John and Jackie love to take us to new places in Columbus.  Unfortunately, we were so busy during our three weeks in Ohio that we didn’t have time to explore very much.  In order to try something new, we met them at Sweet Carrot Restaurant one Monday evening for supper.

Sweet Carrot is a new restaurant in Columbus with two locations:  Grandview and Polaris.  Sweet Carrot bills itself as “a fresh casual restaurant that serves the made-from-scratch comfort foods you’ve always loved, in an inventive way.”  This is a perfect description of their food.

You stand in line to order at the counter.  Because it was our first visit, the manager gave us a short instruction course on how to order.  You start with a base:  corn cake, roll, salad, or mac and cheese.  Then you add a meat and sides.  Tom got the kale salad with smoked turkey and coleslaw.  John also started with a base of salad but added brisket as his meat.  Jackie ordered the corn cake base and topped it with chicken meatballs with sesame ginger sauce.  I got a corn cake topped with pulled pork and a white bbq sauce.  I also ordered a side of mac and cheese because John and Jackie said it was very good.

The food not only looked wonderful, it was delicious.  This is not fast food.  They cook it when you order it, so the corn cake was warm and just a little crunchy around the edges with real bits of corn inside.  I don’t usually order sauces but the white bbq sauce was an interesting addition.  The mac and cheese won’t be a favorite but it was good.

Everyone except Tom ordered a dessert.  John and Jackie each had a fresh made cookie and I got a slice of carrot cake.  The carrot cake was excellent – my new favorite dessert in Columbus!  The best thing about the carrot cake was no nuts!  Sweet Carrot has a gluten-free menu and is a nut-free facility.

I also enjoyed the decor at Sweet Carrot.  John and Jackie had been to the one in Grandview and said it was more eclectic and quirky.  The new restaurant at Polaris paid attention to the details and created a fun and amusing whole.  The restrooms had rabbit home murals and there were little “bunny-holes” decorated with tiny details throughout the restaurant.

Sweet Carrot was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.  You can read more about it here.  Guy said he would “order that again for the next five years” about the chicken meatball sandwich.  Sweet Carrot also has a delightful children’s menu and the kids we saw in the restaurant were loving being there.  The outdoor patio would be a lovely place to eat on a warmer day.

We loved discovering the Sweet Carrot restaurant with John and Jackie.  They are opening a new location on Sawmill Road soon, which is even closer to their house.  So I know we will be eating there again the next time we got to Ohio.