Walk into the Worthington Outdoor Farmers Market on a Saturday morning and ask a vendor at stall 26 where to find them. Chances are they'll tell you they're set up "between the old Worthington Inn and Joya's." That directions-giving habit didn't start this year. Vendors, shuttle drivers, and chamber staff have been using the Worthington Inn as a landmark for years, pointing shoppers toward it, routing festival shuttles behind it, printing its name on maps. The strange part is that for most of that time, the building they were pointing to was locked.
The Inn closed as a restaurant in December 2018. For seven years, High Street's biggest gathering points, Market Day, the farmers market, the evening strolls, kept orienting themselves around a building that couldn't receive anybody. That changed on April 29, 2026, when Wolf's Ridge at Worthington Inn opened its doors, and the landmark everyone had been pointing to for years finally had a door worth walking through.
What Was Actually Sitting There
The Worthington Inn dates to 1831, built first as a private residence before it became an inn and restaurant in the 1850s. By the time it closed in 2018, it had been running continuously for so long that it was considered the oldest restaurant site in Franklin County. After the closure, the upstairs dining rooms and event spaces were converted into office use, and the property's condo units kept the building occupied on paper even while the main floor sat dark.
The revival came from 1831 Ventures LLC, a group led by longtime Worthington residents, including Matt and Glen Sullivan of Sullivan Builders and Sarah Perez, managing partner of Perez Morris, along with Upper Arlington resident James Diaz, and Kat and Jerry DePizzo. Jerry DePizzo, a Worthington native, plays saxophone and guitar in the rock band O.A.R. The group tapped Wolf's Ridge Brewing, the team behind Wolf's Ridge in downtown Columbus and Understory in Old North Columbus, to run the restaurant. The new operation now occupies roughly 8,300 square feet across the ground floor and basement of the building at 649 High St.
The reopening was formal enough to draw Worthington Mayor Scott Green, city council members, and representatives from the Worthington Area Chamber of Commerce to a ribbon-cutting ceremony that morning. Co-owner Bob Szuter framed it as bigger than a menu launch:
"We wanted to create a place the community feels proud of again."
The Porch, the Plate, and the Beer Made for the Building
Executive Chef Kris Ludwig moved to Worthington from the downtown Wolf's Ridge location to run the kitchen, and the menu leans English tavern rather than generic gastropub. The ploughman's platter, Welsh rarebit, and a blonde French onion soup sit alongside a beer-battered fish and chips made with the Inn's own house beer, Inn Keeper, an English pale ale brewed specifically for the space. Dessert closes with a sticky toffee pudding that happens to be gluten-free. Cocktails come from Travis Owens, a name familiar to anyone who remembers Curio or the bar program at Understory.
By August, the reviews had settled into a pattern that had nothing to do with novelty and everything to do with atmosphere. One recent visitor described sitting on the covered front porch, calling it a beautiful spot to catch up with an old friend over mussels and martinis, and specifically praised general manager Baracus for the welcome. That's the kind of detail that only shows up once a restaurant stops being new and starts being a place people actually return to.
A lower-level cocktail bar and second kitchen are planned for the space, though the ownership group hasn't attached a timeline to it yet. For now, the ground floor and the porch are doing the work.
The Fall Calendar Was Already Routed Through Here
Old Worthington's summer wound down with Concerts on the Green, the Sunday evening series on the Northwest Village Green that ran weekly from May 17 through August 9. What comes next on the community calendar keeps returning to High Street in ways that put the Inn back at the center of foot traffic rather than at the edge of it.
| Event | Date | Where it starts |
|---|---|---|
| Third Thursday Night Market | Third Thursday, monthly | Shops and boutiques along High Street stay open until 9 p.m. |
| Sunday Funday: Harvest Fest | September 27, 2026 | Old Worthington business district, with a farm-themed petting zoo from the Parks Department |
| Old Worthington Market Day | October 3, 2026 | High Street, with shuttle stops staged behind the Worthington Inn and the Griswold Center |
That last line is worth sitting with. Market Day is Worthington's largest single-day festival, drawing more than 150 arts and crafts vendors to a closed-off High Street every fall. Because of continued construction near the high school, vendor and visitor parking this year moves to 6700 N. High St., with a free shuttle running from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The drop-off point, as it has been for years, is behind the Worthington Inn. That wayfinding choice never changed even when the building behind it was empty. Now it drops shuttle riders behind a working kitchen and a lit porch instead of a shuttered storefront.
Worthington's Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area runs every day, not just during festivals, which means a drink purchased from a participating restaurant can travel with you past the shopfronts on an ordinary Tuesday, not only on a festival Saturday. It's a detail that makes the Third Thursday market feel less like an event and more like a standing invitation.
A Second Kind of Growth, Two Blocks Over
Not everything new in the neighborhood is a revival. Òrale Güey, the family-owned Mexican concept that built a following at its original East Broad Street location, opened a second Worthington outpost at 1175 Worthington Woods Blvd. on May 23, with a grand opening built around mariachi, live entertainment, and an announcement that the new location would run all day rather than brunch-only. It's a different growth story than the Inn's. One building spent seven years closed before reopening under new ownership with deep local roots. The other is a working concept expanding into a second address because the first one worked. Both are true at once, and together they say something about how Old Worthington is filling in: legacy buildings finding new life, and newer names putting down a second root.
What Changed Isn't the Map, It's the Destination
None of the wayfinding in Old Worthington actually changed this year. The farmers market still sets up near the same corner. Market Day still shuttles visitors to the same spot behind the same building. What changed is what's waiting there when you arrive. For seven years, the neighborhood kept its habits pointed at an address that couldn't answer. Now it can, with a porch, a kitchen, and a beer brewed for the occasion.
If you've been meaning to get down to High Street this fall, whether for Harvest Fest, the Third Thursday market, or just an evening on the Inn's porch, you're not planning something new. You're finally showing up for something the neighborhood has been quietly holding a place for.
We keep an eye on these small shifts because they're the texture of the neighborhoods we work in every day. If you're curious about what else is changing in Worthington or want to talk through what a home here is actually worth in today's market, reach out to I Care Home Group. Call us for a free home valuation, no obligation, just a conversation with people who live and work in these same neighborhoods.
