Chef-O-Nette Restaurant

Places like this once were center of many small towns in the area I grew up. You know the place, with the 1950/​60s décor, the mom-​and-​pop model, where you take the bill to a register displayed with Hersey Chocolate and Snicker bars. A menu of basic The Walton’s Americana choices; the kind of diner you must walk out of with a toothpick sticking out your mouth no matter if there is something caught in your teeth or not.
Unique to my experience the place didn’t have one but two bars. They both jetted out in unison from the kitchen in a 20-​some degree angle. This formation makes the bar area more intimate yet retains a good number of single seating. When I came the place was slow, but this seemed expected as the servers worked on project at the bar. There was just a few customers: basically families eating with children after school let out across Tremont.
It’s been here for awhile and seems central to UA. I stopped in starving after visiting the library. I ordered pork chops. When I did the waitress inform me that it was cook on the stove and not baked, which means it is more stringy. This is the way I cook them so I was game. The cops were good, quality pork, and the amount serve was worth the price paid. Sides were a single soft roll and a no thrills salad which were on par for a diner.
The server were great and the food served pretty quick. The price was pretty good. Ideal for a quick dinner when you are lazy, or busy. Not a thrills, date, cool kind of place, but the solid support that makes those kinds of places possible.

I hear this place is an Upper Arlington institution. It’s easy to see why. The Sunday the hubster and I stopped in, it was busy but the service was so quick! All the food and coffee we ordered was well made, tasty, exactly as requested, and delivered with serious promptness. This is not fancy fine-​dining or anything other than a family-​friendly greasy spoon, but I really loved it. Such a nice atmosphere.

I’m glad that Upper Arlington has decided to keep this hometown staple from the past. A small shopping center towards the end of the hustle and bustle of Upper Arlington sits this ode to a past diner.
I can’t vouch for dinner, but stopping by here for breakfast on a blustery winter morning was not a bad start to my morning.
The menu here is limited and very cut and dry at a whopping two pages… (Tiny pages, too) In fact, there’s nothing really fancy about it. You’ll find more modern cooking at a waffle house, but its all-​in-​all a nice little knook to grab some breakfast.
Service was good and friendly. No qualms here.
Strangely enough… They have a drive up service available for carry out orders.
It is indeed a time capsule at best, but I don’t think a drive out of your way to get here is totally worth it, but for locals… it’s not too shabby.

If you’re driving around Upper Arlington on a Saturday morning looking for a simple, no frills breakfast in an old school diner, you’ve found your joint. Eggs, pancakes, and toast are the feature items on the menu but what more do you really need? The eggs were cooked right, the toast was generously buttered, the pancakes were fluffy, and the side of home fries were crisp… maybe a little too crisp at times but still, good for what they were. I’ll be back!

Had dinner here recently and really enjoyed my meal. Simple diner food, but very delicious! I had a simple salad, burger and fries. I could have eaten more! The service was great! Very friendly! I like the history and how they have kept everything the same. I’ll be back!

Horrible. extremely hot in this 1970’s décor of a restaurant. sat in a booth and our table had a bad lean! ordered scrambled egss and they were bland and barely scrambled. ordered home fries as well and they were old cold and chewy obviously left over from previous day. smallest glass of Ice tea I’ve ever seen. to cheap to leave sweetners on the table. portions were small as well. save your money.

We are new to UA, so we don’t have any family history at Chef-​O-​Nette. But its easy to see why people wax nostalgically about it. It really is a throwback to the 1960s.
I got a burger with a side of mash potatoes and gravy. Burger was good, fresh veggies crisp. Good mashies. I LOVE the fact that you get a side of coleslaw in a bowl that was clearly put in with an ice cream scoop. Come on peoples, this place has got some old school charm!
Décor is vintage. When you’re done, you take your check up to the register to pay, and the counter is filled with candy.
Service was VERY friendly and on top of things.
I visited with my 10 year old daughter, and she loved it. It looks like we have a new tradition!

