Mad Mex Columbus

Bagman007

Texas

2.95/5  rDev -22.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 2 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | food: 2 | $$

I've been here with some friends a handful of times. The atmosphere is great. Comes off as a trendy Mexican restaurant. A little on the small side though, as there are often some long waits for a table. Very good selection of food and beer. I was surprised by some of the choices on their beer menu. Didn't expect a place like that to have so much. The service was average, nothing special. My biggest problem with this place was the food. This ranks as one of the worst Mexican food restaurants I have ever been to. There are much better Mexican restaurants in Columbus. I've had everything from quesadillas to burritos and it has all been pretty bad. The drinks are a little pricey, but the food is what you would expect price wise. I hate going here because the food is so bad. Nice atmosphere to drink in with good happy hour specials, but overall there are better places to go in Columbus.

12-02-2008 01:17:06 | More by Bagman007

robey12

Ohio

3.03/5  rDev -20.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 2 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | food: 1.5 | $$

this is a good place to go to enjoy a variety of beverages on campus where bud light and miller lite are kings. Have had many differing beers here and am never disappointed with the selection, the staff or the service. Sadly I can't say as much about the food. I make sure that I eat something before I go there or am sure to get something safe on the stomach(which is hard to do there) if you know what I mean.

Not as busy as most other bars so if you go for just the bar then you are fine but the food will leave you disappointed or worse.

03-19-2009 13:49:38 | More by robey12

FaustieMo

Ohio

3.65/5  rDev -3.7%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | food: 3 | $$

Mad Mex is a nice place to fill up on food and grab a tasty beer. Their happy hour includes 1/2 off drafts and wings, but the dinner plates aren't too pricy to begin with.

What I like: The beer selection is pretty respectable. Well represented by Great Lakes products, and a sizable diversity in other craft beers on draft. Their tap list is posted online as well, so you can know what to expect. The atmosphere is nice, dark lighting, and is located at the South Campus Gateway, a real gem on campus area High Street.

What I don't like: The food is actually quite bland. It is fine, but nothing spectacular. In the future I would just get an appetizer and beers. Service is average.

I had a Founders Breakfast Stout. It was unreal and I was pleased to have been served in a snifter. I'd say come visit Mad Mex.

10-26-2011 02:21:15 | More by FaustieMo

ne0m00re

Ohio

3.7/5  rDev -2.4%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 2 | $$

Although the Gateway (South OSU campus) is not necessarily the area you'll want to go bar-hopping (it's full of bro-bars and massive commercial clubs), Mad Mex is kind of a gem. It serves Southwestern--and some Asian--dishes, but its rotating beer selection is generally worth the visit.
The beers that were on-tap while I was there include the following: Great Lakes' Elliot Ness and Dortmunder Gold, Great Divide's Hibernation (I've had Yeti on tap here before, though), Flying Dog's Raging Bitch (I've had Gonzo on tap here before, though), Dogfishhead's 90 Minute and an additional "seasonal," which escapes me at the moment, St. Ambroise Oatmeal Stout, Troeg's Nugget Nectar and Hopback, some local brews, and ten or so other beers that are definitely worthy.
Order the buffalo wings or burritos/wraps which contain wings, because the rest of the food is only mediocre (Chipotle blows most of the burritos out of the water). I think I got sick once off of their spinach...
If you sit at the bar, you'll have free access to nachos, which are also worth the visit.
Their happy hour isn't too shabby, with half-off drafts and wings. After 10pm everyday, they have "big-azz" 20 oz drafts (as opposed to pints at the same price) and half-off most food. Plan to visit during these times.
They usually play an eclectic mix of independent/new music, but late at night they'll have clubbing and pop music (to match the rest of the scene at the Gateway?). The bartenders are great, but the table service is hit-and-miss. Last night, I had an unusually attentive waitress, whereas the time before, they were lucky I stayed the extra 20 minutes to get my card back!
I'd recommend this place for the beer and snacks; if you're looking to dine out, go somewhere else!

02-14-2010 02:46:18 | More by ne0m00re

Dogbrick

Ohio

3.78/5  rDev -0.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3 | $$$

Mad Mex is one of the establishments in the newly-sanitized South Campus Gateway area on High Street near OSU campus. Parking is plentiful thanks to a garage. Be careful with street parking as a lot of it is permit only.

The restaurant looks similar to other Tex-Mex chain restaurants. In other words, carefully decorated to look "authentic". This is not to say it's bad, just kind of predicatable. The garage door-enclosed patio is pretty cool. The bar is toward the center of the restaurant, and there is upstairs seating as well.

