Breakfast in Columbus: Starliner Diner

Ethnic eats

Most countries have traditional breakfast plates (an English breakfast, for example, comes with standards like eggs and bacon plus black pudding-aka blood sausage-and baked beans), but flavorwise, it's hard to beat Latin America's early-bird offerings.

Hilliard's Starliner Diner specializes in spicy breakfast fare, served up in a colorful, funky and just-plain fun space. Plop onto the lobby's well-worn mid-century aqua couch and admire the oversized family-meal-themed artwork hanging on the walls while you wait (and be prepared to wait-it's worth it).

In the dining room, an astrologial sun-and-moon mural covers one whole wall, but I'm especially fond of the retro starburst clock collection covering the opposite end. Kitschy Elvis portraits complete the look.