Friday Food Bites: Mochi Shop opening storefront, Oishii 2 joins old North, Forno does speakeasy

There’s always a lot happening in the Columbus restaurant world! Here’s the latest:

• The Mochi Shop, which has long operated as a pop-up at events like the Worthington Farmers Market, shared that it is opening its own storefront sometime this month. An exact location hasn’t been revealed, but they’ll feature their signature mochi alongside daifuku filled mochi, and coffee the Coffee Coin coffee cart.
• Oishii Japanese Bistro in Powell just opened a second location, called Oishii 2 Japanese Bistro, at 2333 N. High St. in Old North. It takes over the renovated home that was the short-lived Adelaide’s Gin Joint.
• Forno in the Short North is featuring a pop-up speakeasy on Thursday, March 13. It’s named the Marmont, after the old school Chateau Marmont in Hollywood.
• Bada Bean Bada Booze announced that its fourth location – this one at the Quarry Trails development – will open on April 5. The combination coffee shop/cocktail bar brand is part of Thrive Companies’ developments, including ones in Italian Village, in Harrison West, and inside the Little Grand Market.
• The Tulip Cafe at 2926 Hayden Run Plaza in Dublin reopened after it expanded its space. The Turkish cafe features coffee, pastries, and other goodies. They’re a regular presence at local farmers markets, too.
• Speaking of expansions, the Original Goodie Shop in Upper Arlington opened its new space recently. The long-running bakery expanded into the adjacent storefront in the Tremont Center.
• This week Rose Dough Donuts officially announced the address of their forthcoming donut shop: 3375 N. High St. in Clintonville (just down from the excellent Food Street!).
• Little Ladies Soft Serve announced that they’re launching a new ice cream sandwich cart this coming season.
• Dawn’s Fish & Chicken shared that because of a variety of building issues, they’ve paused service at their new Gahanna location while they search for a new storefront.
• Columbus Food Adventures just announced the launch of its newest tour, the Columbus Food Hall Tour.
• A location of the coffee chain Qargo Coffee is opening soon at 422 Polaris Pkwy. in Westerville.

Some cool events!

• The Columbus Brew Festival is this Saturday, March 8 at COSI from 8-11 p.m. The event will feature 50 breweries sampling beers through the science center.
• Tickets are still available to Columbus Monthly‘s Best New Restaurants 2025 showcase on Thursday, March 25. Held at The Stack at the Municipal Light Plant, the event will feature samples from the winning restaurants and cocktails from Noble Cut Distillery.

This week I’m also writing:

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