An Upper Arlington tradition, in the same plaza as the other Upper Arlington traditions: Huffman’s Market; Moretti’s; The Goody Shop.
I was worried Chef-​O-​Nette would lose its 1950s MoJo when it replaced all its upholstry a few years back. Thankfully, the switch in color scheme from Aquamarine Naugahyde to Maroon Naugahyde did not alter the fundamental essence of the place. The funky pendant light fixtures and sunburst clock remain unchanged, standing vigil, preserving the Eisenhower era.
The food here is Diner Food. Ham Steak. Fried Fish. Cottage cheese. Breakfast any time. Burgers with fries. Some other Unilocal reviewers have questioned the food. Guess what? This is not an $ 11 «Gastropub» Prime Rib burger, nor is it fast food with God-​Knows-​What-​Chemical added to make it taste like we imagine it should taste. This is Diner Food. Put on some Ketchup, some Mustard, or some Mayo. Or all three. And eat the pickles and onions on top. And when you pick up your tab (hand written out on one of those delightful old pale green and white tickets with red numbers, placed discreetly upside down in front of you on the counter), notice you’ve just paid 1950s prices (OK, probably 1960’s at this point, but still…)
Don’t like it? You are not Diner Food Folk. Go back to Red Lobster or The Olive Garden, McDonald’s or (shudder) Burger King.
I, for one, will keep «Chef-​O» for Saturday mornings.

This place looks like it has been preserved completely intact since 1964. I don’t know how they encased the entire diner in amber, but it’s pretty badass. If you’re a fan of midcentury décor, check it out for the appearance alone. If you like breakfast food, this is a good stop too. The breakfast menu is pretty no-​frills, but that’s what a cheap diner is all about. The food is simple, tasty, and cheap. I had a ham and cheese omelette and a side of hash browns and it only cost about six bucks. And it was damn good. I’d definitely go back, and maybe try lunch or dinner too.

The theoretical possibility of time travel has been acknowledged by top research scientists for decades, but the practical problems associated with its implementation create many hurdles. Chef-​O-​Nette (hereafter to be referred to in local parlance as «Chefo») has successfully overcome temporal inertia to create a time portal, but it only goes back to suburbia in 1955.
Open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner but closed Sundays, Chefo has become a rite of passage for Upper Arlington families. On the way to becoming a local landmark, though, it has ingrained itself as a must-​eat place for anyone who passes through UA. This diner, and with its chrome and swivel-​stooled counters must be considered a diner, has two banks of counter seats, many booths, and an odd auxiliary dining room in the back. A glass candy counter is where one takes one’s check to pay for the meal. But make sure to buy Lik-​em-​aid, or Beemans Gum, or Necco wafers, or a Clark Bar when you’ve paid.
Meals are classic American comfort food. Burgers, swiss steak, fries, whipped potatoes, veggie of the day, fish, grilled cheese, etc. My wife gets a crab salad plate of some sort and loves it. Dinner specials with that ubiquitous white dinner roll abound. Breakfast offerings (served all day but for an extra 25 cents after 11, honestly! An extra 25 cents!) include pancakes, waffles, eggs, breakfast potatoes, and the like. Prices are very similar to the Eisenhower era. Milkshakes and malted are pricier than the real cherry or vanilla Cokes, but all are worth getting due to the inexpensive food cost.
Look, is this the best or biggest meal you’re ever going to have? No. But it is a place where grandparents take grandkids, families eat year after year, baseball teams come to celebrate or lament, plots are hatched, and schemes are carried out. Americana has a photo in the dictionary, and Chefo is what appears. Eat here for the authentic Sputnik era ambiance, but return here because it’s nice to know that an honest meal at an honest price has not perished from the earth.

Why oh why did I order the spaghetti dinner here? The salad was 100% shredded iceberg lettuce, the roll was straight from the grocery, the sauce was out of a can of ragu. If I ever go back, remind me to stick to the cheeseburger and fries!

AWFUL! Food was cold and greasy. Even the coffee was subpar. Waste of money.

Chef-​O-​Nette Rocks!!!
I’ve come in here since I was a kid. I love the fact they don’t take away the décor we all have known!
Last week when I was here I saw Cameron Mitchell at the lunch counter with his son having lunch. Love it.
So.they have the BEST Old time french fries. LOVE them!!! And good basic burgers.
I’d be so sad if we didn’t have chef-​O-​Nette!!!

