Restaurants in Columbia

Seated among framed photos and wood wainscoting, visitors to The Gathering Place Café munch on hearty servings of daily specials that range from beef burritos to chicken-fried steaks. Serving up kansas city strip steaks every Saturday night and biscuits and gravy each morning, The Gathering Place continuously satiates diners with all local beef and farm-fresh, free-range eggs that wander into the kitchen.

At La Siesta, diners bathe in natural sunlight as brothers Francisco and Benjamin Guillen craft specialty soups, fajitas, and quesadillas made from traditional and ancient Mexican recipes. Each specialty dish on the menu is shaped by the restaurateurs’ expertise, which was born in their central highlands home of Guanajuato. Dishes include the Chiles en Nogada dinner and Aztec tortilla soup.

Ashland Pizza and Pub's unassuming redbrick building holds in bold aromas of bubbling cheese, garlic, tomato sauce, and crisping dough. Chefs can stretch their thin-crust pies to diameters of 8 inches, 12 inches, and 16 inches, although a bounty of topping options—including pepperoni, mushrooms, ground beef, black olives, bacon, and pineapple—enables patrons to control the exact height of their pizza. Specialty pizzas include The Eagle Supreme, a hearty creation that incorporates four styles of meat, and are served alongside customizable subs. The pizzeria also makes life a little easier for the busy lunch crowd by having hot slices ready to go from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

For diners with time to spare or a physics of baseball exam to study for, Ashland Pizza and Pub hypes a 150-inch projection screen, as well as many other large-screen TVs in the casual sports bar area. Live music is also offered every Friday night starting at 8 p.m.

As its name suggests, Downtown Diner is a down-home diner nestled at the center of downtown. Visitors can dine in or take their meal to eat with the lonely bill on the steps of the Capitol building. Breakfast is served all day, with selections ranging from stacks of fluffy pancakes to create-your-own omelets (egg white substitutions are also available); lunch options dance across the American palate, from philly cheesesteak sandwiches to Cajun-chicken salads. An array of homemade pies changes daily.