Polaris Now Has Two Dining Centers, And They Are Being Built On Purpose To Feel Different

If you have lived off Polaris Parkway for more than a couple of years, the local map in your head probably still centers on the mall. Fashion Place, the lifestyle strip, Dave & Buster's, Molly Woo's on the corner. That map is now out of date. As of this summer, the Polaris area is being deliberately split into two dining and hangout centers with two very different personalities, and the split is going to affect where you take a Wednesday dinner, where you park for a Saturday, and where out-of-town guests actually want to go.

The Galaxy Rewrote The North Side Of The Parkway

The Galaxy at Polaris opened its first phase last October on a 30-acre parcel just east of the mall. The $145 million first phase transformed a former concert venue site into a mixed-use destination, including a six-story residential building with 289 apartments, structured parking, green space, and ground-floor retail. The full buildout is bigger than the number suggests. Managing Director Franz Geiger of N.P. Limited Partnership has said the development will have over 600 residential units and over 130,000 square feet of commercial space at completion.

That commercial square footage matters because of what is filling it. This is not another wave of national chains being shipped in from Texas. The Galaxy's leasing pitch has been explicit about the opposite.

"Our goal with The Galaxy project is to bring the best of class in restaurants, especially local favorites like Mikey's to a suburban location that is yearning for organically grown restaurants, not national chains. With the finest local concepts and Ohio's first Puttshack, The Galaxy will be an entertainment hub for Polaris and Central Ohio." — Franz Geiger, quoted by Nation's Restaurant News

That quote is worth reading twice if you live here, because it tells you exactly what to expect from every subsequent lease at Galaxy.

What Local Actually Means, Address By Address

The tenants confirmed so far read like a Short North and Downtown transplant list:

• Mikey's Late Night Slice at 8770 Galaxy Way, early 2026 opening, with late-night hours, a full-service bar, an inclusive atmosphere, and 18-inch NY-style pizzas served by the slice or whole pie. This is the Columbus-born pizza brand's eleventh shop.
• The Lox Bagel Shop at 2140 Ikea Way. The Short North eatery known for its hand-rolled bagels is expanding to a second central Ohio location, with permits filed near Polaris Fashion Place. The original shop opened in 2018 at 772 N. High St. Bon Appétit included the shop in its 2023 list of the best bagels in the United States outside New York.
• Brassica at 2170 Ikea Way. The fast-casual Mediterranean brand will open at 2170 Ikea Way, currently targeting a spring opening.
• Puttshack, positioned by the developer as Ohio's first, alongside the existing Topgolf on the same side of the highway.

Read those addresses back. 8770 Galaxy Way. 2140 Ikea Way. 2170 Ikea Way. This is one clustered walk, not four errands in four parking lots. That is the point.

The Mall Is Also Adding Restaurants, But The Sourcing Is Opposite

The same twelve months that produced the Galaxy tenant list also produced a very different roster inside and around Polaris Fashion Place. Cava, the Washington, D.C.-area Mediterranean brand known for customizable bowls, salads and pita wraps, is opening near Potbelly Sandwich Shop along Polaris Parkway. The Cava location is at 1370 Polaris Parkway and was expected to open during the first half of 2026. Cava has grown to more than 400 locations across 29 states.

The Indian vegetarian concept is a similar profile. Simply South is under construction in the Polaris Lifestyle Center next to Benihana, with locations already in the Chicago and Dallas areas, and is targeting a grand opening around the holiday season. On the retail side, Fabletics plans to open on the lower level next to Akria with a holiday-season grand opening, Offline by Aerie will remodel and expand its upper-level space between Hot Topic and Yankee Candle, and the store is aiming to reopen in early summer while running a temporary location near Abercrombie and Fitch. Fruit Ice Cream, a kiosk selling fruit-shaped ice cream on the lower level outside Akira and Vans, launched with five flavors including peach, strawberry, grape, lemon, and mango.

The mall's General Manager, Tamra Bower, said the quiet part out loud when the mall announced its 2026 additions: "We are thrilled to offer some brand new and exciting restaurants and retailers here at Polaris. There is no shortage of opinions out there of brands we should offer at the mall — and we are proud to work with some new categories in Mediterranean fast casual and authentic Indian."

Categories. That is a national-chain word. Bower is filling category gaps in a shopping-center portfolio. Geiger is trying to import specific Columbus operators. Both approaches are legitimate. They are not the same product, and if you live nearby, they should not be treated as one destination.

The Saks Question, And Why It Matters For The Rest Of 2026

There is one moving piece that connects both sides. In February 2026, it was announced that the Saks Fifth Avenue anchor store at Polaris Fashion Place would close by April 2026. That leaves a full anchor slot open on the mall side while the Galaxy's phase-two commercial space is still leasing on the other. Whatever ends up in the Saks box will send a signal about which direction the mall wants to go from here. Second-phase Galaxy leases will send an equally clear signal from the other side of the parkway.

For a homeowner watching neighborhood values, that pair of decisions is more instructive than any median-price chart. Retail follows rooftops, and rooftops follow the retail that already anchored. The two centers will pull walkability, traffic, and evening foot traffic in different directions over the next 18 months.

How To Actually Use The Split This Month

A few concrete scenarios, because a map is only useful if it changes your Tuesday:

• A weeknight dinner with kids. Cava at 1370 Polaris Parkway is fast and predictable, and the mall side has stroller-friendly loop parking. Save Mikey's for a Friday when the late hours and bar scene are the point rather than a problem.
• Out-of-town guests who want "the Columbus thing." Skip the mall entrance. Take them to The Lox on Ikea Way for the bagel that made the Bon Appétit list, or Brassica for a locally founded fast-casual that has been drawing attention for years. This is a legitimately different sales pitch for the city than Benihana and Molly Woo's.
• A summer Friday. LIVE @ Polaris, the outdoor summer concert series, returns in 2026 with a new event location between Dave & Buster's and the Food Hall entrance under the arch, with family-friendly vendors, food truck menus, and alcohol sales benefiting Columbus Young Professionals Club programs. Guests are encouraged to bring their own lawn chair.
• A Saturday with teenagers. Topgolf plus whatever version of Puttshack opens at Galaxy is a full afternoon inside a quarter-mile radius, and neither requires setting foot in the mall.

What Locals Should Actually Watch Next

Two things worth tracking through the fall. First, the pace at which the remaining Galaxy commercial space fills, and specifically whether the developer's local-first framing survives once national chains inevitably come knocking with better rent offers. Second, what backfills the Saks anchor. A luxury replacement would signal one strategy for the mall; an experiential or fitness tenant would signal another. Either answer changes what your evening drive along Polaris Parkway looks like a year from now.

The everyday takeaway is smaller and more useful. When someone says "meet me at Polaris" this fall, it now matters which side of the parkway they mean. Two years ago it did not.

If you own a home near Polaris Parkway and you are trying to read what all this development means for your property, or if you are considering the area and want a straight answer on where the growth is actually landing, Bryce G Smith knows the corridor block by block. Schedule a free consultation and get a read on your specific street, not a mall-wide average.