The best things we ate in 2024 • The best new restaurants The Cleveland dining trends we love (and hate)
REWIND:
UPFRONT
MADE CLEVELAND VENDORS SAY OWNER HASN’T PAID THEM IN MONTHS
WHEN GINA WILKOLAK
received an acceptance letter to sell her hand-painted earrings at Made Cleveland, a sense of relief and celebration came over her.
A marketing manager by day, Wilkolak had been on a yearlong hunt for a brick-and-mortar storefront with an easy barrier to entry where she could sell her art. In the fall of 2022, tired of eyeing suburban consignment shops and artist fairs, she applied to Made Cleveland’s shop in Coventry, and, by that November, was amongst its hundred-plus vendors with both space online and in-person at one of the largest maker marts in Northeast Ohio.
Like all vendors, Wilkolak signed up for what she figured was a fair deal: 60 percent of revenue went to her; the rest went to Made Cleveland. Vendors got paid on the 15th of every month. There were no rental fees. The monthly cost for a space on Made’s site was nothing.
“The concept of this was awesome,” Wilkolak told Scene, sitting in a coffee shop in Waterloo. “I don’t consider myself an artist—but I wanted to be somewhere physically in Cleveland. I was really proud when I got picked.”
Two years after Wilkolak began selling her laser-cut wood earrings under the moniker Pause My Game, she left Made Cleveland miffed and dispirited. Ash O’Connor, the store’s 38-year-old founder, had not paid out her income in months. “Only a handful of times in the past two years I’ve been paid on time” she said.
Just this fall, Wilkolak found out that her case wasn’t unique. Dozens of vendors and employees of Made Cleveland have either not been paid on schedule, as proposed, or not received revenue from sales of their goods at all.
Three of them, including Wilkolak, have filed lawsuits in Cleveland Heights Small Claims Court in the past month, claiming that O’Connor owes thousands of dollars in backpay to her vendors. ($693 to Wilkolak.)
With holiday markets in Cleveland picking up steam around the city, like the Winterland Market downtown or the ceramics fair at 78th Street Studios, many shoppers are picking up gifts for loved ones backed by the premise they’re supporting local artists and artisans. Many of those
vendors see profits double or triple thanks to a seasonal uptick spending for Christmas.
Which doesn’t seem to be the case for a handful of them at Made Cleveland. Scene spoke to a half dozen current and former artists and makers with booth spaces at Made Cleveland and all noted its owner had been late with, or not paid at all, the money from their art they were due.
Lucy Bailey, an artist who filed two suits against O’Connor to reclaim a total of $1,923, said that she sued Made Cleveland after talking to other vendors like Wilkolak.
“I didn’t know what was happening to other people, really,” she said. “I thought it was only me.”
After two years of operating as a hyperlocal Etsy, O’Connor started renting the former City Buddha space on Coventry in 2022. Her concept quickly spread around the maker community. Over 150 vendors—selling tea, vanilla extract, ink drawings or dog bowties—signed up that year to secure a shelf, booth or wall space.
Made Cleveland was sold by O’Connor as a sort of lifeboat for makers coming out of the pandemic. “It’s about gaining access to locally-made goods as easily as
possible,” O’Connor told Ideastream last May. “That’s not only beneficial to vendors, but to the community itself.”
That public benefit is what drew artist Levaille Eitzman to sell their bespoke, upcycled necklaces at Made this April. They quickly found a home there: in June, after a threehour interview, Eitzman became comanager.
But Made Cleveland was stripped of the lure of its ideal when, this September, Eitzman discovered that a bulk of revenue coming into the store was not going into the pockets of vendors waiting for pay. But into O’Connor’s purse herself, they allege.
A deep dive into the balance sheet on Shopify, the point-of-sale system O’Connor used to keep track of Made’s books, was a revelation: O’Connor’s car payments, Starbucks orders, hundreds of dollars for hotels, DoorDash orders and Uber rides—all were being paid from store revenues.
“It appeared that she was getting all of her groceries from money that the artists were making,” Allie Morris, an artist who worked as co-manager at Made until November, told Scene.
“Typically you’d think with a business that young,” she said, “you’d be putting it back into your business?”
In interviews with Scene, past employees described O’Connor as a “flighty” entrepreneur with highoctane interest in her passions, whether they be art, fixing flutes or growing business ideas.
Reached for comment, O’Connor chalked up her alleged debt to dozens, if not hundreds, of artists as a byproduct of the pandemic, of “personal hardships” and the “complexities of running a grassroots operation.”
“We recognize that some payments to our valued vendors have been delayed, and we deeply regret any inconvenience this has caused,” O’Connor said via a statement partly generated by AI. “This is not reflective of the respect and appreciation we have for the incredible artists and entrepreneurs who have trusted us with their work.”
“We are actively working to address these delays while ensuring we maintain the integrity and sustainability of Made Cleveland,” she added. (Eitzman balked at O’Connor’s statement: “This sounds like what she’s been telling us for years,” they said.)
O’Connor faces other financial quagmires.
Photo by Mark Oprea
Last October, Vox Funding, a small-business loan service based in New York, filed a complaint in New York State Supreme Court alleging that O’Connor owed them a total of $25,586 after ending automatic payments with the company that September. (Calls to a lawyer for Vox were not returned.)
Vendors told Scene they think Made Cleveland might better function, or even flourish, as a cooperative while O’Connor sorts out its apparent financial problems. Or, they said, leave altogether.
Even as past vendors watch new artists apply this season.
“I mean, they hand-paint their sign, they make their retail displays, and they go in, they set up,” Eitzman said. “They get really excited about finally having, like, an in-store place to shop from.”
“I saw some vendor posting on Instagram about how excited they were that their paintings were going to be there.” Wilkolak added close by. “And I was like, ‘Oh my God. They’re coming in, and they don’t even know.’” – Mark Oprea
As Coventry PEACE Tenants Move Out, Some Are Finding Space While Others Are in Limbo
After she lost her lease at the Coventry PEACE Campus in Cleveland Heights earlier this year, Amy Rosenbluth of the nonprofit youth writing center Lake Erie Ink looked from east to west to find another venue. It wasn’t easy. Most of the spaces she found were either inaccessible (they had steps or didn’t have a first floor bathroom) or they didn’t work for her budget. Recently, she found a storefront on Taylor Road in Cleveland Heights after months of scouring the market.
“It kind of felt like we got smacked in the head with (moving),” said Rosenbluth, who started LEI fourteen years ago with programming director Cynthia Larsen and hosted hundreds of programs a year in the former school building. “It was like Covid. It was kind of like, ‘OK, you’re going to have to do it this way.’”
LEI had to move because the Cleveland Heights-University Heights public library, which owns the former Coventry school, decided to “mothball” the building after renting it out for years. The cited various reasons -- it’s too expensive to maintain, the tenants did not offer free public programs in keeping with the library’s mission, the library wanted to use the space for their own purposes. The organization gave the tenants six month leases in April, telling them they had to be
out by the end of the year. The future of the building is unclear. Some speculate the library will tear it down and turn it into a park, whereas others believe they’ll renovate it and use it for their own programs.
“This decision was made after careful consideration of the Library’s mission and financial responsibilities,” said Heights Libraries Board President Vikas Turahkia in an October 23rd, 2024 press release. “While we understand the importance of the nonprofit tenants’ work, our commitment as board members is to ensure that taxpayer dollars are used in a way that aligns with our mission: providing free access to educational resources, safe spaces, and programs that directly benefit the public. Subsidizing private organizations that do not offer free public services is beyond the scope of the library’s purpose.”
While it came as a rude shock to the tenants, who had previously negotiated to stay in the building and had been paying rent (albeit at an affordable rate), so it goes. Artists and small nonprofit organizations are migratory creatures who must constantly be on the hunt for cheap space. Yet unlike with other artist buildings in Cleveland that were converted to lofts, office spaces or other uses, in this case the Coventry tenants only got six months’ notice before they had to be out. Now, with just a month left in their leases, some artists are still living in limbo.
Some of the other tenants in the building include Reaching Heights, a nonprofit that supports the CH-UH schools; FutureHeights, a community development group; Cleveland Heights Teachers Union; and Coventry PEACE, the nonprofit that serves as an umbrella for groups within the building. Three tenants, Dance Cleveland, Do Good Day Hub, and People’s Choice Payee Service, have leases that extend beyond December 2025, and the library is negotiating with them to end their leases.
The CH-UH library is helping tenants with moving expenses. Library director Nancy Levin said in an email, “All of the original tenants have been offered financial assistance for moving expenses, with receipts, up to $1,000. We are negotiating with the three other tenants who have longer leases to facilitate their exit.”
