When one looks at Grandview from above on Google Maps, it is a collection of streets and
Patrons around the fire pit at Buckeye Hall of Fame Grill. Photos courtesy of Destination Grandview
buildings, just like countless other places. But look a little closer, and you’ll find that these streets and buildings have their own unique qualities.
Destination Grandview, a convention and visitors bureau, aims to show visitors what to do and see in Grandview and Grandview Yard.
“Our mission is to promote the Grandview area to visitors, which would include business and leisure travels,” says Jessica Walli, executive director of Destination Grandview. “Not a lot of people know about us because we really have taken off within the last year or so.”
Destination Grandview formed in 2012, and Walli has held her position since January 2014.
Walli, the sole employee of Destination Grandview, says many businesses in Grandview are independently owned and give the area a grounded and charming quality.
She says there are efforts to reach out to group tour operators in surrounding states to
Digfest at night
encourage visitors.
Popular events in the area include Grandview High Gravity Hullabaloo, which is put on by the Grandview Craft Beer Alliance, as well as the Pumpkin Run, which is held by the Grandview Heights Parks and Recreation Department.
The Pumpkin Run is a 5K run/walk held each October on the streets of Grandview. The event becomes bigger every year, Walli says, usually with about 500 runners and attendees from throughout central Ohio.
There’s also Digfest, an annual festival that celebrates local craft brewers and distilleries as well as Ohio wines and liqueurs.
Another notable sign of the area’s growth is the upcoming move of Nationwide Insurance
Patrons enjoying a day out on Grandview Avenue
company offices to Grandview Yard – an area that Walli says has a symbiotic relationship with the rest of Grandview.
“You can plan on spending more time in Grandview,” Walli says, “I think Grandview is really becoming known in central Ohio and even outside of Ohio as the destination for good food.”
She cites restaurants such as Hofbräuhaus and the authentic experience of a German beer garden as a particularly good spot for food and beer, gaining Grandview the reputation as a destination for a variety of cuisine.
Francis Pellicciaro is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at hbealer@cityscenecolumbus.com.
