Ex-Trevioli Italian Kitchen location to be revived Columbus restaurant’s new home
A Columbus business owner credits networking and luck for the opportunity to bring back a restaurant, The Mixed Dish, in the closed Trevioli Italian Kitchen location in north Columbus.
Trevioli announced in late June that the restaurant at 7466 Blackmon Road would be closing.
Not long after that, Mak Son, owner of Fur-Baby Pet Services and Spudzilla, heard about the chance to take over the space.
When Son purchased The Mixed Dish on Whittlesey Boulevard in 2023, he had every intention of continuing the vision of the original owner, Kenneth Walden. He planned to offer a menu that fused soul food with cuisine from his family’s Cambodian and European cultures.
But the space made the concept harder to achieve in practice.
“I’m a type of person who doesn’t like to fail,” Son told the Ledger-Enquirer. “So, when I had to shut down The Mixed Dish, I took that as a failure because I bought it. I did love the concept of The Mixed Dish.”
About a year ago, Son reopened the Whittlesey restaurant as Spudzilla, specializing in loaded potatoes. Since making that change, he said, business there has been good.
“Columbus has been very wonderful with it,” Son said. “We made it through our first year as Spudzilla, and we get new customers on a daily basis.”
Spudzilla’s success allowed Son to acquire the former Trevioli space and bring The Mixed Dish back to Columbus. Through his networking contacts, he learned of the restaurant space’s availability.
“I get opportunities thrown at me all the time,” Son said. “It’s just faith, with a mix of luck.”
His first thought about the location was that it would be perfect for The Mixed Dish.
This restaurant has a much bigger kitchen, Son said, with a walk-in cooler and a walk-in freezer. The square footage went from less than 1,600 square feet at The Mixed Dish’s former location to more than 4,000 square feet at the new one. There’s a patio area and much more dine-in seating.
“The food I want to provide at The Mixed Dish is food that tastes better when you have a place to sit down and enjoy it,” Son said.
The official new name of the restaurant will be The Mixed Dish Kitchen and Cocktails.
A bar will serve alcoholic and nonalcoholic cocktails, Son said, along with specialty drinks from different cultures.
Son expects to open The Mixed Dish’s new location Oct. 1.
“This is a total remodel,” Son said. “I’m going to take my time with this because I want it to be how I envisioned it.”
After the renovation, he plans to host soft opening events before the grand opening to gather feedback from the community.
The menu will be the third iteration of The Mixed Dish, Son said. He still has the recipes from the original owner that will be incorporated into the menu, along with recipes from his own culture.
“We want a place where people will enjoy and keep coming back,” Son said.
This story was originally published July 9, 2025 at 12:01 PM.