Lake Erie Ink is one of the lucky ones. Rosenbluth said she “investigated everything,” looking everywhere from Glenville to Slavic Village, before she found the storefront at 2108 South Taylor. The bright, light-filled space will offer classes in the front of the building, while LEI’s offices will be in the
back. With public parking on the street and in a nearby lot, as well as a location that’s on a bus line and within walking distance of Cain Park, it’s a sweet spot, she said.
“It’s a great location and it’s a storefront,” said Rosenbluth, who modeled LEI after 826 Valencia in San Francisco, the youth writing center created by author David Eggers two decades ago that is still going strong in a storefront in the Mission District. “We’re going back to our roots of making kids visible. People walking by can say, ‘Hey, what are you doing in there?’ That felt important.”
Not everyone’s been so lucky, however. Shannon Morris runs the nonprofit organization Artful, which leased studio space to 30 artists in Coventry. With less than a month to go in her lease, Morris said she still doesn’t know where she’s going to go.
The $1,000 that the library has offered in moving assistance isn’t enough to make a dent in her costs, which number in the thousands, she said. So far, she’s spent her holidays packing up art, furniture, and supplies.
“The combination of people kind of organically springing up out of nowhere – we just worked so well together,” said Morris of the Coventry PEACE Campus. “We won’t be able to replicate that anywhere, unfortunately.”
Even as she looks for alternative spaces, Morris is still paying rent on the Coventry space – yet because artists are leaving, she’s no longer earning enough rent to cover her costs. Artist Robin Van Lear, who worked for the Cleveland Museum of Art for years and helped create Parade the Circle, is one of Artful’s tenants. Her husband Jesse Rhinehart, who had a space in the Artcraft building, was given more than a year’s notice as it was announced the building would be turned into the new Cleveland police headquarters. By comparison, the six months’ notice the library gave to Coventry tenants was paltry, she said.
“It cost me thousands of dollars to move into this space, and it’s going to cost me thousands of dollars to move out,” Van Lear said.
Brian Anderson, assistant director for economic development with the city of Cleveland Heights, said tenants are in a tough spot. “Finding spaces that work at a rate that works for them is the major hurdle to get through,” he said. “Whatever they end up with is probably going to be a jump from what they were historically paying.”
The city is working to help them. “We’ve been keeping an eye on landing places for some of the tenants there,” he said. “We want them all to find a place, but keeping them all in
Cleveland Heights is the goal.”
While Rosenbluth is thrilled to be staying in the Heights, there are downsides to the new space, too. It’s more expensive and they have to pay utilities. Whereas they had tons of classroom space at the old Coventry school, they now have room for only about 18 students. LEI has already begun holding programs off site in preparation for the move. For example, the annual youth ComicCon is now held at the PIVOT Center in the ClarkFulton neighborhood, while LEI’s teen writers symposium is held at Mather Mansion at CSU.
With the new space, Rosenbluth plans to make it “super inviting” and use the storefront windows to feature student work and other creative displays. The group is working with teens to get their input. Rosenbluth is also planning to build a Little Free Library in the front of the building and do workshops with local businesses. “We want to activate this neighborhood just like we activated Coventry,” she said.
During a recent visit, LEI staff and community volunteers were scrubbing and scraping old glue residue off of the vinyl tile floors in the storefront. One volunteer earlier in the week had even gotten momentarily stuck to the floor before prying herself free. After they finish cleaning up the floors, they plan to put down carpet in the front and keep the tile in the back.
“We could not have done what we did 14 years ago without a massive community effort, and we’re not going to do this without a massive community effort,” said Rosenbluth. “That’s our roots. That’s why we survived.”
LEI is moving to South Taylor at a time when the neighborhood is beginning to pop, too. Rising Star Coffee opened just down the street. There are existing businesses like Cafe Tandoor and Mister Brisket. There’s housing renovation going on at the Taylor Tudors building, and the city of Cleveland Heights is working on developing a new streetscape for Taylor Road, as well.
Anderson, who helped Rosenbluth find the space, said he’s glad the city was able to retain LEI, and he wishes the same for the rest of the tenants in Coventry. “We’re excited they were able to land a place on Taylor,” he said. “They serve a larger community than Cleveland Heights, and it would have been unfortunate if we lost them. This is hopefully a win for everyone.” – Lee Chilcote
FEATURE
THE YEAR IN CLEVELAND FOOD
2024’s best dishes, best new restaurants, and trends we love (and hate)
By Douglas Trattner
IT’S BEEN A WHILE SINCE
Northeast Ohio was blessed with a year of dining like the last one. The fast-casual, cookie-cutter parade of the pandemic era has given way to all sorts of fun -- innovative new concepts; expansive and ambitious projects; small, hyper-focused menus; waves of chef-driven fare. It’s all made 2024 the sort of boundary-pushing adventure Cleveland diners have long been missing, and we couldn’t be happier.
But what stood out? That question was harder than ever to answer, but here’s what made a lasting imprint after 12 months of eating out around the region.
THE BEST THINGS WE ATE IN 2024
Margherita Pie at Pizzeria Uciuni in Old Brooklyn
Pietro Maniaci, a barber who started down the pizza rabbit hole late in life, is wowing diners from his barebones Old Brooklyn pizzeria. Cross the threshold into Pizzeria Uciuni and you’ll spot Maniaci in his characteristic white shirt and newsboy cap, building New York-style pizzas from scratch in the open kitchen. The margherita is textbook, with a thin, crisp, tender and evenly browned crust supporting the perfect balance of sauce, fresh mozz and basil. This throwback shop is open just four days a week, has no phone and accepts only cash.
Grilled
Skewers at YYTime in Asiatown
YYTime is unlike any other restaurant in town. Serial restaurateur Sheng Long Yu’s bright and bustling Asiatown food hall is like four restaurants in one, with boundless options in categories such as cold appetizers, fried appetizers, grilled skewers, buns, dumplings and stir-fries. I could
spend hours snacking on grilled items alone, with standouts like pudding-soft eggplant, meaty king oyster mushrooms, jumbo head-on shrimp, spice-dusted pork belly and savory bone-in lamb chops, to name a few.
Omakase at Issho Ni in Willoughby
Johanes Jonathan and his wife opened Issho Ni in Willoughby in 2019, with the restaurant quickly developing a following for its stellar ramen and creative sushi. But it was when the owners launched a series of omakase dinners that the restaurant began catching the attention of serious sushi aficionados. Held a couple evenings a month, the intimate, interactive and exclusive 20-course dinners are built around fish and seafood flown in specifically for the meal.
Soup Dumplings at Artis in Lakewood
Andrew Mansour, the chef and owner of Artis in Lakewood, has remarkable range in the kitchen, putting out a varied but captivating roster of plates. None more so than the “lobster bisque,” a playful moniker that doesn’t begin to describe the dish. Imagine a steamer basket of Shanghai-style soup dumplings, but in this case, the standard broth and pork filling is replaced with lobster bisque. The delicate purses are paired with a sherry gastrique dipping sauce.
Orecchiette at Scorpacciata Pasta Co. in Shaker Hts.
After five years of quick-serve existence in the Market Hall at Van Aken District, Peter Reuter opened a full-service version of his pizza and pasta concepts on Larchmere. While ostensibly a neighborhood pizza and pasta joint, the food here soars thanks to from-scratch cooking at the hands of a skilled chef. The orecchiette is bold and brash, featuring al dente pasta, punchy
broccoli rabe, kalamata olives and thumb-size chunks of juicy sausage. It’s all tossed with chilies, breadcrumbs and pecorino cheese.
No. 1 at Affettati in Little Italy
One of the best sandwiches in Cleveland comes from a nondescript storefront in Little Italy – a
shop that goes largely unnoticed by the masses. Each morning, Kevin Dawe arrives early to bake the bread that will form the backbone of the sandwiches. After baking, the rolls are super-crispy on the outside, with an airy, tender crumb within. The #1 – one of just a handful of offerings at this
Steak in Tremont
Omakase at Issho Ni
Orecchiette (top left) at Scorpacciata
Courtesy Photo
Photo by Doug Trattner
Photo by Doug Trattner
streamlined eatery – is judiciously layered with sliced prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, ricotta, red onion and arugula.
AYCE Korean BBQ at One Pot on Coventry
Even when the food and service rise above satisfactory levels, dining out isn’t often “fun.” But rally the right posse for a meal at One Pot and you’re in for a culinary adventure. The sleek décor, impressive tabletop technology and all-you-can-eat arrangement sets this place apart from others in the category. On offer is a limitless supply of thin-sliced pork belly, ribeye and beef belly, marinated meats like beef bulgogi and garlic chicken, seafood items like jumbo headon shrimp, salmon and squid, all paired with a staggering selection of sauces, garnishes and spices.
