CITY GUIDES | GEORGIA

The 12 Best Restaurants in Columbus, Georgia

Old mills, whitewater, and an increasingly interesting dining scene give this Chattahoochee River city plenty to work with.

By Rebecca Thompson | Oct. 15, 2026

11th and Bay

AUTHOR BIO: Rebecca Thompson has held many jobs, from newspaper writer to middle-school teacher. As a restaurant critic, she’s reviewed the Michelin-starred to gas station BBQ.

In Columbus, Georgia, a day on the Chattahoochee can end with considerably better food than the granola bar you packed for the raft. The river that once powered the city’s mills now puts whitewater, the RiverWalk, and a cluster of independent restaurants within easy reach of each other. Dinner might mean handing the decisions to chef Jamie Keating at EPIC or settling into one of the old buildings that Columbus has repurposed and now holds several chef-driven restaurants. Here are the 12 best restaurants in Columbus, GA, for whatever appetite you bring ashore.

11th and Bay Southern Table

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Heart pine, old brick, and a patio looking toward the Chattahoochee give 11th and Bay an appropriately river-town setting for its Southern cooking. The menu begins sensibly with biscuits and apple butter, then gets more involved: shrimp toast pairs wild Georgia shrimp with smoked trout roe, and braised beef cheek ragu lands over pappardelle. The kitchen changes the details with the season, so leave some room in the plan for whatever has arrived most recently. A sunset table outside supplies a fairly persuasive reason to linger.

Best for A Southern dinner near the river at sunset

The Animal Farm

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Chef Hudson Terrell has a useful understanding of comfort food: it should be familiar enough to want immediately and interesting enough to remember afterward. At The Animal Farm, that means hot pimento crab dip under a Cheez-It crumble, a double-patty Harlot burger built from brisket, chuck, and short rib, and fried chicken with black pepper gravy and collard greens. Local ingredients give the Southern menu its foundation, while the cocktails keep the evening moving. Finish with peanut butter pie if your earlier decisions have left any room.

Best for Southern comfort food with a particularly good burger proposition

Bodega 1205

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Breakfast at Bodega 1205 can arrive on arepas, with poached eggs and a side of sweet plantains, which is a promising way to start an otherwise ordinary morning. This Latin American café also makes a strong lunch argument with empanadas, a pressed Cuban sandwich, and ropa vieja made from beef simmered with tomatoes and vegetables. Order a café con leche and take your time with a menu that moves easily among several countries’ traditions. Breakfast and lunch offer enough different directions to justify putting a return visit on the calendar.

Best for Latin American breakfast and a lunch worth making time for

EPIC

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Chef Jamie Keating writes EPIC’s dinner menu like a book, with a preface, chapters, and an ending worth saving room for. The four-course dinner can move from thin-sliced pumpkin with peanut hummus to miso-marinated tilefish with an uni butter sauce, an indication of how far the kitchen travels with its ingredients. Art by Teil Duncan Henley gives the dining space a personality of its own. For the fullest version of the experience, reserve the chef’s table, where the cooks choose the dishes and explain their work as dinner unfolds.

Best for A full evening of fine dining at the chef’s table

Gabagool

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Hudson Terrell’s second Uptown restaurant trades The Animal Farm’s Southern starting point for Italian American cooking, with a name that announces its intentions before the garlic bread arrives. House-made focaccia carries whipped ricotta and chili honey; spicy vodka sauce coats radiatore and turns up again with the chicken Parmesan. Lemon mafaldi takes another route, with preserved lemon, garlic confit cream, and a crisp chicken cutlet. Between the ricotta toast, pasta, and chicken Parmesan, this is a menu that makes ordering a few things for the table a sensible plan.

Best for Italian American comfort food and a table full of pasta

The Goetchius House

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The Goetchius House has had considerably more lives than most restaurants: built in 1839, it was later taken apart and moved before becoming a gathering place in Columbus’ Historic District. Its latest chapter brings a café and bakery together with brunch and dinner, giving you several ways to spend time in the restored house. Dinner might begin with beef carpaccio or mussels before moving to duck breast, while the daytime operation supplies breads, croissants, and other baked things. The old architecture does plenty of the decorating.

Best for Dinner in a restored historic house, or a slower café morning

Jhoomar Indian Kitchen & Bar

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Jhoomar gives Columbus an Indian dinner that can travel well beyond the usual butter chicken order. Start with crisp sesame tangy cauliflower or a samosa, then consider lamb shank rogan josh, tandoori chicken, or a biryani that brings seafood into the rice. The family-owned restaurant also puts Indian flavors to work in less traditional ways, including chicken wings tossed in butter sauce and smoked eggplant dip with crisp chips. Order some garlic naan, because leaving the sauce behind would be an unfortunate way to end the evening.

Best for Indian cooking that leaves plenty of reasons to order beyond the familiar

Lou Lou’s Bistro + Foster’s Bar

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Chef Scott Ailsworth and his wife, Wesley, gave the former Wicked Hen a new life as a French-Southern bistro downstairs and a bar upstairs, naming each for one of their dogs. The menu has room for both pimento cheese on buttered saltines and a croque monsieur layered with ham, Gruyère, and béchamel. Dinner can go toward steak frites or Chesapeake crab cakes, while weekend brunch supplies a croque madame with a fried egg. Foster’s upstairs offers a natural place to extend the evening over a cocktail.

Best for A French-Southern bistro meal with drinks upstairs afterward

Mabella

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Mabella occupies an old telephone-switch building, which seems a fitting place to settle in with wine and let the conversation run. The Uptown Italian steakhouse has a menu that can support several versions of the evening: prosciutto-wrapped dates over whipped goat cheese, lobster ravioli in sherry cream, or an aged Angus steak with the sides you actually want. The bourbon-marinated ribeye is one clear direction; the pasta list supplies plenty of others. Save a little space for Mama Kay’s cheesecake, a house tradition with its own following.

Best for An Uptown steak dinner with an Italian accent

Millhouse Kitchen + Bar

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The Chattahoochee supplies much of the entertainment at Millhouse, beside City Mills Hotel on a historic mill property. The kitchen gives you something substantial to do while watching it: shrimp hush puppies, pecan-smoked trout rillette, and a version of shrimp and grits with country ham, peppers, and sharp cheddar. Chicken and spooned biscuits takes the comfort-food route, with slow-simmered chicken baked beneath black pepper biscuits. It’s a place to let dinner take its time, particularly if a riverside table is available.

Best for A long Southern dinner beside the Chattahoochee

Nonic Restaurant & Rooftop Bar

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Nonic’s rooftop makes an easy starting point for the evening, but the kitchen gives you good reasons to move the plan past drinks. At Highside Market, the menu sets Southern bar food beside Korean flavors: miniature corn dogs use jalapeño cornbread batter, a cheesesteak gets bulgogi and kimchi, and fries can arrive covered in beef and provolone. There are oysters, burgers, and a substantial beer list too. Start with a drink upstairs, then decide how much of the evening you are willing to surrender to another round.

Best for Rooftop drinks that turn into dinner

Saltcellar

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Saltcellar gives inland Columbus a seafood dinner with a few unexpected turns. The opening choices include brie empanadas with clove honey and tuna tataki with passion fruit gelée; larger plates bring sea bass in miso broth or scallops and jumbo shrimp over parsnip-and-carrot purée. The menu leaves room for steak and a daily vegetable creation, so the table needn’t agree on fish. Cocktails and scratch-made desserts round out a restaurant best approached with enough time to order more than the main course.

Best for A seafood-centered dinner with cocktails and dessert