Former Buckeye Hall of Fame Café provided an experience for Ohio State fans

Linda Deitch
·2 min read
The Buckeye Hall of Fame Café opened in 1997 on Olentangy River Road.
The Buckeye Hall of Fame Café opened in 1997 on Olentangy River Road.

The 50,000-square-foot Buckeye Hall of Fame Café, which opened in 1997, was the largest theme restaurant in Ohio at the time. Its concept was like a Planet Hollywood or a Hard Rock Café, with lots of memorabilia and other eye candy.

It billed itself as an “entertainment complex,” a destination not just for a meal, but for an experience. Visitors could see one of Archie Griffin’s Heisman trophies on display, watch sports on 40 televisions, play electronic shuffleboard and browse in a gift shop. The 12,000-square-foot Las Vegas-like video game room was a focal point.

Customers mingle at the Buckeye Hall of Fame Café in 2006.
Customers mingle at the Buckeye Hall of Fame Café in 2006.

Its location, 1421 Olentangy River Road, had been the site of the Jai Lai restaurant. This legendary Columbus spot was known for its prime rib and salt rolls, not to mention being a favorite haunt of Ohio State Coach Woody Hayes.

After the Jai Lai closed in 1996, the site was purchased by Damon's restaurateur Jon Self, who converted it into a place devoted to Ohio State University's sports greats and teams. After a $6.5 million revamp, it opened to great fanfare.

The Dispatch reported that on the Friday before the OSU-Michigan football game, the month after it opened, hundreds of people lined up outside at 5 a.m. waiting to get inside.

Besides the dining area, the venue included banquet rooms, private VIP rooms, three kitchens, four bars, a billiards room and a Walk of Fame. Smoking was permitted in the bar area. It could be noisy.

A sampling of food served at the Buckeye Hall of Fame Café, which also offered a brunch buffet.
A sampling of food served at the Buckeye Hall of Fame Café, which also offered a brunch buffet.

Customers could order burgers, pork chops, grilled salmon, Greek salad, pizza, gumbo, and Johnson’s Ice Cream buckeyes.

The café was popular enough to spawn a second location at Port Columbus airport in 2007.

Ohio State University licensed the Buckeye nickname and other trademarks to the café for 20 years in return for a percentage of the sales of trademarked merchandise.

Curtis West of Cumberland, Ohio, dresses like OSU Coach Jim Tressel as part of a look-a-like contest held at the café in 2007.
Curtis West of Cumberland, Ohio, dresses like OSU Coach Jim Tressel as part of a look-a-like contest held at the café in 2007.

Due in part to an economic downturn, the café closed in 2010, prompting many fond memories from long-time customers.

A similar-sounding business, the Buckeye Hall of Fame Grill, followed in Grandview Yard with a new operator. It, too, was licensed by Ohio State. It closed in 2016 and was replaced by Eddie George’s Grille 27, which also closed there.

The Jai Lai/Buckeye Hall of Fame Café site is now a SpringHill Suites hotel.

Contributor Linda Deitch was a Dispatch librarian for 25 years. 

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Buckeye Hall of Fame Café was mecca for OSU sports fans