Uptown Westerville's October Runs Through Two Addresses on South State Street

"Your home before you go home." That's how Dino Tripodis described The Blind Pour to 614Now in July. The Blind Pour is the bar he and longtime friend Chris Beardman are opening at 20 S. State St. in Uptown Westerville. The bar isn't open yet. Its future neighbor in the same building opened on Thursday, Oct. 1. And right across State Street is the address where the city has placed the biggest Uptown night of the month.

The two addresses are 20 S. State St. and 21 S. State St. If you plan your October evenings in Uptown, you'll likely spend most of them on this stretch.

A pizza oven, a new menu, and a bar still to come at 20 S. State

DiCarlo's Pizza closed its Uptown location at 20 S. State St. on June 7. The company told NBC4 the move was a "calculated" decision to consolidate at its Short North location, and said it was not driven by poor sales. In late June, the Beardman family announced a new concept for the space.

That concept is Fat Arnie's Provecho, and it opened Thursday afternoon, Oct. 1. The Beardmans also run Fat Arnie's Sandwich Shop inside Rafters Beer Pub on Indianola Avenue in Clintonville. The Westerville spot is the family's first standalone restaurant.

The menu was partly built around the kitchen DiCarlo's left behind, pizza oven included. The Westerville News reports that Provecho has a Latin-inspired menu and focuses mostly on takeout and delivery, with limited seating. The empanadas are made in-house and hand-rolled daily, in varieties like mojo pork and beef and cheese. A few of the Clintonville sandwiches are on the menu too. Christopher Beardman runs the kitchen. His résumé includes Lindey's and Chapman's Eat Market. His brother Andrew handles marketing and food prep, and their father Chris is developing the business with them. "Provecho" is an expression used across Latin America to wish someone a good meal.

The Blind Pour is the other half of the building. It sits behind Java Central and High Banks, and once it opens, customers at the bar will be able to order off the Provecho menu. The owners first aimed to open by the end of July. As of the Oct. 1 opening coverage in The Columbus Dispatch and The Westerville News, it was still listed as coming soon, with no date announced. NBC4 has pointed readers to the bar's Facebook page for updates.

Java Central already keeps the address busy at night. Uptown Westerville Inc.'s calendar lists an Acoustic Open Mic there every Friday in October, on Oct. 9, 16, 23 and 30, from 7 to 10 p.m. String Theory plays Saturday, Oct. 10, from 7 to 9:30 p.m. So on Friday nights, 20 S. State St. now offers coffee and live music on one side and empanadas to go on the other.

Across the street, last October's construction site hosts this October's festival

Westerville City Hall at 21 S. State St. reopened May 11. The roughly $22 million renovation took close to 17 months, starting in December 2024, and combined several city offices into one complex. That means utilities, Parks and Recreation passes and permits are now handled under one roof. That timeline put the whole complex under construction last October.

This October, the City Hall Courtyard is where the city has placed its biggest Uptown night of the month. The City of Westerville's event listing puts the Mt. Carmel St. Ann's 4th Fridays and Midnight Madness at the courtyard on Friday, Oct. 23, from 6 to 9 p.m. State Street closes between Walnut and West Home streets. The city's description promises Midnight Madness activities and displays to kick off Halloween season, along with vendors, music, food and DORA drinks from Uptown restaurants and breweries.

Uptown Westerville Inc. stages the Fourth Friday series, with Mount Carmel St. Ann's Hospital as presenting sponsor. The festival is free. October's edition is the last date on this year's Fourth Friday calendar, after July's Summer Fun, August's School Spirit and September's Autumn Festival.

The city's listing also includes a practical safety tip. The Westerville Division of Police suggests taking a clear photo of your kids when you arrive, so officers can help reunite families if anyone gets separated.

How Oct. 23 plays out, hour by hour, along State Street

The night has two names and two start times, and that can trip up anyone glancing at a single calendar. Uptown Westerville Inc. calls the street festival Midnight Madness, starting at 6 p.m. The Westerville Public Library calls its part the Wizards & Wands Festival 4th Friday Celebration, and it starts earlier, at 4:30 p.m. The library's own program page lists that 4:30 to 9 p.m. block as part of Midnight Madness.

Here's how the evening stacks up, all within a few blocks of State Street:

1. 4 p.m. The Uptown DORA opens for the night. Weekday hours run 4 to 10 p.m.
2. 4:30 p.m. Library programming begins. The lineup includes a sing-along, a DeLorean display, creepy critters, temporary tattoos, a bubble show, comedy and illusions, COSI science, the Ottertuned a cappella group, Columbus Zoo animals, and costumed characters including a mermaid and Star Wars characters. Admission is free, and costumes are encouraged.
3. 6 p.m. The Midnight Madness street festival opens around the City Hall Courtyard, and State Street is closed from Walnut to West Home.
4. 7 p.m. Java Central's Friday open mic starts across the street at 20 S. State St. The first Uptown Ghost Story Tour of the night also leaves from Otterbein Cemetery.
5. 9 p.m. The street festival and library programming wrap up, and the second ghost tour sets out.
6. 10 p.m. The DORA closes for the night.

For families, the early library hours give younger kids a full evening before the street closure even starts. Provecho's takeout counter is right across from the courtyard if you want dinner on the go.

The ghost tours start a few blocks east and end on North State

Uptown Westerville Inc. runs the Uptown Ghost Story Tours on Fridays and Saturdays through Oct. 31, with two shows most nights at 7 and 9 p.m. Each route covers about a mile. It starts at Otterbein Cemetery on South Knox Street and ends at Old Bag of Nails Pub, 24 N. State St. Tours go rain or shine, and organizers recommend comfortable shoes. Performers from Good Medicine Productions handle the storytelling, telling tales of the people, places and events that shaped the community. Columbus on the Cheap lists tickets at $27 per person.

Remaining 2026 dates are Oct. 9, 10, 16, 17, 23, 24, 30 and 31. Some dates already showed as sold out on the booking page, so check Uptown Westerville Inc.'s tour page for availability before you plan around a particular night. The tours end on North State Street, so they bring walkers back into the DORA area just as the evening's other events are winding down.

The rest of October, a short walk down South State

The library at 126 S. State St. sits on the same stretch, just a short walk down South State from City Hall. Its Wizards & Wands Festival runs all month, Oct. 1 through 31, with fantasy-themed decor, missions and prize drawings. Scheduled events fill in the weekends around the Fourth Friday:

The city has set Westerville's Beggar's Night for Thursday, Oct. 29, from 6 to 8 p.m. On weekends, the Uptown DORA runs from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. That lines up with the Saturday library events in the morning and the ghost tours at night.

The week's other new restaurant is a few miles away. Bombay House Restaurant & Bar, a family-owned spot serving upscale Indian food and cocktails, was set to open Friday, Oct. 2, at 496 Polaris Pkwy., in part of the former Winking Lizard space.

Back on South State Street, the one thing still missing from the 20 S. State St. building is The Blind Pour's opening date.

Leah and Elyssa at I Care Home Group keep a close eye on what opens on Uptown's blocks, and we'd love to hear how your October on State Street goes. If you're curious what your home near Uptown is worth with all this new activity nearby, call us for a free home valuation.