Of course, all this wonderful freeness isn’t available on peak nights out with your friends, and is only applicable for Sunday through Wednesday in all self-parking outdoor lots from 5 p.m. onward. Those looking for valet or garage parking will have to pay, and any sort of special event parking nights makes the deal null and void.
The bleak midwinter can be tough for downtown businesses, especially during the week. By offering free parking, the following Flats bars and restaurants are hoping to bring more people through their doors:
Alley Cat Oyster Bar
Backyard Bocce
Beerhead Bar & Eatery
Bold Food & Drink
Dante’s Inferno
LAGO, Magnolia
Margaritaville
Punch Bowl Social
The Big Bang
Thirsty Dog Brewing Co.
True Cocktails & Bites
WXYZ
This article appears in Jan 2-8, 2019.
I’ve been long time advocate of Cleveland, often remaking to visitors how great the food is and how awesome it is to find free parking pretty much anywhere you’re going. In September I agreed to meet some visitors in the east bank of the flats. I found meter parking on that road behind the odeon, which was usually good parking back in the old punch palace days. I met people for dinner and we then had a drink at one of the bars and I was heading back to my car by 8:30pm. Good thing I did, because all of the cars parked in front of me were being towed. What is the purpose aside from a cash grab to tow people from a non-essential street with meter parking? The flats were pretty empty that night, there were no events or traffic, so why tow cars from meters? It infuriated me as a citizen even though i was relieved to have made it back in time. I haven’t gone back to the flats since and i dissuade anyone coming to visit from going there.