Roti at Callaloo Cafe in Cleveland Hts.
If you never managed to make it out to Waterloo to try Callaloo Cafe – or even if you did – food fans should make a point to visit Kelvin Cadiz at his new location in Cleveland Heights. Named after the national dish of Trinidad, the laidback eatery offers a nice mix of traditional and contemporary Caribbean foods. I head straight for the roti – warm, flaky and soft flatbread that’s busted up on the griddle before serving with curry, which in my case is luscious bonein goat.
Bistecca alla Fiorentina at Tutto Carne
If you’re going to go out for steak, you might as well go all out for steak. That was our opinion at Tutto Carne, where there was little chance of fiscal restraint anyway. The meats all hail from sister establishment Village Butcher in Mayfield, where they are hand trimmed and dry aged. Our 3-finger thick bistecca alla Fiorentina – a weighty bone-in porterhouse – is expertly grilled, sliced and presented on the proverbial silver platter. We gilded the lily with an order of roasted bone marrow, which arrived on the same platter.
Dive Dog at Never Say
Dive in Old Brooklyn
Never Say Dive, which opened in Old Brooklyn at the beginning of the year, skillfully blends genuine dive-bar digs with a serious food and bev program. That means in
place of flat beer and stale popcorn, guests are treated to killer cocktails and elevated pub fare. This “high-low” approach is best illustrated by the Dive Dog, a hot dog that received a glow up. A thick Kobe-beef dog is tucked into a poppy seed brioche bun, drizzled with mayo, capped with house chips and gilded with dollops of briny caviar and fresh herbs.
Birria Tacos at Cozumel in Cleveland Hts.
When it comes to pleasure-dining, few restaurants cultivate joy better than this home-grown brand. Cozumel quietly launched birria tacos last year as a “secret menu” item, but the overwhelmingly popular response promoted the dish to regular status. Each order includes three soft corn-tortilla wrapped tacos filled with flavorful braised beef, diced onions and fresh cilantro. A dunk into the accompanying consommé takes them to a whole new level.
THE BEST NEW RESTAURANTS OF 2024
*Editor’s note: some restaurants not appearing below might not have been reviewed prior to the publication of this list.
Artis, Lakewood
At a time when the town is awash in pizzerias, taquerias, fried chicken shacks and steakhouses – Italian or otherwise – it’s refreshing to see a chef swing for the fences. That’s what Andrew Mansour is doing at Artis in Lakewood, a lively neighborhood bistro that avoids easy classification. Sure, Artis offers steaks, but they play second fiddle to a broad array of stunning dishes that include lobster bisquefilled soup dumplings, shredded lamb-topped hummus, kimchi fried rice, adobo-spiced octopus and many more. Save room for dessert.
Scorpacciata Pasta Co., Shaker Hts.
Larchmere Boulevard has been on an upswing for the past few years, with compelling new food and drink options popping up with delightful regularity. This past summer, Scorpacciata joined the party, bringing with it scratch-made pizza and pasta dished up in a setting that’s casual enough for a family pizza party, yet stylish enough for date-night Saturday. Chef and owner Peter Reuter is a culinary school graduate and Fire Food and Drink
alum, so diners can bank on killer technique, clever construction and confident execution.
Never Say Dive, Old Brooklyn
From the outside, Never Say Dive looks like every other workingman’s tavern from back in the day. But cross the threshold and you land in a playful escape from the outside world, where a handsome 1920s-era saloon underwent the full “revived-dive” experience. The whimsical nature of the interior belies a seriousness behind the food, beverage and hospitality. Sharp cocktails, housemade hard seltzers and cheap beer bolster a menu loaded with culinary surprises. Elevated bar staples like burgers, dogs and buckets of fried chicken join an eclectic roundup of ambitious plates, many of which are vegan and vegetarian.
STEAK, Tremont
From the moment guests walk up to the blacked-out façade of STEAK and grab the meat-cleaver front door handles, they know they’re in
for a different type of steakhouse experience. In return for putting up with a healthy dose of tonguein-cheek playfulness, diners are rewarded with a unique all-inclusive steak-dinner format that starts at just $35. That price includes the house top sirloin cap, salad, sauce and a side. Other prime cuts are available, including a filet, boneless ribeye, bone-in strip and 32-ounce tomahawk. Meals begin with containers of free popcorn and end with ice cream sundaes delivered with a Ferris wheel loaded with toppings.
One Pot, Cleveland Hts.
When One Pot opened on Coventry this past spring, it brought with it next-level Korean barbecue. The sleek décor, impressive tabletop technology and all-youcan-eat arrangement is the sort of setup that’s been available elsewhere for years. Every table in the space-age dining room is equipped with built-in burners for grills and hot pots, not to mention in-table exhaust systems that
Photo by Doug Trattner
Photo by Doug Trattner
Dive Dog at Never Say Dive
Westsiders in Rocky River
whisk away odors. Diners have at their disposal dozens of meat, seafood, vegetable, rice and noodle options that get grilled or cooked in a broth of one’s choosing. A condiment bar is packed with sauces, garnishes and spices.
Westsiders, Rocky River
There used to be dozens of restaurants like Westsiders, independently owned neighborhood places that aimed higher than ho-hum burgers and fries. Those places, of course, have been pinched out by bland fast-casual chains and pricey destination joints. Owners Constantine Katsaros and Jack Messer managed to fashion a sort of unicorn establishment, one that is attractive, chef-driven and well-run, but also priced for weekday enjoyment. Chef Chris Suntala has a knack for pastas, housemade and smartly composed, but also appealing starters, fresh salads, meaty mains and a world-class burger.
YYTime, Asiatown
For his latest act, Sheng Long Yu spent two years converting the former National Tire & Battery property in Asiatown into a spacious gathering space with boundless food options. YYTime is the new home of Dagu Rice Noodle, the noodle shop that Yu opened down the road in 2019, but that’s just the start of the fun. Dozens and dozens of items are spread across categories of cold appetizers, hot appetizers, grilled vegetable, seafood and meat skewers, buns, dumplings and Chinese stir-fries. Bubble tea lovers have 60 different blends of milk tea and fruit tea options that can be customized in a million and one ways.
Oliva, Downtown
Few would assert that Cleveland needed another steakhouse, but if it’s Lola Jacaj that’s doing the selling, we are happy to be doing the buying. A year-long renovation project transformed the former Osteria spot on St. Clair from a close-quartered trattoria to an elegant Tuscan-style ristorante with an open kitchen and chef’s counter. The new Italian-style steakhouse stands out amongst the fray thanks to its nose-to-tail ethos. Yes, there are steaks and chops, but also beef neck meatballs, braised veal shoulder, beef cheek ravioli, and cavatelli with rabbit ragu, along with plenty of seafood.
Proof Barbecue, Ohio City
If you’re looking for a tale about perseverance, consider the brief and obstacle-filled history of Proof Barbecue. After having its opening-day dreams dashed by Covid, this Tremont restaurant reopened later that same year but was never able to gain traction. In late 2022, after the owners announced they had found the restaurant a new home, they shuttered the original. Early this year, Proof opened – for the third time – in the former Nick’s Diner property in Ohio City, which has been rebuilt from the walls in. The ‘cue is just as good as it’s always been, but now it has the charming home it deserves.
Amazonia, Lakewood
Nobody puts their heart and soul into a project like Juan Vergara. The designer/operator obsesses over every element, big, little and miniscule. That attention to detail is on full display at Amazonia, a Lakewood speakeasy that joins Barroco Arepa Bar, Hola Tacos, Pulpo Beer and La Pecora in the group’s ever-expanding portfolio. The dimly lit lounge and restaurant is like a miniature Explorers Club, filled with objects that an adventurer might bring home following an expedition. Amazonia takes its cocktails seriously and pairs those concoctions with globally inspired small plates and wood-fired pizzas.
THE CLEVELAND DINING TRENDS WE LOVE, AND HATE
Sell: Metal Stools & Chairs
We get it. The industrial-chic look was all the rage in the 2010s, a vibe that featured exposed brick, slick concrete floors and exposed HVAC. And, yes, cold, minimalistic and uncomfortable metal furniture. We see the appeal: these items typically are a fraction of the cost of attractive, ergonomic and well-made barstools and dining room chairs. But in a city that experiences six months of polar darkness, we’ll take whatever shreds of coziness you can muster.
Buy: Daring Dining
If you’re in the mood for burgers, pizza, tacos, fried chicken or steak, you are living in the Golden Age of Dining Out. The world is your oyster. The sky’s the limit. The future’s so bright, you gotta wear shades. But if maybe you don’t want to eat those items,
these are bleak times indeed, my friends. Be bold. Be different. Swing for the fences. Now more than ever diners need compelling reasons to leave the house.
