Harold’s American Grille

Enjoyed a spinach berry salad with salmon, Ruben sandwich and a kids hamburger meal. The food was delicious and prices pretty fair. Service was also friendly and professional.

Really should have a 3.5 rating. Overall, great location, appealing interior, and food was pretty good. Menu isn’t creative or interesting. But I heard the wings were good (afterwards), although we opted for friend oysters which lacked flavor. The staff and service was the biggest disappointment; Our waiter was not friendly or outgoing. Didn’t crack a smile the entire time we were there and actually seemed annoyed at us for even showing up. Ordered one bison burger and one beef burger; both cooked well and served hot. The cornbread was burned and was as dry as sandpaper. The interior was too loud and it was only about ¼ full. Full bar. Prices reasonable. Would give it one more try but then I’m movin on.

Love coming here for lunch. The bartender Milana is the bomb. The chicken salad is awesome and goes well with bourbon or beer!

Atmosphere is very classy in downtown Worthington. Service is excellent and food is superb. I thought it a little pricey but they do buy food locally so maybe not too bad

The ambiance was incredible as was the food and the service. Their happy hour specials are great with all bottles of wine half off.

I wish I could say more good things about Harold’s, and give it a better rating, but with its easy comparison to other dining choices in this block, it fell short of expectations.
We came for Friday dinner, but it was only a short wait for a table. The front entrance was crowded and loud. Diners were seated at the windows, then chairs and tables for waiting patrons, the host stand, and waiters, bartenders and other staff bumping around. It was almost comical to be jostled around while the spouse put our name in at the host stand.
ANYWAY. We were seated within five minutes, had drinks a few minutes after that. Our waiter was friendly and service was well-​timed. Thinking the evening was looking up, we perused the menu and ordered lobster bisque and Harold’s primavera (me) and the Ohio bison meatloaf (the Spouse). Like most Unilocalers who’ve ordered the bisque, it is SALTY — and I like salty. The primavera, also true to other Unilocal reviews, contained barely-​cooked veg and a whole lot of lemon juice. The spouse was meh on his meatloaf dinner, aside from the potatoes and corn, which were quite tasty — it was tough for me not to abandon my plate and scavenge from his.
Overall, I’d pass on Harold’s for Worthington Inn or head further north to J. Liu.

I couldn’t be happier that I visited this new restaurant in downtown Worthington. Compared to the restaurants located around it, it is a diamond in the rough. The patriotic décor was welcoming, the quality of food was astonishing, from the chicken wings to the Thai Chicken wrap, the flavor was very appeasing. The service was warm and personable. My husband and I are excited to make regular visits!

We really wanted to like this place, really we did. I am writing this in hopes that this is taken in a manner that will result in positive change. $ 14 for a single, mostly burnt piece of fried chicken with a cold chunk of cornbread (served next to oily green beans) however was just not getting the job done. My wife’s salt-​lick flavored artichoke dip was so overbaked, it had a leathery skin on the top. Lunch for two? $ 60 dollars. Even the gesture of a sample of the soup, although kind, was delivered cold and so salty as to be almost inedible. Our server, Whitney was extremely polite and well mannered, and I thought it very unprofessional of the manager (owner?) to come by our table and tell us that «she is new, and I am keeping an eye on her.» She had clearly not been trained well by managers/​chef as to the finer points of the menu. With all the competition, this eatery was more «show than go,» and we will not return.

We had a lovely brunch experience here. Scott was our server he was very friendly and provided us with excellent service. Great food and a clean crisp environment. Looking forward to returning!

Ok, excellent food prep, setting and service in a quiet location in the heart of old Worthington.
I waited to write this review until I had visited three times because I was so impressed, and that doesn’t happen every day. Here’s my recommendation at this point.
Go during happy hour and park behind the restaurant in the large public lot rather than worry about street parking and enter through the back. Check out the small rear patio in the process. I enjoy sitting out there but it is a bit wee.
You will find the best happy hour around with all draft beers and wines, including by the bottle, ½ off. You read that right. Even the fancy bottles are half price during happy hour, and they will cork what you don’t drink so you can safely and legally take it home.
If you sit inside the décor is neutral but nice, and very clean. Ask for Matt, a local with opinions about everything on the menu, and after a few test runs I now listen to what ever he says. I usually order the wings, which are brined over night and a nice change from the mass-​produced crap usually served, but I can never decide on the sauce so I let Matt decide. One time he brought bbq for ½ and tequila/​lime for ½, another time all tequila lime. Each time they were excellent.
I can vouch for the excellence of the bison burger and the fish dinner and oysters in addition to the wings. Whoever is cooking is as good in the kitchen as The rest of the staff in the execution of our new favorite place for date night.

