Knotty Pine Brewing

Biase Ciccone and his wife Maria opened their grocery store in a building on the corner of Westwood and Third Avenues in 1933. The building formerly housed a Kroger grocery store, then a shoe repair and barber shop. Two years later, Biase opened a tap room in the west half of the building, leaving the market to be operated by Maria on the east side. Biase operated it until his death in 1958 with help from his son Gildo in his final years. 

The restaurant had no menu when it first opened and offered just two food items: a meatball sandwich and spaghetti. A bocce ball court in the back of the building was a popular attraction.  

In 1968, the restaurant was purchased by Biase’s son-in-law Carl Scartz who renamed it Carl's Knotty Pine. 

Scartz sold the restaurant in the early 1980s. The Knotty Pine had several owners and reincarnations from 1980s to the early 2000s. In 1995, the restaurant hosted a Columbus-wide chili competition in its parking lot; then-owner Tom Hoover was the Mexican national chili champion the same year. 

The current Knotty Pine Brewing Company opened in 2015. The restaurant remains a gathering place for locals and visitors to this day, for post high school athletic celebrations, Sunday brunch, alumni gatherings, and other casual events.

Biase (b. 1889 – d. 1958) and his wife Maria (b. 1897 – d. 1979) also opened Ciccone’s Market on the southeast corner of Third and Westwood Avenues (another stop on this walking tour). They and their descendants lived on the northwest corner of the same intersection at 1770 West Third Avenue for 80 years, from 1937 to 2017; the Ciccones also purchased the house at 1771 West Third Avenue, next to the Knotty Pine, for their family. Their children and grandchildren went to Grandview Heights schools, helped in the family businesses, and remain in the area today. The Ciccones kept this Grandview corner lively for many decades.    

Baise and Maria Ciccone serving drinks in the original Knotty Pine restaurant.  

Namesake knots can be seen in the pine booths at the Knotty Pine in 1937.  

A gondolier and pizza, a nod to the Italian heritage of the restuarant, were featured on a matchbook cover for Carl's Knotty Pine.