German Village Coffee Shop

Recently bought a house in Merion Village, and this place is close and walkable. We went on a Sunday around 9:45am or so, and it was about a 30 minute wait. Luckily it was a mild January morning because we had to wait outside, as did many other people since there isn’t really anywhere to sit to wait. The place was packed and loud, but I loved the feel of the place. The food is cheap, but delicious and so is the coffee. We sat at the bar & both ordered the breakfast sandwich and shared French toast – which sitting at the bar was totally cool since you get to watch them make your food right in front of you. The French toast was especially awesome and I am looking forward to coming back and trying other things. We both left completely full, and with a 15 dollar check… Can’t beat that!

Excellent breakfast and owner has hand on approach even filling empty coffee mugs! For me it was the two eggs my way plus corned beef hash!
Excellent diner experience I see why the locals love it!

Rather a diner than a coffee house that offers up good food at a cheap price. Small joint that has a counter in front of the grill that seats maybe a dozen people with a row of booths down the opposite side. We went for a late breakfast and was able to feed 4 for $ 25! We had orders of eggs, French toast, pancakes and sausage gravy. All good! When you order eggs over easy/​medium you aren’t sure how they’ll come out most places. Ordered over medium here and they were perfectly done. Definitely coming back.

Great little place for breakfast or lunch — shared a table with some regulars & had a great time!

My partner and I come here very frequently for breakfast. It’s your typical greasy spoon. Good food; very affordable breakfast spot.

A small inconspicuous diner hidden next to Thurman’s Café. This pint sized location packs quite a punch on food quality, atmosphere, and pricing.
The food is simple, straightforward, and made with no thrills. It is everything you could want in a neighborhood diner. You will feel like the server knows your name whether or not you have actually been here before.
Also, I challenge you to find something on the menu costing more than $ 6.00…The prices are borderline amazing and this keeps me coming back at least once per week.

I absolutely love this place! I’ve had several things on the menu and they have all been great. One of my faves is the sausage biscuit and gravy. This dish is so delicious! Oh and I can’t forget the wonderful staff. They’re always so attentive. Be ready for a wait on the weekends though as it is super busy.

This place. I have never been disappointed. I love 4 blocks Away and have become a Saturday morning regular. It’s not healthy by any means. The people
Here make the place. The menu is simple and the prices are cheap. It’s PACKED on Saturday morning. Wait time can be 30min or more. They do a fine job moving fast. Go alone. Sit at the bar. Read the paper.
If you go with another go at 6:30am! Before the crowd. Get a small booth. Bathrooms are in the small prep room. Feel free to waltz in. I love the atmosphere and they always have a fun special… S’mores pancakes anyone?!

I finally waited the million years it takes to get into this place on a weekend. I freakin’ love diners, and I love a place with character. Honestly, I wasn’t really amazed. I am not joking when I say that it took over 40 minutes to get a table, and then another 20 minutes for someone to take our food order after we had our beverages. The waiter system here is kind of strange, and I think that was the issue for the long wait times. There were two servers, and I think one was supposed to be handling beverages, and the other taking food orders? I never really figured it out. All I know is that I had to ask for someone to take our food order, as they thought the other person had taken it.
The prices here are great. You can get a giant omelette with two full size pieces of toast for $ 5! I had a single hotcake, and it was really buttery and delicious. My fiancé had the sausage gravy and biscuits, and while the biscuits were nothing special, the gravy was really good (and I don’t care that much for gravies, tbh). The coffee here is awful. I usually like the dark, slightly burnt coffee at diners, but this stuff had a weird aftertaste. I actually had to use one of those little half and half mini-​creamers (the horror!) to make it tolerable. For as discombobulated as the service was I still had both servers try to refill my coffee mug at least 12 times.
If you have 2 hours to spare, then it’s worth a visit.

It’s all about the neighborhood feel, here. Old row shop in German Village. Brick walls, dark browns and red paint. Skinny and long layout. Counter and stools down one wall. Six or seven booths run the opposite wall. If your a big party, you may want to rethink stopping in on a weekend. Classic diner!
Met my friend here around 10 am ish, got seated quickly. We actually decided to share a corner booth with a retired couple (otherwise we would have had to wait longer). Just a note, they were awesome! They’ve lived in German Village since the 80s. In the know about the local happenings!
Anywho, I picked the breakfast sandwich with sausage as the meat. Good choice. The sausage had good flavor. American cheese accented. Fresh tomato slices. Got a side of the hash browns, had them cooked like Stephen: NOT in the sauce they use — I like my shreds on the crispier side.
The food was not what stood out, for me. It was good, don’t get me wrong. But the classic, Cheers bar vibes radiate from every seem. Everyone knows the regulars. Prices are still affordable. I’m glad this establishment has withstand time!

