Browns Moving Toward Adding Cheerleaders for 2015 Season
Browns cheerleaders in 1962. Want to rile up Browns fans, outside of the usual sticking points like talking about backup quarterbacks and the draft? Bring up the uniforms or cheerleaders. No fan base is more passionate about the clothing giant men wear or the women on the sidelines who wear very little. Both topics will…
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s Library and Archives Announces Two New Author Series Events
Greg Kot The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s Library and Archives regularly brings music journalists to town and it’s announced to two new Author Series event. The first features veteran music journalist Greg Kot, who’ll read from his book I’ll Take You There: Mavis Staples, The Staple Singers and the March Up Freedom’s Highway…
Mayfield Heights Man Beats Previous Soap Bubble Record
Wikimedia Commons Gary Pearlman of Mayfield Heights challenged a lofty and official Guinness World Record this past weekend, and most likely now has his name in the books. For what, you might ask? A bubble. A really, really big bubble. It takes a few weeks to be verified as a world record holder, so for…
Video: Downtown Mannequins to Raise Awareness about Youth Homelessness
In a campaign to raise awareness about youth homelessness, the child welfare agency Bellefaire JCB will place two dozen mannequins in high foot-traffic locations downtown starting Wednesday. The faceless mannequins will be donned in hooded sweatshirts with slogans that capture their experience. “Survival sex is how I find a place to sleep,” reads one. “I’m…
VIDEO: Cleveland’s Got it All
Back in February, we told you about local singer-songwriter Allan Licht’s mission to re-imagine Cleveland’s theme song with the original tracks — “Cleveland’s Got It All” and “Have a Merry Cleveland Christmas.” The first of the two tunes hit YouTube last month, offering up a healthy dose of locally inspired lyrics and accolades abound for…
New Brewery Brick & Barrel on Tap for the Flats
The industrial Flats soon will be home to a new brewery called Brick & Barrel, launched by partners Karl Spiesman, Jason Henkel and Mike Dagiasis. Located at 1844 Columbus Road, the rough-and-ready space seems ideally suited to an upstart Cleveland brewery. “Around the country, where I have worked and lived, the brewery spaces that have…
Chatting Beer with Winking Lizard Co-Owner John Lane
When the craft beer trend in Northeast Ohio was still in its infancy, John Lane was helping to educate our palates beyond choices like Budweiser. Lane is the co-owner of the Winking Lizard brand, Winks Bar & Grille and Lizardville. He’s also a student of beer, as can be easily surmised by the extensive and…
Free Comic Book Day is This Saturday, Celebrate Accordingly
And there came a day unlike any other, when publishers and comic book shops were united to give out free comic books. On this day Free Comic Book Day was born. Founded by Joe Field in 2001, Free Comic Book Day is Saturday May 3 this year and has become a holiday for publishers, comic…
The New York Times’ New Video Series Tackles Goofy Cuyahoga County ‘Photocopier’ Drama
NYT The New York Times is kicking off a new video series called Verbatim, in which courtroom transcripts are acted out verbatim to incredibly humorous ends. To begin, the paper has chosen to zero in on Cuyahoga County’s photocopier laughs from 2010, when a court case unfolded over whether the county recorder’s office has to…
5 Cleveland Farmers Markets to Visit this Spring
Now that the sun is shining (most days, anyway), farmers markets are a good place to hit up when you’re striking out your grocery list. The prices are reasonable, the food is fresher, plus you don’t have to worry about accidentally choosing that squeaky-wheeled shopping cart. Next time you’re out shopping, check out some of…
Devin the Dude and Crew Deliver Fun-filled Show at Grog Shop
On Saturday night, Devin the Dude and his Buds & Suds Tour rolled into town. Staying true to the name, tall boys of Pabst Blue Ribbon were flowing and a certain kind of smoke lingered in the air of the Grog Shop for a majority of the night. The merch tables were active and the…
Solon Police Arrest Woman For Growing Pot to Ease Sister’s Pain
Verissa Mason’s sister suffers from muscular dystrophy. Marijuana had been effective in easing her pain. But marijuana of any kind – O.G. Kush, God’s Vagina, Sour Diesel, all of which could possibly and rightfully bear the term “medical” – is illegal in Ohio. So the therapeutic doses were, naturally, kept quiet and administered in private.…
Third Barrio Restaurant to Open in Cleveland’s 5th Street Arcades
The 5th Street Arcades, located on Prospect Avenue only feet away from East 4th street, will soon have another dining hot spot in its lineup. Barrio Restaurant Group and Dick Pace, CEO of Cumberland Development, the management arm of the 5th Street Arcades, confirmed the news that the popular taqueria Barrio will open their third…
‘American Idiot’ at the Palace Theatre: Review
We’re coming up on the tenth anniversary of Green Day’s American Idiot, a seminal pop-punk album to some degree that wrought a high-voltage charge through kids across the country who were listening to such stuff. In point of fact, though, the album is probably more relevant than ever today. Our brains are seemingly rewired to…
The Standells Coming to Rock Hall and Beachland in May
