Okay, I was wondering today just how far out of town Morse Road goes before ending. I couldn’t remember, and don’t believe that I’ve ever driven it to the end before. As it turns out, this puppy extends all the way into almost the semi-distant town of Granville (same name all the way, too) until it crashes and burns into 161. As far as this here little website is concerned, however, we will only focus upon what happens on Morse inside of Hamilton Road, maybe a little beyond if I’m really inspired. As such I will be breaking it down into some handy little sections, for your convenience:
Tamarack to Northtowne/Walford
Northtowne/Walford to Cleveland Ave
One thing that is odd about Morse is that for such a long, major thoroughfare, there are almost no iconic restaurants to be found upon it. Or much of an iconic anything, really. This isn’t to say it doesn’t have its highlights, however, and anyway that’s half the fun – no matter how cool, you wouldn’t want your streets and your neighborhoods all the same. With that in mind, let us begin, shall we:
High Street to Sinclair Road
115: anyone who drove through this stretch in the 90s and early 2000s remembers the one house on the right (south) side of the road, whose yard was piled up with all manner of total randomness. The owner considered it one big unified art installation, and it admittedly did look pretty freaking cool. The city of Columbus was not so charmed, however. They kept threatening him with legal action if he didn’t move the stuff, and in November of 1999 began fining him $100 a day. And yet he refused to clean it up. As of a Dispatch article in August of 2004, they were still throwing this daily fine at him, but also threatening to take his house.
The homeowner in question was Robert Centofanti, and this battle apparently began in 1998, when the city towed away a bunch of his stuff and then charged him for the privilege. There was also some standoff in ’01 involving the SWAT team and a psych eval. The Dispatch piece goes on to describe his collection as involving “baby toys, random shoes, and a ceramic creation with smoker’s pipes sticking out of it,” as just part of his sprawling collection, alongside the Hunchback of Notre Dame, knobs from faucets, art supplies and a “motorcycle pointed toward the sky.” I’m not quite sure how this saga ended, but the property looks completely different now.
500: Ohio School for the Deaf
This is the only publicly funded school for the deaf in Ohio. Though originally located downtown, behind the main branch of the library (what is now known as Topiary Park), the school relocated to this more spacious plot in 1953. And it is also as of this writing the 5th oldest residential school in the entire U.S.
It was while driving through this stretch one day, westbound, that my red Geo Storm finally bit the dust. Dubbed by one friend as “Ghetto Fabulous” – a name which stuck, in part because we put mailbox decals on both sides spelling this out – I had been driving it around forever with no muffler at all. A couple people had mentioned that if so doing, a wind burst hitting it just right could blow up into your engine and freeze the thing. Which is evidently what happened, as it never ran again.
Sinclair to Karl Road
Above is the map for this stretch of the road. Click on the dots to read more about the places in question.
It remains a work in progress to determine what works best for stuff like this. As always I would advise it’s preferable that you view this on an actual computer screen instead of your phone. Either way, though, you can zoom in to view certain sections in closer detail – like using that little wheel dealio in the middle of a mouse, if you have one.
1270: currently Huong Vietnamese Restaurant. As of at least February 1998, however, a well-regarded Italian place called Trattoria Roma served homemade pasta. They were open for lunch of weekdays, dinner six nights a week, closed Sundays. Leonardo’s Pizza was here from the late 60s until I don’t know when.
This is part of the whole Woodward Park strip mall. Whether it was called the same back then or not, a restaurant called Ponta Roma Room was once here, at 1268. Now there’s a Dollar Tree, a Sav-A-Lot, and a Yogi’s Hoagies.
1271: In a disturbing trend that is bound to repeat countless times, this now a really boring old national chain store (Boost Mobile) but was once the home of a local institution (Hauer Music). Incidentally, if you are looking at their ad up top, they began business in 1937 but I don’t think it was at this specific location.
1277: Little Caesars Pizza. You presumably know the drill here.