The place seems pretty dirty and needs some renovation. I know it’s supposed to be a local mom and pop diner but I definitely think it could use some work. Food is decent but not the best, it is however pretty cheap. Coffee is good as far as I can remember.
It seems like its better to come here for breakfast, otherwise I’d probably only show up if I didn’t want to spend a lot and it was the closest thing.

Now this is a place to take you back in time. If you were to think of a hometown diner this would be it. The food is good, the staff is friendly and the price is as low as it goes.

This was such a funky change of pace, I felt like I was in the 50’s I loved the crazy bar, the waiters, all of it was so fun to experience.
The bathroom was a real hoot, tiny and paisley print from floor to ceiling, including the toilet paper, a real trip!
The food dirt cheap, at least most of it.
My husband got 2 Chef O Double Burgers at $ 3 each, the patty tasted and looked exactly like a McDonalds Cheeseburger, the bun bigger and lettuce and tomato fresher.
The onion rings at $ 3 for 5 thin and overfried rings was too much money and not worth it.
I had the Chef O salad, also descent.
In all, fun to see, stick to the burgers for a cheap and fast meal, the servers are also a trip, definetly worth the memories but not worth going back to.

I stopped here yesterday for an early dinner. It’s very much as other have described it. I had the ham steak dinner which came with two sides, and a very large roll and butter. I went with cottage cheese and apple sauce. For dessert, I had a bowl of tapioca pudding. Even with all that, I still got out without spending a ten-​spot.

The Chef-​O-​Nette was the very first restaurant I spent my own money at, and the first restaurant I ever went to without my parents. My 12 year-​old self bought a hot dog, fries, and a coke with her $ 3.50 in allowance money, and my 27 year-​old self usually does the same.
One of the great things about this place is that the prices, décor, and attitude of the wait staff hasn’t changed much over the past 50 years. I come here every time I feel the need to do a bit of time traveling, since I can immerse myself in an environment that looks EXACTLY the same as it did when I was four.
The food is seriously sub-​par, but when you’re paying less for a sit-​down diner meal than you would at the Wendy’s drive through, you have to expect that.

The restaurant serves its purpose. It is a Upper Arlington area institution that rests on the laurels of being a family quick-​stop breakfast and lunch feeder-​ree! Kids eventually turn into teens and college goers who then turn C-​O-​N into a place to review their night-​before drinking escapades while hangovers get nourished with french fries and burgers.
Let’s get to it. C-​O-​N delivers the goods as an inexpensive, early morning diner. Ambience? Oh, its all 50s and 60s motive but nothing overdone. Nostalgia for locals oozes as that same motif was there when Mom & Dad «took me there»… I hear that… really! Inexpensive — sure is. Food portions — nearly match the coin needed to eat.
Breakfast is simple. Choose something with an egg … get the bacon before you choose the sausage… rye toast is better than white or wheat (personal preference there)… and there are kids portions too. All good. BE SURE and check the condiment buckets, though. I sometimes flinch a little having to stir in the new ketchup back into the day-​old goop. But it works… its diner fare.
The rave is the french fries with burger (cheese if you please). It’s comfort food, hangover food, chat-​with-​your-​friends food. The burgers are nothing special, albeit always hot and greasy but not homeade. The fries are always HOT and crispy and you get VOLUME. That is key to keeping down those Blue Moon ales consumed the night before.
The wait staff… be a patron and be a favorite. I fawn over Allie and Deeana — the sisters working every other weekend. Choose the second diner bar in on a Saturday morning, bring a paper, have coffee and smile. A & D will be kind.
So, 3-​stars it is for C-​O-​N.

This is a great place to come for comfort food on the cheap.
The menu has your typical diner items: cheeseburgers, spaghetti & meatballs, fried chicken, milkshakes, cobbler, etc.
The food isn’t amazing, but it’s pretty decent. And again it’s cheap! I don’t think any of the entrees exceed $ 9 or $ 10.
I crack up at the paper place mats every time I come. They have just an image of a ceiling fan and a hanging lamp — the same ones that can be found in the restaurant. It just seems like they should have something less random and stark on the place mats. Perhaps an artist’s sketch of the exterior of the restaurant?