Whether you're in Columbia to run errands, take Instagram pictures, meet up with friends, or you're just tired of the small town Missouri life like I usually am, here's a list of all of the Columbia restaurants you need to visit in a day.
Breakfast: Coffee Zone
Coffee Zone is such a cute little cafe downtown that's perfect for reading or hanging out with friends. It has the best parts of your neighborhood coffee shop intertwined with elements of a Middle Eastern brunch spot.
The baristas can make you any coffee drink you ask for or anything on their drink menu. I ordered a Dirty Chai (a chai latte with a shot of espresso), which was pretty standardly good, but the real highlight was the Vietnamese Iced Coffee. That stuff is a butt-load of sugar and fat and also super yummy. Next time I visit, I'm planning on trying their Turkish coffee with a breakfast plate.
Despite how much sugar is in espresso drinks, that's never enough for me, so I decided to top it off with some pastries. Coffee Zone has a big dessert case; I ordered a mix of walnut, pistachio, and walnut baklavas (I like baklava, okay?) and they were just as amazing as any baklava I've had at other authentic Mediterranean joints.
I didn't end up ordering any sort of meal (I was full on baklava), but I saw a lot of people around me eating falafel plates and they looked just as delicious.
Lunch: Seoul Taco
Seoul Taco is a totally Instagram-worthy Korean-Mexican fusion restaurant downtown. I feel a little more cool just thinking about the possible Instagrams. They give you tons of food with a lot of flavor and it's pretty inexpensive for downtown Columbia. I'm pretty addicted. So addicted that I'll insist on eating at another location if I happen to be in Saint Louis or Jefferson City.
You have a choice of dish (bowl, tacos, burrito, quesadilla, or nachos) and protein (steak, chicken, pork, or tofu). I had two awesome tofu tacos, but I suggest getting three tacos, each with a different kind of protein. The beef burrito was good, if not just a larger version of the taco. To make it even better, they add green onion, spicy cream sauce (made with sriracha), sesame seeds, and lime. The flavor is excellently balanced with just enough spice for a baby like me to feel it, but they have bottles of sriracha if you need a bigger kick.
Snack/Beverage Break: Bubblecup Tea Zone
Bubble tea is another obsession of mine, between getting out my rage when I stab my straw through the plastic and chewing on squishy balls while I get my sugary caffeine fix, I will travel far and wide to get it. Luckily, downtown Columbia is a doable drive once in a while.
Bubblecup has a variety of teas; iced, milk and bubble, as well as other beverages like iced coffee, lattes and slushies. I had a rose bubble tea, which is dope if you like flowery tasting things. If you like more fruity drinks, the peach tea had a nice peaches and cream feel. Or you could just order any of the other hundred or so flavors they have on the menu.
It was really nice to grab a drink and pretend it was a warm spring day while walking around downtown.
Dinner: 44 Stone Public House
Do you like cheese? Of course you do. Seriously, go visit 44 Stone Pub off of Peachtree Drive. It's a UK-style pub that is just amazingly cheesy. This is a surprising, but awesome first date spot. If there was one Columbia restaurant you needed to visit, it would be this one.
The best thing I ordered was the Welsh rarebit (really good bread smothered in beer cheese). I think this is the only appropriate way to enjoy beer, actually. The grilled corn and scallion polenta was also super creamy- I'm even going to try and make something like it at home. The pub crisps were also a hit, classic homemade potato chips with bleu cheese dip.
The bar is fully stocked with a million things on tap and they also have a list of signature cocktails. I felt like a real, cultured adult sitting in there, in a good way. Then I promptly ordered an Irish milkshake because I am not actually a cultured adult. It was chocolaty and really really boozy- a match made in heaven.
Drinks: Cafe Berlin
Cafe Berlin is a restaurant meets bar, meets concert venue. Be warned: they are only open at night when they have a show, so go in the morning/afternoon or check their calendar. It usually costs a few bucks to get in when there's music, but the drinks (boozy and alcohol-free) are honestly worth swinging by at any time.
They have some espresso drinks, kombucha, a few fresh juices, and some standard drinks. Whether you're the sober driver or you wouldn't drink at breakfast (lol, not me), you can find something delicious.
If you're looking for the alcohol (like me), they have a rotating selection of beers and a small but varied list of cocktails. Some of them utilize the fresh juices, like the mimosas and bloody marys, some have coffee (white Russian crossed with a dirty chai?!), and some are twists on classic liquor drinks, like the cranberry jam margarita.