A fast-casual stir-fry chain is eyeing a spot just off Ohio State's campus, filing building plans for a restaurant at 2094 N. High St. — the address of a United Dairy Farmers convenience store that was still open and operating as of Tuesday afternoon. No opening date has been announced for the project.
The Philadelphia-based chain, Honeygrow, filed its building plans with the city of Columbus for the proposed location, according to WhatNow. The property has been owned by United Dairy Farmers since 1985, and the timing of any closure at the existing UDF store remains unclear. Columbus Business First first reported on Honeygrow's building plans for the property on October 21, per Columbus Business First.
Honeygrow specializes in made-to-order stir-fries, salads and honey-based desserts, letting diners build their own bowls from proteins like steak, chicken, shrimp, tofu and egg. Bowl bases range from egg-white, whole-wheat or gluten-free noodles to brown rice, kale or arugula, the same report notes. Among the chain's signature dishes are sriracha tahini, sesame garlic and a red coconut curry that's listed as both vegan and gluten-free.
A Growing Footprint Across Ohio
Honeygrow was founded in Philadelphia in 2012 by Justin Rosenberg and has since expanded to more than 80 restaurants across nine states, per the same account. The chain opened its first central Ohio restaurant in 2025 at 4784 Morse Road near Gahanna, a location that previously housed a Mod Pizza and was expected to open in mid-October without an exact date confirmed in advance, according to NBC4 WCMH-TV.
Counts of Honeygrow's Ohio footprint vary depending on the source and date. WhatNow's report put the current Ohio total at seven locations, while NBC4's earlier count had the chain reaching five Ohio spots after adding eateries in Canton, Akron, Mentor and Avon. Cleveland.com separately reported in June 2025 that Honeygrow had six locations in the Cleveland, Akron and Canton area as part of a broader 60-location national footprint at the time, with planned eateries at 1485 Nagel Road in Avon and the Mentor Commons Shopping Center at 9210 Mentor Ave. in Mentor slated for summer openings.
Dessert Bar and Rapid Expansion Plans
Beyond the stir-fry bowls, Honeygrow also serves salads and its signature honeybar dessert — a dish of fresh fruit and sweet toppings finished with a choice of three honeys, according to cleveland.com. The company has opened roughly 10 restaurants a year recently as it pushes into new markets, the WhatNow report states.
That pace tracks with comments from Honeygrow's founder and CEO, who told cleveland.com the company had opened 37 locations since 2020 with plans to reach 70 restaurants by the end of 2025, alongside six newly signed leases at the time, including two in Northeast Ohio. Trade publication qsrmagazine.com has reported that the chain expects to surpass 100 locations by late 2027 as it pushes further into Michigan, Massachusetts and Ohio.
The North High Street filing comes amid a broader wave of restaurant turnover near Ohio State, where Columbus Business First has also tracked a Dog Haus opening and the closure of Little Bar in recent reporting. For now, Honeygrow's plans near campus remain in the filing stage, with no confirmed timeline for construction, a storefront debut, or the fate of the longtime UDF location it would replace.
