Hudson 29 Kitchen + Drink

What to expect at Hudson 29 Kitchen + Drink

Hudson 29 is the Upper Arlington outpost of Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, the Columbus group that grew from one downtown room in the 1990s into the city's most recognisable hospitality name, and it sits on West Lane Avenue at the southern edge of the city. The concept is deliberately unfussy modern American: a wood-fired and rotisserie-led menu, a long bar, a large patio, and service trained to the standard the group is known for rather than to the standard the suburb expects. It matters here because Upper Arlington, for all its wealth, is short of proper full-service restaurants — the city runs on strip-mall pubs, counter cafes and supermarket delis. This is where residents go when the occasion requires tablecloth-adjacent seriousness without driving downtown, and it is booked accordingly.

A meal here follows a familiar arc. The bar takes the overflow and is a good place to eat alone, with a well-built cocktail list, a wine programme that spans by-the-glass workhorses and bottles worth ordering, and Ohio taps alongside the nationals. The dining room is warm-lit, busy and loud enough to talk over comfortably. The kitchen's signatures run to rotisserie chicken, wood-grilled steaks and salmon, big salads, a good burger and shareable starters — the kind of menu that keeps three generations of one family happy on the same table, which is exactly what it is for. In warm months the patio is the seat everybody asks for and the reason weekend reservations vanish. Sunday brunch is a separate menu and a separate crowd.

Plan on booking. Weekend evenings from 18:00 and Sunday brunch are the pressure points, and on Ohio State home football weekends the whole corridor is chaos. A table at 17:00 or after 20:30 is far easier to get than 19:00, and the bar takes walk-ins if you are willing to eat on a stool. Dress is smart-casual; nobody will turn you away in jeans. Skip the patio ambition in April and October unless you have checked the forecast, and skip the notion of a quick meal — this is a ninety-minute to two-hour sit. If you want speed, Northstar is a five-minute walk east on the same road.

Getting there: the restaurant is on West Lane Avenue, about a mile south of Tremont Center and a mile and a half west of the Ohio State campus, with its own free parking on site. From downtown Columbus take I-670 west to SR-315 north, exit at Lane Avenue and head west — five miles, twelve to eighteen minutes outside rush hour. From John Glenn Columbus International Airport allow twenty-five to thirty minutes. COTA runs the Lane Avenue corridor and this is one of the few Upper Arlington restaurants realistically reachable by bus, though evening frequency is limited and a rideshare home is more reliable. Rideshare costs roughly $13-$22 from downtown and $8-$14 from campus. Parking is free and unmetered, but the lot fills on weekend evenings and the overflow spills to the adjacent shopping bays.

What it costs: starters and shareables run about $10-$18, salads and sandwiches $15-$22, and main courses broadly $18-$40 depending on whether you are eating chicken or steak — rotisserie and pasta plates sit at the lower end, prime cuts and seafood at the top. Sides are ordered separately at roughly $7-$11. Cocktails are $12-$16, wine by the glass $10-$18, and beer $6-$9. Desserts run $9-$12. Two people eating a starter, two mains, a shared side and two drinks each will spend roughly $120-$160 before tip; 18-20% is expected and Ohio sales tax is added at the till. Brunch is cheaper, with most plates $14-$22 and cocktails $10-$14, making a two-person Sunday brunch around $70-$90.

Timing: weekday lunch, 11:30-13:30, is the easiest table in the week and the same kitchen at lower prices. Weekday evenings before 18:00 or after 20:30 are comfortable. Friday and Saturday from 18:00 to 20:30 are fully booked days ahead. Sunday brunch, 10:30-13:00, is the second crush. Seasonally, the patio drives everything — from May to early October the outdoor tables are requested first and released last, and a warm September evening here is the best the restaurant gets. Winter is quieter and easier to walk into. Avoid Ohio State home football Saturdays entirely unless you have a reservation and patience, and expect graduation weekends in May and December to be booked solid.

It suits couples, family celebrations, business dinners and anyone visiting a student at Ohio State, and it is one of the few places in Upper Arlington that handles a party of eight without drama. Access is step-free from the car park with accessible toilets and adequate space between tables. Children are genuinely welcome at lunch and early dinner, with high chairs and a shorter menu, though the room turns adult after 20:00. Who should skip it: anyone on a tight budget, anyone with under an hour, and anyone hoping for a quiet, hushed room — this is a busy, hard-surfaced restaurant and at peak it is loud. Vegetarians are catered for but the menu is unmistakably built around a rotisserie and a grill.

Fold it into the evening. The Lane Avenue shops, including the Whole Foods, are a two-minute walk east if you need anything before or after; Northstar Cafe is on the same block for coffee. Northam Park is under a mile north for a pre-dinner stroll, and the Mallway and Old Arlington's 1920s streets are a six to eight minute drive northeast — a lovely thirty-minute walk in daylight before an early table. The Ohio State campus and Ohio Stadium are a mile and a half east, making this an obvious pre-game or post-concert dinner. For a nightcap somewhere different, the Short North's bar strip is fifteen minutes southeast, and Grandview Avenue's independents are ten minutes south.

The honest caveats: this is a very good neighbourhood restaurant, not a destination worth crossing Ohio for, and reviews that call it a fine-dining experience are overselling it. Prices have climbed and the $40 end of the menu asks a lot of a suburban room. The noise level at 19:30 on a Saturday defeats quiet conversation. The patio is the best part and is impossible to guarantee, since it is weather-dependent and released to whoever books first. Parking is free but the lot is undersized for a full house, and on Ohio State game days it is unusable. Finally, if you want independent, chef-owned Columbus cooking rather than a polished group concept, drive ten minutes to Grandview Avenue instead.

Plan your visit Tickets$18-$40 a main Time needed2 hr visit WhereGolf View Heights Opening hours Mon-Thu 11:00-22:00 Fri-Sat 11:00-23:00 Sun brunch 10:00-14:00, dinner to 21:00 Hotels near Hudson 29 Kitchen + Drink

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1.7 km away TownePlace Suites by Marriott Columbus North OSU

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4.6 km away Staybridge Suites University Area Osu

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