Buy: Leaving the House Dining is a bi-lateral arrangement. Chefs and owners agree to offer good food and serve it in a wellrun establishment. In return, diners commit to patronizing those businesses, buying the food and drink, and tipping the staff. The entire system breaks down when diners stay home and order delivery. Not only does this approach result in subpar food, it shifts a considerable amount of money from the restaurant owner to the out-of-state tech companies.
Hold: Shareable Plates
In the before times, a server would deliver a plate to each diner seated at the table. On this plate would be an entire meal earmarked for one single human person. If that guest was feeling particularly generous, he or she was free to share bites of this, spoonfuls of that. How quaint. These days every dish that leaves the kitchen is placed in the middle of the table, thus launching a feisty tabletop skirmish for the spoils.
Sell: Ridiculous Serving Platters
At the same time that shareable-plate restaurants are reaching their zenith, tables are getting smaller and smaller. Do you see the hitch? When a server says something like, “We recommend two to three items per diner,” I look down at the table and think, “In what physical world is this supposed to happen?” Making matters much, much worse is a desire to out-platter the next place, with food being dispatched on heavy stone slabs, in cast-iron skillets and aboard surfboard-size wooden planks.
Buy: Ohio Wines
The strides that winemakers in the region have been making in recent years is nothing short of extraordinary. At long last, Ohio’s reputation as a viticultural area that produces only sweet wine is eroding with each barrel and bottle that leaves the winery. As Ohio wine-drinkers continue to move on from sickly-sweet wine, so too do the growers and viticulturists who decide what to produce. And now, more than ever, those labels are appearing on local lists.
Buy: Chopped Salad Bars
People want healthy, but they
demand customization. Back in the day, soup and salad bars were all the rage, with untold linear feet of wholesome ingredients tucked beneath the relative safety of the sneezeguard. These types of places largely vanished long before Covid, but chains like Chopt have thrived for decades. Given that the formula is a relatively straightforward one, you’d expect to see a million copycats. Chopt, in fact, will join the Cleveland market in the coming year, as will local startup Greens Salad Co. Sounds like room for more.
Buy: The All-Night (or Very
LateNight) Diner
When journalists describe a topic as “evergreen,” they imply that the story has timeless – or at least recurring – appeal. The demand for diners has been an evergreen topic around here since the early-2000s, when these Hopper-esque haunts began disappearing in droves. As the numbers of late-night revelers continued to plummet, so did the demand for post-bar hangouts. But the desire is there and so are the numbers, albeit wedged into a smaller piece of pie. Do it right – and locate it wisely – and it will kill.
Buy: Free Happy Hour Snacks
Would it kill you to put out a bowl of popcorn? Has the peanut-allergy crisis pushed the beer nut to the brink of extinction? Nobody is expecting complimentary beef sandwiches at the bar ala Morton’s, but a dish of olives, a bowl of pimento cheese, heck even a chafing pan of weenies would go a long way to filling the void. Consider this a win-win proposition as the simple gesture of hospitality has been proven to boost bar sales.
Buy: Current Online Menus with Prices
Knowledge is power. Diners in search of information will invariably hit Google and a restaurant’s website when seeking information such as location, days and hours of operation, and food offerings. Menus lacking up-to-date prices are a particular annoyance to diners, who loathe pecuniary surprises upon arrival. We understand that this is not a set-it-and-forget-it situation given dynamic inventory prices, but the matter is important enough to warrant the hassle.
GET OUT Everything to do in Cleveland for the next two weeks
WED 12/18
A Christmas Story
The Cleveland Play House’s production of Story rides a two-hour wave of intricate details to unerringly establish the period and to help even the youngest patrons make the leap back to a time before televisions were omnipresent and cowboy hero Red Ryder was king of the wireless. Today’s performance takes place at 7:30 at the Allen Theatre. Performances continue through Dec. 22. 1511 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.
Tomáseen Foley’s A Celtic Christmas Now in its 29th season of touring, Tomáseen Foley’s A Celtic Christmas aims to “recreate the joy and innocence of a night before Christmas in a remote farmhouse.” Set in Teampall an Ghleanntáin in the west of Ireland in the 1950s, the play has become a Christmas classic. Tonight’s performance takes place at 7 at the Hanna Theatre.
2067 East 14th St., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.
The Muppet Christmas Carol in Concert Tonight at 7:30 at Mandel Concert Hall, the Cleveland Orchestra presents Disney’s The Muppet Christmas Carol in Concert. The event will feature a screening of the film with the score performed live to the picture. 11001 Euclid Ave., 216-231-1111, clevelandorchestra.com.
THU 12/19
A Christmas Carol
Great Lakes Theatre revives its rendition of the Charles Dickens classic about an ornery miser named Scrooge. Today’s performance takes place at 7:30 p.m. at the Mimi Ohio Theatre, and the play runs through Dec. 22. 1501 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.
Christmas with C.S. Lewis
Based on a true story, this play recreates a Christmas that writer C.S. Lewis spent near Oxford hosting a group of Americans who were Christmassing in England. Performances take place at 7:30 tonight and tomorrow night at the Hanna Theatre. 2067 East 14th St., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.
The Nutcracker
Today at 7 p.m. at Connor Palace, Cleveland Ballet presents its rendition
of the classic ballet that features music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Performances continue through Dec. 22. 1615 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.
FRI 12/20
Cocoa Brown
Cocoa Brown’s no-holds-barred attitude has gotten her a Screen Actors Guild award nomination; she’s now in the process of writing a revealing autobiography and putting together her own one-woman show, The Confessions of a Suicidal Diva. She performs tonight at 7 and 9:30 and tomorrow night at 6:30 and 9 at the Funny Bone. 1148 Main Ave., 216-696-4677, cleveland.funnybone.com.
Cavaliers vs. Milwaukee Bucks
Last month, the Cavs beat the Milwaukee Bucks in two very close games. Expect tonight’s game against the Bucks to be another close one. Tip-off is at 7:30. at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. The Cavs stay home to face the Philadelphia 76ers tomorrow night at 8. One Center Court, 216-420-2000, rocketmortgagefieldhouse.com.
access, a winter-themed activity sheet, a candy cane and a commemorative digital photo. The event takes place from 8:30 to 10 a.m. today and tomorrow.
2000 Sycamore Street, 216-862-8803, greaterclevelandaquarium.com.
A Very Countess Christmas
Real Housewives of New York star Luann de Lesseps, commonly known as Countess Luann, brings her holiday cabaret show to town. She promises to deliver “plenty of music, mischief, laughter, and fun,” as it’s put in a press release. The concert begins tonight at 7 at the Agora.
5000 Euclid Ave., 216-881-2221, agoracleveland.com.
SUN 12/22
Beachland Holiday Flea
The Beachland hosts a holiday flea for all those last-minute shoppers. The even begins at 10 a.m. Admission is free.
Beachland Ballroom, 15711 Waterloo Rd., 216-383-1124, beachlandballroom. com.
Monsters vs. Rochester Americans
Cleveland Orchestra Holiday Concerts
Sarah Hicks conducts the Cleveland Orchestra for this special holiday concert. Singer Jimmie Herrod, the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus and the Blossom Festival Chorus will perform as well. Tonight’s concert takes place at 7:30 at Mandel Concert Hall, where performances continue through Dec. 22. 11001 Euclid Ave., 216-231-1111, clevelandorchestra.com.
Third Friday
From 5 to 9 p.m., many of the 78th Street Studios resident artist studios and galleries will be open as part of this monthly event. There will be live music, and Local West, a Gordon Square sandwich shop, will serve food. BARneo will have a selection of adult beverages as well. Admission is free. third Friday of every month. 1300 West 78th St., 78thstreetstudios. com.
SAT 12/21
Scuba Claus Merry Meet & Greets
Scuba Claus Meet & Greets continue today at the Greater Cleveland Aquarium. The event includes full aquarium
Today at 3 p.m. at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, the Monsters take on the Rochester Americans. The game will feature a special Teddy Bear Toss promotion.
One Center Court, 216-420-2000, rocketmortgagefieldhouse.com.
Winterloo on Waterloo 2024
Local acts Martini Five-O, the Super Babes, Hubb’s Groove and the Ohio City Singers perform at this special holiday event that takes place at venues on Waterloo Rd. clevelandrocksppf.org/winterloo.
MON 12/23
Canadian Brass
This concert that takes place tonight at 7:30 at Mandel Concert Hall features original arrangements and signature takes on beloved holiday classics such as “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” “Charlie Brown Christmas,” “Silver Bells,” “Songs of Hanukkah” and “Jingle Bell Rock.”.
