A Columbus ‘hidden gem’ closed, came back, then changed hands. See what happened

A tucked-away Columbus restaurant on Warm Springs Road went through nearly a year of ups and downs, from its debut as a hidden gem to a sudden closure, a comeback and finally a full ownership change.

Here’s a chronological look at what happened to Midtown Café and Bakery:

• In late July 2025, Midtown Cafe & Bakery was discovered as a hidden gem tucked in the back of the Midtown Office & Storage building at 2357 Warm Springs Road, the former BlueCross BlueShield office in Columbus.
• The original cafe served sandwiches like the Turkey Reuben, breakfast items, chicken quesadillas, a scrambled dog and standout crispy curly fries. It operated from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, with a modern interior featuring a couch and TV.
• On Sept. 12, 2025, a handwritten sign from owner Perry Buck went up announcing the restaurant had temporarily closed due to staffing shortages. Buck said he chose to close rather than provide substandard service, telling the Ledger-Enquirer, “We had some momentum, and I did let (customers) down, but I’d rather let them down by closing (than) by (giving) some substandard service.”
• By November 2025, the restaurant had reopened with an entirely new staff of two full-time and one part-time employees, and Buck dropped “and Bakery” from the name, rebranding it simply as Midtown Cafe while keeping the same menu. Buck described the reopening as a fresh start, saying, “We’re rebuilding our business. It’s kind of like starting over.”
• By late May 2026, new signage for Sandy’s Cafe appeared over the front door, marking a second closure of Midtown Cafe and a change in ownership. Buck did not respond to requests for comment about the transition.
• Sandy’s Café officially opened May 4, 2026, operated by Isaac Salazar and Alonso Trevizo, two friends who met working at the Columbus Police Department in 2017. The café was named after Trevizo’s mother, Sandra, and a rose in the logo honored Salazar’s late wife, Rosie, who died from cancer.
• The new owners kept some Midtown Café employees, hired local designer Gina Ramey to redesign the interior and added Mexican-inspired items like chorizo tacos and elote. Salazar said, “We don’t want to just feed bellies. We want to feed the soul of the community.”

These summaries were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. All the Ledger-Enquirer articles linked in this recap were reported, written and edited by Ledger-Enquirer journalists.