The new Big Mamma's Burritos location opened Thursday.
Those looking for the comfort of a Big Mamma's burrito without having to leave the bar are in luck — at least, if you're in Columbus.
For more than 10 years, Big Mamma’s Burritos has a staple of Athens' late-night food scene. Thursday, Big Mamma’s opened a location in Columbus.
The decision to open a new location was in works for quite a while, owner Quinn Schaller, said.
“We actually decided about a year ago to look for a place in Columbus,” Schaller said. “One of my managers is from there. It made sense to open a location there.”
The Columbus location, sandwiched between a couple bars on Park Street, will be offering the same tasty favorites, but will run a bit differently than its Athens counterpart.
“We’re going to be partnering with two bars in Columbus,” Schaller said. “It’s going to be very different. We have our service windows in the bars, and we’ll serve right from there.”
Even though the new location isn’t located next to The Ohio State University’s campus, Schaller plans to capitalize on college nightlife near downtown Columbus.
“It’s down in the arena district," he said. "It’s a good bit of college crowd, but not directly on campus. We expect to do well with students, though.”
With the Columbus establishment less than 100 miles from Athens, Schaller said managing both staffs won't be much of a challenge.
{{tncms-asset app="editorial" id="492b6348-d69a-11e5-b0b1-fb95cc78aa7a"}}
“We’ll utilize staff between the two,” Schaller said, “When our Athens employees are on break, they can work in Columbus and vice versa. Also, if there’s a big event in either town, we can send more staff to that location.”
Columbus residents have responded positively to the opening of the new store, Schaller said.
“People have been really excited,” he said, “Our feedback was unbelievable.”
Schaller also doesn’t think Big Mamma’s is totally done expanding. In fact, he’s still on the hunt for another spot in Columbus.
“Were also looking for another location that will be like the classic Athens Big Mamma’s,” Schaller said.
OU students are also excited about the new location. Anna-Caroline Jervis, a freshman studying early childhood education, believes Columbus will offer a lot of new foot traffic.
“It’s so awesome for them,” Jarvis said, “There’s just a lot more business in Columbus, and I think they’re going to do great.”
Travis France, a junior studying mechanical engineering, said Columbus is lucky to get a Big Mamma’s in their area.
“Not many people get to experience the Chipotle Ranch Mamma,” he said, “Ohio State is lucky. It’ll be great for all the drunk kids down there.”
@Jonny_Palermo
jp351014@ohio.edu