11001 Euclid Ave., 216-231-1111, clevelandorchestra.com.
Cavaliers vs. Utah Jazz
Throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s, the Utah Jazz were one of the best teams in the
Countess Luann brings her holiday show to the Agora. See: Saturday, Dec. 21.|Courtesy of Full Scope PR
Western Conference. Now, they’ve sunk to the bottom of the standings. They come to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse to take on the Cavs tonight at 7. One Center Court, 216-420-2000, rocketmortgagefieldhouse.com.
TUE 12/24
Lyrical Rhythms Open Mic and Chill
This long-running open mic night at the B Side allows some of the city’s best rappers and poets to strut their stuff. The event begins at 8 with a comedy session dubbed 2 Drinks & a Joke with host Ant Morrow. The open mic performances begin at 10 p.m. Tickets cost $5 in advance, $10 at the door. 2785 Euclid Heights Blvd., Cleveland Heights, 216-932-1966, bsideliquorlounge.com.
WED 12/25
Reverse Christmas in July
Starting at 5 p.m., No Class hosts a “reverse Christmas in July” party. A DJ will spin surf punk, yacht rock and summertime anthems playing. Beach attire is encouraged. 11213 Detroit Ave., 216-221-8576, noclasscle.com.
THU 12/26
Holiday Pop Up! Open Studio
From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. today, the Cleveland Museum of Art offers free drop-in art-making sessions designed for the whole family. 11150 East Blvd., 216-421-7350, clevelandart.org.
FRI 12/27
John Caparulo
John Caparulo, known as Cap, plays the role of the dumb hillbilly, but his narrative jokes are well thought-out and his comic timing is impeccable. In 2013, he issued Come Inside of Me, a collection of some of his best jokes, including his lengthy bit about the first time he went skydiving. He performs at 7 p.m. at Hilarities, where he has shows scheduled through Sunday. 2035 East Fourth St., 216-241-7425, pickwickandfrolic.com.
SAT 12/28
Christmakwanzakah 2024
Local comedian Bill Squire hosts this comedy show at the Agora that will also feature Mary Santora, Joe Briggs, Liz Blanc, Miki Janosi and Elijah Nev-
els. Doors open at 8 p.m.
5000 Euclid Ave., 216-881-2221, agoracleveland.com.
Monsters vs. Grand Rapids Griffins
Tonight at 7 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, the Monsters take on the Grand Rapids Griffins. The first 5,000 fans will receive a free Monsters scarf.
One Center Court, 216-420-2000, rocketmortgagefieldhouse.com.
‘Twas a Girls Night Before Christmas:
The Musical!
Expect to hear classic Christmas songs and contemporary hits as this touring musical comes to the Hanna Theatre tonight at 7:30.
2067 East 14th St., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.
SUN 12/29
Browns vs. Miami Dolphins
The Browns get a break this week as the Miami Dolphins, another team that’s struggled this season, come to Huntington Bank Field. Injuries have played a part in derailing the Dolphins’ season. Kickoff is at 8:20 p.m. 100 Alfred Lerner Way, 440-891-5000, huntingtonbankfield.
Harlem Globetrotters
Today at 3 p.m. at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, the Harlem Globetrotters will put on a display of dunks and dribbling as they go up against their rivals, the Washington Generals.
One Center Court, 216-420-2000, rocketmortgagefieldhouse.com.
MON 12/30
Brendan Eyre
Comedian Brendan Eyre, who’s appeared on Late Night with Seth Meyers, Comedy Central and Gotham Comedy Live, performs tonight at 7 and tomorrow night at 7:15 and 10:15 at Hilarities.
2035 East Fourth St., 216-241-7425, pickwickandfrolic.com.
TUE 12/31
NYE with Damon Darling
An internet sensation, this comedian known for his pranks headlines this NYE show that takes place at 7 p.m. at the Funny Bone. He enjoys crowd work, so don’t sit in the front row unless you want to be picked on. 1148 Main Ave., 216-696-4677, cleveland.funnybone.com.
NEW YEAR, NEW EATS
12 new restaurants opening soon around Northeast Ohio
By Douglas Trattner
AS THE CALENDAR TURNS
on one exciting dining year in Cleveland, there’s already plenty to look forward to in 2025. Like years prior, the season is filled dozens of new projects that will be rolling out in the days, weeks and months to come.
Café Lola, Chagrin Falls
This past winter, Rick Doody took over Bell & Flower in Chagrin Falls and operated it until spring. That’s when he shuttered the joint to make way for an ambitious renovation project that is slated to wrap up later this year. When the 150-year-old property reopens as Café Lola, it will feature classic bistro fare and décor, boasting tin ceilings, wood floors, exposed brick walls and a long bar along one side. Doody also operates JoJo’s Bar and 17 River Grille in the Falls as well as Bar Italia, Cedar Creek Grille and Lindey’s Lake House.
Birdietown, Lakewood
Over the past few years, the so-called “eatertainment” trend has brought us venues starring classic arcade games, duckpin bowling, shuffleboard and golf sims. Come late-fall/early winter, Lakewood will lay claim to a contemporary mini-golf emporium called Birdietown. The two-level, 12,000-square-foot venue is taking shape in the Nest facility in Birdtown, also home to Phoenix Coffee and Heyday Collective. In addition to a custom-built indoor 18-hole miniature golf course, the destination will feature two bars and a restaurant serving a menu crafted by chef Jill Vedaa.
Batuqui, Cleveland
After nine years on Larchmere Boulevard, Carla Batista and Gus -
tavo Nogueira are relocating their beloved Brazilian restaurant Batuqui. But they aren’t going far; the restaurant’s new home will be located 130 feet west in the former St. Paul’s Evangelical Church, a stately Craftsman-style building constructed in 1922. The church’s main design features –stained glass windows, soaring ceilings, rich wood accents – will be on full display, alongside heartwarming dishes like feijoada, ximxim and pasta de mariscos.
Kyuramen, Strongsville
Like he did with Lao Sze Chuan in Pinecrest, Sheng Long Yu is importing a celebrated Asian restaurant brand to Cleveland. When Kyuramen opens later this year at SouthPark Mall in Strongsville, it will be Ohio’s first location for this quickly expanding restaurant. Founded in 2014, Kyuramen currently has about 40 locations in the United States, with another 65 already in the planning phase. The restaurants feature a distinctive interior, including honeycomb seating that stacks booths on top of each other. In addition to numerous ramen options, the restaurant will serve shrimp tempura, fried oysters, yakitori, steam buns, takoyaki and omurice, the social-media sensation that is a fluffy omelet sliced tableside to reveal a creamy core.
Sushi Kuwahata and
Issho Ni
Izakaya, Ohio City
Issho Ni has been selling ramen, sushi and other Japanese foods in Willoughby since 2019. Come winter, the owners will open a new restaurant in Ohio City, in the renovated VFW building on Fulton that was briefly home to Cha Pizza. On the main floor diners will find Issho Ni Izakaya, while the second floor will be home to Sushi Kuwahata. Upstairs will be purpose-built around a high-end omakase experience, with just eight spots for
the 20-course meals. In contrast, downstairs will be a high-energy bar serving contemporary Japanese small plates, beer and sake.
Arthur Treacher’s, Cleveland Hts.
Later this year, the restaurant
chain that grew to 820 locations before dropping to one, will soon welcome number three to the fold. Arthur Treacher’s Fish & Chips owner George Simon, who owns the shops in Cuyahoga Falls and Garfield Heights, will add a new “express” restaurant in Cleveland Heights before the end of the year.
Photo courtesy Interiors by Madeline
Amazingly, the same address was home to an Arthur Treacher’s restaurant from the early 1970s until the early 1990s.
Jolene, Cleveland
The former Greenhouse Tavern (and Indie and Gabriel’s Southern Table) space on East 4th Street will soon be home to Jolene, a honkytonk in the heart of the city. Owners Jason Beudert, Terry Francona and Chelsea Williams, who also run Steak and Geraci’s Slice Shop, aim to bring a little bit of Nashville to Cleveland. The space will undergo a complete overhaul – both inside and out – to create a vibrant atmosphere filled with live music, guitar shotskis and fried chicken. The goal is to be ready in time for the Guardians home opener in spring.
Build the Pho, Ohio City and N. Olmsted
Eric Jun Weng, who operates Build the Pho at Uptown in University Circle, has begun work on locations number two and three. One is coming to the former Campbell’s Sweets space on W. 25th St. in Ohio City, and the other to the former Rail spot in North Olmsted. Like the original, the new shops will offer diners a build-your-own-bowl pho experience. The restaurant employs an efficient QR code-based ordering system ideally suited to pho given the variety of noodle, broth and topping options offered.
