Preston's Announces Opening; North Market Bridge Park Adding Wine Bar

Openings & Announcements

Preston’s: A Burger Joint is ready to reintroduce itself. The popular smash burger joint, which departed the North Market in late December, is now in its soft opening phase at 2973 N. High St. in Clintonville. The new, 2,150-square-foot restaurant is Preston’s first standalone brick-and-mortar and neighbors Combustion Brewery & Taproom. Preston’s will offer limited hours this week: 4-8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, with plans to expand its hours the following week. In December, we spoke to co-owner Matthew Heaggans about the decision to move Preston’s to Clintonville. Read that story here.  

North Market Bridge Park (6750 Longshore St.) announced Monday that Market Bar, one of its first vendors to open in 2020, is expanding with a new wine concept. According to a press release, Market Bar Vinoteca will offer market guests "a relaxing and elegant venue to enjoy fine wines from around the world in addition to innovative cocktails and local craft beer. Vinoteca's focus on fine wines will be enhanced by a state-of-the-art wine dispensing and preservation system.” Vinoteca will occupy the space on the south end of the market that was previously Reuse Revolution and a pop-up merchant. The new wine bar also will offer a curated selection of wine bottles for sale. Look for a spring opening. 

Central Ohio’s first Qamaria Yemeni Coffee Co. franchise location is now open at 3221 Hilliard-Rome Road. The owner of Columbus’ Yemeni Restaurant, Najmeddine Gabbar, is behind the new Yemeni-style coffee shop. Qamaria, which is based in Detroit, specializes in Yemeni coffee and tea drinks as well as Yemeni pastries.

Franklin Park’s East Market (212 Kelton Ave.) is adding a new permanent vendor: Saba Middle Eastern Grill, a fast-casual restaurant that’s Kosher-certified. The Middle Eastern eatery will offer items like shawarma, falafel, hummus plates, sabich and more. 

Meanwhile, Fork in Nigeria, which runs food trucks in Columbus and Detroit, will soon join the East Market’s rotating space (currently occupied by Buck City Sammies). The Nigerian eatery, which serves hits like jollof rice and fufu, is expected to make its market debut on March 1. 

Groveport's Little Italy Pizza kicked off a new chapter on Sunday. The Ward family’s 44-year-old pizzeria has relocated to a larger, more modern space at 480 Main St. The new location, named Little Italy Ristorante, features an expanded menu of Italian American fare, a full bar and a hand-dipped ice cream shop. 

The owners of Zeno’s (384 W. Third Ave.) in Harrison West recently announced that they are opening another bar. The new bar, christened the Vic Village Tavern, replaces the former Shrunken Head at 251 W. Fifth Ave. The new concept is described as “a classic neighborhood dive bar" featuring live music, karaoke, trivia and more. 

The Rossi Kitchen & Bar (895 N. High St.) has reopened after an electrical fire forced the Short North restaurant to temporarily shut down in December. The neighborhood staple, which was sold to Local Cantina owner George Tanchevski in 2019, received a menu refresh during the closure, with pizzas making a return appearance.  

Send openings, closings and other restaurant-related news to eedwards@columbusmonthly.com.