This spot used to be a Coconuts Music Store, however! I know this location hung in there through at least 2000. The reason I know this is because I bought Kid A here on the day it came out, and All That You Can’t Leave Behind as well. I remember one other trip when I was in the midst of moving and we rolled through here for some listening materials – Damon picked up Beck’s Midnite Vultures and Rage’s The Battle of Los Angeles at that time. They had a decent magazine selection, all the new CDs you would expect, the major catalog offerings, et cetera. In this neck of the woods, during that era, it was either here or the music store at Northland Mall. Unless venturing up to Easton, in which case you had Best Buy and a Virgin megastore.
1279: Namaste Indo-Nepali Cuisine. Say one thing for this Morse corridor, at least, they’ve got all the bases covered with a wide range of diverse ethnic offerings, in a relatively small area. Even if you’ve never heard of them, it pays to get away from High Street and the other trendier regions, and dig a little deeper.
1321: Only a boring old Pep Boys store at the moment, though it used to be a Betty Crocker’s Tree House restaurant. I have no idea what that would have been, but it sounds awesome. Or interesting, anyway. And prior to this, a Brown Derby served up the middlebrow fare here.
1330: Union Savings Bank. It has been here since 2000, and may have been a brand new building at that time – I couldn’t find any earlier reference to this address.
1345: Rooms For Less is here now, in a fairly new looking and stylish building. A restaurant called Mothers opened at this address in 1977 and lasted for at least a little while.
1418: Grandad’s Pizza. I like how Google has a section called “crowd” for every restaurant listing, and this one has “College Students” checkmarked. Like there are theoretically pizza places in town where college students are not welcome. That would be an awesome sight to behold, actually, someone calling up the restaurant and the guy taking the order says, “wait, you’re a college student? Sorry, but no, then. Huh uh. Forget it.” And quietly hangs up.
1454: LL Flooring (Lumber Liquidators). This is the first business, address-wise (front left side) of this tiny strip mall known as The Patio Shops. An unremarkable one, maybe, but a nerd like me finds this stuff fascinating. The other businesses crammed in here with you represent a loose knit family, united in this instance by the chocolate-brown awning up top, upon which each has placed its sign. Or maybe “coworkers” would be more accurate, rather than family – because the names do come and go, over the years. What else is found in The Patio Shops at present, though, and who else has drifted through here? I see an entry for Arby’s (1484) in the distant past, which would be interesting, as I’ve only ever seen them as standalone buildings. So I’m not sure if this strip mall looked the same back then or not. Also a Pizza Inn at 1474 in the 1970s, and a Guy’s Hamburgers (1466 – address, not year) decades upon decades ago. Plus I only recently learned that Schmidt’s Sausage Haus used to have a 2nd or 3rd satellite operation here (1468).
Other current residents include an NS Free Rapid Testing site, African Market, Shefa Center, Golden Needle, Lawshea’s, Mai’s Beauty Salon, ZZ Spa, and Sky Bar.
1496: Somewhat of an unfortunate theme along this road: used to be something (Dexter’s Sub Station, for example), currently nothing.
1506: not in use at the moment. Rugged Boot & Shoe Co. was here though as of October 2001. They offered a 1 year sole wear guarantee, 1 year waterproof guarantee. Another location in town was at 4901 W. Broad St. They had 2 more elsewhere.
1508: Little Dragons, a Chinese restaurant, has been here since at least the late 90s. I know this from occasionally scooping up takeout lunch from the place, as did many of my coworkers at the time. Decent but unremarkable.
Karl to Tamarack Blvd
Though the former Northland Mall did not have a Morse Road address, you would be remiss not to include that here. The businesses lining the street, in the front portion of the parking lot, all had/have Morse Road addresses, and the mall itself sat here near the Morse/Karl intersection. It was the most significant retail development along this major artery, at least until Easton crashed the gates a few decades later. Former Cleveland Indians owner Dick Jacobs was the one responsible for opening this mall, in 1964, although it wasn’t properly enclosed as an indoor shopping destination until ’75. In the late 90s Jacobs launched a war against the construction of Easton, believing that it would crush his fading indoor site – and he was not wrong about this, of course – as well as protesting on the grounds that the city was just handing Easton free dough to build their roads and other infrastructure.
