My review is from Ash & Elm after it has moved into the Station Bar and Venue (in Hilliard); I did not eat at the downtown location. Regardless, this is hands down my favorite smash burger in Columbus. We are fortunate to have quite few quality places to get a really good smash burger, but this is the definitely the best. I would also say the same for the cheese curds. I have tried quite few across Columbus (and many other cities too) and Ash & Em's are tops. I would also like to give a shout out to their fries and the Million Dollar Fish Fillet sandwich. Both are excellent. So, gather up your crew/team/hungry friends and head on over to the Station Bar and Venue. You will not be disappointed! read more

I don't know how to rank it because I received the wrong order from a different place. Not the restaurants fault but delivery service. Will try again soon. Door Dash sucks read more

Kept hearing good things about this. It's an axe throwing bar, with free vintage arcade games, and a pretty decent food window. Food is upstairs, along with two skinny little tables. Fairly large menu for a bar. I thought about burgers and other things, but I ended up with the southern dog. A good dog, good bun, with excellent pulled pork on top, good sauce, greens, relish. And I of course had to get cheese curds because I love them. They were very good too. Small, crispy, nice and melted inside. Came with a good, creamy sauce with a tiny bit of heat. Those added up to enough food for me, because I wasn't very hungry. Definitely on a normal day for me I probably would've also gotten a burger, or some other side. For a lunch, or a late evening meal, curds and a dog were perfect. And tasted excellent. Not busy on a Thursday at 6, just steady. Service was good, upstairs and down. Drinks are at the bar, or they have some canned pop upstairs. I really enjoyed my experience. The only negatives? The soothing sounds of axes, thunking against the walls right beside your table. And the stools are weird. They are too short or the tables are too high or something. And I am 5' 10", so not small, they just were not quite where I needed them. But, if you're eating drippy food, or your motor functions are impaired, a high table might reduce spillage. Speaking of motor functions, the stairs up to the food joint are steep, steep steep. I have bad knees, and it was a little rough for me. Prices are good. The music is good. The atmosphere is good. The food is good. I'll be back. read more

We were seated at 7:15 PM and ordered two burgers at 7:20 PM. The burgers finally arrived at 8:10 PM--nearly an hour later. The fries were also undercooked. Although the bar was not busy and very few tables had food, the service was extremely slow.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ Will not be returning. read more

The OG smash burger was delicious. The arcade is no longer part of the establishment. Food was good. Would recommend to anyone.

These wings were 10/10 The OG and truffle fries were 10/10 Staff were attentive and welcoming Definitely has a dive bar feel read more

Ash & Em - New American Near Me - Hilliard, Ohio

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You need to grab a smash burger at Ash & Em, they are delicious!! And while you are there, play some of the video games and check out the ax throwing - 2 levels of funs stuff. The owner and staff are always super friendly. read more

So I used to come here while my child went to therapy next door lol I ordered wings and fries this time and let me tell u I wasn't disappointed!! Wings was crunchy, crispy, and HOT! Fries was hot and fresh!!!!! Thank you dude was mad cool and made sure our food was made right!!! Thanks and will be back!!! read more

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10/10 smash burger with the crispy edges, squishy bun, and saucy goodness. Hand cut fries-- think "fair fries" (IYKYK). Oh, get the cheese curds too. Light, crispy batter. They should sell the accompanying sauce by the gallon. I'd buy it. read more

This bar is top notch!! The bottom floor has free arcade games and axe throwing - and the top has fabulous bar food and more games. Tons of activities to do here!! Very old school retro vibes for German village but I'm loving it! For the food we got the spicy smash burger with garlic fries and the southern coney dog with Cajun fries. We also got the nugs that comes with their "Sunday special sauce". Id have to say their nugs & smash burger were my favorite!! And boy was it spicey!! Super good flavors at this joint!! This is a perfect place for a date night! read more

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This was an incredible experience. The smash burgers are as good as anywhere I've had in the city and the shoestring french fries are to die for. We had the rosemary flavor and they were exceptionally wonderful. The bar itself is really cool with a lot of arcade games and a chill vibe. This is definitely worth a stop. I can't wait to come back. Thanks Cam, Johnny, and Gappa!! read more

