Three of the business partners behind a revival of the Worthington Inn say they’re prepared to walk the fine line of creating something new in a building that has been around for nearly 200 years.
“We’re excited to build a new chapter but first honor that history,” Wolf’s Ridge Brewing co-owner Bob Szuter said Nov. 13 at the annual membership luncheon of the Worthington Chamber of Commerce. “It’s kind of like the Hippocratic Oath: first, do no harm.”
Wolf’s Ridge, which operates a brewery in Columbus’ Hilltop, a restaurant and taproom Downtown, and a restaurant and events space in Old North Columbus, will create and operate the new restaurant, which will be called Wolf’s Ridge at Worthington Inn.
In a separate interview with The Dispatch, Szuter said its different rooms, bars and lounges will occupy a combined 8,300 square feet on the ground floor and basement of the 1831 building. Its interior design will use English and early American pubs as an inspiration, “but in today’s framework,” he said.
That means the lighting will be a little bit brighter and the furniture will be more comfortable. The menu, he said, will be similarly inspired but updated and elevated, “not what you’d think as heavy on meat and potatoes.”
Kristopher Ludwig, executive chef at the Wolf’s Ridge restaurant in downtown Columbus, will create the menu and run the kitchen in Worthington, Szuter said.
Sarah Perez and Kat DePizzo, two of the partners in 1831 Ventures, which now owns the Worthington Inn building, said the revival of its restaurant — once the oldest in Franklin County — began as a wouldn’t-it-be-cool conversation over cocktails nine months ago in the Worthington Tavern. DePizzo said she had been musing about the idea for five years. Weeks after her February night out with Perez, the property was listed by Capitol Equities.
DePizzo grew up in Worthington and is like many who’ve had birthdays, weddings and other celebrations at the Worthington Inn. She said she had her wedding rehearsal dinner and her first dance there.
“There are so many special memories in that space,” she said at the chamber luncheon. DePizzo’s husband, Jerry, who plays saxophone and guitar in the rock band O.A.R., is also a partner in 1831 Ventures. The couple and their family live in Worthington.
Perez and her family live in Worthington as well. She said her first reaction when walking into the buiding was, “It’s just like I remember it.”
“We wanted the absolutely right partners,” she said of the group, which also includes the owner of Worthington’s Sullivan Builders. “We certainly didn’t want to take lightly the opportunity we have.”
The new owners’ plans call for Wolf’s Ridge at Worthington Inn to open in the spring of 2026.
“If it’s past the end of April, then I’ll be upset,” Szuter said.
Bob Vitale can be reached at rvitale@dispatch.com or at @dispatchdining on the Instagram social platform.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: What’s next for the Worthington Inn? New owners reveal details about revival plans
Reporting by Bob Vitale, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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