Kintaro Sushi and Hot Pot, Woodmere
Last December, Corky & Lenny’s delicatessen closed its Woodmere location after more than 50 years. The large property at Village Square shopping plaza will not sit idle long as it will be home to Kintaro, a popular all-youcan-eat sushi and hot pot restaurant. The original at Ridge Park Square in Brooklyn opened back in 2016. Next up was Fairview Park in 2019. Since then, Kintaro has gone on to add locations in West Park, Willowick and Akron. The secret to the local restaurant group’s success is a menu that offers unlimited sushi and hot pot at qualities that exceed their price tags. Look for Woodmere to open in spring or summer of 2025.
56 Social, Shaker Hts.
J. Pistone Market in Shaker Heights closed this summer after nearly 25 years. This winter, the space will become home to 56 Social, a spinoff of the popular brand that includes two 56 Kitchen locations. Owners Jay Leitson and Izzy Schachner will build off the memory of Cafe 56, a restaurant at Eastgate in Mayfield that offered customers a choice of 56 different salads. Look for a menu of built-to-order salads, larger plates and prepared foods.
Coyoacán, Shaker Square
Reynaldo Galindo’s mother, Maria de la Luz Galindo, opened one of the first Mexican restaurants in Cleveland with Luchita’s. For 20 years, the family also operated a Luchita’s restaurant at Shaker Square. Soon, the family will return to the Square with Coyoacán. Set in the former Balaton space, Coyoacán will offer guests two different experiences in the same property: a fast-casual Mexican eatery on one side and a bar and microbrewery on the other. Each will have its own menu, with tacos, burritos, tortas, empanadas and bowls in the first space and regional Mexican foods that change monthly in the second. The goal is to open before the holidays.
Greens Salad Co., Ohio City
Come spring, Ohio City will welcome the first location of Greens Salad Co., a locally-owned fast-casual eatery located at Intro in Ohio City. Guests will work their way down the line, selecting ingredients like greens, toppings, proteins and salad dressings. Customers can also opt for one of nearly a dozen signature creations like the Caesar, Cobb, vegan Black Bean Burger Bowl and Tahini. Salad choppers will be on hand to chop and toss the salads, and everything can be ordered as a wrap as well. There will be seasonal salads and soups come wintertime. The goal is to be quick, efficient and affordable.
BITES
The Witch Doctor, a botanically themed bar, set to open this Spring in Old Brooklyn
By Douglas Trattner
IF ALL GOES AS PLANNED, MATT
Luebert and Charles Eby will open a new cocktail bar and lounge in the Old Brooklyn neighborhood this coming spring. Already, work has begun to convert the former Sticks & Stones Social Lounge into the Witch Doctor (3314 Broadview Rd.).
Luebert, a member of the US Bartenders’ Guild and current bar manager at Rood Food in Lakewood, describes the novel venture’s vibe as “a witch doctor in the forest,” with stained glass windows, a thicket of live plants and a garden growing out back.
“I get a lot of inspiration from herbalism and stuff like that, so I’m going to be trying to put a little bit of health back into the unhealthy, so to speak,” Luebert explains. “You know, herbs and botanicals and stuff that are good for your heart, for your lungs, your immune system…”
He hopes to prepare in-house bitters, complex infusions, amari and tincture blends, both for use on-premises and for sale to go.
“I want to try to make anything that I possibly can by hand,” he adds.
The Witch Doctor will be geared to “all walks of life,” says Luebert, with affordable beer on up to fancier cocktails. They are going to convert the pool room in the middle of the space into a lounge. Down the road, they might bring in live music.
“We definitely want to grow into it and not have too much on our plate at first,” he says.
As for food, the owners hope to entice a independent operator to lease the adjacent space – both to service the bar but also the community at large.
“I grew up in Old Brooklyn. I currently own a house in Old Brooklyn. It’s just getting better and better and I would love to be able to help bring more people into that little area,” he adds.
Shinto Japanese Steakhouse Expanding to East Side With New Legacy Village Location
Sheng Long Yu opened Shinto Japanese Steakhouse in Strongsville 20 years ago. Since then, he has gone on to open a dozen more restaurants, including Kenko Sushi, Hell’s Fried Chicken, Lao Sze Chuan, YYTime, a second Shinto location in Westlake, and soon, Ohio’s first Kyuramen location at SouthPark Mall in Strongsville.
Not one to take his foot off the gas, Yu has just announced plans to open a new Shinto Japanese Steakhouse on the east side of town. The restaurant will be opening this coming summer at Legacy Village (25001 Cedar Rd.) in Lyndhurst.
“We’re expanding our operation to the east side and found the perfect location at Legacy Village,” he says.
“With plans to open summer 2025, longtime fans of Shinto Japanese Steakhouse along with new east side diners will discover the ultimate Asian fusion experience at our newest Northeast Ohio location.”
The restaurant is going into the former 11,000-square-foot Granite City space across the street from Dick’s Sporting Goods, which is being renovated, according to a spokesperson for the shopping center. When completed, it will offer a state-of-theart hibachi steakhouse experience, which will be presented alongside sushi and traditional Asian cuisine. The restaurant will also feature a large
“Number one, it’s priced affordably, so you’ll be able to get out of here for less than $45 per person. It’s an atmosphere where food and service come first. The décor is beautiful, no doubt, but there’s no pretense.”
Located in the former Cowell & Hubbard space (1305 Euclid Ave.), the Friars’ Table is designed to mesh with the Capuchin values of simplicity and community. Simple fare, warm hospitality and a spirit of community are the restaurant’s signature attributes. Those aims are bolstered by a seasonal menu of soups, salads and starters that include pea soup, cabbage and potato salad, caramelized turnips, mushroom tarts, and eggplant and artichoke croquette. Entrees include cod with tomato chutney, pork roulade, and salmon St. Celestine, prepared with leeks, mushrooms and sorrel.
bar area, a sushi bar, and a private hibachi room.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Shinto Japanese Steakhouse and Sushi Bar to Legacy Village,” adds Susan Windle, Legacy Village GM. “Hibachi lovers are sure to welcome the restaurant’s new enhancements to the chef-hosted experience. And sushi fans and diners alike will find the restaurant to be an exciting addition to the east side dining scene.”
The Friars’ Table Now Open in Playhouse Square District
Two weeks ago, Brandon Chrostowski -- in partnership with Cleveland Capuchin Ministries – opened the doors of his latest restaurant, this one in the heart of Playhouse Square. The chef, and founder of The EDWINS Restaurant & Leadership Institute, describes The Friars’ Table as a restaurant with a mission, one rooted in the values of “simplicity, dignity and community.”
“The goal of the restaurant is to give the city not only a great restaurant, but hope,” Chrostowski says. “We want to create a beautiful space where people can come together over good food, and leave feeling inspired and uplifted.”
While located downtown, The Friars’ Table is unique among its brethren in the full-service restaurant scene, says the owner.
“I think this redefines what downtown dining is,” says Chrostowski.
“It’s monastic cuisine, so we’re celebrating the simple flavors and techniques of the monks and friars. We combine that with some Middle Eastern spices, Eastern European flair and French technique.”
Jaja to Remain Closed Until Spring Due to Damage From Car Crash
Jaja, the Argentinian-inspired steakhouse in the INTRO building in Ohio City, has been closed since a car crashed into the building on the morning of October 31.
Management has recently announced that it will be many months before it reopens for business.
“Jaja will be closed until Spring 2025,” a message on the restaurant’s website says. “While this has been an unexpected and challenging moment, we are grateful that our team and our neighbors at INTRO are safe. Please visit our neighbors at Edda Coffee for their wonderful breakfast and lunch options, coffee and cocktails.”
Pioneer, which likewise closed after the crash, is on a speedier timeline as management said last week that they were “getting closer to reopening our doors.”
On the morning of Halloween, around 3 a.m., a 24-year-old in a black Audi flying west down Abbey at high speeds hit a fire hydrant and crashed into the main entrance for Jaja. Parts of Pioneer were damaged as well. The driver was hospitalized in “serious condition.”
Courtesy Photo
LEADING THE PACK
Cleveland’s Window Dogs headline local music extravaganza at the Roxy at Mahall’s 20 Lanes
By Jeff Niesel
DRAWING INFLUENCE FROM a wide range of influences, including acts like Nathaniel Rateliff, Manchester Orchestra, Led Zeppelin and Susto, the local indie rock act Window Dogs formed nearly a decade ago as two other local bands merged and started playing songs that singer-guitarist Sean Breeden had written.
Window Dogs, who’ll release a new album later this month, will play their biggest headlining show to date at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 21, at the Roxy at Mahall’s 20 Lanes in Lakewood.
