Fun Ways to Explore Grove City in the Fall

This suburban Franklin County community just outside Columbus makes for a great road trip. Whether you want to check some boxes on the Visit Grove City Pizza Trail, explore some of the new businesses in town or take part in the local fall markets and traditions. 

Food Trucks & Trails 

When it’s time to grab a bite, Grove City delivers plenty of local restaurants to choose from, as well as fun ways to enjoy them. The Visit Grove City Pizza Trail is back, offering check-in points for pizza lovers. Participants use an online passport to check in at a qualifying number of locations through Nov. 2 to earn a prize. The employee-owned Flyer’s Pizza, which offers specialty creations like the pickle-focused Dilluxe pizza and has two locations in Grove City, is part of the trail again for 2026. 

“[The trail] is one of the more creative ways to get people involved in the community,” says Austin Ulrey, whose grandfather started the Columbus-based Flyer’s Pizza in 1976 and who manages the Grove City South location. “Grove City is a big pizza town … [It’s] nice because we get people in our store that normally wouldn’t come down to our neck of the woods.”

Save the date for another Grove City food-and-drink quest as the Holiday Cocktail Trail returns Nov. 19 through Jan. 4. Expect to see several participating drink stops, including Grove City Brewing Co. and Plum Run Winery, which are housed together in one location along Broadway in downtown Grove City. 

Until then, don’t miss out on the Grove City Town Center Food Truck Festival and Shop Hop, which happens every other Friday night until the end of October. This lively event invites visitors to stroll through downtown and enjoy shopping and great eats from local food purveyors, such as McDave’s Hot Dogs and Lemonades. This Grove City-based hot dog cart is run by Dave McCoy, a regular participant at the Friday-night festivities. 

“We’ve always tried to treat people like they’re invited over to our backyard instead of standing in line,” says McCoy, who started the cart in 2021 to sell signature-style dogs and fresh-pressed lemonade. “So, if someone leaves smiling, I think we’ve done our job.”

New Finds 

Grove City’s long list of local business offerings continues to grow, including a new option sure to thrill the littles ones in your life. Kidz Sandbox Station promises a paradise of digging with its two giant play sandboxes. It is a first-of-its-kind attraction in the area. 

“I knew there was nothing like this in Grove City at the time,” says Sarah King, the owner of Kidz Sandbox Station, which opened in early 2026. “I have a little boy, so I really wanted him to have somewhere to play and other kids to have somewhere to play.”

The location, which is ideal for children 8 years old and younger,  features two rooms of sandboxes and toys, as well as a playroom with magnetic building tiles and play tools. 

Also new to the Grove City business scene is Bound By Books. Tessa Schwabeland opened her shop that stocks genres ranging from romance and historical fiction to science fiction and fantasy in October 2025. Readers who are unsure of what they are looking for can get recommendations from Schwabeland or Kim Pinto, Schwabeland’s mom and the shop’s business and sales manager. Or they can opt for a blind book, which discloses the genre but leaves the title wrapped up in a surprise to the reader.

“Because we have such a small collection, and it’s personally curated, we’re able to relate and connect with the community and get to know everybody and their tastes and their preferences,” Schwabeland says. 

For crafters, a trip to Alpine Blue Stitches is a must. A vast selection of yarns is available, including cotton, wool and chenille fibers. The shop, which opened in December 2025, also offers themed seasonal classes, as well as monthly courses for beginner to advanced crocheters.

When it’s time to eat, check out DHC Chicken, which offers four varieties of Korean fried chicken. The Grove City location opened in May 2026 and is right along Broadway, offering not only fried chicken but 17 other specialty dishes, including ramen and Korean corn dogs.

Also along Broadway is Dapper Dog Tavern, which owners Caitlin and Spencer Campbell opened June 1. (They also operate Shakers Public House in nearby Worthington.) Their industrial-style tavern features wine, beer and mixed drinks as well as small plates, like a smoked barbecue brisket and jalapeno-cheese-filled, soft-pretzel bites.

Markets and Festivals

Find fresh produce during the Grove City Chamber Farmers Market. Running Saturdays through Sept. 12, the market features over 70 vendors spanning produce, baked goods, jams and more. 

Sept. 18 through 20, Arts in the Alley returns to Town Center Park and the surrounding streets. Hosted by the Grove City Area Chamber of Commerce and several sponsors including Heartland Bank, the weekend has been a tradition since 1980. The event features five art-show categories, as well as live entertainment and over 100 vendors and artists. It draws upwards of 30,000 visitors for a weekend of visual and performing arts.

Saturday brings a morning parade down Broadway, as well as the Voice of Grove City, a live singing competition. The weekend wraps up on Sunday with the judges awarding winners for each of the art shows.

“The real value [of the festival] comes from the history,” says Shawn Conrad, president and CEO of the Grove City Area Chamber of Commerce. “Artists who had entered their work in the youth art show when they were a kid and are now volunteering and bringing their kids down here. Those stories are invaluable.”

Century Village, a little more than 2 miles from downtown, invites visitors for Old Time Harvest Day on Oct. 4. Costumed docents portray life in Grove City as it would have looked between 1850 and 1930. Century Village’s 11 historic structures invite visitors to explore. There’s a one-room schoolhouse and working blacksmith shop, as well as demonstrations of tin-smithing, potpourri-making and butter-churning. 

“We live in an age that is so very different,” says Beverly Babbert, co-secretary and chair of education at the Southwest Franklin County Historical Society. “You can read it in a book, but when you experience it, it comes alive and you feel it and understand it.”

Fall brings the Grove City Community Club’s Harvest Market. Hosted Sept. 26, Oct. 3 and Oct. 10, the market features craft vendors, baked goods and home decor. Once winter arrives, shopping for local produce continues thanks to the Winter Farmers Market put on by Grove City Parks and Recreation. This indoor market at the former Brookpark Middle School runs select Saturdays from Jan. 9 through April 3.  

When You Go

For information about all the food trails and festivals mentioned in this story and other businesses and attractions in Grove City, go to visitgrovecity.com. 

New Finds

Alpine Blue Stitches
alpinebluestitches.com

Bound By Books
boundbybooks.shop

Dapper Dog Tavern
instagram.com/dapper_dog_tavern

DHC Chicken
dhcchickengrovecity.com

Kidz Sandbox Station
kidzsandboxstation.com

Markets & Festivals

Arts in the Alley
gcchamber.org/arts

Grove City Chamber Farmers Market 
gcchamber.org/farmers-market

Grove City Winter Farmers Market 
grovecityohio.gov

Harvest Market
grovecitycommunityclub.org/harvest-market

Old Time Harvest Day
swfchs.org