Kahiki? Gone. Jai Lai? Gone. The Blue Danube? Alive and kicking.
In the world of restaurants, it is often hard to find a legend that endures more than 60 years. The Blue Danube, however, is an icon that remains a success.
“The Dube” – as the restaurant otherwise has been known to many patrons – has gone through many owners, but it has always offered something special to draw people through the doors and into the booths.
Daniel Blakemore, recently introduced to the restaurant, enjoyed the experience.
“A friend told me I should check out this restaurant, so I’m here. The food is good, and it’s also priced reasonably. It seems like these days, it’s hard to go out to dinner with some friends without ending up spending a fortune, but here that’s not the case,” Blakemore said.
The restaurant began in the spring of 1940 under the ownership of John Frak, a Hungarian who named the restaurant after the river that flowed through his native country.
Current owner Rob Swaim said the restaurant originally was a fine dining establishment during the 1940s.
“The menu was filet mignon, caviar, Welsh rarebit. It had strolling violinists as entertainment. It evolved over the years to a community restaurant,” Swaim said.
The restaurant offered some Hungarian fare as well – goulash and totut kapotszta – to give The Blue Danube the complete Hungarian feel.
Columbus’ former city newspaper, The Columbus Star, wrote about it the year opened as recreating “the romantic atmosphere of old Budapest.”
According the newspaper, the waitresses dressed in traditional Hungarian outfits, and the music was gypsy music.
The restaurant was a hit with musicians as well. Izler Solomon, conductor of the Columbus Philharmonic Orchestra from 1941-1949, would visit the restaurant after performances.
The Dube did not lose its touch for attracting the customers interested in music after Frak sold the restaurant to Tass Sicaras. Sicaras introduced a Hammond B3 organ, and customers of the restaurant could request different pieces of music to be played by the organist, Swaim said.
Sicaras molded The Blue Danube into the restaurant that stands today at 2439 N. High St. Sicaras also added Greek dishes to the menu to reflect his Greek heritage.
He turned the restaurant into a community restaurant where a sandwich could be eaten or someone could simply have a beer.
Swaim said Sicaras passed the restaurant down to his nephews, all named George – George Sandos, George Margetis and George Sicaras.
The restaurant has stayed primarily the same, except for keeping up with the times such as adding a jukebox or a few new items to the menu.
Customers of The Blue Danube are dedicated and come back repeatedly. One famous dedicated patron was Rod Serling, the creator of “The Twilight Zone.”
Swaim said when Serling was studying at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, he would come to Columbus every weekend to The Blue Danube.
The artistic or creative crowd has been drawn to the establishment for years. Proof of this can be seen on the ceiling of The Dube.
Soon after Swaim took over the restaurant in 1995, he had the ceiling tiles cleaned. The years of smoke that had yellowed the tiles were taken off, and Swaim said the stark white coloring stuck out in the restaurant.
“We thought we’d get people to paint them and have a contest. We set a booth up, and a lot of people just painted there. It became a popular idea, and everyone wanted to paint a tile. So we moved it out of the building, and people could take them home,” Swaim said.
The tile painting soon ended as a result, but this summer’s Columbus Arts Festival offered a tile painting booth where people could paint a tile so The Blue Danube’s tile collection has grown.
While customers are waiting for their food, they can appreciate the art created by their fellow Columbus residents and listen to a tune or two from The Blue Danube’s eclectic jukebox.
Swaim said the story behind the jukebox, which has won several Columbus newspaper awards, is that he allowed the staff to pick 70 albums, while he picked 30 that could not be taken off.
“It’s a nice balance. If someone who’s 50 years old walks in, they can find something they like or have heard, as well as something contemporary,” Swaim said.
Swaim said the Shaffner Music Co., who provides the jukebox, is actually the same music company The Blue Danube has partnered with since it originated with Frak.
John Moreno, who has been a patron of The Dube since 1986 has seen a change in the restaurant. He was a regular there while studying film at Ohio State, and some weeks he would be there five nights per week.
When he first started going to the restaurant it was more a place to grab a coffee and talk, but has changed since Swaim took over.
“It was much more of a dive. You didn’t go there for the menu, it was horrible. It was for the atmosphere back then. Now the place is a lot cleaner, and the food is fabulous,” Moreno said.
The restaurant’s clientele has changed throughout the years. When Moreno first started going to The Dube, the customers were graduate-student age. Now a younger crowd, wanting an evening or late night hangout, sits in the booths of The Blue Danube.
The menu is one characteristic Swaim updated. He has added more items, like “poppers” to the menu, while still keeping the Greek dishes and the diner fare. The “Dube Dinner Deluxe” is one such offering Swaim introduced.
The dinner consists of two grilled cheese sandwiches served with a bottle of Dom Perignon, which he has sold 10 of since its addition.
Swaim said the quality and size of food portions for the low price makes the restaurant stand out in Columbus.
“Many of my friends make the comment that the portions are too large and the prices too low,” Swaim said.
Billie Sue Johnson, current manager of The Blue Danube, started out as a waitress at the restaurant 10 years ago when the sons of Margetis had taken over ownership of the restaurant, and has worked her way up with Swaim.
Johnson said Swaim changed the restaurant for the better since he has invested in the restaurant to keep it running successfully.
“The former owner was more into the money, but (Swaim) is actually putting money back into the restaurant,” Johnson said.
For the future of the restaurant, Swaim wants to fix the smokiness of the restaurant by updating the ventilation system.
Despite this smokiness, the food keeps the customers coming back. Johnson said customers most often order the restaurant’s mashed potatoes and onion rings, which are made from scratch at the restaurant.
The frequency with which the customers return hasn’t changed. Stefanie Collins, who has been a waitress at The Blue Danube for five years, said during her years at the restaurant she has gotten to know many of the customers and see the people grow up because they eat there so often.
“Since we’ve been here so long, we have a really loyal clientele, people keep coming regardless what kind of service they get,” Collins said.
