Friday Food Bites: Species X Beer closes, Habaneros joins Clintonville, El Vaquero opens in Short North

There’s always a lot going on in the Columbus restaurant world! Here’s the latest:

• The owner of Species X Beer Project, which opened in February of this year, has announced that it is officially closed as of yesterday, Thursday, October. 3. Owner Beau Warren cited the competitive brewing industry as the reason for the closure. Species X took over the platform’s old space and featured beers that were brewed using experimental and AI-generated recipes.
• Columbus gained two new Mexican restaurants this week! The first is a new Habaneros Fresh Mexican Grill location at 4416 N. High St. in Clintonville. It occupies the former space of Old Bag of Nails. It joins existing stores in Grandview and Hilliard.
• And the second is a new Mexican restaurant, El Vaquero, housed in the former local cantina at 600 N. High St. in the Short North.
• The Pizza Cottage location at 8753 Owenfield Rd. Powell expanded by adding a lounge and bar called the Tipton Room. Pizza Cottage has locations throughout central Ohio; the first opened in 2007 outside of Lancaster, while the Powell store opened in early 2021.
• Antiques on High in the brewery district will soon host its own pizza trailer, The Pizza Box, serving a seasonal rotation of pies to go with house beers and cocktails.
• The Columbus Mac & Cheese Festival is tonight – Friday, October. 4 in downtown Easton. Held at The Yard at the north end of the mall. In addition to live entertainment and children’s activities, the event apparently includes samplings of mac and cheese from local restaurants.
• Slow Food Columbus is hosting its annual Shake the Hand That Feeds You fundraising dinner on October. 19 at Mid-Ohio Farm in Hilltop. Tickets are available through their website.
• The ninth annual Columbus Coffee Festival returns this weekend, October. 5-6, at the Franklin County Fairgrounds in Hilliard. It features dozens of coffee producers trying out their work.

This week I also write:

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