The food was excellent. I would never have thought to pair certain items together but it all tied together nicely. I tried items that I never thought I would eat and they were incredible. The restaurant is beautiful with its history. Our server, Michelle, was wonderful.
Daniel Jessberger
$100 per person. Two hours minimum. Best in the city. Reservation required. No comparison.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Annette Sudnik
Beautiful venue, amazing ambiance, welcoming staff, and outstanding dishes. 10000/10
M Darling
Lamb servings was small but manager added extra.
10/10 from entrance to exit!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Bethany Yunker
Sometimes I forget we have this gem right in our backyard. A truly wonderful experience with attentive wait staff and delicious food. We did the tasting menu and added a bread basket which was the perfect amount of food!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Nick Cavallaro
Always a wonderful time at the refectory. I can't praise them enough here enough. The food is absolutely worth the price tag, and the staff is wonderful. We have never had a bad experience here, and while I am sure I would be happy with any of the staff I will always request Dominic!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
James Beidler
Wonderful dining experience! Seated immediately at a quiet and comfortable table. Food was incredible, sommelier was superb (I should have been taking notes on the pairings) dessert was amazing. Service is just excellent. The Refectory made our anniversary dinner very special!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Joedy Skrobak
This was a bucket list item for me. Yes it’s pricey but I expected that. I thought the portions were rather large in comparison to others in this space. The delay between courses is typical, so no surprise there. What I am bewildered by were the dishes themselves they were not balanced, either too acidic, too heavy, lack of texture, additions for visual appeal that were of little value to the bite, and felt dated. A lot of one note. Lots of thoughts on elevating them, a prelude that contains jarred mushrooms and balsamic vinegar is not offset enough by scatterings of duck, zucchini slices, and micro-greens. Fresh sautéed cold mushrooms would balance the acidity, and offer a better mouth feel. Add vanilla bean paste to the crème brûlée, never use out of season, lackluster fruit. Less dill in the walleye, it dominates. The wagyu flat iron (not Japanese, but country not denoted) was served in a sauce, the carrot slice was just random, the potato “French hash brown”…just no. It wasn’t a single dish that was off for me, rather it was almost thematic. I did purchase the calendar, which needs a bit of proofreading (hint the celery in the buffalo brochettes), so I will test these to see what becomes of my thoughts on returning.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 5
Scott
My husband and I booked this reservation for our wedding anniversary and the service was very attentive-no problems there. However, we were placed in the main dining room at a table that was not very good. My husband had no view of the dining room and were put in the far corner, possible they didn't want a gay couple in sight of the other guests. And speaking of the other guests, it is not the restaurant's fault of course, but many of the other diners were dressed like they were going to a McDonald's for dinner. I'm just saying that it would have been nice to have a more romantic table. The main issue with this restaurant is the taste of the food. I had the Vegetarian tasting menu and my husband had the meat tasting menu. His terrine was weird with veal and pork-it didn't work, and really since the Regency period, terrines are not considered fine dining. the other courses were just OK with most of the flavors poorly balanced. The opera cake was about the same quality one would find at a buffet. My main course was mushroom in a heavy cream sauce and a very soggy puff pastry. There was zero umami flavor of the mushrooms. Actually there was no mushroom flavor...like Campbell's soup mushrooms. The chef had not braised, roasted or sauteed the mushrooms. I think he just boiled them in water just to remove all mushroom flavor, then smothered them in cream and salt. Voila! My desert was an entremet dome which was good until I reached the rock hard center...It was supposed to be hazelnut, but mine had been replaced with grainy sugar. I would like to give the chef grace, maybe it was an off night. We were told that the menu changes frequently so my suggestion would be to actually taste the food on the menu before sending it to the table.
Robin
Every element of our anniversary celebration dinner was perfect. Each staff member who interacted with us over the course of the evening warmly wished us a happy anniversary and was eminently professional. We had not dined at The Refectory for some time, but plan to return very soon for another lovely experience.
Friday was not our first time there but we were still blown away with the full experience. From the Owner being present and involved every time we've been there, to the amazing staff/waiters/ Sommelier. From the moment we walked in the door till the moment we left, truly amazing. This place is a historical piece of art for Ohio, not just Columbus. 10/10. can't recommend it enough.
Samantha Sheppard
We are always blown away every experience, but this visit topped the cake! Our table was perfect, the ambience was beautiful, the service both Kamal and Alex provided was outstanding. We were celebrating not only our anniversary, but our engagement, and felt celebrated by the staff! The five course meal with wine pairings was an outstanding experience. Clayton was a fantastic sommelier and made our experience very special! I cannot say how much we love The Refectory and keep coming back because of how special it is!
Elizabeth Hamrick
The Refectory is one of the few five-star French restaurants in Columbus that consistently delivers again and again and again. Their wine list is incomparable and their service is excellent.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Amanda Nunn
One of the most underwhelming dining experiences for the price point I have ever had. We went for my 40th birthday. I believe they were understaffed and as a previous server we are super patient but literally had to find people for refills, to get our check, to pay our bill. It was pretty baffling the level of service we received. Food was mid at best. Nobody came to check on us after it was brought to us, so we couldn’t ask for things we needed. Only highlight was the dessert.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 2
Mike Hockey
Very nice event music, food, and wine were nice but $575 w/tip was a bit over-priced in my opinion. I would rather go to Jeff Ruby, The Barn, or Hide Park and had much better food, service, and atmosphere.
