If you've noticed construction fencing popping up in more than one part of Hilliard this year, you're not imagining a single restaurant boom. You're watching two of them happen at once, in two places that aren't within walking distance of each other, for two different reasons.
One is finishing something Old Hilliard already started: a walkable downtown that's been filling in its remaining storefronts for years. The other is being built from a stretch of pavement off Trueman Boulevard that had almost nothing on it two years ago. If you're trying to figure out where to eat this month, or just wondering what all the activity is about, it helps to know which one you're looking at.
What's actually changing on Main Street
The former Chase Bank building at 4056 E. Main St. has sat there for years as a familiar, slightly forgotten fixture of downtown Hilliard. That's changing. The Hilliard Development Corporation has entered into an agreement with The Westwood Collective, a Hilliard-based development firm run by Andy Warnock, to convert the old bank into a sit-down Italian restaurant while preserving the original building. A new mixed-use structure is planned for the adjoining parking lot, adding ground-floor retail and a limited number of upper-level apartments, with more parking built in than exists on the site today.
This is the kind of project that only makes sense in a downtown that's already dense enough to support it. Old Hilliard didn't need a reason to build a new commercial district from scratch. It needed a use for a building that outlived its bank.
That patience shows in who's already there. Otie's Tavern & Grill works out of a restored building on the National Register of Historic Places in the heart of the district. Crooked Can Brewing Company anchors the center of Old Hilliard a few doors down. Firefly's pours wines made on-site from grapes sourced out of California, Washington State, and upstate New York, adding a tasting room to a stretch of Main Street that didn't need a new anchor tenant so much as a reason to renovate an old one.
None of this required a master plan. It required a downtown patient enough to wait for the right tenant to want the space it already had.
What TruePointe is building instead
A couple of miles away, closer to Dublin and Upper Arlington than to Main Street, the story is the opposite. TruePointe is a $250 million, 27-acre mixed-use development from Hilliard-based developer Equity, led by founder Steve Wathen, going up on land that had no retail history to renovate around. Everything here is new construction, and the restaurant lineup reflects it.
| Old Hilliard (downtown) | TruePointe (Trueman Blvd.) | |
|---|---|---|
| What's arriving | Italian restaurant in the former Chase building | Medley Kitchen, Old Scratch Pizza |
| Backstory | Renovation of an existing landmark | New construction on a 27-acre site |
| Timeline | Announced June 2026, no firm opening date | Both expected to open this fall |
| Established neighbors | Otie's, Crooked Can, Firefly's Winery | Qahwah House, Smoked Lick BBQ, Drunch Eatery, Teriyaki Madness |
Medley Kitchen is the most detailed of the new arrivals. It comes from Culinary Collectives, founded by Derek Bush, who spent about 12 years with Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, including a stint as general manager of Lincoln Social. The concept centers on shared small plates, tapas, dim sum, and mezze-style dishes, built around the idea that different cuisines often use the same ingredients in different ways. It's Culinary Collectives' first brick-and-mortar location, and construction has already started for a fall opening.
Old Scratch Pizza is coming from a different direction entirely. Founded in 2016 in Dayton, the chain already runs four locations in southwest Ohio, and its Hilliard restaurant will be its first in the Columbus area, built around Neapolitan ovens and a full bar with a large patio.
Bush described the mindset behind his concept in a statement to Columbus Underground:
"Some of the best food in Columbus isn't widely publicized."
He added that it tends to live in "neighborhoods full of loyal supporters who treat it as their own." That's a notable thing for someone to say about a restaurant that hasn't opened yet, in a district that didn't exist three years ago. It's also exactly the bet TruePointe is making: that a critical mass of new restaurants can create the same neighborhood loyalty that Old Hilliard built one storefront at a time.
Thursday nights already answer where to go
While both projects are still under construction, Station Park has kept its own calendar running without waiting for either one to finish. Celebration at the Station, the city's free Thursday concert series, has filled Hilliard's Station Park at 4021 Main St. with live music from 6:30 to 9 p.m. every week since early June, and it's the one thing on this list you don't need construction fencing to enjoy.
The series wraps up its 2026 run on Aug. 13 with a set from Fleetwood Gold, following Conspiracy the week before. Because Old Hilliard's downtown is a year-round designated outdoor refreshment area, adults 21 and older can carry a drink between the concert and nearby restaurants like Otie's or Crooked Can without starting over at each stop. That's the kind of infrastructure detail that makes a Thursday evening in Old Hilliard easier than one in a district still finishing its parking lots.
If you're looking for things to do in Hilliard before summer ends, the next two weeks are stacked:
- Aug. 13: Final Celebration at the Station concert of the season at Station Park, featuring Fleetwood Gold
- Aug. 14 to 15: The Columbus Food Truck Festival returns to the Franklin County Fairgrounds for its 15th year, with more than 45 gourmet food trucks and an expanded Kids Zone
- Ongoing: Old Hilliard's DORA runs year-round, noon to 9 p.m. daily, for anyone walking between restaurants and bars downtown
The trail that ties Old Hilliard's weekends together
None of this activity depends on driving. The Heritage Rail Trail starts right in Old Hilliard, off Main Street, and runs about 6.1 miles toward Plain City as a paved, mostly flat path through farmland. The Metro Parks system manages the northern 3.6-mile stretch, while the city handles the section closer to downtown, and the trailhead sits close enough to Main Street that a Saturday morning bike ride can end at a downtown coffee shop without much planning. It's the kind of amenity that doesn't show up in a restaurant announcement but shapes how residents actually use a weekend.
What this means if you live here
The mistake would be waiting for one of these projects to declare a winner. Old Hilliard isn't trying to out-build TruePointe, and TruePointe isn't trying to replicate a downtown that took decades to fill in. They're solving different problems. Downtown had an empty bank building and a district that already worked. Trueman Boulevard had open land and a developer betting that a strong enough opening lineup could create loyalty from a standing start.
For residents, that means the choice most nights isn't between two versions of the same evening. It's between a walkable downtown that already knows what it is and a new corridor that's still introducing itself. Both are worth watching. Neither one needs the other to succeed.
Greg Giessler and the team at Cam Taylor Realtors keep a close eye on what's changing in Hilliard, from Main Street to Trueman Boulevard, because those details end up mattering to homeowners here long before they show up in a listing. If you're curious how any of this is shaping home values in your part of Hilliard, reach out anytime for a straight answer and a free home valuation.