The beer selection is pretty good. There are around 25 taps with goodies from Rogue, Thirsty Dog, Shiner, Bell's, DFH and more. There are 40 or so bottles too with Great Lakes, Rogue, Stone, and many more represented.

The service here is pretty good. Our waiter was knowledgable about the available beers and made recommendations.

The food at Mad Mex is pricey and average. It would never touch some of the mom-n-pop type places in town but the portions leave plenty for lunch the next day.

All in all Mad Mex is a worthwhile visit in the OSU campus area. I wish Eddie George Grill #27 had put the same effort into variety in beer selection that Mad Mex did.

08-31-2006 20:09:35 | More by Dogbrick

mcallister

Ohio

3.8/5  rDev +0.3%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 2.5 | $$$

Our final destination of our pub crawl and a pretty good one from a beer perspective. When we arrived the place was pretty hammered but we were able to find seats at the bar. The draught beer selection was top notch. I had an Avery Kaiser, my girlfriend a Dragons milk, and my other friends had Rogue Chocolate Stout, and a Clipper City offering.

I ordered some Spicey chicken tacos that really did not impress me. However I knew going in that I'm not a big fan of Tex/Mex style of food and much prefer a Mexican cuisine prepared by non-English speaking Mexicans. So my review of the food may be off a little.

If I lived on campus I'd be here daily too see what is new on tap, but I'd skip this place for eating.

02-18-2007 13:17:19 | More by mcallister

BareRepublic

Pennsylvania

3.83/5  rDev +1.1%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3 | $$

A great place to go for happy hour. Always love unearthly and ruination when they have it on tap, and you can always find Bell's and Great lakes among many others. Monday night is all you can eat burritos for something like $5 and they aren't too bad. As other people have said, you can go down the street to Bodega's for some great beer while you're standing shoulder to shoulder with everyone, but you can get some great beer and some decent food here with room to spread out and not have to wait in line for another beer.

05-10-2011 20:07:21 | More by BareRepublic

ShareANevada

Ohio

3.86/5  rDev +1.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | $$$

Stopped in here later on a saturday, celebrating a friends bday. Not a lot of people here, seems maybe this is more of a restaurant than your standard beer bar. Young 20 something crowd, as you would expect for someplace so embedded in campus.

Dimly lit, nice atmosphere, we had no problem snagging seats at the bar. Chalkboard on the side noting names, abv and price for their ~25 taps. Also printed beer list on the bar. Notable taps were Maharaja($7), Mojo Risin($6.50), Bigfoot($5), Unearthly(6.50). All served in snifters.

They also had a special on 60, 90, and Aprihop. All were $5, and the Aprihop came in an oversized glass. Not a bad deal. Were informed the 60 was gone, and received the 90 in the 60 sized glass at same price.

Bartender was helpful, friendly, on top of things, and recommended we stop in from 4-630 M-F for happy hour, where drafts are half off. (Mental note!)

Easy to get too, plenty of drafts (for all palletes) and several to interest Beer Geeks too. I will stop in next time i'm in town to see whats new.

04-07-2009 20:12:45 | More by ShareANevada

jmacdaddy2008

Ohio

3.88/5  rDev +2.4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4 | $$

I enjoy going to this place every Wednesday for happy hour and beer tasting.

They have free glassware when you purchase the beer they are tasting.

The bar tenders could be more attentive but they are usually busy when I go.

They tend to have a good rotation of the seasonals from the better breweries.

They have a decent selection on tap and the half off from 4-7 is pretty sweet. I usually get the hottest wings they have, which are also half off.

They do a good job creating a place that's quiet enough to chat but still has a bar feel.
A must if you have the time to go to happy hour on Wednesdays.

04-16-2008 22:46:19 | More by jmacdaddy2008

blingger

Ohio

4/5  rDev +5.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4 | $$

Excellent beer selection which changes almost every time I visit.

Can't beat the happy hour for craft brews. Half price drafts and half price wings, and the wings are great - I've tried them all. You also get free salsa if you sit at the bar. They always seem to have draft selections from Avery, Rogue, Great Lakes, New Holland, Victory, and I've also seen Stone and Three Floyd's.

Atmospere is casual and a bit on the dark side, but is modern and nice with some nice TV's at the bar to keep tabs on sports.

Great hangout after work, especially for the price.

10-03-2006 01:12:09 | More by blingger