My son and I stopped by after attending the big soccer match between Chelsea and Man City. I've never been to German Village, so I was intrigued by it all. It was Saturday night and we parked on a back side street. When we walked in, we walked straight to the bar because we didn't know that the kitchen was upstairs. The bartender was very friendly and helpful. We ordered wings with parm and garlic, bbq hamburger. My wings were hot and crispy. They could have used a little more spice but I have also tasted spices that are overpowering so maybe this is them being cautious with the garlic. 6 wings for $9, nice size for wings. My son said his burger could have used a little more salt and seasonings. Someone was throwing axes in one the three areas that they have, I couldn't take my eyes off of them throwing. We didn't try any of the arcade games because the Olympics were on the televisions in the bar. Nice atmosphere. I can't comment on parking because I'm not familiar with the area read more

It's an eclectic dive bar, inside is a little odd, cobbled together decor, free to play arcade machines, beer pong, axe throwing and a large bar. Bartender served us quickly, she was helpful and attentive, it was not very busy. You order food on the second floor, there are more tables and games upstairs. They bring the food down to the first floor, kitchen staff were super nice, food was excellent. 24 hour brined wings with homemade ranch, they were good, next time I would ask them to fry them longer. Cheese curds were excellent, we had OG smash burgers, some of the best burgers in Columbus, no joke. I got chili cheese fries and they were super delicious, reminded me of Philip's Coney Island chili cheese fries, if you Columbus folks remember that institution on the west side. Food, service, drinks, all amazing. Should have been packed. read more

Ordered through Uber Eats! Ordered the smash burger with fries and a coney. Uber Eats had a 2 for 1 deal. The fries were darn near black on both orders! I'll bet they wouldn't feed their dog this meal! Needless to say? I won't eat from them again! Food was average at best. Secretly disappointed read more

Ash & Em - New American Near Me - Hilliard, Ohio

They are always amazing. If you have t had the OG you are missing out. The textures work perfectly together, very juicy and messy. Just how it should be with a perfect cheeseburger. read more

Just left tried the OG smash burger and garlic rosemary fries and everything was fire. definitely coming back to try the wings. read more

Ash & Em - New American Near Me - Hilliard, Ohio

This place was excellent! Staff was very friendly and attentive. I got the smash burger with rosemary parmesan fries and it was amazing! 10/10 recommend. read more

Free games and GREAT food. We got the OG smash burger with Nashville hot fries and hot BBQ wings. Some of the best food I've had in Columbus so far. Shoutout to Cam and Johnny on the grill! Thanks for an awesome meal! read more

Truly awful experience. Service was terrible. I would not reccomend their burgers to my worst enemy

This place is amazing!! We're from Pittsburgh and if we were locals we would be in this place every weekend. The wings are amazing not to mention we were having such a nice conversation with someone in the kitchen named Stephanie. It was so dead on a Wednesday but they deserve to be packed! We come to Columbus every year for Sonic temple and will make sure we come back every year to this spot!! read more

The smash burgers here are AMAZING, I have been eating them since they were located across the street in classics and has never been let down. Now the new location has such an amazing vide. Axe throwing, arcade games, and Mario cart you can't beat it. Upstairs and downstairs with a huge bar and great deals throughout the week. The staff is sooo friendly and owner is extremely present in his establishment. Truly the best smash burgers in Columbus and can't wait to try the other food menus. read more

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I'm sitting here on my couch next to my wife thinking "was that the best burger i've ever had in my life" and you know what? yeah. yeah i think it really was. I'm genuinely grateful and i want another one man. thanks again. thank you to the kitchen staff and also to the service professionals (Cameron and John) read more

Friendly, affordable and great tasting. Ordered pizza, mox sticks and the rosemary fries. All were delicious and cooked perfectly. The pizza was a tad greasy but overall I had a great experience. Recommend trying this place out, located within classics bar which is also a great spot. read more

