Food News: New Trail Celebrates Columbus-Style Pizza; East Market Adds Fried Chicken Vendor

Openings & Announcements 

Experience Columbus is launching a new Columbus-Style Pizza Trail, just in time for National Pizza Month in October. This celebration of the square-cut style will feature 18 pizzerias, some of which include: Bexley Pizza Plus, Cardinal Pizza, Gatto's Pizza, Grandad's Pizza, Josie's Pizza Hilltop, Panzera's Pizza and Vick's Gourmet Pizza. Trailgoers will earn an official pizza trail T-shirt after punching their digital passport at just four stops. “When you say New York, Chicago and Detroit pizza, many people have an image of what that means. While Columbus-style may be less familiar for some, it’s not new. This thin-crust edge-to-edge style has been around for more than 85 years, and many local businesses have been perfecting their pies for several generations,” said Michelle Wilson, director of visitor experience at Experience Columbus, in a press release. To learn more about the Columbus-Style Pizza Trail, visit experiencecolumbus.com/pizzatrail. 

D’Andre Martin, one of the four co-owners of The Pit BBQ Grille, is set to open a new fried chicken concept at East Market, part of the Trolley District development. Customers will be able to sample Just Chicken’s menu of fried chicken fingers, chicken sandwiches and loaded fries starting Saturday, Oct. 1, at the market at 212 Kelton Ave. Just Chicken and The Pit have also joined New Albany’s Bubbly Hall, which is expected to debut in October. 

Korean fried chicken chain CM Chicken has opened another Central Ohio location at 1510 Cross Creeks Blvd. in Pickerington, replacing The Crispy Coop. CM Chicken stands for Choong Man Chicken, an international chain that's growing quickly in the U.S. Before expanding to Pickerington, franchisee Dae Kim opened Ohio’s first CM Chicken location last year at 1132 W. Henderson Road. He plans to open a third in Westerville before year’s end. You can read Columbus Monthly’s review of the popular Korean fried chicken chain here. 

Closings 

Have we hit the taco saturation point in Columbus? Columbus Business First reported this week that Barra Tacos & Cocktails (3051 Northwest Boulevard) has closed in Upper Arlington; the restaurant is also listed as closed on Yelp. Sandusky-based Barra was just one of many taco chains to open in recent years in Central Ohio, including Barrio, Torchy’s Tacos and Agave & Rye. 

The Clintonville location of Papa Giorgio’s has permanently closed at 3027 Indianola Ave. A staffer at the pizzeria’s Bethel Road location confirmed that the Clintonville shop has been sold to a new pizzeria operator.