Delaware Rising

Don’t be fooled by its vintage Americana charm: The city of Delaware is a hotspot for both restaurants and retail, and the arrow’s still pointing up

By Jack McLaughlin / Photos by Jordy Middlebrooks / Story Design by Tori Smith

Delaware, Ohio was the birthplace of former United States President Rutherford B. Hayes, and its idyllic downtown strip supports the nostalgia-laden Bun’s Restaurant and the explicitly-historical Sandusky Street Corridor with its throwback Americana charm.

While nobody would question the role history plays in Columbus’ municipal neighbor to the north, don’t get it twisted— from gluten free bakeries to Korean fried chicken hubs and food truck depots— Delaware has put its finger on the pulse of the central Ohio food scene, and it’s a city on the rise.

But before we jump ahead to bulgogi and Celiac-friendly cinnamon rolls, we have to look backwards for a bit.

In the 1970s and 80s, according to the American Planning Association, abandoned shops and storefronts “dotted the three-block stretch of Sandusky Street, the commercial heart of downtown, and vacancy rates soared,” and the city that was a destination in the 19th and 20th centuries had seen better days.

This in part led to the designation of the Sandusky Street Corridor in the city’s central Downtown area, a multi-million dollar project that encouraged businesses and property owners along the strip to embrace their historical roots. Much of these buildings represent the historical charm Delaware holds today.

Starting in the early 2000s, more and more businesses began popping up along Sandusky Street and throughout the city’s Downtown, and the city’s occupancy rate soared.

Don’t let the historical charm fool you, either: this is a city on the rise.

In just the last two years, one of the first Korean fried chicken restaurants opened on Sandusky Street Downtown, and the District is also home to a ramen eatery, the beloved Dipped Donut and its entirely gluten-free counterpart (Gluten Free from The Dipped), and much more. A new mochi donut concept, known as Let’s Mochi Donut, will open on Sandusky Street later this year. Additionally, standout Columbus chef Josh Dalton also operates his “restaurant incubator” space which currently is home to Cove: A Seafood Joint. The space, located at 15 E. Winter St., is also where celebrated concepts Veritas and Speck Italian Eatery (both now with swanky Downtown Columbus homes) first started.

And just over a half mile east of Downtown Delaware, there’s another hotbed for both food and retail in the making. Station Square.

In 2019, local developer Paul Rockwell purchased the property at 59 Potter St., which he opened as the Delaware Food Truck Depot, a space for food trucks to bring an eclectic slate of culinary offerings that changed on a weekly, if not daily, basis.

The space is now home to the recentlyopened Sand Bar Station, a new concept from the owners of Shorty's Pizza, that continues to host food trucks on the weekends, while embracing an in-house live music venue and sand volleyball courts.

When Rockwell first purchased the property in 2018, however, it was not the sleek hub for food and entertainment it is today.

“When I bought 59 Potter St. there was razor wire, the paint was peeling off, and there weren’t any windows,” Rockwell said. “We chopped the wire, painted the fence, added volleyball courts, sidewalks, put in windows; we brought that thing back to life.”

He and local business owners are slowly doing the same with the rest of the area as well. Station Square, as Rockwell currently calls it, refers to a square-block area that runs north-south between East Winter Street and East Central Avenue, and east to west, from Lake Street and Potter Street.

The area, which was named for a pair of former train depots that are located within it, includes Sand Bar Station as well as a unique new carryout smash burger spot, featuring Ohio-raised beef known as Smash Shack*, alongside established concepts that include Las Miches Marisqueras restaurant, Stop 42 Bar, Bout Time Tavern and Bee Tattoo.

* Editor’s note: At the time this story was written, Smash Shack had not yet opened, but it plans to open this summer.

Rockwell is even currently working with local group Main Street Delaware to help extend the city’s DORA (short for Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area) to Station Square.

Aside from Station Square, there’s a plenty of other private developers building the city up, including Mark Hidlebrand, who operates a handful of residential properties and a mixedup property.

“We’re definitely bullish on Delaware. We love the city: love the restaurant scene,” he said. “It’s all thriving.”

Larger real estate groups have a hand in the city’s growth as well. Developer RiverWest plans to bring the $35 million project Mill on Flax to the former home of the Delaware Manufacturing Company just north of Central Avenue along the Olentangy.

“Having thriving boutique shops, restaurants and bars and places people can shop means more local business owners are supported anyway. It’s going to help the city keep that small town feel that it has, and that so many of us like, but let it grow at the same time,” Rockwell said. “We’re still in the early stages of what’s going on, but things are happening in Delaware. Big things.”