"Some of the best food in Columbus isn't widely publicized." That's how Derek Bush, the restaurateur behind Culinary Collectives, described his reasoning for opening a restaurant in Hilliard rather than downtown Columbus. He's not wrong about the food. But he's also describing something bigger than one restaurant. Hilliard isn't getting a single new dining scene this fall. It's getting two, in two different parts of town, built by two very different kinds of investors, and this is the first season both of them are actually up and running at the same time.
If you've noticed construction cranes near the interstate and also a quieter renovation happening on Main Street, you're not imagining two unrelated projects. You're watching two competing theories about what Hilliard's future looks like, playing out four miles apart.
The bet on building something from scratch
East of I-270 sits TruePointe, a 27-acre, $200 million mixed-use development that didn't exist a few years ago. Its first apartments opened last summer, and the food lineup filled in fast: Qahwah House, Smoked Lick BBQ, Drunch Eatery + Bar, Old Scratch Pizza, and Teriyaki Madness are all already open there.
The newest addition is Medley Kitchen, a concept from Bush's Culinary Collectives built around the idea that different cultures cook with the same ingredients in different ways, expressed through tapas, dim sum, and mezze-style plates. It was first announced for a summer opening, then pushed to fall, and as of this summer, construction is underway with an opening targeted for later this year. That kind of schedule slip isn't unusual for a from-scratch build, but it does mean Medley Kitchen has been Hilliard's most-watched restaurant opening for the better part of a year without actually opening yet.
TruePointe also isn't just pulling in independent chefs. CAVA chose a spot at 1790 Hilliard Rome Road for its first Columbus-area location, ahead of planned locations in Polaris and Grove City. That ordering matters. A fast-casual chain expanding into a new metro doesn't pick its flagship site at random, and Hilliard got first pick over two other suburbs already on the growth map.
Put together, TruePointe reads as a bet that Hilliard can support an entirely new dining district, built at highway scale, aimed at people who didn't grow up going to any of these places because none of them existed five years ago.
The bet on reinvesting in what's already there
Four miles away, a different kind of project is unfolding at a much smaller scale. The Hilliard Development Corporation, a city-partnered nonprofit, has agreed to let The Westwood Collective purchase and redevelop the former Chase bank building at 4056 E. Main Street. The bank moved out after relocating to a newly built branch at 4199 Parkway Lane, leaving the old building empty in the middle of downtown.
The plan calls for a sit-down Italian restaurant inside the old bank building itself, plus a new mixed-use building next door with dining and retail on the ground floor and a limited number of luxury apartments above. More parking is coming too, which tells you the city expects this corner to get busier, not just prettier.
Westwood Collective is led by Andy Warnock, whose company already owns and manages other commercial and residential properties around Hilliard. He didn't frame this as an expansion play. He called it personal, saying it's especially meaningful to invest in the community his family calls home. That's a different kind of bet than TruePointe's. It's not about capturing new growth. It's about putting money back into six blocks that already work, run by someone who has watched them work for years.
Those six blocks are also where Hilliard's older, quieter food and drink scene already lives. Old Hilliard operates under a Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area, which lets people carry a drink between spots like the Center Street Market and nearby brewery patios without much fuss. The Station Bar & Venue and Otie's Tavern & Grill anchor the live music and comedy calendar there, the kind of low-key, walkable programming that doesn't need a $200 million development to justify itself. It just needs foot traffic, which is exactly what a renovated corner building and a new restaurant are meant to generate.
Why this fall is different
Restaurants opening in a growing suburb isn't news by itself. What makes this fall worth paying attention to is that both bets are becoming visible at the same time, for the first time. CAVA has already been open since spring. Medley Kitchen is under construction with an opening expected before winter. The bank building redevelopment was only announced this summer, which means the next few months are when Downtown Hilliard's version of "new" starts to show up in permits, scaffolding, and eventually a sign in the window.
That overlap is the actual story. Most suburbs pick one growth strategy and lean on it. Hilliard is running two in parallel, one built on regional draw and new construction, the other built on hometown ownership and a building that's been there for decades. Neither one is winning yet. Both are just becoming real at the same time, which is not something you'll get to say again once one of them settles into being simply how things are.
The calendar is already keeping score
If you want a preview of which identity is pulling more weight this season, the event calendar is a decent proxy. A few dates worth knowing:
- The 15th Annual Columbus Food Truck Festival drew crowds to the Franklin County Fairgrounds on August 14, a reminder that Hilliard still hosts regional-scale events even outside the newer developments.
- Patriot Fest lands at The Makoy on August 22.
- The Historical Village at Weaver Park is hosting an international celebration on August 30, with a cultural fashion show, food, and art tied to the historic core rather than anything new.
- Old Hilliard Fest takes over downtown every September, the signature event for the walkable historic district and one of the clearest signs the old-town identity isn't going anywhere.
- Celebration at the Station has run free Thursday night concerts at Station Park all summer, the kind of recurring, low-cost programming that keeps a historic downtown feeling used rather than preserved.
None of these events depend on TruePointe. All of them depend on Old Hilliard staying exactly the kind of place people want to walk to. That's worth noticing if you've been assuming the newer development is where all the energy is headed.
What this actually means for a Thursday night
If you live here, the practical version of all this is simple. You now have a real choice most Thursdays: drive east for something newer, whether that's a bowl at CAVA or, soon, a plate at Medley Kitchen, or stay close to Main Street for a beer on a patio within the DORA boundary and live music at Otie's or The Station. Neither one is the "right" Hilliard. They're both Hilliard, built by different people for different reasons, and this fall is when you get to watch both of them prove out their bet at the same time.
Keep an eye on 4056 E. Main Street over the next few months. A permit posted in a window or scaffolding going up will tell you more about which bet is paying off faster than any press release will.
Local shifts like these, one corridor building from scratch, another reinvesting in what's already standing, are exactly the kind of detail that shapes how a neighborhood feels to live in day to day. If you're weighing what a stretch of Hilliard like this actually means for your own address, or you're curious how either of these projects might affect the block you're on, Castro Group knows this market from the ground up. Let's Connect.
