Forno Kitchen + Bar
Why we go :
Let’s start off with the most important part this week, the food and drink. Full disclosure, we have both been to Forno many times but only during happy hour. It’s just too good that you can’t pass it up! Happy hour is from 4-6 Monday through Friday and includes half off of wine, beer, cocktails, appetizers, and full pizzas. Talk about a deal. Not to mention, half off for quality tasting food. My favorite appetizers have to be the calamari and the mussels, but you can never go wrong with burrata and ricotta. Josh and I both agree that the best cocktail is the Kiwi mule. The mule has actual kiwi purée, and it perfectly balances the ginger beer. It takes the cake for the best mule in my book. I ventured off to try the Frose and regretted not getting my mule. This time around, we tried the White pizza, and although delicious, we both agreed that it was missing just a little something – we thought to maybe prosciutto to it if we ordered it again. But we did love watching the cooks prepare our pizza at our spot at the bar.
The vibes :
Located on High Street in the short north, Forno is right in the hustle and bustle. The restaurant only has street parking of course, but I recommend finding a spot near goodale park to make the walk slightly more fun. The bright orange patio umbrellas help bring a little brightness to the city street, and are definitely an eye catcher. The chic and luxe decorations balance out the industrial style vaulted ceilings. Depending on the seat it’s possible to see the pizza oven in the kitchen, and we love an open kitchen.
A lil history :
Forno Kitchen & Bar was one of many of Chris Corso’s ventures here in Columbus. The OSU grad started off in the nightclub scene but by 2015 he had broke into hotels and restaurants. Corso started his own group that had Forno, Standard Hall, Pint House, Goody Boy and more under its umbrella. The goal was to keep growing Columbus and encourage the college graduates to stay here instead of jetting off to a larger city. If you keep up on drama in restaurants in Columbus, Corso has made a couple mistakes throughout figuring out the scene. From finding the best spot for a noisy club to figuring out a dress code that was accepting of all cultures, Corso seems to have tried to grow and work with Columbus through these. He is now the CEO of One Hospitality, a team that works to provide next level service and entertainment.
