Hilliard City Council voted to expand the Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area (DORA) year-round. Starting March 1, residents and visitors will be able to explore Hilliard—beverage in-hand–every day of the year.
“Extending the DORA to all year-round is very exciting to our Old Hilliard businesses,” said Angela Zody, City of Hilliard Economic Development Administrator. “This effort will continue to add to the vitality of downtown, along with encouraging the community to support our local businesses each day.”
The expansion allows patrons 21 and over to purchase an alcoholic drink from participating businesses in specific cups to people wearing DORA wristbands. These cups and wristbands will allow participants to stroll through Old Hilliard with a beverage in-hand.
“The DORA encourages people to come and linger, which increases traffic to my small business,” said Sharon Grenier, Co-Owner of Coffee Connections. “Our other locations don’t have this option, and it was felt in a hard way during the peak of the pandemic.”
Previously, the DORA was only offered on Thursday and select Saturday nights in the summer. When the pandemic began, it was expanded to more nights each week and extended to last through October. Starting March 1, it will be offered year-round from noon until 9 p.m. within specific boundaries that that include businesses on Main and Center streets.
Participating restaurants and bars include:
Abner’s Casual Dining
Crooked Can Brewing Company
HillGarten (coming soon)
Legacy Smokehouse
Local Cantina
Makoy Center
Off Center
Old Bag of Nails Pub
Otie’s Tavern & Grill
Sexton’s Pizza (coming soon)
Starliner Diner
Yabo’s Tacos
City officials hope the expanded DORA encourages foot traffic in Old Hilliard, providing businesses with more patrons.
“It’s super fun to see people out and about in the street,” said Grenier. “The DORA one of the reasons Hilliard is so great!”