I just thought this place was GOOD. I love fried oysters, but only if they are fresh and prepared correctly (heavy breading = ICK). Their oysters were plump, crispy, yet juicy delicious. My husband had the chicken wings, and he is also kind of hard to please. .. LOVED the smoky taste, crispy skin, big juicy wings. Service was good. .. not amazing, but commensurate with the kind of place this is (in other words, quick, efficient, friendly). I will definitely come back.

Great service, very comfortable atmosphere and little pricy for lunch. I had the smoked turkey ruben lunch special. It consisted of a half sandwich, fresh cut fries and a drink. The sandwich was pretty good but it could have been a liitle bigger.
My friend had the hamburger which he said was ok. The cream chicken soup he said was outstanding.

We come here every Sunday for brunch. Great food. Love the Banana Foster Pancakes and the chorizo breakfast burrito!

Went for restaurant week and it was fairly busy. However we were seated immediately.
We had at least a 5 minute wait once seated before we were acknowledged. At which point server introduced herself and brought waters. We ordered drinks (a draft beer and glass of wine). Our server delivered meals to the table next to us and one person ordered a cocktail. The cocktail was served before our wine and beer. After a long wait, drinks were delivered and meal was ordered.
I had the Cesar salad for my starter — very lackluster. My husband had the artichoke dip which was small but tasty. I ordered shrimp and grits (only 3 shrimp) and my husband had meatloaf. On delivery, my husband asked for ketchup which was promised. Server came by and asked if we needed anything and again my husband asked for ketchup. Dessert arrived with no ketchup. The small desserts for restaurant week (cheesecake and carrot cake) were quite good. We were never offered another drink or anything.
Food was decent, service was poor. I’d rather go to Whitney House across the street.

Went to Harold’s last night for Restaurant Week, and had my very first bad RW experience ever. Usually it’s a great chance to try a new place and add it to the rotation, but we won’t be back.
The Squeeze:
The reservation had been made some time in advance for our group, yet somehow we still ended up squeeeeeezed into a table right up against the wall. It simply isn’t a comfortable amount of room when you have a hard time even maneuvering to put your coat on the back of your chair before you sit. And don’t eat too much, you won’t be able to get up.
The Wait:
You wouldn’t think it would take 45 mins to get your first course, but you’d be wrong. 6 salads and 3 small artichoke dips took exactly that long, by which point I was ready to eat the tablecloth. Granted, it was to be expected that they would be busy and that our orders would take a little longer for a party of 9. And I would have been a little more understanding, if the chef wasn’t personally serving meals to the party of ~10 people in a private room off to the side.
Nothing makes you feel quite so important as watching a clearly preferred group get service par excellence while you’re wondering if anyone is ever going to come around and fill the water glasses. All told, the dinner took 2.5 hours. For that length of time, I would have expected an 8-​course meal served to us, not salads, entrees, and desserts.
The Food:
I can forgive a lot if the food is good. It wasn’t. When the entrees came out, the first thing one of our dining companions remarked was that her bison meatloaf was cold. Fresh food — cold. One person’s entrée was forgotten entirely and he had to wait 10 minutes for one to be whipped up. My husband’s shrimp and grits tasted like someone had described the concept of the dish to someone, who prepared it without any soul or flair. If anything had been added to the grits for flavor, it was not apparent in the slightest.
My pasta was worse than anything I could make at home. Undercooked Brussels sprouts (hope you like chewing forever), tasteless bits of raw tomato, bland sauce, huge chunks of undercooked red onions, and way too much blue cheese. Hell, if the menu had listed blue cheese in the dish — a polarizing ingredient — I’d have gotten something else entirely. I generally believe you should let the chef prepare a dish as intended and not pick it apart to nothingness, but the menu should clearly reflect all ingredients so diners can make an informed choice. Still, the blue cheese wouldn’t have been so overwhelming if there was ANY of the smoked tomato flavor that was promised in the description.
The Selection:
It was Restaurant Week. There was a set menu posted online when we made our decision to try Harold’s. Nearly half of it was unavailable when we got there. The lobster bisque was absent from the first course menu with no explanation, but you could order it from the main menu and it’s still listed online as an option. The desserts listed online were unavailable, the menu stickered over with new options. Of those 4 options, 1 was already sold out. When the dessert course finally rolled around, our poor waitress had to come inform us that the dessert half the table had ordered was ALSO unavailable.
And good god when the desserts came it was ABSURD. Minutes after watching the chef walk by our table with a large tray of martini glasses filled with lovely chocolate mousse, out came our desserts — the saddest, most miserly portions I’ve ever seen. The carrot cake and cheesecake had been sliced so laughably thin, I couldn’t help but wonder if we had been served the ghost of dessert. Imagine a slice of cake about the width of quarter at its widest point, tapering to nearly-​translucence. You know how carrot cakes are designed so that each slice gets a lovely little frosting carrot? It makes it very obvious when the cake is sliced too thinly and each person only gets a small portion of a carrot that this is not how the cake was intended to be served.
The waitress had made a point of mentioning earlier that they had not ordered enough desserts, and it was very evident that they had taken 4 portions worth of dessert and stretched them over 9 people. It was the spoiled cherry on top of the crap sundae. Thank god we were with friends we don’t see often and enjoyed their company, or it’d have been an awful, prolonged experience with mediocre food.
The Positive:
Not everything was bad. For all that the desserts barely existed, they were actually good, and I enjoyed my cocktail. That’s really all.
Summary:
There are people who frown upon negative Unilocal reviews. You’re labelled a hater for being honest, for letting other diners know about your dining experience. Some act as if it’s your obligation to contact the manager and attempt to seek resolution that way.
Wrong. There is no resolution for an overwhelmingly bad experience. I don’t want a gift cert or anything like that because it would require coming back, which I will definitely not.

