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

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

• The owner of Species X Beer Project, which opened back in February of this year, announced that it closed officially as of yesterday, Thursday, Oct. 3. Owner Beau Warren cited the competitive brewing industry as the reason for the closing. Species X took over the old Platform space and featured beers that were brewed using experimental and AI-generated recipes.
• Columbus earned two new Mexican restaurants this week! The first is a new location of Habaneros Fresh Mexican Grill at 4416 N. High St. in Clintonville. It takes over the former Old Bag of Nails space. It joins existing stores in Grandview and Hilliard.
• And second is a new El Vaquero Mexican Restaurant, taking up residence in the former Local Cantina at 600 N. High St. in the Short North.
• The Pizza Cottage location at 8753 Owenfield Rd. Powell has expanded by adding a lounge and bar called Tipton Room. Pizza Cottage has locations all over central Ohio; the first opened in 2007 outside 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 up a seasonal rotation of pies to go with house beers and cocktails.
• The Columbus Mac & Cheese Festival is tonight – Friday, Oct. 4 at Easton Town Center. Held at The Yard on the north end of the mall. In addition to live entertainment and kid’s activities, the event obviously features samples of mac and cheese from local restaurants.
• Slow Food Columbus hosts its annual Shake the Hand That Feeds You fundraising dinner on Oct. 19 at the Mid-Ohio Farm at the Hilltop. Tickets are available through their site.
• The ninth-annual Columbus Coffee Festival returns this weekend, Oct. 5-6, at the Franklin County Fairgrounds in Hilliard. It features dozens of coffee roasters sampling their work.

This week I’m also writing:

Want to keep up with more? Follow me on Instagram at @breakfastwithnick, check out the news archives, read my guide to Columbus, search for travel inspiration, or…