Remembering past Columbus restaurants and shops at Lane Avenue

The Lane Avenue Shopping Center in Upper Arlington, now known as the Shops on Lane Avenue, was at one time the largest retail destination in Columbus outside of Downtown. It later became the premier place for upscale, luxurious and gourmet gifts. (Think Valentine’s Day-caliber gifts: Diamonds, chocolate, champagne, fountain pens, cigars, luggage and furs.) 

And if you wanted a place to have a memorable dinner, you would go there to The Blind Monk, Peasant on the Lane or China Dynasty. Columbus wasn’t a global cuisine mecca, but Lane Avenue had Delikatesa, with Eastern European and Slavic fare served in a tearoom setting. 

When the first phase opened in 1949 on what had been the Salzgaber Truck Gardens farm, it was a strip center. In the 1980s, it was renovated into an enclosed mall, but is now back to its original strip design. While it operates more as a neighborhood mall instead of a regional one, it is still focused on fashion. 

Some early tenants were a Big Bear grocery, The Union department store, Isaly’s dairy, Nicklaus Drugs, the Lane Theatre and Lombards Furniture. Henry Feldman’s Cut-Up Poultry marketed to housewives by selling only the pieces and parts they really wanted.