If you like cupcakes and beer (we assume you like the latter) then it’s time for a road trip. Head north on Route 23, just 40 minutes beyond the I-270 outer belt, and exit at Route 95 for a visit to 29 Brewpub and Wood Fired Pizza in Marion, Ohio.
Owners David and Missy Meddings had long been the owners of a specialty bakery called Ta Die For Gourmet Cupcakes when in January 2015 they combined brewing and baking with the opening of the 29 Brewpub. The name is in homage to Marion’s favorite son, Warren G. Harding, our 29th President.
Behind the bar are 16 taps that cover the gamut. Only two house beers were on tap, when I visited, as owner and brewer Captain David Meddings is on a one year deployment to Kosovo with the Ohio National Guard, and assistant brewer Joe VanBuskirk, who is also a Guard member, is out for two weeks of training duty. Under normal circumstances, you can expect to find a half dozen or so house beers. The two 29 brews on tap during my visit were Caledonia Red, a nod to Harding’s childhood home, and Mistress Double IPA, a reference to the President not always being entirely faithful to wife Florence. Unfortunately for him, Harding is best known for scandals, his love child, and dying mysteriously in office. Was he poisoned by Florence?! The world may never know.
Guest beers ranged from a Blonde from Old Firehouse to an 18% ABV Expresso beer from Harpoon, and bartender Charles explained that they also have a couple of macro-brews on tap as they work to convert the locals to craft beer.
There is an extensive food menu with a special emphasis on wood fired pizza, and co-located in this spacious former BBQ restaurant is Ta Die For Gourmet Cupcakes. I washed down a sweet, creamy, rich Boston Cream Pie cupcake with a Caledonia Red. These cupcakes alone make the road trip worthwhile! There was also a Deep-Fried Cupcake Ala Mode that I hope to try next visit.
29 Brewpub and Wood Fired pizza is located at 1692 Marion-Mt Gilead Rd (Route 95).