Iconic group the Standells have just announced that they’ll play Cleveland on May 10. They’ll start with a visit to the Rock Hall at noon and then they’ll play the Beachland later that night. They’ve just kicked off their first major U.S. tour since the 1960s and will be playing their signature snotty garage punk…
The Beachland is One of Singer Holly Golightly’s Favorite Clubs
Singer-guitarist Holly Golightly likes playing at the Beachland Tavern so much, she can’t imagine a tour that doesn’t include a stop at the North Collinwood club. “I would still come there even if they didn’t ask us to show up,” she says. “I don’t think they would hold it against me after all this time.…
Alice Cooper Band’s Dennis Dunaway to Guest on WJCU’s ‘Metal on Metal’
Dennis Dunaway There’s probably not a bigger Alice Cooper fan in Cleveland than “Metal on Metal” host and record label owner Bill Peters. “Alice Cooper is my all-time favorite band and artist,” he says. “The Coop is where it all started for me musically. I heard ‘School’s Out’ on CKLW back in 1972 and loved…
12 of the Best Ethnic Eats in Cleveland, As Determined by You
Cleveland boasts a nationally renowned food scene thanks to its award-winning chefs, Rust Belt heartiness and impeccable service. The customer is king in the land of the hospitality industry, and you deserve to be wined and dined like royalty. Here are 12 of the best ethnic eats in Cleveland, as determined by you in our…
10 Things Going on in Cleveland this Weekend (April 25 — 27)
Friday marks one of Scene’s largest celebrations of the year, and a time when nominees and winners of Best of Cleveland gather to celebrate their new royal status. At midnight, the party moves to Barley House where it will open its gates to everyone. Whether you’re up for a few drinks or some schmoozing with…
Coalition Against the Sin Tax Will Seek Facility Fee Through Ballot Initiative
The leaders of the Coalition Against the Sin Tax (C.A.S.T.) met on the steps of City Hall this morning to discuss a more specific plan of action. Their idea: Bring a ballot initiative to the voters later this year, one that would seek to institute a $3.25 facility fee on all tickets for for-profit events…
Counterpoint: In Defense of Joan Rivers
People know Joan Rivers didn’t actually kidnap anybody, right? If not, here’s a helpful explainer. Things Joan Rivers did do: made a joke by comparing something not actually bad (the size of her daughter’s guest bedroom) with a vague reference to one of the most well-known stories of people held captive in horrific living conditions…
Accolades Continue to Pour in for Cleveland’s Food and Drink Scenes
Earlier this month, Thrillist declared Cleveland one of the most underrated food cities in America. Now, the e-zine is back for round two, penning Why You Need to Care About Cleveland’s Food/Drink Scene (for the record, we Clevelanders have been offering up reasons for years). To compile the photo essay, Thrillist writer Andy Kryza and…
Deerhoof Rages Polyrhythmically and Professes Admiration for the Hallway at Beachland Ballroom
Deerhoof, sort of an enigmatic west-coast outfit, stormed through a blistering hour-long set at the Beachland Ballroom last night. Opening with “Fresh Born” and winding their way through their 11-album catalog, the musicians offered no quarter to the rapt audience. Each member of Deerhoof brings a different sound and attitude to the show. Drummer Greg…
Joan Rivers: Cleveland Kidnapping Victims “Got to Live Rent Free for More than a Decade”
If you haven’t yet heard, celebrity comedian Joan Rivers has been hurling insults at the Cleveland kidnapping victims on national TV all week. Her latest? “They got to live rent free for more than a decade.” Nobody is really sure why Rivers is targeting Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, and Michelle Knight, the three women who…
Indians Usher Says He Was Fired for Refusing to Wear Pro-Sin Tax Sticker
If you haven’t noticed, the Cleveland Indians are pro-sin tax and pro-Issue 7, which is entirely predictable and entirely within the team’s rights. The Indians can plaster “Keep Cleveland Strong” behind home plate for every fan at the game or watching on TV to see, and Mark Shapiro can give talks to the assembled Cleveland…
Anger Managed: The Cop Who Arrested Rover Has a History of Violence and Plenty to Say About That July Fourth Night
Halfway through his second beer, Cleveland police officer Steve Kinas gets philosophical. “Everyone, they have their own personal truths, what is true to them, what happened that night. But I believe there is only one absolute truth. Everything else is perception,” he says. Kinas is a big dude — all-around huge at 6’ 4”, 350…
Charles Bradley and His Extraordinaires Light Up the Beachland Ballroom
Last night at the Beachland Ballroom was a soulful, groovin’ affair. The screaming eagle of soul himself, Mr. Charles Bradley, graced the stage and put on a hell of a show for the packed house. He treats Cleveland right each time he rolls into town, and last night fell right in line with his increasingly…
Scene Podcast: The Best of Cleveland’s Food and Drink
In this week’s Scene Podcast, Craig Lyndall chats with dining editor Douglas Trattner about the highlights of Cleveland’s fantastic dining scene. He knows his stuff, and this little convo fleshes out some of the awards granted in this year’s Best of Cleveland issue, which hits newsstands on Thursday.
Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Brandon Foor from Lorain in the Arabian Sea: Photo of the Day
U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Harry Andrew D. Gordon Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Brandon Foor, from Lorain Now and then, the Navy sends out awesome shots of personnel in service. Today, we’re happy to feature Lorain resident Brandon Foor, who is presently stationed in the Arabian Sea. This photo was…
Video: A Pleasant Drive Through Kent in 1980
Kent, 1980 “Robin Hood is not the Robin Hood anymore!” “They keep remodeling and changing the name of the place.” Oh, how some things never really do change. That’s a snippet of dialogue from two dudes rollin’ around Kent in 1980, revisiting their alma mater. The video (embedded below) is a terrific look into our…
Best Art Event
Whether you’re a 20-year regular at this event or a total rookie, the Tremont Art Walk is among the most enjoyable cultural mainstays in Cleveland. It all goes down on the second Friday of each month, from 6 to 10 p.m. All of the galleries and boutiques in this most creatively concentrated neighborhood fling open…
Best Promoter
During the summer of 2013, James Carol, the guy behind the local promotions company Cleveland Music City, decided to put together a music festival that would simultaneously celebrate Halloween and champion the city’s best indie rock bands. So he set about booking the Modern Electric, Welshly Arms, Seafair and Simpler Times along with two non-local…
Best Beer List/ Best Bar Food/ Best Wings
The “wings and beer” category is one of the most crowded within the restaurant world, and for good reason: It’s easy to pull off. It is not easy, however, to pull off on a consistent basis, night after night in multiple locations as this thriving local chain has done since it opened its first tavern…
Best Greek
We adore Greek food because it’s bright, fresh and flavorful, but let’s face it: Many of the places that hold themselves out as Greek restaurants are little more than quasi-hygienic gyro delivery systems. Not GVG, which has been keeping Lakewood (and now Broadview Heights) residents awash in delicious Mediterranean comfort food. Sure, there are the…
Best Restaurant
It’s a little known fact that East Fourth Street almost was home to Lolita instead of Lola. Chef Michael Symon and his team strongly considered leaving Lola, a thriving 10-year-old restaurant, right where it was in Tremont and opening the new Mediterranean concept, Lolita, on Fourth Street. In the end, they elected to go the…
Best Filmmaker
The founders of this blossoming local film company came together for Cleveland’s 48-Hour Film Project nearly four years ago and have been creating badass short films, documentaries and music videos ever since. Head to their Vimeo page and check out the 11-minute doc The Naked Zinester about quirky “renegade” photographer Aaron Tsuru and adult model…
Best School District
Cleveland’s cozy neighbor to the west, Lakewood is a bastion of family life, so it’s no wonder that residents care a great deal about their schools. There are about 6,000 students at 10 schools and citizens are eager to help them succeed — a bond issue approved two years ago focused on upgrading three elementary…
Best Place to Play Darts
Did you know that the Harbor Inn was a catalyst for darts’ popularity in Northeast Ohio and beyond? We bet you didn’t. Back in the 1970s, the Harbor Inn hosted tournaments and competitions as sharp-shooters from across the area descended on the oldest bar in Cleveland. It went on to host the Cleveland Dart Hall…
Best Book Store
While bookstores seem to close up shop with alarming regularity these days, Northeast Ohio is blessed with a bevy of local stores servicing neighborhoods and the bountiful supplies stocked by Half Price Books. There really isn’t anything like burning away a couple hours browsing the shelves for hidden treasures and the newest releases, and Half…
Best Place to Buy Music
When you live in the rock capital of the world, you need a reliable venue from which to buy the latest and greatest tunes (and the classics, naturally.) The Exchange is where readers go to browse and congregate along aisles of CDs (they still exist), vinyl and video games. And buying is only half of…
Psychotic Supersoaker: Bathtubs are the Murder Weapons in a Stunning Production of The Drowning Girls at Cleveland Public Theatre
It’s an Esther Williams dream-turned-nightmare: Be totally drenched, plunged into pools of water, emerge time and again until you end up dead. Although the three waterlogged actors in The Drowning Girls often seem to revel in the H2O all around them, this is no “aqua musical” of the kind the Hollywood mermaid Ms. Williams made…
Best Website Design
Intuitive navigation is arguably the most important element of a user-friendly website and the Northfield Park Hard Rock Rocksino webmasters have got that down pat, according to the reader votes. Where Hard Rock wins points is in its combination of scannable content — the kind that informs and entertains without dredging in the details —…
Best DJ on the Ones and Twos/ Best Hip Hop DJ
A veteran of the local club scene, E-V recently teamed up with locals Lorine Chia and Machine Gun Kelly on his catchy new dancefloor-ready single, “GoodTime.” Sounding a bit like Nicki Minaj, Chia dominates the track but MGK shows up mid-song to drop some rhymes. “I’m trying to change the world with one drink, motherfucka,”…
Best Radio Show
There’s nothing like waking up and facing the dreary reality of your miserable existence, only to tune into WMMS and hear a long, drawn-out fart escape the inner workings of a man named Dumb. Suddenly, everything is either a) brighter and funnier or b) even bleaker, depending on your general opinion of farts. Regardless, we…
Best Asian
Let’s all agree to stop calling Superior Pho a “hidden gem” and start calling it what it is: one of the best and most popular restaurants in Cleveland that only fools have ignored. Sure, its location — tucked inside in a nondescript commercial building — is anything but conventional. But that doesn’t stop the hoards…
Best Hot Dog/ Best Dinner Bargain/ Best Cheap Lunch
