New Downtown Columbus Restaurants for Fall 2026 in Familiar Spaces

The sushi counter at 114 N. Third St. has a new name on the door, and so does the patio at 113 E. Main St. Over on North Grant Avenue, former CCAD students might walk past a building they still think of as Circle Hall and find a dining room, an open kitchen and a back library inside.

All three opened in under two weeks, between Sept. 25 and Oct. 8. Each one moved into a room with a past, and two are run by people who owned the restaurant that used that same room before. Downtown's dining scene this fall is filling back in from the inside.

On Third Street, Rishi's founders came back to their own room

SAGE held its grand opening on Sept. 25 in the space Rishi Sushi Kitchen & Bar had used since 2014. Rishi stayed open until January. The new restaurant comes from the same people. Sudhir Dubey, who co-founded Rishi, runs SAGE with his wife Kate and chef David Kim, Rishi's other co-founder.

Columbus Underground reported how it came together. Kim left Rishi a few years after it opened, but he and Dubey kept in touch. When Dubey announced Rishi's closing earlier this year, Kim reached out. "We both had the idea to create an experiential space where people could come together," Dubey told the outlet.

So the change on Third Street is about what the room is for, not just what's on the menu. SAGE serves elevated Asian food and is meant to double as a space for live entertainment and curated events. One part of that has already happened. A painter worked in the dining room during a dinner service. Cooking classes and pottery classes are on the wish list, and the event schedule is still being built. The Columbus Dispatch added live music, DJs, ghost kitchens, omakase and special tastings to the list of plans. 614NOW also mentioned guest chefs and cooking events.

For now, those are plans, not dates on a calendar. The restaurant's website has reservations and online ordering, and it sends guests to SAGE on Instagram and Facebook for updates. If you want to catch the first omakase night or class, keep an eye on Instagram. The website isn't where announcements land.

On Main Street, one owner replaced his own restaurant

At 113 E. Main St., the same owner closed one concept and opened another in the same space.

Pecan Penny's closed in October 2025. Its owner, Brad Hobbs, is a co-owner of the new tenant, Ochoa Mexican Grill, which opened to the public on Oct. 2. Hobbs isn't new to the area's dining scene. He also co-owns The Olde Towne Tavern, Osteria Pizzeria and The Walrus Kitchen & Public House.

The operator already knew the building, and the room itself changed little. Columbus Underground reported that most of the changes were cosmetic. The front patio got a fence and greenery for more privacy, and Hobbs said it feels cozier than before. "I'm really excited about the food; I think our team has done a fantastic menu," Hobbs told the outlet. "I just really want to get people in here to experience it."

Here's what's on that menu:

• The classics: tacos, burritos, quesadillas, tortas, fajitas and birria
• Featured specials: Chile Relleno, Chimichanga, Fish Tacos and Enchiladas
• Soups and salads: the Ensalada Ochoa and a Barbacoa Brisket Chili
• At the bar: beer, wine, a Paloma, a Tequila Espresso Martini, and margaritas that include Spicy Passionfruit and Watermelon Basil

The layout matters more as the weather cools. Ochoa seats about 135 people inside and out. The front patio has full service, while the back patio is set up for drinks or appetizers after dinner. Both patios have firepits. Ochoa's website says "Now Open!!" but doesn't list hours. Ochoa on Instagram is the better place to check.

On Grant Avenue, the newest room trains the next people to run rooms like these

The first two openings are restaurant people starting over in spaces they already knew. The third one goes further. It's a restaurant built to train the people who will run downtown kitchens and dining rooms later on.

The Dispatch reported that The Line debuted Oct. 8 at 145 N. Grant Ave. as both a public restaurant and a training ground for food service workers. The nonprofit Service! runs it. The building has a past too. Breakfast With Nick, a Columbus food blog whose author sits on Service!'s board, describes the location as the Discovery District and notes that CCAD alumni may know it as the old Circle Hall.

Service! didn't start here. The nonprofit already runs Cafe Overlook in the Franklin County Courthouse, and the same blog post calls The Line its next step. Its leadership page lists Sangeeta Lakhani as co-founder and executive director, Letha Pugh as co-founder and CFO, and Matthew Heaggans as co-founder, culinary advisor and executive chef of The Line.

Here's how the training works. According to Service!, trainees are hospitality workers ready to move up. They get real restaurant experience in fine-dining service, culinary leadership, guest experience, restaurant operations, events and team leadership. The Line's own site describes paid work, hands-on training, and mentorship and coaching from industry professionals, all inside a working restaurant. Breakfast With Nick says the restaurant will start bringing in new chefs and industry workers over the coming months.

The space is large. It covers 6,500 square feet, with a chef's table and windows that look into the kitchen. The back holds a library that doubles as an event venue, and the kitchen, training space and back patio sit beyond the dining room. Rooms at the back of the building are set to become incubator spaces, with work expected to begin next year. Service! describes the library as a space for community gatherings and educational programs. Before its opening, Columbus Underground listed menu items including chicken wings, beef tartare, jerked half chicken, The Line Burger, kohlrabi salad, gnudi and agnolotti. Breakfast With Nick tried potato rolls with doenjang butter, cabbage all'assassina, mussels escabeche and a chocolate torte during opening week.

The Line is opening with dinner and brunch, and lunch will come later. The incubator rooms planned for next year are meant for aspiring food entrepreneurs to test ideas and grow their businesses.

Where the three schedules overlap

By Thursday, Oct. 22, The Line will be two weeks old, Ochoa about three weeks and SAGE close to four. All three posted their hours before or right after opening, and new restaurants often change their hours in the first months. Here's what local outlets have reported so far:

The hours for The Line come from a Sept. 28 article written before it opened, and the SAGE hours match what 614NOW reported on Oct. 9. Based on these listings, Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings are the only times all three are open. Ochoa is the only one of the three listing lunch hours. It's a good idea to check each restaurant's own channels before you go.

Downtown restaurants change hands all the time, and a different name on a familiar door can tell you a lot about what's happening on that block. If you live downtown and want to talk about how changes like these affect the street you're on, or the one you're thinking about, the team at Castro Group is happy to help, in English or Spanish. Let's Connect.