Gabagool Restaurant

“From the moment you walk in, the vibe feels like old-school Italian elegance wrapped in the warmth of family. Perfect for a date night, girls outing, or even a casual dinner that still feels elevated and inviting. Now for the food: BEST Caesar salad of my life. Served in an ice-cold bowl with crumbled croutons and perfectly tossed so every bite is balanced and flavorful. For mains, I ordered the Lemon Mafaldi and Bolognese. Both 10/10 in completely different ways. Authentic, comforting, fresh, and incredibly delicious. You can tell every dish is made with love and quality ingredients. Nothing felt overly heavy or greasy like a lot of American Italian spots — just clean, rich flavor that leaves you satisfied without feeling sluggish afterward. The sangria was perfectly balanced, and I’m already planning my return for happy hour espresso martinis and apps on the patio. Service was flawless from the host to the server and throughout the entire experience. If I owned a restaurant, Gabagool would live at the top of my vision board. And somehow they still topped it all off with farewell Lemonheads after dinner… iconic.”

“Gabagool in Columbus was our first visit, and wow—just wow. We came on a local recommendation, and it absolutely lived up to the praise. Steven, our waiter, was outstanding. Friendly, knowledgeable, gracious, and genuinely helpful, he struck that perfect balance of professionalism and personality. He guided us through the menu beautifully and even shared some great facts about Columbus, which made our first visit feel even more special. He’s the kind of server who elevates the whole dining experience and leaves a lasting impression. Now, the food. The arancini with guanciale, mushrooms, and parm? Chef’s kiss. Truly unlike any arancini I’ve ever had—rich, flavorful, and incredibly memorable. My husband had the chicken parm with homemade vodka sauce and said it was the best he’d ever had, which is saying something. I had the pork chop with peppers and vinegar, and it was hands down the best pork chop I’ve ever eaten. As a Northern Italian girl, I deeply appreciated this Southern Italian dish. It was cooked perfectly, with that edgy, vibrant bite from the vinegar balanced beautifully by the creamy parm mashed potatoes and sautéed spinach. Gabagool delivered on every level—service, flavor, hospitality, and atmosphere. We left impressed, grateful, and already talking about coming back. A standout meal and a restaurant we’ll be recommending, too.”

“Came to this place on Valentine’s Day because everywhere else was booked but I’m so glad I came! My server Luna was the best! And the food was also great!”

“Had to sit at the bar as we didn’t have a reservation, although there were lots of empty tables. Service was fantastic, our server was very attentive and helped us decide what to order. but I deducted one star because our food wasn’t really packed with flavor, my bolognese didn’t taste fresh or hearty as I’d expect and another star for the lack of a military or first responder discount. Considering this is a military town and many of your customers are actively serving our country, offering even a small discount would go a long way and would be greatly appreciated.”

“First time here, 3-4 stars...had a party of 5 woman for a Friday night dinner at 6pm. Would recommend making reservations if you have a large party. No real dress code. The waitress was really nice, super knowledgeable about all the dishes we asked about and the favorites. We had lemon mafaldi, shrimp scampi, chicken parmesan, pesto rigatoni, garlic bread and frito misto appetizer. The lemon dish personally was mine, it was like a take on chicken alfredo but with fried chicken and a lemon cream sauce. I appreciate the portions because normally you have so much pasta you just want to keep eating it and it makes you sick lol but this had a good balance of the chicken with the pasta. It was good, I don't particularly like an overly lemony flavor and would have preferred a plane chicken alfredo but it wasn't bad. The fried calamari also had fried shrimp in it which was really good and it came with a delicious marinara sauce and aioli. Also I had a side Caesar salad, first time I ever had one with bacon in the Caesar dressing which was actually very good. One person had an Italian chopped salad, very colorful as noted below and flavorful. I really wish they would have a little bit bigger dessert menu and most specifically I wish they would have had cannolis, I look for that at every Italian place I go to! I think the prices were fair and standard for the area. Overall it wasn't bad per se, I just wouldn't say it's my favorite authentic Italian place I've ever been to.”