For as long as people can remember, the building at the corner of West 58th Street and Detroit Avenue was a family friendly neighborhood restaurant. Sure, the name and concept have changed in recent years, but not the outcome. Happy Dog still is one of the most welcoming joints on the near west side, made…
Best Sandwich
It all started with two slices of bread and a fistful of cheese, but Melt has mushroomed into a nationally recognized brand. That has happened for a number of reasons, beginning, of course, with the fact that grilled cheese is pretty much the ideal form of comfort food. But if we didn’t have so much…
Best Place for a First Date
>So you’ve got a date. Good for you. Now what to do? Something with food and entertainment, drinks and a cozy atmosphere. Tremont has you covered no matter what the night’s agenda may be. Start with happy hour at one of the neighborhood’s award-winning restaurants, which is a great time to score $5 noshes from…
Best Sustainability Champ
Let’s begin with awareness: Great Lakes has held the Burning River Fest every year since 2001. The party and festival may give revelers plenty of excuses to sit outside and guzzle GLBC brews, but it also raises funds for the Burning River Foundation, which gives out dough for sustainable projects involving our bodies of water,…
Best Place to Shoot Pool
Billiard tables, as far as the eye can see. Light streams gently down from green lamps, evoking images of back-alley lounges from another era. Of course, present-day Fox and Hound is a fairly sterilized sports bar, but the feeling that accompanies proper games of pool is in the air nonetheless. The place hosts regular pool…
Best Bicycle Shop
“This is the year I’ll start riding my bike again!” you proudly proclaim each spring. And by the time fall arrives, you’re usually kicking your own fat butt for yet again neglecting to jump onboard this most socially visible exercise. But this, in fact, will be the year that you do start riding your bike…
Farmer’s Daughter: Country Singer Sara Evans Doesn’t Let her Redneck Past Determine her Musical Identity
On her new album, Slow Me Down, country singer Sara Evans delivers a set of introspective love songs that sounds incredibly out of step with what’s popular in country music these days — namely, singing about partying and raising hell like a redneck. It’s not that Evans can’t connect with that culture. To hear her…
Best Events Page
Once again, readers piled on votes for Scene here, and we thank them, but plenty of votes also swung toward Cool Cleveland. Thomas Mulready, noted hat enthusiast and plugged-in culture guy, created Cool Cleveland lord knows how many years ago, and for many, it’s still a weekly go-to for the latest events in the arts…
Best Tweet of the Year
Captain America: The Winter Soldier opened in early April and the blockbuster movie is already raking in hundreds of millions of dollars for the studio. But nearly 11 months ago, the movie was filming in Cleveland and most likely screwed up your commute, causing you to curse out whoever agreed to shut down the Shoreway…
Best Festival
Rather than sheep, the typical Clevelander counts fried ravioli to fall asleep throughout the year — and the Feast of the Assumption is the reason why. The annual explosion of excellent eats in Little Italy ranks among the most important weekends in our region (or world?). We recommend taking the Red Line out there; you’ll…
Best Sculptor
Cleveland artist Scott Radke uses “subconscious imagery” to create mixed-media sculptures that feel like three-dimensional representations of Maurice Sendak or Tim Burton-induced mind-bending dreams. Many of his pieces — marionettes, free-standing and hanging sculptures — are “animal human hybrid explorations” that are “highly influenced by nature.” Just check out his intense 68-inch, four-segment Totem commissioned…
Best BBQ
Few entities on this list are more Cleveland than the institution that is Hot Sauce Williams. Every so often a new place comes along and tries to emulate what Williams has perfected over the past five decades, but Clevelanders never forget the originator. There’s no mistaking a Williams’ Polish Boy or the restaurant’s signature sauce-soaked…
Best Ice Cream Parlor
For years, homegrown founders Mike and Pete Mitchell have been brightening our days with smile-inducing scoops of ice cream. Up until now, they’ve done so through a growing roster of neighborhood scoop shops. Well, hold onto your paper caps, boys and girls, as Mitchell’s prepares to open its category-crushing ice cream factory in Ohio City.…
Best Seafood/ Most Romantic Restaurant
For eons, Pier W has enjoyed a reputation for having one of the best vistas going, with miles of watery lake views capped off by a condensed Cleveland skyline five miles in the distance. Recent renovations have left the interior in the best shape of its life, from the glassy open bar to the theatrical…
Best Furniture Designer
So you just moved into your new place. It’s nice, and you’re on your own for the first time. Or maybe your family finally upgraded. Now it’s time to furnish this sucker. The hand-me-downs and thrift-store finds won’t do anymore, and you would rather buy something classic, local and, well, good than a color-by-number piece…
Best TV Personality
The weather in Cleveland would likely simply cease to exist without Dick Goddard. The longtime — loooongtime — Cleveland weatherman not only still keeps a full-time schedule at the age of 83, but also has parlayed his onscreen success into a platform for supporting causes dear to his heart, like animal adoption. And Mr. Goddard…
Best Reason to be a Cleveland Sports Fan
Hey, did you know we’re in the midst of a 49-year championship drought? Yes, of course you did, which is why “the awesome victory parades” wasn’t an option for the best reason to be a Cleveland fan. So you chose loyalty: the thing that bonds all of us fans together, the seemingly irrational devotion to…
Best Boutique
Valerie Mayen’s creations were already piping through Cleveland’s fashion consciousness when she decided to open a storefront in 2011. What was once a piece you saw someone else wearing and had to scurry back to your computer to score for yourself is now an entire store of unique threads and accessories that keeps Cleveland looking…
