FROM DUBAI TO LEWIS CENTER: Filli Cafe Opens First Ohio Location While Takumi Sushi Brings All-You-Can-Eat Hibachi to Sawmill Road, NeuroAnimation's Virtual Octopus Therapy Shows Brain Growth Results, and Mezcla Fights Back After Van Crashes Into Short North Restaurant

Hey, it's Gagan - still the only one in the world!

And just like that, Columbus kept moving. Infact, here’s the 7 levels of Columbus’s Growth!

In today's newsletter:

Filli Cafe Comes to Lewis Center: A UAE-born brand operating across 11 countries just chose Central Ohio for its Ohio debut — saffron chai, Bombay omelets, and Korean chicken sandwiches, now open at 9015 Columbus Pike.

Takumi Sushi Opens on Sawmill: All-you-can-eat sushi and hibachi just landed in northwest Columbus — $45.95 dinners, a full Japanese menu, and a fresh chapter for a corner that Sunflower Chinese held for nearly four decades.

NeuroAnimation Is Growing Brains: A New Albany startup with Johns Hopkins roots is helping stroke and Parkinson's patients recover cognitive function by controlling a virtual octopus — and the science behind it is real.

Mezcla Is Fighting Back: A van crashed into one of Short North's newest Latin restaurants in January. The community showed up. A spring reopening is coming.

DUBAI COFFEE BRAND FILLI CAFE OPENS FIRST OHIO LOCATION IN LEWIS CENTER — AND IT SIGNALS SOMETHING BIGGER ABOUT CENTRAL OHIO'S DINING TRAJECTORY

Filli Cafe, a UAE-founded international brand operating across 11 countries since 2004, is now open at 9015 Columbus Pike in Lewis Center — bringing saffron-infused chai, Bombay omelets, and Korean chicken sandwiches to North Delaware County for the first time. [Filli Cafe]

Here's What They're Serving:

The signature is saffron chai — not something you're finding at your average suburban coffee stop. Beyond that, the menu runs fruit mocktails, matcha, specialty coffee, a Bombay omelet with mint chutney, Fillibunz sandwiches in flavors like Korean Chicken and Chicken Dynamite, rice bowls, chaat, and flatbread melts.

This is a full global street food and beverage concept, not just a coffee shop with an interesting drink menu.

Why Lewis Center, Why Now:

Filli has 11 countries under its belt. They didn't pick a random suburb. Lewis Center's population growth, household income profile, and retail momentum made it a logical North American test market — and Central Ohio keeps showing up on those shortlists.

This fits a pattern playing out across the region. Middle Eastern and globally inspired dining concepts — from Lebanese to Emirati to South Asian fusion — are entering fast-growing Columbus suburbs at an accelerating pace. The customer base is there, the demographics support it, and the competition is still light enough to build a loyal following quickly.

What It Means:

Every time an international brand chooses Lewis Center over a coastal city for its Ohio debut, it's a vote of confidence in the market. That kind of retail and dining momentum quietly strengthens residential demand in surrounding neighborhoods — it's one of the softer data points that shows up in relocation decisions and long-term property values.

If you haven't been yet, it's worth the visit just for the saffron chai alone.

TAKUMI SUSHI OPENS ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT HIBACHI ON SAWMILL ROAD — UPSCALE CONCEPT FILLS A 40-YEAR-OLD VOID IN NORTHWEST COLUMBUS

Takumi Sushi opened at 7370 Sawmill Road in northwest Columbus, offering all-you-can-eat sushi, hibachi, and Japanese classics at $26.95 for lunch and $45.95 for dinner — taking over the space previously held by Sunflower Chinese Restaurant, which closed in January after nearly four decades. [WCMH-TV]

Here's What's On The Menu:

Traditional Japanese soups and salads anchor the menu, alongside appetizers like gyoza, vegetable spring rolls, and fried teriyaki chicken. Sushi options run from California rolls to spicy tuna, with sashimi and nigiri available too.

Hibachi and teriyaki round out the mains, with stir-fry udon for noodle fans and mochi ice cream for dessert. Japanese bottled sodas and hot tea round out the beverage side.

Kids shorter than 37 inches eat free. Kids between 37 and 60 inches get 50% off. Hours run daily from 11:30 a.m., closing between 9 and 10:30 p.m. depending on the night.

The Story Behind The Space:

Sunflower Chinese Restaurant operated in that location for almost 40 years before owner Danny Chung closed it in January to spend more time with family. That's a generational run for any restaurant. Takumi stepping into that space isn't just a new opening — it's a chapter turn for a corner of Sawmill Road that a lot of northwest Columbus residents grew up with.

What This Means:

The all-you-can-eat hibachi format at this price point hits a specific sweet spot — upscale enough to feel like a real dining experience, accessible enough for regular visits. That's a model that builds loyal repeat customers fast, especially in a family-dense corridor like Sawmill near Dublin.

Northwest Columbus keeps attracting quality dining concepts, and Takumi adds real depth to a stretch of road that diners already know well. Worth trying sooner rather than later before the wait times get serious.

