Walk down State Street on any given Saturday morning and you'll pass a bakery line, a florist's newest side project, and a deli that just got the green light to build a rooftop bar. On the surface, it looks like Uptown is simply growing, the way every popular walkable district seems to grow lately. Look at who actually owns these places, though, and a different pattern shows up: a handful of names keep signing the paperwork.
That's the part worth understanding if you already live here. Uptown Westerville has seen existing State Street operators open additional businesses nearby.
The Rooftop That Just Got Approved
The clearest example landed this week, according to What Now Columbus. Uptown Deli and Brew, the deli, market, and brewery that's operated out of Uptown since December 2014, just got the Uptown Review Board's unanimous approval to expand into the former Edward Jones office space at 37-39 N. State St. The plan includes a wood bar, a metal cabana, string lights, planters, and glass railings, with access through a new interior staircase and a black metal staircase at the rear of the building. It'll be the first rooftop patio Uptown has seen.
The deli itself is already home to Temperance Row Brewing Company, tucked toward the back of the space. But the rooftop news is really a story about ownership, not architecture. Tony Cabilovski, who owns Uptown Deli and Brew, also owns Westerville Grill a few blocks south and the West Main Street building known as Corbin's Saloon. Amy Cabilovski owns three more storefronts in the same few blocks: Stone & Sparrow, Edwin Loy Home, and Little Sparrow. That's six businesses, all within easy walking distance of each other.
If you've ever wondered why Uptown feels more like a neighborhood than a shopping strip, this is a big part of the answer. Several of the owners operate more than one business within the same three or four blocks.
Asterisk Had a Sibling Before You Noticed
The Cabilovskis aren't the only ones building this way. Asterisk Supper Club, the tea-and-comfort-food spot on North State Street known for its historical bar, recently opened a sister restaurant a block over on West College Street. Ampersand Asian Supper Club serves ramen, rice bowls, and small plates, along with Asian-inspired cocktails, sake, and bubble tea. Same ownership group, same walkable radius, a second concept rather than a second location of the first.
Westerville Florist did something similar. Rather than open another flower shop, the business launched The Giving Room, a multi-purpose venue in Uptown built around creativity and celebration. It's a florist's answer to what else this stretch of State Street might need, and it came from someone who already had a stake in the district.
None of this shows up in a typical "new businesses in town" roundup, because a list of openings treats every storefront as its own event. The pattern is that some Uptown operators have opened additional businesses on blocks where they already operate.
Not Everything New Is Homegrown
To be fair, Uptown's growth isn't only recycled ownership. Fox in the Snow, the Columbus-based bakery with existing locations in Dublin, German Village, Italian Village, and New Albany, recently opened its fifth spot in the old FUSIAN space at 79 S. State St. That's an established regional operator picking Uptown because the district has proven it can support another bakery, not because someone local wanted a second business.
Overgrown Cbus followed a similar path. The tropical houseplant boutique, based in Columbus, opened its second location in Uptown after building a following elsewhere in the city. And Begin, the coffee house and bakery now open at 8 E. Main St., reads more like a standalone new concept than an extension of an existing local business.
Uptown's growth has two tracks running at once. Established Uptown owners are opening additional businesses, while operators with locations elsewhere are adding Uptown locations. Both are happening, and both are part of Uptown's mix of businesses as it adds tenants.
The Calendar Does the Same Work the Ownership Does
There's a reason all of this stays legible instead of turning into noise: Uptown Westerville Inc. runs Fourth Friday street festivals every month, and the next two dates on the 2026 calendar are already set.
- Friday, September 25
- Friday, October 23
Each one brings local musicians to multiple stages, extends the district's DORA program for a sip-and-stroll setup, and puts makers and small businesses in front of the same people who'll be back the following month. It's a standing structure that gives every new owner, whether they're Uptown veterans or first-timers like Begin, a built-in night to introduce themselves to the neighborhood.
The Saturday farmers market at 240 S. State St. does quieter version of the same thing on a weekly cadence, giving Uptown a rhythm that a strip of unconnected storefronts wouldn't have on its own.
Beyond State Street, a Different Scale of Bet
Not every recent addition fits the walkable, owner-reinvestment story. Smash Park, the nearly 50,000-square-foot indoor-outdoor entertainment venue that opened in the Westar business district on Polaris Parkway, is a different animal entirely. It brought pickleball courts, axe throwing, duckpin bowling, and a rooftop bar to a corridor built for bigger footprints and destination visits rather than foot traffic between storefronts. It's proof Westerville is growing on more than one track at once: dense reinvestment Uptown, larger-format destinations out toward Polaris.
A Trail That Doesn't Need an Explanation
Not everything worth knowing about is a business opening. The Alum Creek Trail runs from Alum Creek Park in Westerville down through Columbus, with its northernmost stretch toward Easton Town Center lined with dining and shopping along the way. Closer to home, Alum Creek North Park at 221 W. Main St. has been part of the city since 1935, and its eleven-plus acres include a Rotary Amphitheater, a lighted basketball court, sand volleyball, and a paved bike and leisure path that connects straight into the greater trail system. As the weather turns, it's an easy stretch to add to a Saturday that already includes a farmers market run or a coffee at Begin.
What This Actually Means for the Neighborhood
The takeaway isn't that Uptown Westerville is thriving. Everyone already knows that. The takeaway is that Uptown has a mix of established owners opening additional businesses on the same few blocks and monthly and weekly events that bring new arrivals and longtime neighbors together. That's a distinct pattern of growth alongside the arrival of new tenants.
Next time you're waiting for a table or standing in a bakery line, it's worth asking who actually owns the place. More often than you'd expect, you already know the answer from somewhere else on the same block.
If you're curious about what any of this means for property values or timing in Uptown Westerville, or you just want to talk through the neighborhood with someone who follows it closely, Sue Sachdeva is happy to help. Let's Connect.
