Now

WESTERVILLE(OH)-After the opening in Fall of 2008, Serendipity is still servicing Uptown Westerville and beating the small business odds. After being open for a year and a half and surviving the difficult first year that many small businesses do not survive, the Mitchells and their staff of Otterbein College students are still brewing, scooping, and cooking.

Since opening, owner Debbie Mitchell has edited the menu quite a bit. The biggest change was the addition of food. When the shop was opened, Mitchell and her partner and husband Jeff Mitchell had planned on staying strictly with ice-cream, coffee, pastries, and there had been whisperings of Panini sandwiches, now they have a full service kitchen. “The Paninis are our specialty! But people also really love our strombolies,” said Mitchell. Other new items include personal pizzas, mozerella sticks, humus platters, sweet potatoe fries, and a few other fried sides to go with the main dishes.

Another idea of Debbie’s that has brought business to what students are now calling “The Dip” is a monthly preformance by Otterbein musician JT Hilliar. Mitchell says that each time the Otterbein Campus Programming Board (CPB) has offered to pay for something for the students whether it be an hour where students may order whatever they want or a night where each student receives one free drink.

When Mitchell last spoke on her plans for her shop and Otterbein in 2008, she mentioned the possibility of being able to use the Otterbein Cardinal Card there, as many incoming students do not have money to go out to eat, but swipes for the campus center. With the arrival of new president Kathy Krendal, Mitchell is excited at the prospect of making this reality. “I can’t say for sure yet, but we are definitely closer to Cardinal Card access than we were a year ago,” said Mitchell.

Mitchell looks forward to adding more items, services, and events for her customers and building a closer relationship with the town’s college in the future.

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