In the early 2000s, I was chatting with my former boss Donza Mathess on the phone (we worked at the Kroger across the street) and he asked me if I’d been inside Northland recently. When I replied in the negative, he chuckled and said, “you could bring your golf clubs in there and play 18 holes, and nobody would even notice.” Which was sad, but right on the money. Having spent a lot of time here prior to that, I could relate a lot more about this place, but eh, maybe some other time – again, this technically wasn’t a Morse Road business. Though two of the big anchor stores have been repurposed and survive, the rest was all knocked down in 2004.
1690: Sam Ash Music Store. This has also been a presence since at least the mid-late 90s. My friends and I have been in this location countless times, in varying combinations. As far as I know, however, my last visit occurred in either late 2001 or early 2002. Matt Montanya and I rode up here one day because they were advertising a special on drum sets – you could drive off with the entire kit on credit, with no money down. I had just purchased my first house and we were looking to set up shop in my basement. However, after running my application, they told me I had been declined. “I just bought a house, but you’re telling me my credit isn’t good enough for a $500 drum set?” I retorted to the help, thoroughly baffled as we shook our heads and left.
1700: Was there ever a Kohl’s here? This is a very Kohl’s-esque facade. Whatever the case, a hilariously named Eat & Run Restaurant was once at these coordinates. I can only hope their name did not foreshadow their plight. At present this spot belongs to Franklin County Board of Elections, the front, jutting out edge on the right side of this much longer building.
1745: current location of the Morse Road Kroger, on the site of where Northland Mall used to be. Kroger was formerly located across the street, and I worked at that particular store for about 5 months.
1788: China Buffet. I know this place has proudly displayed its yellow and red sign since at least early 2000, which is when I first began frequenting it. Though I can see the online reviews are all over the map, in my experience this place is about what you’d expect – no more, no less. On the plus side, I’d eaten here so much that when some family members showed up for my birthday one year, this is where we came for lunch (plus, it was alcohol free, an important consideration with that group at the time).
As far as negatives, I did get food poisoning from some mussels on one occasion – returning home afterwards, I sat at the kitchen table for hours with a messed up stomach. You can just taste it when something like that happens, and know what the culprit was. To this day I will eat mussels on occasion, but am not exactly crazy about them, not as I once was. However, that incident immediately reminded me of that part in the movie Go where they’re talking about not eating shellfish at a buffet, and I think there’s some truth to this, it’s not something I hold against this China Buffet.
1790: Lombardo’s Restaurant in the 1970s and 80s. It is now the 3C Plus Food Mart.
Tamarack to Northtowne/Walford
North Side of Street – depicted above
1800: longtime home of Krieger Ford
2070: Sweeeet looking little standalone blue and white building, housing a Gyro Express. Though a G.D. Ritzy’s (luxury grill and ice cream, they said) was here before, I’m guessing it had a slightly different color scheme. Ritzy’s was the brainchild of former Wendy’s bigwig Graydon Webb, opening its first location across town in 1980. Though expanding at a phenomenal rate for years, overreach eventually doomed the franchise and Arby’s bought them out in 1991. Incredibly enough, as of this writing, there are still 4 independent locations scattered elsewhere around the US.
2100: As of this awesome 1988 ad I’m looking at, Majestic Paint Centers had one of their many local locations here. To look it up now just pinpoints a spot in the parking lot of the strip mall with Guitar Center and Big Lots, etc. Gyro Express is currently 2070 and Rally’s 2110, buildings lining Morse, in front of the parking lot. But I’m not sure what this area looked like back in ’88.
2130: Mark Pi’s Express has set up shop in this building. It once belonged to a Sisters Chicken and Biscuits, however, which was very much a 1980s phenomenon. If this one survived the 80s, I would be shocked.
2160: Currently an Arby’s, though it was once a RAX and to be honest still somewhat resembles one, from the outside. RAX was also a roast beef powerhouse, who started as JAX and then changed their name to RIX, then back to JAX for some reason, before settling upon the equally random letters that finally made them famous. Though this chain was once huge, they’ve all but disappeared, as I think Arby’s was the one buying most of them. A handful remain in other cities, but this Morse Road one has been toast for decades.
