New eatery on the way in Midtown with variety of foods and flavors

It appears the former Yola’s Coffee & Cafe space in the Midtown area of Columbus won’t be vacant too much longer.

A longtime catering company operated by local resident Parker Mullins expects to locate at 1815 Garrard St., in St. Elmo Shopping Center on the north end of Lakebottom Park, possibly by March.

The outfit known as Parker’s Pantry made an appearance last week at the MidTown Business Association Snowflake Raffle in the park just off 13th Street, an event that aims to promote retailers, eateries and service businesses in the Midtown area of the city.

“She gave away samples of stuff that she’ll be serving like pimento cheese and chicken salad and some desserts,” said Bitsy Dedwylder, the association’s coordinator. “People who (tried the food) said it was awesome.”

More: Bakers and chef craft artisan breads and sweet treats at Yola’s

The desserts on hand at the raffle event included lemon butter cookies and triple chocolate brownies with French-processed chocolate cream cheese frosting, according to the MidTown Facebook page, with the Parker’s Pantry menu at the planned eatery expected to include sandwiches, soups, salads and items to take home for dinner.

“They will be making almost everything in-house, using old family recipes sprinkled with current trends. They are excited about becoming a part of MidTown and the feeling is mutual,” the association said in the Facebook posting.

Mullins and her Parker’s Pantry have apparently developed a loyal following, with the Midtown post on Facebook and the “parkerspantry” page on Instagram drawing congratulatory remarks that included “can’t wait” and “awesome.” “Looks devine,” said one Instagram follower, with another commenting, “Your food looks yummy as always.”

When it does make its debut, Parker’s Pantry will be filling the void left by the cafe and coffee shop operated by Yola East, who brought quality to the table with her sandwiches and desserts, generating very favorable feedback among customers. But the eatery still only lasted a few months and closed its doors in September due to financial reasons.

Prior to that, the location situated between Quest Pilates Studio and Gloria Mani Fine Art gallery was home to Midtown Cakes, a “studio” that created sweet treats for weddings, birthdays and other special occasions.

This story was originally published December 6, 2017 at 2:54 PM with the headline "New eatery on the way in Midtown with variety of foods and flavors."