“We just love throwing a big party,” says singer-keyboardist Jonathan Khouri in a phone interview. “We’re releasing some new music. We have had some good shows in the main room at Mahall’s and just talked to the promoters at Bravo about putting us in there with some of our favorite local bands. They were open to it. I started building from there. I recruited [the local indie act] Front Porch Lights, who we share some members with, and [the local indie act] Who Saved Who is another band that we really like. [Local rock act] Frida and the Mann is one of the newer acts that’s been making a lot of noise and has a buzz. Frida is just a great frontwoman. We wanted to put together a cool night that would get a lot of people out.”
A decade on, the band has continued to build on its early goals to continue to grow as a band with every album and make itself part of Cleveland’s creative community.
“I think our aspirations were just to continue to grow as a band and have fun and enjoy the creative community around live music,” says Khouri. “That’s always been the goal. We played out of town once or twice, and when we were young, we pushed harder for some regional
growth. As we settled into who we are as a band, we focused on writing great music and playing great shows with bands we love. That’s all come to fruition and made this lots of fun.”
Khouri says the group’s chemistry has continued to evolve.
“I think we just know each other better over the years,” he says. “We now have more of an understanding of the direction we want to take and more openness for growing in the direction we want to take to as a band. This lineup has been together for six years now, so that helps.”
With the new EP, the band set out to record with local uberproducer Ben Schigel, who often records national acts out of Spider Studios, his Olmsted Falls studio.
“He does a lot of pop and hip-hop and multi-tracking,” says Khouri when asked about working with Schigel. “I don’t say we’re a totally
difference experience for him, but we like to live track the foundations of the songs to give them that feel. We set up in his big room and track together. We will overdub the vocals. We’ll clean things up where we need to and add fun flourishes. We have one day where we track all the music, and then we’ll go back as we can and go through the mixing and arrange the songs. Everything that comes out of Spider is super polished. We know it will sound professional. We want to balance that sheen with making sure it’s in line with how we want to sound. It’s been worth spending the time on it and come up with something we really like.”
The band cut the latest single, “Long Division,” a punchy Ben Folds-like ballad with stirring vocals and a catchy refrain, as a throwaway.
“We just said, ‘Let’s record it because we’re here,” says Khouri. “It
got built in the studio to the point where it was completed, and we really loved it.”
After 2022, some group members started families and careers. Balancing those things with the band has been difficult but rewarding.
“I now have two kids,” says Khouri. “Initially, you get into this stressful situation where you think about leaving your kids behind to do something for yourself, and you don’t practice enough, and I worry about whether I’ll lose the skill of playing well. But it’s so much fun, and I want my kids to enjoy it too. I’ll sit at the piano with my toddler. It’s hard to juggle, but it’s worth it and continues to give us that creative outlet and make us part of the community, which we really like.”
WINDOW DOGS, FRONT PORCH LIGHTS, WHO SAVED WHO, FRIDA AND THE MANN, 6:30 P.M. SATURDAY, DEC. 21, THE ROXY AT MAHALL’S 20 LANES, 13200 MADISON AVE., LAKEWOOD, 216-521-3280. TICKETS: $15, MAHALLS20 LANES.COM.
Window Dogs.|Amber Patrick
LIVEWIRE Real music in the real world
THU 12/19
Bill Kirchen’s Honky Tonk Holiday Show
Expect to hear underappreciated holiday classics such as “Silent Surfin’ Night,” “Truckin’ Trees for Christmas,” “Santa Claus Wants Some Lovin” when singer-songwriter Bill Kirchen brings his holiday show to the Beachland Tavern tonight at 8. 15711 Waterloo Rd., 216-383-1124, beachlandballroom.com.
FRI 12/20
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
The pioneering hip-hop group that emerged out of Cleveland in the early ‘90s when N.W.A.’s Easy-Z signed them to his Ruthless Records plays a rare
hometown show tonight at 7 at House of Blues. Their 1993 debut EP, Creepin on ah Come Up, delivered the hit “Thuggish Ruggish Bone,” a track that established the sing-song style that would become their trademark. 308 Euclid Ave., 216-523-2583, houseofblues. com.
SAT 12/21
Jim Brickman’s Comfort and Joy
This year’s tour featuring the veteran singer-pianist promises to be “a spectacular celebration of all things Christmas.” Expect to hear Brickman’s original holiday classics along with some seasonal favorites. Brickman performs today at 2 and 8 p.m. at the Hanna Theatre. He also performs at 2
p.m. tomorrow at the venue. 2067 East 14th St., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.
Straight No Chaser
The nine-man vocal group that recently celebrated its 25th anniversary brings its annual holiday show to the State Theatre. It recently released a new holiday version of Chappell Roan’s “Hot to Go” that finds them enthusiastically clapping, singing and humming their alternative version of the catchy tune. The concert begins at 8. 1519 Euclid Avenue, 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.
SUN 12/22
Jolly Holiday Show with Jesse Jukebox
Local singer-songwriter Jesse Jukebox and his musical sidekick, DJ Terkey Sandwich, team up for this special holiday show for both kids and parents. The celebration gets going at 10 a.m. at the Grog Shop. Tickets cost $10. 2785 Euclid Heights Blvd., Cleveland Heights, 216-321-5588, grogshop.gs.
MON 12/23
Frank Amato’s Christmas Jam Featuring the Cleveland All-Stars
Local musician Amato grew up in a musical family. His father, Frank “Papa” Amato, was a recording artist on Dot Records. Known as “The Singing Fireman,” he opened for Elvis Presley back in the ’50s. Amato followed in his footsteps. He started a
Straight No Chaser returns to the State Theatre. See: Saturday, Dec. 21.|Jimmy Fontaine
covers band when he was still in high school, and then played in a number of local rock bands. Beau Coup was arguably the most successful of the bunch. Tonight, Amato brings his Christmas Jam featuring his all-star band back to the Music Box. The show starts at 7. 1148 Main Avenue, 216-242-1250, musicboxcle.com/.
The Boys from the County Hell
When the Boys from the County Hell first got together in 2000 at the nowshuttered Euclid Tavern as a Pogues cover band, it was supposed to be just a one-night stand. But after selling out that first show, the band continued from there. The local act plays its annual Christmas show at House of Blues. The party gets started at 6 p.m. 308 Euclid Ave., 216-523-2583, houseofblues.com.
FRI 12/27
Red Wanting Blue
The regional rock act returns to House of Blues for a special end-of-year show. This marks the group’s first show in Cleveland since releasing its latest album, Light It Up, and a faithful cover of Warren Zevon’s “Lawyers, Guns and Money” that finds singer Scott Terry doing his best to emulate Zevon’s distinctively raspy voice. The concert begins at 7 p.m. 308 Euclid Ave., 216523-2583, houseofblues.com.
Tape B
Tape B, who plays dubstep and hiphop, leads the list of EDM artists who’ll perform tonight at the Agora. Eazybaked, Super Future, and STVSH share the bill. Doors open at 7 p.m. 5000 Euclid Ave., 216-881-2221, agoracleveland.com.
Trans-Siberian Orchestra
This year’s tour by the rock act famous for turning Christmas music into arena rock fodder marks the return of the Lost Christmas Eve, an earlier concert theme that the band will bring back to the road for the first time in more than 10 years. As always, there will be pyrotechnics and lasers, and a second set will feature TSO favorites. The group comes to the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse today for performances at 3 and 7:30 p.m.
One Center Court, 216-420-2000, rocketmortgagefieldhouse.com.
SAT 12/28
The 2nd Annual Legendary Soul Jam New Stylistics featuring Russell Thompkins Jr., the Dramatics featuring LJ Reynolds and Enchantment
featuring Emanuel EJ Johnson — soul groups from back in the day — will perform as part of this annual tour that rolls into the State Theatre tonight at 7. 1519 Euclid Avenue, 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.
California Speedbag with special guest Chris Yarmock
California Speedbag, the local altcountry act that played around town in the 1980s, will hold this special concert at the Beachland Ballroom to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the passing of its driving force, singersongwriter Gary Lupico, who died in 2004 at age 49. Titled Lost Again: The Music of Gary Lupico, the concert will feature a night of live music celebrating Lupico’s songs. The show begins at 7 p.m.
15711 Waterloo Rd., 216-383-1124, beachlandballroom.com.
The Second Annual Hammy New Year
Local rock acts Heart Attack Man, the Dirty Nil, Spaced, Suitor and the House of Wills perform as part of this NYE concert that obviously takes place a few days early. The show begins at 6:30 p.m. at the Roxy at Mahall’s 20 Lanes in Lakewood.
