Family ties bind in old Westerville. Just ask ‘Uptown Dave’ Deringer

By JOE MEYER | For Uptown Westerville Inc –

If shopping and dining in Uptown feels like family, it’s no wonder. Family ties are common across the small independent businesses that dot the historic district.

Husband and wife. Mother and daughter. Cousins. And in at least one notable case, nephew and uncle.

Mike Deringer is the owner of Amish Originals Furniture Co., 38 N. State St.

He’s also the nephew of Dave Deringer, who is known as “Uptown Dave” for being omnipresent in Uptown, especially around the Espresso Air coffee shop, 25 N. State St.

Uptown Dave is an Uptown fixture that predates many of the existing tenants occupying space in Uptown in 2026. He’s lived in an apartment above the same Uptown business since 1970, and is happy to talk over the changes he’s seen over a cup of coffee.

Holding court from a chair along the south side of Espresso Air’s limited inside dining space, Dave is quick with a greeting to any customers who walk in, and he’s even more certain to bid goodbye as they exit.

“You have a good day. Be safe,” is a common refrain.

Does he know all those who stop by? “A good number of them,” Uptown Dave says. “I don’t know names. You get old and that happens,” adds the 83-year-old, who has made hanging out in Uptown a big part of his routine the last 14 or 15 years. Originally from Sandusky, he came to Westerville in 1960 to attend Otterbein.

He used his Class of 1964 degree in Education to teach for several years in the Sandusky area, before moving back to town and getting his masters to pursue work in other fields.

Uptown Dave not only knows the clientele at Espresso Air – he sings the praises of owner Talip and baristas Juliette and Elli, “who put up with me” – he pretty much knows the back-story on all the district’s business owners.

“There’s a lot of good people up here,” he says. “Good people who are involved and (have) helped Westerville grow.”

Through the window: Family, and growth

Uptown Dave sees family ties everywhere as he surveys State Street through the large windows at Espresso Air. There’s A Gal Named Cinda Lou at 20 N. State, owned by mother Debbie and daughter Julie Bennati, with Debbie’s husband Jim helping out since his retirement. The shop, Uptown Dave knows, is named after Debbie’s grandmother, Cinda Lou.

Then there is the “coming soon” Little Sparrows Baby and Pet Boutique at 34 N. State, which will be one of three Uptown shops owned by Amy Cabilovski, along with the recently relocated and expanded Stone and Sparrow shop into the former Morgan’s Treasures building at 31 N. State and Edwin Loy Home store at 33 N. State.

And of course, Dave says, Amy is married to Tony Cabilovski, owner of the Uptown Deli & Brew, 41 N. State, who is busy expanding as well.

Next to A Gal Named Cinda Lou’s is the Pure Roots Boutique & Gallery at 18 N. State St. Nicole Harrison, owner of Pure Roots, is the cousin of Alexandra Paoline, owner the recently expanded Blue Turtle Tea & Spice Co. at 13 E. College.

Next to Pure Roots is the Asterisk Supper Club, 14 N. State, another Uptown family operated business. It’s owned by Megan Ada, along with the Ampersand Asian Supper Club, opened last year at 32 W. College Ave., where Megan’s husband Joshua Cook is the chef.

The long list above isn’t close to comprehensive. Even more businesses within sight of Espresso Air’s windows in the old Holmes Hotel building are run by families.

The changes don’t escape Uptown Dave’s attention, and he attributes the boom in nice restaurants and a more active streetscape to Westerville no longer being “dry.” He’s not quick to pronounce whether the dry Uptown he met as an Otterbein undergrad is inferior or superior to today’s “wet” Uptown, with its large DORA (Designed Outdoor Refreshment Area).

But he’s all right with alcohol sales today. “It’s OK. As long it’s controlled … and we don’t have drunks,” he said. And police are always nearby in case there’s a problem.

He likes the growth and vibrancy of the historic district today. And he likes the family involvements.

The new and the old is OK in Uptown Dave’s book. This Wednesday evening, he will get a lift from a friend to enjoy pizza at Pasquale’s Pizza and Pasta House, 558 W. Schrock Rd. Pasquale’s was an old Uptown favorite operating where Uptown restaurants operate today with alcohol sales. But a weekly trip down Schrock Road is worth it, he says, to find another old Uptown family … and that great pizza.

 PHOTO CAPTIONS

ABOVE: “Uptown Dave” Deringer (left) and his nephew Mike Deringer are flanked by Espresso Air baristas Elli and Juliette.

BELOW: Blue Turtle Tea & Spice Co. owner Alexandra Paoline (left) gets a hug from her cousin Nicole Harrison, owner of the Pure Roots Boutique, at the reopening of Paoline’s Blue Turtle on East College Avenue in 2025.