Ash & Em - Small pepperoni - New American Near Me - Hilliard, Ohio

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i recommend that you DO NOT patronize this establishment. it's billed as a bar food place on yelp and most places were pretty busy, we were pretty hungry so we stopped in. almost left when we realized it was an ax throwing bar but decided to just go for it. bar tender explained the place, food upstairs bar on the first, games everywhere. cool. i ordered an old fashioned, they have a terrible whisky/bourbon selection and the drink was just bad. the bar tender was complaining about other customers to us, which was weird, but whatever. my husband went upstairs to order and pay for food. bartender took my card for the drinks. food came down, i got a smash burger with no bun, but there was no silverware. so i have a burger in a basket with a napkin under it. we ask the person that brought the food down for silverware, she seemed confused and started rooting around under a counter and found a single plastic fork. the bartender gave me her knife that she had been using to cut fruit. i was shocked but also starving so i went for it. very difficult to cut a burger in a basket on top of a napkin. then the bartender asked for her knife back. so now i'm using my little plastic fork and my fingers. it was ridiculous and we did laugh a lot about this. the fries were insanely salty. and we would have loved some water, but we couldn't get the bar tenders attention. this is a small bar that maybe has 10-15 seats. we tried for about 10 minutes to get her attention. then she leaves. we can't get any water and she has my card behind the bar so we can't leave. after she was gone 10 minutes a guy comes down from the second floor and said he can't help anyone and she would be back in 30 seconds. another 5 minutes passed, then 10. so it's been about 30 minutes since we were able to get any service. my husband went behind the bar and grabbed my card so we could leave. i truly hope the bar tender is ok. no idea what happened to her. but this place was all around terrible. shocking that it has 4 stars especially in a location with so many great places to eat. as far as the food, my husband said the wings were bad, no flavor and not crispy at all. my burger was alright i guess, nothing special. the fries were good, on the salty side which i usually like, just would have liked to have had a drink with all that salt. read more

Super delicious OG burger and salad on their lunch special. I wish I'd have taken a picture but I was so excited I forgot. Trust me you will love it' read more

Last time I came here I ordered well done wings. Fail. They were rubbery and clearly not cooked. Today I came for my friends 21st for shots and pizza. Imagine my surprise when they said they have NO PIZZA AVAILABLE TO ORDER. This spot used to be a go to. The wings used to be cooked perfectly and they used to have the items on the menu for sale. Poor management. Poor attitude from the kitchen staff. Poor cooking for the items they do have available. At least the bartender is professional and is serving well made drinks. I'm going to ask her if we can order pizza from somewhere else. Do NOT recommend. read more

Cam Made my smash burger today and it was good as fu** highly recommend for the next person for sure

I ordered from Ash and Em through a delivery service a few weeks ago and it was not great. We got OG burgers and fries and wings. The wings were very good, but the burgers and fries were not. The burgers were over-cooked and the fries tasted like they are being cooked in oil that needed changed a long time ago. I ordered again tonight to give the restaurant another chance, but it was the same result. This time we got OG burgers and fries and fried pickles. The burgers were overdone, fries tasted the same as last time, and fried pickles were soggy and underdone. Pretty disappointing considering the other reviews are so good. There are a lot of great restaurants in the area and maybe this was one of them at one time, but I don't think so now. read more

Very good food. Hit or miss drinks--but when they hit they HIT! :) Cool arcade games. Not a particularly safe place for women alone which is disappointing. Also noticed I am treated vastly different by staff/owner when I am there with my partner vs when I'm alone. Good dive vibes. read more

Stopped in on a Saturday around 7 and the place wasn't busy at all. It was our first time here and we were excited to try the burgers. We sat at the bar for around ten minutes after checking out the free arcade games. The bartender was on a call the whole time without acknowledging us once. She just stared at us until we felt awkward and left. If you are looking for a bar with great service i recommend going across the street to classics sports bar to avoid being ignored. read more

Neat barcade in German Village. Staff was really chill. Good, quick service and makes you feel so welcome. The burgers and pretzel bites are also delicious! read more

Great food great service great portion. Love the smash burgers love the old fries. Wish you guys would change the fries back wings were great phenomenal low-key spot. read more

Genuinely oneof the most wonderful burgers I ever had. The bread was so soft, sweet & fresh.