Best Place to Furnish Your Home
If you frequent Crocker Park or Legacy Village, you’ve undoubtedly been captivated by the decadent showrooms of Arhaus Furniture. “Furnishing a Better World,” is the motto. But with options for the living room, dining room, bedroom, office, and even patios, you won’t be able to leave without imagining your home with a total facelift. Arhaus…
Best Facebook Page to be a Fan Of
The votes came filing in and they didn’t go to, say, Fox 8, which has some hundreds of thousands of likes on Facebook. And they didn’t go to Positively Cleveland or some rah-rah online arm representing Cleveland optimism. They came in for Wicked Sugar Fashion Jewelry & Accessories, a small store in Strongsville, locally owned,…
Best Art Gallery
There is simply no place like home, and in this case we’re talking about 78th Street Studios. Where else in Cleveland can you see over 40 working local Cleveland artists in any and all mediums under one roof? Sculptures? They got it. Paintings? Of course. Wood working? Naturally. Vases, bowls and assorted trinkets? Check. Jewelry?…
Best Singer
Earlier this year, local soul/pop singer Lauren Lanzaretta celebrated the release of her new music video for the tune “Wounded Man,” the first single from her new album Naked Soul, with a party at Red Space, the art gallery located inside Hot Cards World Headquarters. For the music video, she filmed a live performance at…
Best Bloody Mary
It’s Sunday and not even noon yet, and you’ve already hit the wall… or at least your head feels like it. You’ve tried Tylenol and an energy drink, but nothing’s working. You can thank last night’s shenanigans for that. Really, a good Bloody Mary is the only thing that could possibly help you. Luckily, Tremont’s…
Best Indian
Long gone are the days that India Garden was dubbed a “hidden gem,” an unassuming 50-seat Bengali hideaway set back from the road. Today, of course, it simply is called “that amazing Indian restaurant on Detroit.” When it opened eight years ago, it ended a long and depressing string of failed restaurants in that spot,…
Best Spanish
In a town like Cleveland, where top-notch, chef-owned bistros appear to grow on trees, it’s increasingly difficult for a diner to be truly blown away by a dining experience. But that’s precisely what (still) happens at this Warehouse District institution. The setting is smart, cosmopolitan and befitting a special occasion — as is the service,…
Best Landmark/ Best Place for People Watching
After a devastating fire last year, the West Side Market has once again become Cleveland’s hottest Saturday destination for neighborhood folks and suburban tourists alike. Poised to receive a major grant from the state’s capital bill (to the tune of $500,000) the Market is in line for significant improvements, which may include heat. There’s really…
Best TV News Team
Local TV news can embody all the worst that humanity is capable of, and we’re only slightly exaggerating here. Between the hair and makeup, disorienting graphics and ambushing cameras, grating personalities and trumped-up rhetoric, it’s more circus than journalism and gives viewers every reason to turn the channel. But Fox 8 toes a nice line,…
Best Playground/ Best Skate Park
Boasting an impressive array of amenities for a park of its size (31 acres), Lakewood Park is a perfect destination for warm-weather fun on the west side. The 9,500-square-foot skate park seems like it’s always hoppin’ with local young’uns. There’s a fine mix of ramps and banks, and the place is welcoming even to the…
Bucking the Trends: Pastas & Pastry Aims for Classic and Timeless While Embracing Cleveland Restaurants of Years Past
Diners of a certain age might recall Snicker’s, a quirky restaurant in an out-of-the-way locale that enjoyed a small but devoted following. That restaurant had an amazing 20-year run before the final owner, Ron Heinbaugh, closed it to open Krazy Mac’s, a macaroni and cheese-focused cafe that survived less than two years. Elements of both…
Band of the Week: Drew Schultz Funk Machine
Meet the band: Emilio Tostado (guitar), Jent LaPalm (bass), John Guari (keyboards/vocals), Chris Ams (vocals), Drew Schultz (drums) All in the Family: A Cleveland native, Schultz started playing drums in third grade. His mom was a drummer in high school and had a drum kit at the house; he gravitated toward it. She initially taught…
Best Food Blog
Michelle Venorsky loves to eat. We mean she really loves to eat. And that’s why the creator/writer of the locally based food blog Cleveland Foodie is so top notch, and why she’s parlayed her blog’s success into a gig with Cleveland.com. Not only are the pages crammed with chef interviews, restaurant reviews and dozens of…
Best Graphic Designer
>Cleveland has an endless amount of talent in this category — you can find much of it at work at the annual blast that is the Weapons of Mass Creation Fest — but readers singled out Joshua Wallace in 2014 and saw the same unique brand of fresh talent that we here at Scene saw…
Best Dive Bar
Cleveland is a shot and a beer town and the Harbor Inn has been slinging those for over a hundred years — it’s the oldest continuously operating bar in Cleveland, don’t you know. Four decades ago, Wally Pisorn bought the place and, well, didn’t do much to change it. The Harbor is still a melting…
Best Breakfast
Ever had the hollandaise sauce from your eggs Benedict basically explode in your mouth while you’re trying to focus during an early morning breakfast meeting? How about having a mound of home fries so good that it takes you somewhere far away from the person sitting across from you? Those are the kinds of experiences…
Best Irish
Dublin or Detroit Avenue? It’s hard to tell when you’re at the Harp, especially at one of the Traditional Irish Sessions. That’s where live musicians entertain with fiddles, bagpipes and guitars just about every week. The Harp is equally loved for music, its menu and scenery. The patio overlooks the shore of Lake Erie, which…
Best Specialty Cocktail (And Where to Find It)