I’m a bit torn as to what rating I should give to German Village Coffee Shop. On one hand, I can make pancakes, eggs, toast, bacon, etc. of the same quality at my house. but the service is so outstanding and the prices so reasonable that I can’t not rate them highly. I’ve only been once (so far) but here are my thoughts.
The food is your typical diner breakfast food. They’ll cook you some good pancakes or eggs in a simple way, and they won’t blow you away probably but also won’t disappoint. I got a short stack of pancakes and they were HUGE. They were fluffy and had decent flavor even without some butter and maple syrup but who eats pancakes without syrup. I also got 2 overeasy eggs and rye toast which were exactly what you’d expect. The huge pancakes, 2 eggs, and 2 pieces of toast filled me up pretty well and it was under $ 5 with tax, so as a cheap college student I approve!
What really amazed me was the service. It was my first time here, and they were friendly to me, but how they treated the regulars was just plain awesome. A few people walked in and got called by their first name. One server brought over a coffee and orange juice to the guy that came in and sat next to me because she knew that was his usual order. One server asked if a lady wanted her eggs over hard or runny and the line cook said «oh she always gets them runny» to which the lady agreed. They were very fast to cook everything (right in front of you which is cool) and were super friendly, so the awesome service + great prices for solid food makes them 5 stars for me.

A must stop for breakfast every single time we re in Columbus. Nothing fancy just good people and great food. There’s typically a wait bc it’s a small shop but just ask for the first available and don’t be afraid to sit at the counter or share the large booth with strangers. I had perfectly cooked over easy eggs with a side of ham, rye toast (I like that they serve it dry and have butter at the table), and hashbrown (get them with onions and/​or cheese). Delicious and filling old school breakfast. Everything was great. My wife got pancakes and scrambled eggs. The pancakes were awesome. Didn’t need anything extra but we saw others getting blueberry or chocolate chip cakes and they looked amazing too. We watched the cook crack fresh eggs on the grill for the scramble. No fake egg mix crap like at a chain diner. Just a wonderful throwback diner and a can’t miss breakfast spot.

Super misleading name. This is a greasy spoon breakfast joint. It is tiny and mostly full of older folks.
We went so we could pick up a coffee before we went searching for houses in the area. The coffee stayed hot FOREVER. This is a good thing. The coffee was super average. Like throw back in time average. They were accommodating to us not understanding they were not a coffee shop until we entered though.

This hidden gem is tucked away in the historic German Village. If u love a greasy spoon with an executive atmosphere and great service, then you’ve found the right place. While breakfast is certainly my favorite… the burgers are to die for. Don’t come with a large group… and don’t come early… they’ll be a line outside. Late breakfasts is the best time.

Yes, it is a dive, in an endearing way. Pick your favorite small town in Ohio and think of the little place on Main Street that serves breakfast. This is it, frozen in time. The German Village Coffee Shop felt comfortable right from the moment we were greeted and seated. Look and those prices! With the food quantity and quality, this place is a bargain.
We were at the counter, less than two feet from ground zero, close enough to constantly feel the heat on our faces. The two cooks were no nonsense and obviously experienced. The hash browns were perfect as-​is, nothing else needed, though they offer cheese or grilled onions. My veggie omelette was large and properly stuffed with green pepper, onion, mushrooms and just the right amount of cheese. The veggies and fluffy eggs are the stars here. The club and BLT sandwiches looked great, too.
Four stars because the coffee was diner-​good, but not memorable.

Good coffee, limited breakfast menu at this old greasy spoon diner.
Not sure of their sanitary conditions, went through the small dirty kitchen to use a tiny filthy restroom. Really? Leaves me questioning the cleanliness of the food prep & cooking area, kinda suspect…
Ordered the Western Omelette, it was fine, but I wouldn’t refer to it as a Western Omelette with mushrooms/​tomatoes in this omelette variation.

