Email
PrintGooeyz
Big on cheap eats, but small on flavor.
Gooeyz is a hangout bar with inexpensive food and occasional music in the South Campus Gateway near Ohio State University. It is easily accessible thanks to the adjacent parking facility. (The most convenient spaces are reserved for “green” cars; it is the campus area, after all.)
The space is narrow, but cavernously high due to the upper floor. Furnishings are on the sparse side, perhaps to make cleanup after the students easier. There are plenty of televisions, however, and when the place wasn’t empty, it was noisy. Downstairs is the counter where you place your order and the kitchen where it’s prepared. Upstairs is the bar. Live music is featured Wednesday through Saturday, but I never got there late enough to hear it. My bad.
The bar earned the unhappy distinction of serving me the only undrinkable martini of my life. Without asking, the personable and engaging young bartender poured into the mix several ounces of pickling juice from the olives. Ugh!
If you want wine, it comes from a box. There was a smallish selection of beers, and instead of a beer menu, a row of 13 bottles was on display.
Gooeyz’s food was pretty much a one-trick pony: You get melted cheese with that! The menu listed nine offerings; all but the French toast featured melted cheese meant to ooze out on your . . . well, it wasn’t a plate, but a paper liner. None of the dishes were particularly wonderful.
Baba Gooeyz was built on your choice of seasoned lamb or chicken, and I guess was supposed to echo a Greek gyro. The toppings included lettuce, onion, tomatoes and both cheddar and feta cheese, with what was billed as “our own tzazaki sauce.” The grilled thick white bread resembled Texas toast. It didn’t taste very Greek or very good for that matter, thanks to the thin slab of boring meat and the pile of raw, bland vegetables. The best thing about it was the little cube of fried dough on a toothpick that garnished the sandwich.
Mooey Gooeyz provided flavorless corned beef as the meat and “a spread” that I couldn’t figure out. Bayouie Gooeyz was chicken with the usual lettuce, tomatoes, onion, pepper jack and “our spicy Cajun sauce.” Still not all that much flavor.
The best of the sandwiches may have been the vegetarian version, Veggie Gooeyz, which offered a whole lot of stuff: grilled eggplant, sautéed zucchini, peppers (red, green and yellow), mushrooms, balsamic vinegar, pepper jack, artichokes and sun-dried tomato pesto sauce.
You also can design your own sandwich, a Youie Gooeyz, from a somewhat wider selection of meats, cheeses, toppings and spreads. Children of all ages (including college) might get a kick out of that.
What I liked best was a concoction called Ooey Gooeyz, a substantial serving of pretty good skin-on fries (that came with your sandwich), with two kinds of melted cheese and bacon. Don’t tell your cardiologist and eat fast. As the dish cooled, the fries got soggy and the cheese hardened.
Gooeyz
1554 N. High St.
824-1731
Atmosphere: Sparse and lots of televisions. A student-friendly environment.
Recommended dishes: Veggie Gooeyz and Ooey Gooeyz (fries with cheese).
Price range: Appetizers and sides $1.59-$5.99; breakfast sandwiches $2.99-$3.69; lunch/dinner sandwiches $3.89-$6.99.
Hours: Monday through Wednesday 7 am to midnight; Thursday and Friday till 3 am; Saturday 10 am to 3 am; Sunday till 10 pm.
Service: Pickup from counter.
Reservations: Not that sort of place.
Rating: **
