In the center of the HER Realtors Cookbook, 15th edition there is a “Dining Guide” which HER Realtors (now known as Real Living HER) published with The Other Paper.
I believe the 15 Edition Cookbook was published in 1998, it was the 42nd anniversary of the company which was established in 1956.
The Dining Guide looks very much like what you see in The Other Paper, where they list Central Ohio Restaurants, provide the address and phone number, give a short review and then indicate the cost of food at the restaurant… with dollar signs.
It says “HER Realtors Dining Guide, An Alternative to Cooking at Home” then at the bottom it says “published in cooperation with The Other Paper. I wish I had an issue of The Other Paper to see if there is a change in how the information about restaurants is presented in 2007. I believe most of the listings would have a url listed now for a website. I think most restaurants now have a web page. Or do they?
Think the 1998 Dining Guide is totally out of date? Central Ohio is a competitive market for restaurants. They come and they go… I did not recognize the first restaurant in the dining guide although it is on Reed Rd. but I called and it is still there!
The Central Ohio restaurants in this guide are divided by type so I wanted to see if any of the Mexican restaurants listed were still in business. I think of Mexican restaurants as very competitive in Central Ohio. When I moved to Central Ohio I could only find Talita’s on High Street (Tex Mex) and Chi-Chis…. I know that’s not authentic… but at some point the Mexican restaurants in Columbus multiplied and it seemed like they come and go… I just realized a north east side restaurant I frequented is gone. Columbus Mexican Restaurants… breaking news. Yes I know it’s not authentic, I know it’s a chain… I love the charra beans…
Who was in the 1998 Dining Guide?
- Cancun on Maple Canyon… Gone. We ate there a number of times. One time we drove up and some new restaurant was there… Cancun had good chile rellenos.
- Chile Verde Cafe - on Sawmill Rd. at Bethel, Carriage Place Shopping Center. Open! Great food made my list of my ten favorite Central Ohio Mexican Restaurants.
- Vaquero - the first two locations, Riverside Drive and Olentangy River Rd. Open!
- Estrada - on King Ave. Open! I have never eaten there…
Pretty stable after nearly a decade. Three out of four remain in business. They must be good. Does Chile Verde not have a website? Wow… I can find reviews and directories but not a site for Chile Verde Cafe. Same for Estrada… maybe all restaurants do not have an online presence except for reviews and directories…
I believe in 1998 we thought cookbooks might soon be a thing of the past… more people were not eating at home… so that was part of the reason for the dining guide.
Columbus Cookbooks FREE
Columbus Mexican Restaurant Poll
Yelp about Columbus, an obituary of dead restaurants
Quoting myself here this list was on the original Columbus Best Blog which is now known as Discover Columbus. These are my favorites… yes I mix chains with non chain restaurants… I am not a food blogger I have no taste.. I am just a Mexican food addict.
“Sep. 4, 2006 - Columbus Best Mexican Restaurants
10. El Acapulco, Worthington area, Crosswoods, 7475 Vantage Dr, Columbus, 43235
9. Don Pablo’s Mexican Kitchen - Northside, 1777 E Dublin Granville Rd, Columbus, 43229
8. El Vaquero Mexican Restaurant, Polaris area, 8715 Sancus Blvd, Columbus 43240
7. Don Pablo’s Mexican Kitchen Northwest, 3740 W Dublin Granville Rd, Columbus 43235 (at Sawmill Rd)
6. El Vaquero Mexican Restaurant, Northwest Columbus 3230 Olentangy River Rd, Columbus, 43202 elvaquerorestaurants.com
5. El Vaquero Mexican Restaurant, Northwest Columbus 2195 Riverside Dr Columbus, OH 43221 lvaquerorestaurants.com
4. Chile Verde Cafe, Northwest, Carriage Place Shopping Center, 4852 Sawmill Rd
Columbus, OH 43235
3. La Casita, Northwest Columbus, 1355 Bethel Rd, Columbus, OH 43235
2. Baja Fresh, 3 Northwest Columbus locations, I lumped them together, 771 Bethel Rd, Columbus, 43214, 6510 Sawmill Rd, Columbus, 43235,1557 W Lane Ave, Columbus, 43221
1. La Hacienda Real, Northland area, 4855 Sinclair Rd Columbus, OH 43229″
That list is in no particular order EXCEPT number one is my favorite…
The dining guide has listings of Chinese food, Indian restaurants, Greek food, casual dining, fine dining and more. It is in a cookbook full of recipes.
Want a Free HER Realtors Cookbook 15th Edition with the Dining Guide? Contact me. I will not mail them but I can make arrangements for you to get one. Contact me. I have a limited number of this edition as well as the 17th and 9th editions.
Actually I have a lot of the 15th Edition. Marketing made a mistake in publishing this book… over a cherry pie recipe.
The US News & World Reports article about the best high schools was a story on Sunny 95 this morning when the alarm went off… so heck I’m going write about it too. It’s nice to wake up to good news… The newscaster reeled off a list of Central Ohio Schools that made the lists of best US schools.. 