Pros: Cheap menu. Friendly service.
Cons: Bathroom was absolutely disgusting. You have to walk through the prep room to get to it, which is also really dirty. I walked into the bathroom and then immediately walked out. Unfortunately we already ordered our food or else we would have left because I was so grossed out. I had to pee so bad the entire time that even if the food was remotely good (which it isn’t), I wouldn’t have been able to enjoy it. After seeing the line at this place, you would expect waaaaaay better food and a higher standard of cleanliness.

The only thing this place has going for it is price. It is likely the cheapest breakfast in town that isn’t McDonald’s. But the fanfare ought to end there. I love a greasy spoon as much as the next guy, hell, probably more than the next guy, but after a few negative experiences here, I gotta drop the truth. No five dollar meal is worth the cost one must pay in lack of service and wait at GVCS.
Case in point: The counter at GVCS is not first come first serve. You must wait like everyone else. Yet one day, a guy walks in, skips past everyone, and takes a seat at the counter, in front of a handful of people waiting patiently in line before him. He was allowed to stay. My friend and I then had to wait for him to be served prior to us for the rest of our meals (we were sat right beside him no less), despite the fact that we were there first and had to wait like good guests.
Yet, even after this, I gave GVCS one more shot. This time around, I can’t even remember exactly what transpired, but I remember very vividly that I was sitting on the bench up front waiting, they sat someone/​some group ahead of me, and even the couple to my left commented on how screwed up that was because I had been there waiting. I’ve had plenty of other less-​than-​stellar experiences, but this one solidified it for me. I walked out and went to Tee Jaye’s down the road.
If you want a good, cheap diner on the Southside, go to Golden Donuts off Lockbourne Rd.

German Village Coffee Shop is my new favorite breakfast spot in town.
I came here post-​call a few weeks ago and was pleasantly surprised by intimacy of the restaurant. It’s got a dated but clean and classic interior, full of wooden benches and laminate countertop. Sitting at the counter is pretty entertaining as you can see the inner-​workings of the kitchen and the real-​time preparation of your food.
The service was good and the waitress was pleasant. It seemed like the rest of the customers were regulars as the waitress greeted them by their first name. It also seems like customers dropped in for breakfast before heading to work, which says a lot about the quality of their breakfast. German Village is just one of those cozy neighborhood greasy spoons, the antithesis of commercialized chain restaurants. I like that.
Not only is German Village Coffee Shop cozy, their food is also excellent. I ordered the Western Omelette, which did not disappoint. It consisted of tomatoes, onions, green peppers, mushrooms, ham, and American cheese.
It was tasty without being overly oily and the consistency was just right. This combined with the generous portions and fair pricing made me a happy camper. I added a side of hashbrowns with onions, which were also good.
I’ll be coming back for sure.
***Edit — 11/​3/​14***
I ordered a Club sandwich here earlier today and it was amazing! $ 5.50 gets you a huge sandwich with fresh ingredients. The bacon is good!

I don’t get it. I just don’t get this place.
German Village Coffee Shop has a legion of loyal followers. It’s like a cult. People will throw you down if you don’t share the same love. That’s why I hadn’t written a review yet. I kept trying this place over and over again — hoping to fall in love — but it never happened.
So bring on the hate.
Look, I love a hole in the wall… the divier the better. And breakfast is my favorite meal. I was destined to love this place. Yeah, not so much. Here’s what I’m not loving:
–It’s kinda gross. I’m plain white trash, so if I think it’s bad…
–It definitely feels like the cool kids’ club. I never feel all that welcomed, and it’s like you’re just supposed to «know» how everything works here.
–The food is just a’ight. The scrambled eggs are cooked really fast and high, so they’re rubbery as effff.
–The coffee is really terrible. Straight out of a Maxwell House can. I don’t need Brioso, but something a tad better?
It’s not all bad at GVCS… I did give it 3 stars afterall. So here’s the good stuff:
–The lady who is always working! She’s sweet as pie and delightful. I heart her.
–They only use Ohio meats! Hell yeah.
–It’s crazy cheap.
In the end…
Please don’t come stalk and murder me. I don’t hate GVCS… I swear. If you’re a believer, then by all means — I’m not mocking your choices. This place just isn’t my scene. If you’re closeby and looking for a cheap meal, GVCS is a solid choice; but don’t drive across town expecting some hidden gem. As for me, I’ll stick to Grill & Skillet when I want an amazing divey breakfast.