The Line, a full-service restaurant and hospitality training kitchen from nonprofit Service!, is slated to open later this summer in downtown Columbus inside a former Columbus College of Art & Design building on Grant Avenue. The concept pairs a chef-driven, modern American menu with a paid, cohort-based training program that gives current hospitality workers hands-on experience in cooking, bartending, serving, and management. Behind the scenes, the space is being built with staff support such as a mothers’ room, a dedicated teaching area, and offices for case managers, alongside guest-facing touches like a bar, a private event room, and an eight-seat chef’s table. Executive chef Matthew Heaggans is set to lead the kitchen.
Where it will be and who’s behind it
As reported by What Now Columbus, The Line will move into 145 N. Grant Ave, inside a former CCAD building, and serve both as a dining destination and a training hub. Columbus Underground previously detailed the plan for a multiuse restaurant and education center developed by Service!'s founding team, positioning the project as part workplace, part classroom.
How the training program will work
The Line is built around paid training cohorts that will run throughout the year, with participants rotating through front-of-house and back-of-house roles to build real-world skills, according to The Columbus Foodletter. Service!'s website notes that the build-out includes a dedicated teaching space, an employee break room, and on-site case managers who can connect workers with supports such as childcare and transportation. The Foodletter also reports that Service! has partnered with Otterbein University on a food-and-beverage certification and is collaborating with Columbus State Community College to create pathways into culinary education programs.
Menu, layout and staffing
What Now Columbus says the menu will lean modern American and could feature house-made breads, fresh pasta, a bistro burger, fried chicken sandwiches, pork katsu, and other chef-driven plates. Plans call for seating for roughly 80 guests indoors and about 40 on the patio, with a bar area, private event space, and that eight-seat chef’s table anchoring the room. Columbus Underground also highlighted design touches such as community-facing kitchen windows and a multi-use library and event area within the space.
Preview events and the bigger picture
Chefs Sangeeta Lakhani and Matthew Heaggans gave diners an early taste of The Line at a Columbus Food Adventures Supper Club on May 21, an appearance noted by Columbus Monthly. That preview follows Service!'s experience with Café Overlook, the workforce development café on the 16th floor of the Franklin County Courthouse. Organizers say The Line is meant to deepen that model by creating local career pathways and helping retain hospitality talent in Columbus rather than relying on recruits from larger cities.
Timeline and what's next
Construction is expected to wrap by July 1, with the first events and public programming anticipated later this summer, according to The Columbus Foodletter. Backers say the rollout will include paid cohorts tied directly to restaurant operations, and that future plans could grow into an incubator program providing commercial-kitchen access and business-development support for local food entrepreneurs.
