Cleveland Restaurateurs on What the Food Scene Needs Next

With everything Cleveland is already blessed with, and everything slated to open soon, there are still little nooks and crannies of the culinary world the city has yet to explore. Here are some local chefs and owners on what they would like to see next in the Forest City.

Sean Watterson, Happy Dog: “Fancy Lebanese.”

Matt Mytro, chef, Flour: “I would love to see a real Tex-Mex spot here. Obviously, growing up in Texas, I feel that Cleveland is missing this.”

Melissa Khoury, owner of Saucisson: “A Baja-style Mexican joint would be awesome!”

Doug Katz, chef-owner, Fire: “Modern Indian or modern Israeli.”

Farmer Lee Jones, owner, Chef’s Garden: “Something that celebrates our amazing ethnic diversity, yet playful, modern interpretations while hypersensitive to seasonality.”

Alan Glazen, entrepreneur: “We do not have a single high-end Asian restaurant.”

Matt Spinner, chef, Ushabu: “I feel like we are severely lacking in legitimate, well thought out ethnic restaurants. It seems like there is a fear to cook one’s homeland’s cuisine.”

Chris Nguyen, owner, Superior Pho: “I really wish we had a stronger Korean BBQ scene here.”

Matt Stipe, owner, Banter: “If there is one place I would love to see it is a restaurant like Hot Star Chicken. They started as a food cart at a night market in Taipei and now are all over Southeast Asia. They make the most delicious fried chicken I have ever had in my life.”

Rachel Kingsbury, owner, Grocery OHC: “Asian breakfast. I lived in South Korea and would eat kim bap pretty much every morning.”

This article appears in Feb 14-20, 2018.