The food was excellent. I would never have thought to pair certain items together but it all tied together nicely. I tried items that I never thought I would eat and they were incredible. The restaurant is beautiful with its history. Our server, Michelle, was wonderful.
$100 per person. Two hours minimum. Best in the city. Reservation required. No comparison.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Beautiful venue, amazing ambiance, welcoming staff, and outstanding dishes. 10000/10
Lamb servings was small but manager added extra.
10/10 from entrance to exit!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Sometimes I forget we have this gem right in our backyard. A truly wonderful experience with attentive wait staff and delicious food. We did the tasting menu and added a bread basket which was the perfect amount of food!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Always a wonderful time at the refectory. I can't praise them enough here enough. The food is absolutely worth the price tag, and the staff is wonderful. We have never had a bad experience here, and while I am sure I would be happy with any of the staff I will always request Dominic!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Wonderful dining experience! Seated immediately at a quiet and comfortable table. Food was incredible, sommelier was superb (I should have been taking notes on the pairings) dessert was amazing. Service is just excellent. The Refectory made our anniversary dinner very special!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
This was a bucket list item for me. Yes it’s pricey but I expected that. I thought the portions were rather large in comparison to others in this space. The delay between courses is typical, so no surprise there. What I am bewildered by were the dishes themselves they were not balanced, either too acidic, too heavy, lack of texture, additions for visual appeal that were of little value to the bite, and felt dated. A lot of one note. Lots of thoughts on elevating them, a prelude that contains jarred mushrooms and balsamic vinegar is not offset enough by scatterings of duck, zucchini slices, and micro-greens. Fresh sautéed cold mushrooms would balance the acidity, and offer a better mouth feel. Add vanilla bean paste to the crème brûlée, never use out of season, lackluster fruit. Less dill in the walleye, it dominates. The wagyu flat iron (not Japanese, but country not denoted) was served in a sauce, the carrot slice was just random, the potato “French hash brown”…just no. It wasn’t a single dish that was off for me, rather it was almost thematic. I did purchase the calendar, which needs a bit of proofreading (hint the celery in the buffalo brochettes), so I will test these to see what becomes of my thoughts on returning.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 5
My husband and I booked this reservation for our wedding anniversary and the service was very attentive-no problems there. However, we were placed in the main dining room at a table that was not very good. My husband had no view of the dining room and were put in the far corner, possible they didn't want a gay couple in sight of the other guests. And speaking of the other guests, it is not the restaurant's fault of course, but many of the other diners were dressed like they were going to a McDonald's for dinner. I'm just saying that it would have been nice to have a more romantic table. The main issue with this restaurant is the taste of the food. I had the Vegetarian tasting menu and my husband had the meat tasting menu. His terrine was weird with veal and pork-it didn't work, and really since the Regency period, terrines are not considered fine dining. the other courses were just OK with most of the flavors poorly balanced. The opera cake was about the same quality one would find at a buffet. My main course was mushroom in a heavy cream sauce and a very soggy puff pastry. There was zero umami flavor of the mushrooms. Actually there was no mushroom flavor...like Campbell's soup mushrooms. The chef had not braised, roasted or sauteed the mushrooms. I think he just boiled them in water just to remove all mushroom flavor, then smothered them in cream and salt. Voila! My desert was an entremet dome which was good until I reached the rock hard center...It was supposed to be hazelnut, but mine had been replaced with grainy sugar. I would like to give the chef grace, maybe it was an off night. We were told that the menu changes frequently so my suggestion would be to actually taste the food on the menu before sending it to the table.
Every element of our anniversary celebration dinner was perfect. Each staff member who interacted with us over the course of the evening warmly wished us a happy anniversary and was eminently professional. We had not dined at The Refectory for some time, but plan to return very soon for another lovely experience.
Restaurantji Recommends
Friday was not our first time there but we were still blown away with the full experience. From the Owner being present and involved every time we've been there, to the amazing staff/waiters/ Sommelier. From the moment we walked in the door till the moment we left, truly amazing. This place is a historical piece of art for Ohio, not just Columbus. 10/10. can't recommend it enough.
We are always blown away every experience, but this visit topped the cake! Our table was perfect, the ambience was beautiful, the service both Kamal and Alex provided was outstanding. We were celebrating not only our anniversary, but our engagement, and felt celebrated by the staff! The five course meal with wine pairings was an outstanding experience. Clayton was a fantastic sommelier and made our experience very special! I cannot say how much we love The Refectory and keep coming back because of how special it is!
The Refectory is one of the few five-star French restaurants in Columbus that consistently delivers again and again and again. Their wine list is incomparable and their service is excellent.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
One of the most underwhelming dining experiences for the price point I have ever had. We went for my 40th birthday. I believe they were understaffed and as a previous server we are super patient but literally had to find people for refills, to get our check, to pay our bill. It was pretty baffling the level of service we received. Food was mid at best. Nobody came to check on us after it was brought to us, so we couldn’t ask for things we needed. Only highlight was the dessert.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 2
Very nice event music, food, and wine were nice but $575 w/tip was a bit over-priced in my opinion. I would rather go to Jeff Ruby, The Barn, or Hide Park and had much better food, service, and atmosphere.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 3
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