Legend has it that those who consume even one Uncle Jimmy’s Gold Margarita at La Fiesta (or La Taqueria next door) often end up divulging deeply held secrets. “It’s like a truth serum,” say staffers. Consume two or more of these mind erasers and you will very likely regret it, saying things that can never…
Best Local Comedian
Mike Polk Jr., the man behind the Hastily Made Cleveland Tourism Video, the Factory of Sadness video (parts one and two), Last Call Cleveland comedy troupe and his very own show on Fox 8 (aptly called the Mike Polk Jr. Show) has done it again. He’s your favorite local comedian by a wide margin. Polk…
Best Athlete
The second-year Cleveland Indian from Ohio State who has, to his credit, a devoted section of T-shirt wearing, sunglass-toting frat boys and pretty solid numbers at the plate, stole this award from Kyrie Irving, whose ongoing controversies overshadowed an All-Star game MVP, and Josh Gordon, who set about 30 NFL receiving records last year. But…
Best Up and Coming Band or Musician
Self-described as “The Alan Cox Show’s frequent and only blind/handicapped caller,” Darnell released the poppy single “A Love for All Seasons” in 2011 with the hopes of raising enough money to buy a keyboard. He calls the song “one of the most emotional journeys through sound ever written by a blind person in a wheelchair.”…
Best Chocolate or Candy Shop
CHOC: You know it, you love it. The irresistible chocolate offerings from Malley’s have been happily devoured by Clevelanders for eons and for every occasion. In fact, you probably just gulped down a bunch of their sweets at Easter. Nothing saves a bad day or seduces a sweet tooth quite like Malley’s, and if chocolate…
Best Smoke Shop
You know when a good time for a cigar is? Anytime. A good stogie is a cultural tradition best enjoyed after a new child, a graduation, a wedding, a promotion, the rare weekend you get to hit the links, a quiet night at home after the kids are asleep, as a complement to a nice…
Best Cleveland Trending Hashtag
#CLE trumps all other Cleveland-related hashtags because, with just three characters, it’s straightforward and to the point and a clearinghouse for local information. But it’s more than just a social media hashtag to readers; #CLE is a feeling, it’s a movement that encompasses the unique Clevelandy Clevelandness about Cleveland, and people are really excited to…
Best House DJ
House music was arguably at a peak in the ’80s and ’90s, but DJ Mimo successfully keeps the genre alive here on the North Coast. In the bio he’s posted on his website, he describes himself as a “fixture on the Cleveland club and hotel lounge scene.” That’s an apt description as Mimo is the…
Best Gay and Lesbian Bar
Bounce has been the LGBT mainstay outlet of adventure and partying for years now, and folks keep coming back because no one does it better. From Top 40 dance hits and pulsing strobe lights to leather, mesh and any other fetish you can dream of, Bounce is welcoming and encouraging. The weekend drag shows are…
Best Brewery
Why lie? You know Great Lakes is the first place that crosses your mind when you pair the words ‘Cleveland’ and ‘brewery’ together. Every seasonal beer offered ensures as much. If you have any doubt about GLBC’s standing in the Midwest, just think about how often your friends from Columbus, Cincinnati and other cities have…
Best Italian
For the frequent diner, it’s easy to get jaded about dining in Little Italy. For every five-star gem there seems to be two one-star duds. But fortunately, the tide appears to be shifting thanks to the arrival of newer spots like Mia Bella, which hit the sweet spot between authentic and just plain enjoyable. Commanding…
Best Sushi
Apparently diners enjoy a bit of flair with their fish, as the main claim to fame of this Strongsville mainstay is the hibachi. If flashing knives, erupting onion volcanoes, flying shrimp and solar flares aren’t your sort of thing, find respite at the sushi bar, where the only flying fish comes in the form of…
Best Neighborhood/ Best Suburb
Lakewood charms the denizens of Northeast Ohio with its tight-knit neighborly qualities year after year, feeling small enough to be a neighborhood but sporting the wide array of services and variety that a full-blown suburb offers. And that much is very evident even from City Hall, where people like Dru Siley (director of planning, development,…
Best Beach
Nestled in Bay Village on the shores of Lake Erie, Huntington Beach is the oldest reservation in the Cleveland Metroparks and a well-groomed, year-round destination for locals and tourists alike. During the warmer months, folks looking to escape the daily grind trek the 10 miles from downtown to Huntington’s shaded shores toting picnic blankets, Frisbees…
Best Bar for Hooking Up
Cleveland has more single people than just about any city in America, which means a lot of us are looking for love, or simply someone to put down their phone for a second and actually talk to us. And sometimes not even that much. The Barley House, readers say, is ground zero for meeting that…
Best Clothing Brand/ Best Locally Owned Store
Clevelanders wear their hearts on their sleeves and their pride on their chests. CLE Clothing Company grew out of a small web-only biz to a brand that is worn by about half of the city, by our last count. Not bad for a few years’ work. Whether you’re rooting on the Tribe, Cavs or Browns…
Best Place to Spend the Day Shopping
Say you’re in the market for a pair of cork wedge sandals, but you also want to have a nice lunch, maybe kill an hour or two with a coffee and a good book, and later you’re meeting some friends for a drink — but not before you scope out the season’s latest fashions and…
Best Local Etsy Store
Crocheting isn’t exclusively reserved for scarves or sweaters anymore — it’s also a terrific medium for jewelry. And the Hook and Pattern creations of Ohio-based artist Sarah Ivancic boast a painstaking attention to detail with the tiniest crochet stitches we’ve ever seen. All of her earrings, bracelets and pendants are utterly unique and made exclusively…
Best Illustrator
George Vlosich began plying an unusual artistic trade at the age of 10 back in 1989 — pieces created on the classic children’s toy, Etch A Sketch. Since then, his portraits of Charles Barkley and Michael Jackson and LeBron and dozens of others landed him spots on national TV and plenty of exposure. It was…
