Fabian’s (not so much) Chicago Style Pizza Place
Posted by cmhgourmand on October 9, 2006
Fabian’s Chicago Style Pizza Place
691 North High Street
Columbus, (Short North)
614 221 8240
Fabian’s opened in the Short North during the fall of 2006. I visited on October 7th. The restaurant was still working out some kinks (beers were not on tap yet and the cash register receipt had a different business name on it). The food is pretty good but a few items are a bit over priced. My server was very nice.
I sampled the Chicago style (?) pizza. Well, it is thick crust pizza with good quality toppings bought from suppliers in Chicago - but it is not Chicago style in any way.
Also sampled was the so called Italian Beef. Any native of the Windy City would smack you in the face for calling this a “beef”. This was an oven roasted pseudo french dip with banana peppers - no giardiniera to be seen. For $7, with a very lame side salad - an OK sandwich - but not an Italian Beef.
Do not go to Fabian’s expecting Chicago style anything. If you want Chicago style - go to Wholly Joe’s in the Polaris area or the Windy city. The Fabian’s food is fine and the staff were very friendly - but the fare is not Chicago style as billed. It is worth the trip - but if you are going for a taste of Chicago - you are bound to feel like you ate in Gary, Indiana.
February 10, 2008 at 12:59 pm
Fabians is a sub-par pizza joint and the service is the worst in the Short North. If you want to wait 35 minutes to an hour for a $20 pizza, which more time than not comes out cold, then it is for you. I have been there 4 times and have not left happy yet, besides it is not real Chicago style pizza, it is just deep dish. It is more or less a knock off of pizza hut,
April 6, 2008 at 6:02 pm
I am from the Windy City. I didn’t think that Wholly Joe’s was any good at all. If you DO want Chicago Style food, go to the source. In Chicago, it’s Johnnie’s Beef. There are a few great pizza places in Chi-Town. Just a matter of preference. I still have yet to find great Mexican or Chinese in Columbus. I also tried Schmidts….marginal. The pork tasted like it was some frozen dinner or something. Chicago is a better “melting pot”, and has much better food. And has no one in this town ever heard of liver dumpling soup?
April 7, 2008 at 1:07 am
Well, I won’t argue with the claim that Chicago’s best pizza places beat Columbus’ Mexican and Chinese restaurants, but I think you’re stacking the deck a bit, Trish. I lived in Chicago for a while, and I certainly loved a lot of what the city had to offer as far as food was concerned: Chicago-style pizza with whole cloves of garlic at Mama Rosa’s, killer Chinese at Hong Min, even very tasty low-end fried chicken at Harold’s Chicken Shack (admittedly, much much better when just slightly drunk). But you can certainly eat well in Columbus. I’ve not discovered earthshattering Chinese, but Sun Tong Luck up on Bethel Road is above the bar, and other Asian cuisines are well represented (try Pad Thai — seriously — or Kihachi). Don’t miss the bistro menu at the Refectory, the everything at Alana’s, the tasting menu at Rosendales. And if, like me, you find yourself going into withdrawal for the unparallelled slaughterhouse cuisine of the Second City, make a beeline for Thurn’s Specialty Meats, just off of 315 on Greenlawn — but be sure to go Th-Fr any time or Saturday morning, because the rest of the time, they’re closed so they can smoke the meat.