(South Side of Street):
1995: South Asian Bazaar, a grocery store specializing in such. As of July 2000, though, this was a ComStation store, one of but 12 around town. Yes, 12. Twelve. They were formerly known as Pager World, which gives you some idea as to the wares they were peddling. That summer of 2000, the stores were promoting a “Re-Grand Opening,” and just to give you some idea about the cultural climate of this time, this wasn’t the only Morse Road location. They had another at 4936.
2057: First you had a Kentucky Fried Chicken in this spot. At some point that went under, and instead it became an almost too hilarious to describe New York Fried Chicken Pizza. It too closed, as did Ye Garden Restaurant.
2081: Formerly a McDonald’s, now a KFC. Both have closed shops elsewhere on this road and reopened new ones at some other location upon it. To hear the inside scoop on how this happens and what strategies are involved would be truly fascinating. And I mean with this with complete seriousness.
2100: 8 Ball Sports Bar & Billiards. Tim Burkhammer, who just bought Starliner Diner, also owns this place. He purchased the Nancy’s Home Cooking concept at one point, too, and after the original restaurants closed, began serving their fare at occasional pop-up locations instead – and this is one such spot.
2115: Dreisbach Wholesale Florists. Used to be a La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries as of Oct ‘01, however.
2165: Furniture With A Heart Thrift Store
Northtowne/Walford to Cleveland Ave
2225: Was once a Burger King (from the mid 70s or so onward), now ’tis merely an empty building.
2230: Waterbeds N’ Stuff, located in the Northtowne Center strip mall.
2245: Opened in 1969, what is labeled as the first Arthur Treacher’s (though I’m not sure if this is just in town, or overall) once did business here. Wow. At present it’s an E-Z Cash Pawn Shop. Granted, while tasty, the last time I ate Arthur Treacher’s it seriously tore up my stomach afterwards, but I would still take that over this. A sad fate indeed.
Though the Malin Center doesn’t have a specific address, there’s an awesome sign here whereby the one for KRA Music (if eastbound) was somehow inserted upside down.
2269: nothing here at present. As of April 2000, it was Maka Market and Halal Meats. Abdul Gulaid is the manager. His uncle owns it.
2270: nothing here at present. Was a Mattress Warehouse though, as of October ‘01. They honor all competitor coupons. One of 6 locations around town.
I need to investigate further, because this may have been a building closer to the road. But if it was in the actual strip mall back there, then it would have sat between where Aaron’s Rent To Own and O’Reilly’s Auto Parts are now.
2285: Zam Zam Grocery does business in what had been just a sad, empty, very fast-food-esque looking white building with red trim on this site, facing sideways from the street. Big Bite restaurant was one of many to give this space a shot, though they only lasted from 1982-84.
2295: A Speed Car Wash (according to a temporary sign out front, circa late 2020) is on the backside of Zam Zam. There once was a very strange sounding operation called Hi-Timber Supper And Swim Club here.
2330: This address currently belongs to Shiffa Pharmacy. It used to be a Ponderosa Steak House, however, which I think you can kind of tell from looking at it. Going to Ponderosa used to be a big deal when I was a youngster, and it’s sad that they have faded. There are still some around here and there, and I get a kick out of taking people who have never been – results are mixed (Erin did not like it; the kids were okay with the place) but it remains some good retro fun. Their build your own ice cream buffet was enough on its own to keep the little ones entertained for an hour.
2411: Rosie O’Grady’s just closed their doors, sadly enough. Hilariously low budget yet entertaining bar we always liked to visit about once every few years or so. The visits were infrequent enough and occurring under such disparate circumstances that to think about them now seems surreal. Damon had one of the funniest comments ever in describing the owner or manager or whoever he was as having “ice skater hair.” Yes, totally. That sums it up in a nutshell. Although that guy did come in to my seafood department once at Kroger and was kind of a dick.
Was King Tuts before that, a different kind of club. Going back even farther, a Burger Boy Food-O-Rama, which is kind of self-explanatory. The Burger Boy Food-O-Rama chain was bought out in its entirety by Borden Burger in 1969, but I’m not sure if this particular location was still around by then. Though somewhat of a historical footnote now, Borden Burger was fairly huge in its heyday, and looms large in our family’s history – my parents first met while working at one.