Best Gentlemen’s Club
With a steady cast of gorgeous dancers and a long list of temporary attractions — they’ve hosted porn star Emily Austin and “world famous” Chelsea Charms (the proud owner of “the world’s biggest augmented breasts”) so far in April — Scene readers chose Christie’s as the best place to go for naked women and alcohol.…
Best Brunch
We can’t imagine how many orders of biscuits and gravy must fly through the kitchen doors of this amazing Tremont cafe. It’s the perfect brunch item: flakey homemade cheddar biscuits covered with creamy, porky gravy. But that’s just one dish out of many that manages to rouse people from their weekend stupors. There’s also the…
Best Late Night Menu
Who hasn’t ordered a late-night delivery pie and devoured it, only to wake up feeling like Satan’s cellmate? The crap in those things, are we right? That’s why we prefer to make Bar Cento our last official stop of the night for an order of pizza — hold the regret. Few places in town seamlessly…
Best Taco Tuesday
You’ve surely received the memo that Cleveland transforms into a taco-crazed town every Tuesday. For reasons we have yet to determine, the end of the second day of the work week means its time for pico de gallo, cheese, shredded meat and whatever else you prefer in your soft or crispy shell. It’s truly tough…
Best New Business
Since opening at the end of last year, Hard Rock Rocksino has turned Northfield Park into a destination for gamblers and music fans alike. With Hard Rock Live, its 2,200-capacity concert venue, the rocksino has held sold out shows featuring classic rock acts like Michael Stanley and Donnie Iris. Booked by Live Nation, the club…
Best Bowling Alley
For more than 100 years, Mahall’s 20 Lanes has been a bowling-and-local-hangout institution. With the elbow grease of somewhat-new owners (Kelly Flamos and Joe Pavlick, ca. December 2011), the Madison Avenue joint is as fresh as ever. Plus, the place has become the source for some of the best nights out on the west side…
Best Blues Club
Thursday nights at Brothers Lounge are when the Bad Boys of Blues take over, throwing down a mean set as the house band and then opening up the stage to musicians of all ilk until the wee hours of the morning. Simply put, this jam melts faces. And the rest of the week features top-tier…
Forest Farming: Killbuck Valley Mushrooms
Winter’s long Freeze finally is lifting and with spring showers comes an abundance of mushrooms to forage. This is, of course, a dangerous hobby for all but those who know exactly what they’re doing. Local experts Tom and Wendy Wiandt of Killbuck Valley Mushrooms are veteran foragers with an extensive knowledge of the art and…
Best Spa or Salon
Some days, the only thing that can make you feel like life is worth living is a day at the spa. (Actually, a 24-hour pizza-induced coma works too, at least for some of us.) Charles Scott can’t help you with the latter, but for the former, you simply could not do better than to book…
Best Locally Developed App
A sleek design and a smart concept, Unite This City is this year’s winner for best locally developed app. It’s $10 per month to be a member, and members get mobile “giftcard” discounts to Cleveland-area restaurants, businesses, and entertainment venues (members also get a chance to win prizes every time they “check in” at one…
Best Movie Theater
The Cedar Lee, a Cleveland Cinemas indie theater on the east side, wins this award every year. There’s gotta be a reason. It really is the only venue in town to show indie, foreign and limited-release titles. Valley View and Crocker have undeniably superior screens, and AMC has upped its game with the big comfy…
Best Hip Hop Club
A local poet and musician who moved to the San Francisco Bay Area a few years back, Daniel Gray-Kontar wanted to start up a monthly hip-hop night after he returned to Cleveland in 2013. In the ’00s, the Rhythm Room was the go-to place for rap and hip-hop acts. But it hasn’t been open for…
Best Buffet
By definition, a buffet is an accident waiting to happen. It goes against all that we’ve come to expect — nay, demand — from our beloved restaurants. Diners must go to the food, as opposed to the other way around. That food is ready and waiting instead of being cooked to order. Rather than whittle…
Best Latin
The success of this Cleveland-based eatery has spawned a mini Latin empire, with a half dozen outposts scattered about the eastern half of the country. This concept was made for duplication thanks to its splashy interior, festive atmosphere, kicky adult bevies and food that is creative and unique while eminently approachable. While we have difficulty…
Best Vegan
Sure, we know this category seems like an oxymoron. Eating vegan sounds plain gloomy if you ask us — which, the last we checked, is the opposite of “best.” But then one day at Tommy’s we got confused while ordering (all those proper names, all those options) and we ended up with a vegan sandwich.…
Best Nonprofit or Charity
The century-old humane society in Tremont aims to provide 100-percent placement of the thousands of adoptable animals that come into its care every year. Stray, abandoned, neglected and abused animals are taken in and cared for by the APL “with respect, empathy and kindness.” Get in touch with them and see how you can help…
Best Shop or Brand for Sports Gear
Since 2008, CLE Clothing Co. has been making local sports aficionados look good with their line of snazzy gear for each of our three professional sports teams. Whether it’s capturing Browns’ drinking culture, memorializing Jacobs Field or playing up Clevelanders as the best damn fans in the land, CLE Clothing Co. has a plethora of…
Best Comedy Club
In terms of comedy clubs, no one really holds a candle to Pickwick & Frolic. Their prime location on East Fourth Street in the heart of one of downtown’s hottest social districts is a serious leg up, but it’s the consistently stellar programming — Jon Lovitz, Kevin Pollak and Dave Attell are all headlining at…
Film Spotlight: Shatner’s World
