eat & drink

Rosé wine: intriguingly blush-colored and seemingly suitable for spring drinking, but often overlooked.

The Crest Tavern was a beloved watering hole in Clintonville for decades, and with the complete overhaul — from the food and the drinks to an impressive interior and exterior renovation — the Crest Gastropub is born with the potential to become even more beloved. There’s a reason the place has been packed since it opened a few weeks ago.

A small stretch of Indianola Avenue has become a destination for discerning beer drinkers thanks to welcomed renovations at Studio 35, the Crest Gastropub and Savor Growl (formerly Weber Market). Each are longtime Clintonville businesses that underwent substantial transformations, including ramping up beer offerings.

Changes are foaming up at the Columbus Brewing Company, and they are all good. Not so good is the “Lucky us, construction season is in bloom” obstacle course currently separating diners from CBC. I’m strongly advising you not to let these minor detours deter you from enjoying CBC’s great-outta-the-gate weekend brunch.

Many were anxious to see how The CGS Group — a partnership known for the downtown nightclub scene, originally with Long Street District and then Park Street — would approach a beer-focused bar in The Pint House.

The nostalgic embrace of the grilled cheese sandwich is etched on the DNA of countless Americans. This crispy and gooey classic has a childhood-retrieving power that can transport eaters back to carefree after-school snacks, a quick sick-day comforting from a loving mother, maybe even the first thing someone learned to “cook.” No wonder a goodly number of drinking establishments capitalizing on such squishy memories sell on-the-cheap grilled cheese specials to enhance their booze-pouring bottom lines.

Portia’s Cafe defies first impressions. Though in lockstep with severe dietary restrictions, this new, strictly vegan enclave in Clintonville (it’s also raw food-friendly plus gluten- and GMO-eschewing) serves a cuisine that’s widely accessible, lively and inventive. In a similar vein, I realized that the Bach cello suites beautifully mourning during my initial visit were anomalous for such a bright and cheery restaurant (maybe they were just randomly on the radio).

Star Lanes Polaris is more than a bowling alley. The open space is divided into the usual bowling alley trappings — bar and restaurant, bowling lanes, pool table and shuffleboard, a game room — only the difference is panache. Every bit of Star Lanes is upscale, especially compared to its bowling alley brethren.

Smoked meat fans, rejoice!

Also: Mixed drinks will be served this year.

Celebrating Cinco de Mayo by gobbling authentic — and cheap! — tacos in Columbus is remarkably delicious and easy these days. Yeah, we’ve come a long way since hamburger meat lining a sad Doritos-type “shell” squirted with “salsa” from a foil packet constituted Mexican food in this town.

Photography’s loss is our carnivore community’s gain. Though he’s assembled a great crew now, this makes-me-moan-like-Homer-Simpson sizzler of seductively oak-and-hickory-smoked, low-and-slow artisanal barbecue retains the vision of one no-nonsense man — James Ray Anderson.

Sometimes, white zinfandel can be a gateway wine. But when it’s the wine you can’t get past, one of two things can happen: You’re perfectly fine with it, or you wish you could expand your palette just a bit.

Clad in a pirate-jesting apron, “Captain Cook” (aka Brian Thornton) brings a sense of humor — plus a degree from the Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago — to the mostly one-man OH! Burgers.

There are a whole lot of beer names out there. Some are great, some are utterly moronic. Here’s a list of 10 beer names. Some are real, some are made up — can you guess which is which? Good luck, and no Googling.

What’s in a name? When it comes to beer, a lot. And with beermakers constantly trying to one-up one another with clever beer names, there are bound to be some misses. (Yes, these are all real.)

Do you care about the name of beer you drink? Some brewers feel it’s of the utmost importance — Great Lakes Brewing Co. recently announced its Alchemy Hour Double IPA would undergo a name change in 2014 “due to an unforeseen trademark matter” with Widmer Brothers Alchemy Ale. Others may not take it so seriously.

I’ve spilled a good amount of ink over the last few months about Seventh Son Brewing Co. being one of the city’s best new bars, but now comes the true test. Does the brewery produce the beer to match its stellar setting? Here are some quick notes about each of the four beers currently on tap.

Hankering for more than a pre-packaged Mexican experience for Cinco de Mayo — or dinner? Then try the supermarket/restaurant complex called La Michoacana (10 combo-platter-transcending La Michoacanas dot Columbus; I’m reviewing the Morse Road branch). Sure, it’s a little rough around the edges, but in its middle — where a big heart resides — La Michoacana is truer to its Mexican roots than the crap-tons of indistinguishable gringo-handholders out there.

After returning from a “Desert Calm”-era Saudi Arabia deployment, Air Force veteran Daniel McCarthy figured he’d resume his existence as a restaurant lifer back in sweet home Chicago.