NEW ALBANY STARTUP NEUROANIMATION IS GROWING BRAINS WITH A VIRTUAL OCTOPUS — AND THE RESULTS ARE HARD TO ARGUE WITH

NeuroAnimation, based in New Albany, is delivering measurable cognitive recovery for stroke, Parkinson's, and dementia patients through an hour of intensive motor therapy controlling virtual animals — with one OSU physicist crediting the treatment for restoring her depth perception, arithmetic ability, and mood after a stroke left her cognitively impaired. [Columbus Monthly]

Here's How It Actually Works:

Clients come into NeuroAnimation's theater and get hooked up to a 12-camera motion tracking system. For an hour, they control a virtual animal — Kana the octopus being the signature example — in what CEO Omar Ahmad describes as conscious, complex motion planning rather than casual gaming.

"It's almost like doing surgery," Ahmad says. The intense cognitive motor load targets a specific brain structure called the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus — the region responsible for generating new neurons in adults. The therapy hypothesizes that those new cells migrate toward damaged areas of the brain.

After the movement session, clients spend another hour on consolidation — practicing real-world tasks they're trying to improve.

The Pricing Reality:

Two program options exist. A three-week boot camp runs $9,000 for 45 total hours of therapy. A 12-week strengthening program is $5,000 for 24 hours. Neither accepts health insurance and neither requires a physician's referral.

That's a real out-of-pocket commitment — which makes the patient outcomes worth examining carefully.

What Patients Are Actually Reporting:

Janeth Alexandra Garcia Monge, the OSU physicist who suffered a stroke, noticed changes after just her second session. Her depth perception while driving — a significant post-stroke impairment — improved dramatically within two weeks. Her arithmetic ability returned. Her mood stabilized.

"Doing the therapy has been my best investment after my stroke," she says. "It was worth every penny."

Dr. David Whitt of Diley Medical Group, who refers patients to NeuroAnimation, has seen results across Parkinson's disease, traumatic brain injury, autism, and major depression — conditions that don't typically respond to the same treatment. That breadth either says something extraordinary about the underlying mechanism or warrants serious scientific scrutiny — probably both.

The Bigger Picture:

Ahmad came from Johns Hopkins' biomedical engineering division. This isn't a wellness startup selling vague outcomes. The underlying science around neurogenesis in the adult hippocampus is real and well-documented — what NeuroAnimation is claiming is that targeted motor therapy can harness it therapeutically.

Columbus has a habit of quietly incubating healthcare innovation that doesn't make national headlines until it's too big to ignore. NeuroAnimation feels like one of those companies worth paying attention to now, before everyone else is.

MEZCLA IS COMING BACK — SHORT NORTH COMMUNITY RALLIES BEHIND LATIN RESTAURANT AFTER VAN CRASHES THROUGH FRONT ENTRANCE

Mezcla, the Latin restaurant at 1022 Summit Street just east of the Short North, is targeting a spring reopening after a van drove into the front of the building on January 23 — with neighboring business Service Bar hosting a fundraiser March 4–7 to help cover repair costs. [What Now Columbus]

Here's What Happened:

A van struck the southeast corner of the building near the entrance on January 23. Several employees suffered minor injuries. Owner Garrett Talmage initially expected a closure of just a few weeks — repairs have stretched into spring.

No firm reopening date has been set, but the team is actively rebuilding and posting updates on Instagram as work progresses.

Why This Restaurant Matters:

Mezcla only opened in spring of last year, so this hit came before the restaurant even had a chance to fully establish itself. The menu centers on elevated Latin cuisine — carne asada with fire roasted cebollita, salsa de arbol and crema de rancho, tacos, vegetarian options, and cocktails like a rum old fashioned with piloncillo and molasses bitters.

It's the kind of concept — specific, chef-driven, neighborhood-rooted — that a dining scene like Columbus's Short North corridor genuinely needs more of.

The Community Response:

Service Bar organizing a multi-day fundraiser for a competitor's recovery isn't something that happens in every city. It's the kind of thing that happens in a restaurant community that understands a rising tide lifts all boats — and that a block's character is built by the sum of its concepts, not any one of them individually.

What To Watch:

Spring reopening with no firm date means anywhere from six weeks to four months depending on how repairs go. Follow their Instagram for updates. When they reopen, show up — restaurants that fight back from something like this deserve the support, and Mezcla's menu was already earning it before any of this happened.

THIS WEEK'S WRAP-UP

Homeowners: Filli Cafe choosing Lewis Center for its Ohio debut and Takumi filling a longstanding Sawmill Road void both point the same direction — lifestyle amenities keep stacking in submarkets that already have strong residential fundamentals. That's not coincidence, that's a reinforcing cycle.

Home buyers: Lewis Center and northwest Columbus near Dublin keep proving they can attract international and upscale dining concepts that suburban markets twice their size don't always land. If you're evaluating neighborhoods, pay attention to what's opening — not just what's already there.

Investors and business watchers: NeuroAnimation is the sleeper story of the week. A Johns Hopkins-pedigreed CEO, documented neurogenesis science, and patient outcomes across multiple neurological conditions — all operating quietly out of New Albany. This is exactly the kind of healthcare innovation Columbus has a track record of incubating before the rest of the country notices.

Bottom line: Columbus this week showed its full range — a Dubai brand betting on Lewis Center, an all-you-can-eat hibachi concept filling a four-decade-old space, a startup growing neurons with a virtual octopus, and a Short North community refusing to let a good restaurant disappear. That's a city with texture.

See you next week,

Gagan Timsina