.

Loved the drinks and atmosphere but bartender (somewhat bald, baggy pants, glasses and very importantly probably working on the solution to world peace) would have gone a very long way to explain the menu to us and the couple next to us and even more miraculously to deliver the food menu! Ding ding! Hate to sound like an a-​hole but not too many other ways to lay it out! Jack-​hole.
A little time has passed now, and I’m still not sure this review conveys what a jerk this guy was. He cocked off to an elderly lady sitting at the bar near us. He clearly knew everything there was to know about mixing a drink, he was one of the most knowledgeable bartenders ever, but if I go back again, I’d leave if I saw him. Does that convey it?

Curio. You beautiful, delicious, sexy little devil you.
When in Columbus we heard that once we got over the hype of short north, we needed to visit this quaint little German Village, and thanks to Unilocal we found Curio.
What I love about this place is that this is the super hot, smart girl that doesn’t even know she’s drop dead gorgeous. What I’m getting at is that even though this place is insanely beautiful, they remain humble.
We put our name in at their pizza place which had an hour wait and walked over here for a drink. The hostess greeted us full smile and said that we could actually eat over here. We prefer bars, so for us this was fantastic. (Also a note that they use an app that actually tells you how many people are in front of you to be seated, and how much longer your wait is. You can physically see it on the app AND OTR NEEDS THIS IMMEDIATELY!
Before I go on, picture this Cincinnatians –Sotto’s big velvety drapes, that old world Italian charm, silver finishes, candle light, and hand crafted cocktails. That is what you will get when you come to Curio.
We sat at a charming little bar space on the other side tucked in a corner by candle light and ordered up some cocktails. The list was inventive and fun, but still had the usual favorites. I had a gin and tonic with celery bitters, a bay leaf, and lemon peel. It was delicious, and refreshing. I loved watching the bartenders make each drink by hand, carving and peeling away at the fresh ingredients that covered the bar.
We ordered up the seasonal gnocchi appetizer which was only $ 8 (shocking) and it was perfect. Every bite of pillowy deliciousness just melted in your mouth. We were basically licking the sauce off the plate. We split the truffle mushroom pizza, but instead of red sauce we substituted for the garlic base b/​c truffle, garlic, mushrooms — because, what’s not to love?
The pizza came out looking just as beautiful as ever and the fragrance from the truffle just crept slowly into our noses like cartoon smell lines. Finally, we dove in. There were some orgasm noises, and the table behind us were peeking to see what we got.
Just let me say this — this pizza, was the best pizza (gourmet pizza I should say) that I have ever had in my life. And I’ve had a lot of them.
The service was impeccable. The ambiance was romantic and had so much character. The cocktails were hand crafted with the highest quality ingredients. If I had to make up a bar in my head, this would be it. It had all the elements that I love in a bar and made for the perfect romantic night out with my love.
When I think about going back here. I still can’t believe that this experience was real. This place is out of a dream or something… a dream I want to have over, and over, and over again.

Boss. Spot.
Pizza and cocktails together? That is the dream. Not just any pizza, gourmet pizza. Neither cocktails nor pizza were skimped upon here.
Our bartender deviated from the cocktail menu selection without us even asking. Love. It. So for him to read us like that and make good cocktails is accolades upon accolades.
He had gin tasting like vodka, rum tasting like an island (tropical, not long), and wine tasting like rum. The skills this guy had were ridic. Every drink we had was amazing. With three of us, we had 8 different drinks so lots of experimentation occurred & I wasn’t able to keep track of all the concoctions…
The place was mad crowded. Not a lot of tables to begin with. It’s pretty much a bar setup which I actually don’t mind. There’s a parking lot for literally only 8 vehicles. Lol. Street parking it is…
The bathroom had quite a huge surprise. As I’m doing my business, the wall right across the way has fliers from Ward III, Pouring Ribbons, and Booker & Dax. It was home at home. Nice.
Good spot. I would definitely go back.

Good first impression. I enjoyed the cozy atmosphere and dim lighting. The eclectic decorations also added to the mysterious feel of the bar.
We arrived early enough on a Friday evening (around 6ish) to grab booth seating. It helped that it was a beautiful day outside and many were seated on the patio.
The drink menu was extensive and the service was prompt. The sheer number of different cocktails was intimidating at first. However, I stuck with a classic and ordered the Old Fashioned.
After my first sip, I knew that this place was a winner and that I would definitely be coming back. They make a well-​balanced Old Fashioned with the perfect amount of sweetness and bitters. It was topped off with an orange peel, cherry garnish and chilled using a single large ice cube. Very easy to drink.
For my second drink, I was a little more adventurous and ordered the «Bols Deep.» My curiosity about the drink resulted from a combination of longstanding immaturity and fleeting mischievousness. It’s actually a blackberry infused drink, with blackberry infused liqueur, absinthe and a gin-​like spirit, garnished with an actual blackberry. It had a medicinal quality to it and wasn’t my favorite cocktail.
Regardless, i’m sure there are plenty of awesome cocktails I have yet to discover. Being able to enjoy the awesome pizzas from Harvest is another plus. I’m a fan!