13200 Madison Ave., Lakewood, 216-5213280, mahalls20lanes.com.
The Vindys
The Youngstown-based rock group has had a banner year that found it hitting the road with Rock Hall inductees Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo. The group plays an end-of-the-year bash at 7 p.m. at House of Blues.
308 Euclid Ave., 216-523-2583, houseofblues.com.
TUE 12/31
Noon Year’s Eve Motown & More with Nitebridge
The local R&B act Nitebridge plays this special Motown Brunch at Music Box Supper Club. There will be a countdown to noon and a champagne toast. Plus, the Music Box will offer a special menu. Doors open at 11 a.m.
1148 Main Ave., 216-242-1250, musicboxcle.com.
Swizzle Stick Band
This tribute act plays a little bit of everything and will dabble in Motown, funk, soul, and rock from the ‘60s through today. The band plays a special New Year’s Eve show at Jilly’s Music Room in Akron. The event begins at 7 p.m.
111 N Main St., Akron, 330-576-3757, jillysmusicroom.com.
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SAVAGE LOVE
OUT AND ABOUT
By Dan Savage
I’m a 45-year-old cis woman. I’ve been married to a cis man for almost twenty years. About a year and a half ago, I made out with a woman at a party, and everything clicked. I realized something was missing in my life, and I started exploring my attraction to women with my husband’s blessing. I had always felt attracted to women but didn’t fully acknowledge it, thinking it was normal for “straight” women to be attracted to other women while only dating men. (I’ve since learned about compulsory heterosexuality.) I met a wonderful woman, and we dated for over a year. While I was with her, I realized I’m gay. We spent a lot of time together, I had the best sex of my life, saw shows, went out to dinners, had sleepovers, met each other’s kids. It was a real relationship. But she ended things because I wasn’t ready to make major changes in my life — she wasn’t included in our large family gatherings, as some family members don’t know about our open marriage. My husband has a girlfriend now, and I’m happy for him, but he feels certain family members wouldn’t understand. This made my girlfriend feel deprioritized, despite my reassurances and all the time I spent with her. I love my husband dearly, but our relationship is platonic, and we’ve stopped being intimate. We have three amazing young children, and our lives are deeply intertwined emotionally, financially, and where our families are concerned. While I feel I need to live authentically as a lesbian, I’m terrified of the fallout — hurting my husband, my family, blowing up my life, etc. The plan was to keep our family together and slowly integrate my girlfriend into my life, but that wasn’t enough for her. My husband wants to stay married, and I wanted to stay married. Should I get a divorce instead? What should I do?
Wanting To Live Authentically
You wanna live authentically, WTLA, and I wanna respond authentically. And if I’m gonna be authentic if I’m gonna be honest — my first impulse after reading your question was to find you and your husband and figuratively slap you both upside your metaphorical heads. On the off chance your email found me in an ungenerous mood, WTLA, I set your question aside for a few days. But I had the same reaction — the same metaphorical
impulse to do figurative violence — the second time I read your email. Zooming out for a second… It’s totally fine — not a problem at all — that it took you decades to realize you’re a lesbian. Compulsory heterosexuality is a hellavu drug, WTLA, and lots of queer people don’t figure themselves out until later in life. And it’s totally fine — not a problem at all — that you wanna stay married. You’re not letting down the lesbian side by staying in your marriage. Companionate marriages are valid marriages! So long as there’s mutual respect and real affection, marriages like yours can work and often thrive. If you wanna stay together for the kids and/or stay together because you actually do (platonically!) love each other and/or stay together because divorce is an expensive hassle, you have my blessing!
Where you lose me, WTLA, is when you talk about not being able to “integrate” your girlfriend into your life because “certain” family members wouldn’t understand. I get it. You’re staring down some very real fears: fear of judgment, fear of rejection, fear of losing people you care about. But every out gay or lesbian or bisexual person that came before you — and every openly non-monogamous couple that came before you — had to confront those same fears.
And the people you and your husband are so afraid of — your families of origin — don’t have any real power over you. Yes, they might not understand. Yes, some might judge you. Yes, they might say shitty things. But they can’t throw you out of the house (you have your own place!) they can’t cut you off financially (you make your own money!), and they can’t force you into conversion therapy (you are not minors!). All your judgmental family members can do, again, is say shitty things to you. But one of the best parts of being an adult, WTLA, is that you don’t have to show up for Christmas or Kwanza or Hanukkah — you don’t have to do whatever holiday your families celebrate — if your family can’t be kind to you and the people you love.
I understand why your girlfriend dumped you. She doesn’t want to be abandoned on holidays for the comfort of people who don’t fully know you people you don’t fully trust — but people whose comfort you’ve decided to prioritize over her safety and comfort. And while she may be comfortable being with a woman who’s married (companionably!) to someone else, she doesn’t want to feel like your lowest priority either. Perhaps she should’ve been more patient — you’ve only been out for a year and change — but if she’s close to your age, WTLA, she may not feel like waiting until your husband
comes around is the best use of her time at this (grownup!) time of her life. Look, your family might not understand at first — mine sure didn’t but if all the gays and lesbians who came before you waited for our families to somehow magically “get it” before we started coming out, no one would’ve come out at all, ever. While some queer people these days are lucky enough to come out to supportive families who already got it, WTLA, most of our families don’t get it until after we come out to them
If you want to be who you are — if you want to live authentically — you have to be willing to make some people uncomfortable, WTLA, and that includes your husband.
How do partnered-but-monogamish people identify each other and get things going?
I’m a 42-year-old bisexual woman, happily married to my husband for fifteen years. My husband and I are monogamish and have dabbled here and there, the biggest dabbling being an on-off relationship I had with a woman for nearly a decade. I was able to start that because my former lover was loud (and proud) about her open relationship, and brought it up to anyone who had a set of ears. Aside from her, the other sexual partner my husband and I had was a very close friend who we were able to bring it up to.
I have a crush on my neighbor, who is ten years my senior. She is married to a man and I’m pretty sure she’s bisexual. However, I’m not really friends with her, and I don’t know how I would go about approaching this if I wanted to make something happen. We live in a close-knit neighborly community and if I were to ask her out, she would interpret it as being purely friendly. I don’t want to make her feel uncomfortable in any way if she was not into the idea, but it would be a shame if she would go for this, but we just can’t cross the chasm. How would I go about getting this started, if it is possible at all? Would it be wise to test the waters for potential by asking a third party to feel her out in some way? In general, how do monogamish people identify each other and get things going outside of apps?
Need Expert Insight Getting Hot Babe Over Regularly
Even if your neighbor is in an open marriage — and even if she’s bisexual and even if she’s into you (and that’s a lot of ifs) — sending someone to ask her if she might wanna mess around doesn’t say, “Your neighbor is a mature adult woman that you might enjoy fucking,” it screams, “Your neighbor has the emotional maturity of a second
grader and people like that are risky fucks.”
You’re a grown-ass woman, NEIGHBOR, and grown-ass women don’t send their best friends to ask out their crushes for them during recess. Grown-ass women also don’t slip notes under their neighbor’s doors with “I want to be your girlfriend” or “I don’t want to be your girlfriend” written on them next to boxes to check. And sensible monogamish people typically don’t hit on neighbors who’ve never signaled any interest or availability because sensible monogamish people like sensible single people — don’t shit where they eat. Unless the sexual tension is off the charts and the signals are unmistakable and you’ve controlled for dickful/twatful thinking, NEIGHBOR, sensible people don’t hit on their coworkers and/or the parents of their children’s friends and/or their next-door neighbors. Because if it turns out that person isn’t interested in you — or if they are interested but things end quickly and badly — your workplace, your children’s playdates, and your backyard will become almost unbearably awkward.
To answer your question, NEIGHBOR, here’s how sensible partnered and monogamish people find each other: they go places — online and off, separately and together — where partnered-and-monogamish people gather. They get on a dating apps and hookup apps like Feeld and #Open, they go to local swingers’ clubs and sex parties, and if they run into their neighbor in one of those places — Yahtzee! — they get to use one of these all-time great pickup lines: “Do you come here often?” “Fancy meeting you here!” “What’s a nice next-door neighbor like you doing in a place like this?”
Now, if you put yourself out there apps, clubs, parties — and you never cross paths with your neighbor, NEIGHBOR, that doesn’t mean she’s not bisexual, isn’t in an open marriage, and isn’t masturbating about you right now. But instead of sending a friend to pump her for information about her marriage, you could get to know your neighbor a little better — you could do a little platonic socializing —and then, once you’re friends, open up to her about your life and your marriage.
Got problems? Yes, you do! Email your question for the column to mailbox@savage.love!
Or record your question for the Savage Lovecast at savage.love/askdan! Podcasts, columns and more at Savage.Love
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