I’m going to have to start-​off by apologizing to all of the «haters» on here,(aka the people who wrote really negative reviews) because this place is excellent. They use all local ingredients from the Worthington Farmers Market, and their prices are very reasonable, which makes it a welcomed addition to the Worthington food scene.
My husband and I dined here on a Saturday evening, and we loved the food. My husband had the bison burger with fries, and I had the boneless fried chicken with green beans, mashed potatoes, and substituted the cornbread for hush puppies. The burger was prepared perfectly and my husband devoured it. The chicken dish was delicious and is seriously just as good, if not better, than Cap City’s renowned fried chicken.
Their prices are also more than reasonable. Our bill was only $ 36 and that included drinks. Even on Saturday night they had drink specials, and significant ones, as it was 50% off all Ohio drafts.
Considering how new this place is, their effort to source all local ingredients, and the over-​all cost, Harold’s is definitely worth a try. I’d be shocked if you didn’t want to return.

So, I finally popped in to Harold’s, seeing all these lackluster reviews for a new spot — I decided I needed to know for myself.
I went in for a late lunch and sat at the bar — in my opinion, the best time and location to check out a new place. The lunch rush has died down, the bartender is usually more attentive/​friendly then servers (usually, I said!), and it’s a little more relaxed and casual.
I could care less for the décor at restaurants — this place is no different then so many local spots. I didn’t find it overly crowded or cramped, and I didn’t peek at their patio.
The bartender recommended the wings to me — Chili Lime glaze — and against myself, I ordered a half-​dozen. $ 11. These are not fried, mind you, but I still feel 6 wings for $ 11 is overpriced (but the wings were good, and the chili lime was flavorful).
The Rueben, evidently… the meat was roasted the night before. It’s quite possibly the best Rueben I’ve had in a long time. Perfectly toasted, and the flavors balanced — it wasn’t busting with sauerkraut, it wasn’t drenched in dressing, and the bread wasn’t toasted to where it feels like it was cutting my mouth up. Got it with broccoli, since I decided to get wings. It’s broccoli, they didn’t jazz it up, or anything :)
I’m one stop in. It looks rather pricey for lunch, so I think Old Bag wins in this area (next to Whitney House’s $ 7 chicken lunch special) — but I’m sure I’ll be back in to try some more items on the menu.
It’s worth checking out — based on the reviews, it sounds like they’re still ironing out some opening issues, but don’t let that deter you from their delicious reuben (and also — if it says «smoked» on the menu? It means they smoked it onsite… so much more to try!)

My wife and I tried this new place last night. For background we can walk to this place, and we have been trying to find the mix of a place with good food, nice drinks, and a friendly attitude. Our food took a while to get to our table, otherwise it would be five stars.
This is the first new place since 2007, that I am actually excited to try again and explore the menu. Pricing is fair for the area and quality of food. We know the service will sharpen up, and the people have a great attitude.
Welcome to the neighborhood Harold’s. We look forward to seeing you again.

Harold’s American Grill is a great addition to magnificent dining options in Columbus. The Rueben is among the best ever eaten and I learned that the Rueben meats are smoked each day on site. Jicama Slaw was both unusual and memorable. The perfect dessert was small serving of key-​lime pie in a chilled glass. All of these delectable beautiful dishes are served by a wonderful fun staff. Can’t wait to go back. Kudos for a great chef and his staff!
Pat Alcorn

For an opening night we were pleasantly surprised. Although we did show up 15min before close so it wasn’t that busy. I was worried that with such a large menu in such a small place that nothing would be amazing and everything would be mediocre.
We were seated on the back patio. I had the shaved ribeye sandwich which was perfectly seasoned and very good. The bun was buttered and toasted on a flat top which made it even better and crunchy than most cheesesteaks style sandwiches. They did forget the cheese sauce which would have made a good sandwich, a great sandwich… guess I’ll have to get it again. My wife had the Reuben and it was spot on as well. Both sandwiches came with a side of fries which were some of the best I’ve had in a while, I don’t know if it was due to the fresh oil on opening night or not.
We live in the neighborhood and are excited to go back and try a whole lot more of what they have to offer.
Nice work Harold’s keep it up.