2447: Formerly an International House Of Pancakes
Cleveland to the outerbelt
2811: Presently just a boring old Subway restaurant. However, it was for at least 30 years a Jolly Pirate donut shop, which was open 24 hours. Kyle and I stopped here once following a night of drinking and karaoke. Sadly this was not enough traffic to keep them afloat forever – although the Subway exterior does at least somewhat retain the look of Jolly Pirate, so that’s something.
2933: the Northland area Goodwill outpost.
3015: Lion’s Den, which is currently categorized as a “lingerie” store, according to Google. Moved here in the spring of 2000, after “more than 30 years” across and slightly up the street, at the corner of Westerville. It seems strange, but I don’t recall ever setting foot in either location.
3440: Evans Automotive Repair. They have been here since 1976, I think in the same location.
3811: As of 2005, was Cabinetpak Kitchens, some kind of cost-cutting remodeling service. This space currently sits empty, however.
3840: Has been a Best Buy since at least 1999. I know this is a high traffic area and all, but it’s still somewhat impressive that they’ve stuck around that long. At one time they were referring to this location as HQ Plaza, though I’m not sure if they still are.
3884: Miller’s Ale House has a very snazzy looking new building here. I think it might have been built new from the ground up. Formerly, the now defunct Cooker chain had an outpost at this address. I worked for them (though not at this one) and had a bird’s eye view of how they went from well regarded to a total joke in short order.
Outerbelt to Hamilton
I’m going to have to look up exactly when that notorious Limited compound was built here. Though technically not located on Morse, I’m curious to know if we would have driven past it in the early to mid 1980s – my dad and stepmom bought a house in Gahanna, and when they picked us kids up for visits, this is the route we took: we came down I-71 from the Mansfield area, around the outerbelt to Morse, then down Stygler to their place. For that matter it would be fascinating to see photos and videos of this entire region, from that era. Considering my brother and I spent many a holiday down here, such as Easter and Christmas breaks, not to mention a decent chunk of those summers, it feels as though we somewhat grew up down here, too. And yet I’ve never really glimpsed any footage of these environs from that period.
It always just blows my mind the way things that don’t seem important or interesting at the time later turn out to be. In later years, my first ever serious girlfriend (Heather) would wind up working at Limited, as would a good friend (Kyle) that I had met elsewhere. And the two of them in turn at least became nodding acquaintances while on this job. Weird connections like that are always completely fascinating to me, too. Meanwhile, below is a map someone else drew me, in the early 2000s, for how to get to their place:
4456: St. Luke Lutheran Church, referenced in the charming old hand-drawn map above.
4466: Nationwide Insurance. But one of many outposts for this Columbus based juggernaut.
4695: Gentle Wind solds books and gifts here from 1997-2009. “Books and Gifts for Conscious Living,” is their slogan for quite some time. Pat Beres is listed as the first manager and then they went through a few more after that. It’s funny but I can think of an overhyped Columbus restaurant that also lasted from ’97-09, and tend to think, “god, what a dud.” But in the case of a scrappy little bookstore like this, instead I’m applauding their success, that they hung in there so long. So I guess it’s all about context.
“The vision for Gentle Wind came from a realization that the world needs more gentle places…places to renew the spirit refill the soul,” their ad states, circa 2001. They specialize in aromatherapy, massage & reflexology, genesis music therapy (!) (but I’m guessing this doesn’t mean, like, they throw on Duke while you sit there and meditate), reiki, workshops, inspirational books & gifts, unique jewelry, crystals rocks & minerals, art gallery, holiday gift baskets, feng shui. Though also offering workshops, jewelry, other great gift ideas, and, at least for a while, a gallery of Linda Apple’s art.
I also see this listed in some places as Gentle Wind II, so I’m not sure if they rebranded at some point, or if this means it was the second location. Whatever they case, they were the last business to hold this address. It was at the front edge of the Stoneridge shopping center, facing Morse. Comfort Dental is currently at 4693 and Sports Clips at 4697A, with nothing in between.
4750: Chipotle is still here, which means this one has been in place for over 20 years. Then again I don’t suppose too many of these close up shop, no matter where they are located.