First timer visiting from out of town (Chicago Area). Wings and curds were spot on! Even better was Chris and Erica's hospitality! We returned shortly after and ordered the same thing! Highly recommend!! Thanks C & E!! read more

Got the Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich, and the Bacon Cheeseburger. The cheeseburger was a very tasty, fresh smashed burger. The bun selection was soft but durable to keep all the flavor and toppings in. Didn't opt for the BBQ sauce this time but I'm sure it has good flavor. The Hot Chicken Sandwich has a nice presentation; the inclusion of the hot & sweet pickles give it an interesting flavor profile, but I ended up discarding them after a few bites as the sweet pickles overpowered the heat of the chicken. I think the chicken patty (which was a good sized portion) could be saucier with the hot flavor. Lastly, my favorite part of the meal was the parmesan rosemary fries; it's very rare to find spots that offer these, but also do them justice. Ash & Em knocked their version out of the park. I would recommend for a local burger spot to try. Enjoy! read more

The burger and fries! Okay, I came close to just letting that opening be the beginning and end to my review, but I won't do that to you. This place is tucked away off of High street over by the courthouse. I've seen the pictures, and I have been curious to try this pop for months. I was not disappointed. I had my two-year-old son with me, so I decided to wait for a bit because he was asleep and allow him to get as much rest as possible before I woke him up to go in. While he was sleeping, I called to place my order. I asked the person taking my order what the best thing on the menu was. I was advised that I could not go wrong with the burgers. I love a good burger, so I went ahead and ordered it. Let me just say that I was not let down at all. This burger was memorable. What made a burger to remember was that it wasn't overly seasoned, if at all. You could taste the flavor of the burger and the season flat top that it was cooked on. I was about to get some ketchup for it but decided not to defile the sanctity and excellent natural taste of this wonderfully kissed by every deity burger. The thing that put it way over the top was the french fries. The fries reminded me of Mcdonald's fries except that they weren't loaded with artificial ingredients and tasted better. My nostalgia is based solely on looks alone, and that's where it stops. These fries are addictive, so much so that I found myself rocking back and forth in a cold shower to prevent me from getting up at random times during the day just to obtain them. I can't describe the flavor, but all I know is I'm going back there if they are open today. read more

Let me tell you this is a spot that shouldn't go unnoticed. Have been here for two years and just now finding this spot. The burgers were amazing! read more

Really enjoyed their carry out ! Both times we've ordered they've been Delicous, Hot, and Packaged really well ! We haven't tried them for dine in yet , looking forward to that ! read more

Absolutely, absolutely AMAZING! Ash & Em is located upstairs in the Columbus Axe Throwing building! We arrived about thirty minutes early for our axe throwing session so we decided to grab some apps while waiting. We ordered the chili cheese fries and the cheese curds. The gentleman that took our order was super friendly and kind. He asked if we were going to stay upstairs or if we were planning on going back downstairs since that's where the bar and drinks are served. Just FYI - Ash & Em serves food only. Foods upstairs, drinks downstairs. We told him that we were going to go downstairs to the bar so that we could grab some drinks and he kindly advised that he would just bring the food down to us when it was ready. The food was probably ready within ten minutes. The food was hot and fresh! Just the way that I like it! The chili cheese fries and the cheese curds were both extremely good! I think the sauce served with the cheese curds really complimented the cheese curds and the chili served on the chili cheese fries really complimented the chili cheese fries! The chili kind of tasted like Skyline chili. It had a hint of cinnamon and I loved it! The gentleman also came down to check on us mid-grub which I appreciated! This was definitely some of the best "bar food"/appetizers that we have had in a while! We heard others at the bar complimenting that gentleman's food too! Keep it up! You are doing great! read more

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100% RECOMMEND!! Go here if you don't know what's up. Food is stellar. Had the hot chicken sandwich and garlic fries. Incredible. Boyfriend had the pepperjack smashed, which he devoured. Owner is amazing, as well! Ordered on ubereats and my driver decided to take a detour to Family Dollar, so I called and asked him to hold my food and I would pick it up. He did it and didn't let the uber driver take it. Also told uber to give me a refund! He threw in a burger and extra fries on the house, which my roommate loved! Will return soon! read more