Columbus Indian Restaurant Scene Grows with Bombay House and Rooh Breakfast Pop-Up
Columbus is carving out a more expansive role for South Asian cuisine in 2026, with two significant Indian dining developments arriving in the city within months of each other. On the north side, the upscale Bombay House Restaurant & Bar has moved into a prominent Polaris location vacated by the Winking Lizard, a longtime Columbus sports bar staple, signaling a bid for mainstream recognition in one of the metro's busiest commercial dining corridors. Meanwhile, in the Short North, the progressive Indian restaurant Rooh has returned from a brief renovation with a refreshed space, an updated dinner menu, and a limited-run breakfast pop-up called Mornings by Rooh — an inventive program that weaves South Asian ingredients and techniques into classic American morning formats, from lattes and croissants to breakfast sandwiches. Together, these openings suggest that Columbus's Indian dining community is expanding its geographic reach and its culinary ambition simultaneously, moving from niche to mainstream at a moment when the city's overall food scene is among the most closely watched in the Midwest.
🍛 Bombay House Restaurant & Bar Opens at Polaris
An upscale Indian restaurant named Bombay House Restaurant & Bar has opened in Columbus's Polaris area, taking over the space at 496 Polaris Pkwy previously occupied by the Winking Lizard, a popular sports bar and casual dining landmark in that part of the city. The Columbus Dispatch reported the new arrival, characterizing Bombay House as an establishment focused on serving diverse Indian flavors in an elevated setting. The Polaris corridor, anchored by Polaris Fashion Place and surrounded by a dense concentration of national and independent restaurants, is one of Columbus's highest-traffic dining destinations — making the location choice a deliberate statement of ambition. Rather than opening in a neighborhood already familiar with South Asian cuisine, the restaurant is planting its flag in a suburban commercial zone that draws diners from across the metro's north side, including large numbers of Columbus's professional and tech community. The former Winking Lizard's departure created one of the more visible available restaurant spaces in the corridor, and Bombay House's willingness to take it on signals confidence in the appetite for upscale Indian dining outside traditionally South Asian neighborhoods. For Columbus's Desi community, the Polaris opening offers a more convenient option for growing populations in Dublin, Westerville, and the wider north-side suburbs who have long driven across town for quality Indian food. [3]
🍛 Rooh Relaunches in the Short North with Indian-Inspired Mornings Pop-Up
The Short North's progressive Indian restaurant Rooh has reopened after a brief renovation with a refreshed interior, a new dinner menu, and a limited-run breakfast program called Mornings by Rooh. Reviewed by food writer Nick of Breakfast with Nick, the pop-up drew immediate praise from someone already familiar with the owners' Swadesi Cafe in Chicago, which similarly blends South Asian flavors with cafe-style formats. The Mornings by Rooh menu spans drinks, pastries, and savory sandwiches, threaded throughout with Indian ingredients and sensibility. The jaggery, brown sugar, and sea salt latte — topped with an ube rice pudding cold foam — earned a 10-out-of-10 rating from the reviewer. The mango ras malai croissant brings the delicate, fragrant creaminess of ras malai into a flaky pastry shell. On the savory side, the Rooh egg sandwich layers soft eggs with American cheese, crispy potato salli, a spicy mayo reminiscent of Indian restaurant condiments in London, and a choice of bacon or avocado on a potato bun. A tandoori chicken croissant spiral — dense, aromatic, and topped with pickled onions — provides the menu's most overtly subcontinental bite. The dessert is a buckeye-in-Dubai tart, a brownie-like square that fuses a Columbus classic with a global pastry reference. Mornings by Rooh is a limited run, meaning patrons have a finite window to experience the full menu before it closes. [4]
Sources: [3] The Columbus Dispatch · [4] Breakfast With Nick