Ten Weeks of Tasty gearing up for its 5th year
Main Street Wooster’s annual Ten Weeks of Tasty, the popular wining and dining event, is back for a fifth year and includes a stop at Mariola Italian on East Liberty Street in downtown Wooster.
The end of February is upon us, which can mean only a couple of things: Warm weather is not far off and it’s time for Main Street Wooster’s annual Ten Weeks of Tasty.
The popular wining and dining event is back for a fifth year with the hope of connecting folks with popular eating and drinking destinations in and around Wooster, mostly in the downtown area.
The event runs from Feb. 27 to May 2, with a different place featured each Thursday and Friday in that span.
The annual event, born out of the pandemic with the hopes of driving patrons back to restaurants, features a $100 prize for one lucky winner. The prize comes in the form of $100 “downtown dollars,” which can be spent at various area businesses.
The winner will come from a drawing once the ten weeks are over. To enter the drawing, you need to have a passport stamped five times, showing you made five different stops among the 20 establishments, each of which will be in the spotlight for one day during the 10 weeks.
Typically the Thursdays go to dining establishments, beginning with BayLobsters Café and Market on Cleveland Road on the northeast side of town, greeting anyone coming from the Medina area. Bringing up the rear this year is TJs at 359 W. Liberty St. It will be showcased May 1.
Fridays feature watering holes of some sort, some serving adult beverages, some coffee and tea and others a little bit of everything. Kicking off the Friday entries is Boba Bowl on West Liberty Street. Serving a variety of fruit teas, coffees and “crumbowls,” all coming in countless combinations, Boba Bowl serves what can only be referred to as fun stuff.
The entire lineup returns nearly intact from the 2024 edition. That’s after three places had to be replaced following 2023, two of which are now out of business.
When there was an opening last year, Mariola Italian jumped on it. The upscale pizza-pasta restaurant on East Liberty Street will be featured this year on April 17.
“We just honestly try to support everything Main Street Wooster and everybody does,” Mariola General Manager Joseph Dawson said. “When they call us, we take part in every one of their programs.”
In an ultra-modern building where a car dealership once sat, Mariola opened two years ago and has done well as many new restaurants do. Taking nothing for granted, management signed up for the Ten Weeks last year, which paid off.
“People came in because of it,” Dawson said. “Some people come in and forget their booklets. We always have extras for them. The community supports it very well.”
The 10-week event was initially launched in 2021 as the pandemic was past its peak but still going strong. Restaurants as a result were not doing booming business. The need for social distancing kept people at home, and when they did go out, it kept everyone at arm’s length.
The first year featured 10 businesses, all trending to the food side. When the event was expanded in 2020 to include beverage-centric merchants, nine of the originals returned.
Six establishments are in their fifth year on the list, with seven of the originals still around this year — one of them sat out one year.
When the event doubled in size in 2022, 11 new shops joined, almost all drinking establishments, though not necessarily of the alcohol-serving variety. Of those 11 rookies, four are back this year for a fourth go-round.
“We are very excited about being part of the Ten Weeks of Tasty,” said Sandy Marsh of the Ugly Bunny Winery, located near Loudonville. “We love being a part of the Main Street Wooster and having our products at their events like this and the farmers market. Since we are not that far away we are hoping to gain some customers who would like to come to our area.”
The following is the full schedule of the 2025 Ten Weeks of Tasty:
February
Feb. 27 — BayLobsters Café and Fish Market 3423 Cleveland Rd.; Feb. 28 — Boba Bowl, 127 W. Liberty St.;
March
March 6 — Broken Rocks Café and Bakery 123 E. Liberty St.; March 7 — Caribou Coffee, 1840 Cleveland Rd.; March 13 — Buehler’s Towne Market Café, 336 N. Market St.; March 14 — JAFB Wooster Brewery, 120 Beall Ave.; March 20 — City Square Steakhouse, 148 S. Market St.; March 21 — Grigio Wine and Cocktail Bar, 211 S. Market St.; March 27 — The Curry Pot Indian Cuisine, 206 Beall Ave.; March 28 — Lincoln Way Vineyards, 9050 W. Old Lincoln Way;
April
April 3 — Muddy’s Wood Fired Grill, 335 E. Liberty St.; April 4 — The Leaf, 203 W. Liberty St.; April 10 — Omahoma Bob’s Barbeque, 128 S. Market St.; April 11 — Minglewood Distilling Co., 437 E. South St.; April 17 — Mariola Italian, 365 E. Liberty St.; April 18 — Undergrounds Café, 144 W. Liberty St.; April 24 — Spoon Bar and Deli, 146 E. Liberty St.; April 25 — Sure House Coffee Roasting Co., 151 S. Market St.
May
May 1 — TJs, 359 W. Liberty St.; May 2 — Ugly Bunny Winery, 16104 State Route 39, Loudonville.