Victorian Village Game Day Food: 3 Columbus Spots & Hosting Tips

The best part of an Ohio State Saturday in Victorian Village might be the hour before kickoff, when the coolers are sweating on the back steps and everyone's got an opinion about whether wings belong on a tray or in a bowl. There's a real joy in that stretch — the house filling up, the scarlet coming out, the anticipation building. Which is exactly why the houses around Neil and Hubbard figured out years ago to let the professionals handle the cooking, freeing up that hour for the people who came over. The host still gets full credit for the spread. Here are three spots worth keeping on rotation all fall, and the plan that gets everything on the table before the ball is in the air.

The BBQ: Ray Ray's Hog Pit

Ray Ray's started as a barbecue truck in Clintonville and grew into a central Ohio institution, and the method is the whole story. Cuts of pork, beef and chicken get a dry rub and then twelve to sixteen hours in a hardwood smoker, and the sauces arrive on the side, sweet to habanero, so nothing covers up the pink smoke ring underneath. The Clintonville shop at 4214 North High Street runs Tuesday through Sunday from eleven to nine, and there is a second outpost just across the river at Land-Grant Brewing on Town Street in Franklinton, open Wednesday through Sunday with a walk-up window and a beer garden attached. For a full house, skip ordering sandwich by sandwich and use the bulk barbecue pre-order on the Ray Ray's site to lock in pulled pork, brisket, ribs and a couple of trays of beans and mac days ahead, then breeze past the Saturday line.

The Pizza: Paulie Gee's Short North

A ten-minute walk from most of Victorian Village, Paulie Gee's Short North sits at 1195 North High Street and does two different things you want on a football Saturday. The wood-fired rounds are the headline, particularly the Hellboy with hot soppressata and a drizzle of Mike's Hot Honey, and the Joe Peppitoni, built on Ezzo pepperoni that is made right here in Columbus and cups up the way good pepperoni should. The quieter genius move is the Detroit-style squares with the crisped cheddar edge, which travel better than anything round and reheat without going limp. There is a full to-go square list when you order online, and a three-pie deal worth asking about if you are feeding a crowd. One caveat to plan around: the doors open at four on Saturdays, so this is a night kickoff order, not a noon one.

The Wings: Grandview Cafe

Wings are the one thing people will happily drive for, and Grandview Cafe at 1455 West Third Avenue has been feeding this side of town since 1925, which means it opened during Prohibition and has been adapting ever since. The wings come lightly breaded and sold by the pound, and you can take them naked, buffalo or tossed in white barbecue sauce, which is the one your out-of-town cousin will still be texting you about on Monday. The kitchen is open at ten on Saturdays, so this is the rare game day order that works for a noon kickoff, and you can place a pickup order online and be back in the neighborhood inside of twenty minutes. If hosting is not in you this week, the upstairs room and the patio make a very good fallback.

Hosting It Without Missing Kickoff

The whole trick is staging. Order anything in bulk at least two days out, then stack your pickup times so the wings land last and arrive hottest. Plan on roughly a third of a pound of meat per adult, a little more for an early kickoff, because people graze longer. Set the oven to two hundred degrees and park the barbecue and the squares in there in covered pans instead of reheating in bursts, and dump the wings onto a sheet pan so they stay crisp rather than steaming themselves soft in a takeout box. Move drinks into a cooler on the porch before anyone arrives, because the fastest way to lose your kitchen is to make eleven people open the same refrigerator. Set the food somewhere that is not in front of the television, put out more napkins than seems reasonable, and then sit down. You are allowed to watch the game you are hosting.

None of this requires you to be a good cook. It takes a phone and two days of foresight. Get the order in early in the week, let Ray Ray's and Paulie Gee's and Grandview Cafe handle what they are great at, and spend Saturday on the part that actually matters, which is yelling at a screen in a room full of people you love.