Reviews

Jonathan Vorholt is originally from Maine, and he's lived in San Diego, Boston and Tampa. But the bartender still claims that Columbus is best.

"I would like to stay here," he said. "You miss the ocean, but that's what vacations are for."
Vorholt is planning a career in commercial interior design—he was recently accepted into a program at Ohio State—and mixing drinks at Martini in the Short North gives him the chance to go to school fulltime.

"I can come in here at 5 o'clock, help pay for tuition," he said.

What's the scene like at Martini?
It is definitely evolving and changing. We have a lot of new restaurants in the area, so there is a lot of competition, which is a good thing.

You are seeing a lot more people coming Downtown. We still have our regulars. It's always fun. People come here a lot, not only to eat at the bar, but also for the great happy hour we have.

They also come before they go to the club on a Saturday. It is a central place to meet and it has always been a staple like that Downtown.

What's your signature drink?
I make one—it is not on the list yet, but I think it will be soon—with Bombay Safire, equal parts of Ketel One, cranberry juice, pineapple, splash of grapefruit. I haven't named it yet, but that one is coming along nicely.

The one we serve the most here is the Yellow Cake. People love it. If you have never had a martini, that is a great one to start with.

Do you have any interesting customers?
We definitely get our fair share of famous people. We've had the Smashing Pumpkins in here.
Jon Stewart was in when The Daily Show was at Ohio State. He was super nice—I got to talk to him for a little bit. That is always a cool part of the job, getting to meet people like that.

As far as neighborhood characters, I definitely see a lot of friendly faces. Every Friday you'll have a couple come in that you get to know. You'll have a group of girls that comes in on a Saturday, that's their meeting spot. Everybody is pretty interesting.

How has the scene in Columbus changed?
With everything coming in Downtown, and this influx of people actually living down here, I'll see a lot of the same faces.

When I first started here, there were pretty much only a couple of places to go in this area. You'd come down here and you'd have to get in your car to go someplace else.

Now, there are just people in the streets walking down to the Arena District. I've gotten to see all of that happen and it's happened really quickly.

Are there any useful connections between bartending and design?
Absolutely. We'll have meetings about what we can do with the bar. We just put in some high-top tables, an idea of mine.

They let me pitch some ideas about different lighting and stuff like that, because you want to keep changing the bar a little bit. You don't want to stay the same. Restaurant design is another thing that I am really into.

April 12th, 2007

Call it what you will — casually refined, tastefully casual, upscale and inexpensive — but the Springhurst area lacks in such establishments. You know the type: the dimly lighted, dark-paneled locale that serves up a side of cozy ambiance with a bevy of adult beverages; everyone is welcome, but you'll feel a tad out of place in your Saturday sweat suit.

Martini's — as regulars call it — fills that niche.

You can opt to be seated in the restaurant, but we chose to the bar, which is located in its own area with tall tables and booths, and ordered off the extensive martini list.

The menu has 42 selections, but the staff can concoct just about any martini-style cocktail you dream up (true martinis are gin and vermouth, period), and they do so with premium products.

Martinis cost $6.50, except during happy hour (4 to 7 p.m.) when they're $5, and appetizers are half-price.

General manager Jim Davis recommends the Royal Flush for bourbon drinkers (Woodford Reserve, peach schnapps, pineapple and cranberry juices), but we got stuck on the dessert drinks.

If you like amaretto (which we forgot that we don't), you'll probably like the Chocolate Covered Almond martini. We enjoyed the Toffeetini — pure candy in a glass — and the Oatmeal Cookie, a divine mix of Bailey's, Goldschlager and Buttershots with Hershey's chocolate and crushed Oreo on the rim.

Because these sweet treats are too easy to down, we counteracted the alcohol's effects by ordering off the bistro menu.

We tried the house focaccia bread, the semolina crusted calamari ($7.95), baked goat cheese ($6.95) and the spinach al forno ($7.50), a spinach, artichoke and sun-dried tomato mix baked in a parmesan cream sauce served with garlic parmesan flatbread. Now those are items you can't get at just any ol' bar.

We capped off the affair by splitting an order of lasagna ($13.95), a massive, two-pound entrée that tastes anything but mass-produced.

The bar is open from 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 11:30 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday; and 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday.

May/June 2005

"Columbus residents like to head to Martini Italian Bistro, tucked between the Arena District and Short North, for Sicilian lasagna, wood-fired pizzas, veal scaloppini and the extensive selection of Italian wines."

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

Although the dessert menu is constantly updated at Martini Italian Bistro Downtown, one item -- tiramisu -- has remained the same since the restaurant opened. The dessert, a creamy Italian creation of ladyfingers, espresso and custard, has become the most-requested item at the restaurant, said executive chef Brian Wilson. 

The difference between the tiramisu at Martini and many other restaurants, Wilson said, is that the dessert is prepared in an individual portion in a martini glass.

''People love it,'' he said. ''They love having their own miniature tiramisu.''