William Shatner’s world is surely a strange one. In his one-man show Shatner’s World, he talks about his life, sharing stories from his extensive career that most notably includes a long run as Captain Kirk on Star Trek. Shatner covers a wide range of his experiences, ranging from his days at McGill University to the…
Best Tattoo Parlor
Located in Ohio City, moments away from downtown, Voodoo Monkey has become the most recognized and celebrated tattoo parlor in town. With a friendly staff, a relaxed atmosphere and stringent health policies for infection prevention (all Voodoo Monkey artists have been trained in infection control), it’s not only the best, but possibly the safest option…
Best Local Instagram to Follow
Joe Haden isn’t all about football all the time, which makes his Instagram account an intriguing peek into the life of a Cleveland Browns football player. That’s not to say there aren’t plenty of football photos — there definitely are — but he keeps his Instagram feed fresh with spritzes of vacation pics, styling outfits,…
Best Museum
The Cleveland Museum of Art’s glorious new atrium doubled as S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, because it looks so incredibly bitchin. Like a lot of great museums, the building itself — lately renovated to the tune of $350 million — is almost as breathtaking as the exhibits. Though the art museum was…
Best Hipster Bar/ Best Neighborhood Bar
Happy Dog won these two categories last year, so it’s no surprise the Detroit Shoreway concert club and restaurant takes top honors again this year. The place has a cool vintage look and its band-friendly approach (acts play for the door money) makes it an attractive venue for up-and-coming local and national indie rock bands.…
Best Burger/ Best Fries
As with pizza, everybody’s got a personal favorite burger. Some like their burgers thin, greasy and cooked on a griddle; others like ’em fat, bloody and charred over an open flame. Truth is, it’s damn near impossible to please everybody, but B Spot has come the closest. They start with great beef, naturally, a custom…
Best Locally Made Beer
The empty cases at grocery stores. The loud laughter at Northeast Ohio bars after Thanksgiving. The “this couch feels unusually comfortable” feeling you had in December. All of these point to the simple fact that Great Lakes Christmas Ale still is the best beer brewed here in Cleveland. It’s strong, festively spiced and has basically…
Best Up and Coming Chef
Some chefs seem to be everywhere, all the time — on TV, in the newspaper, on the radio, chatting up his or her latest game-changing (insert dish, restaurant, food truck name here). Other chefs — chefs’ chefs — put their heads down and make great food. For these passionate practitioners of the culinary arts, the…
Best Over-Exposed Local Celebrity
The evidence for this pick is found in the very pages of this magazine. By last count, readers voted Michael Symon the winner in some 1,378 categories, or at least it feels that way. Best Chef, Best Twitter, Best Dome, Best Laugh and a whole gamut of other distinctions. If you take a brief moment…
Best Coach
Tito won this category last year, only a handful of games into his first season at the helm of the Indians, which is as much a credit to him as a commentary on the folks coaching the Browns and Cavs. Francona then lead the Tribe to 92 wins — 24 more than the previous season…
Best Place for Skiing
Some people look forward to Northeast Ohio’s crazy winters and embrace the seemingly never-ending onslaught of snow. Those people voted Brandywine Ski Resort — just 20 miles south of Cleveland — as the best place to ski this year. It boasts 11 trails, eight lifts, two terrain parks, 48 acres for skiing and the always-fun…
Best Deli
Piles of salty, scrumptious corned beef have been stacked at this Cleveland institution for 50 years and there really is no other deli that comes close to matching Slyman’s perennial dominance on the sandwich front. It takes nothing more than a couple slices of rye bread and maybe some yellow mustard to enjoy their corned…
Best Thrift Store
So you want to buy a complete outfit for $4 and grab a couple of lamps for the apartment and a book to read and maybe a new coffee table to put it on? Come on down to Unique Thrift! Better yet, come down on half-price Mondays, when you can probably score all that gold…
Best News and Politics Blog
So it’s not really a blog, and it’s not solely focused on politics, per se, but you love Belt magazine as much as we do. Creator Anne Trubek has taken the loose idea of writing about the Rust Belt and expanded the catch-all category with a host of brilliant writers on any and all topics…
Best Musician
On his Facebook page, singer-guitarist Joe Moorhead boasts that his music is like “a rum-soaked cool breeze off an island shore.” You certainly can’t accuse the guy of false advertising. With songs such as “Drinks in Our Hands,” a tune that, as its title implies, is about chilling at the beach with a drink in…
Best Jazz Club
For 10 years in a row, Downbeat magazine has voted this Cleveland Heights restaurant and club one of the best jazz clubs in the country, and it certainly lives up to the rep on a regular basis. Booked by locally based Jim Wadsworth Productions, the club regularly brings major jazz and world beat acts to…
Best Chef
Over social media recently, Michael Symon discussed the differences between “leaders” and “bosses.” Leaders inspire their charges to do their best, while bosses simply demand action. We’re paraphrasing, of course (have you seen Symon’s tweets?), but the end result is the same. Don’t believe us? Have a meal at Lola, Lolita, Roast or any of…
Best Mexican
Cleveland is lousy with conventional Mexican eateries — the kind where brilliance and creativity take a back seat to familiarity and contentment. And that’s just fine, because we love those kinds of meals. But Momocho taught diners to look at Mexican cuisine through a different lens, a lens focused by chef-owner Eric Williams. His “mod…
Best Wine Bar
Until Humble came along, we thought we had the wine bar genre pegged. These dark, cozy, European-tinged cafés with well worn wood floors paired a great wine list with hushed voices and mediocre prepared food. Humble doesn’t much look like your typical wine bar. In place of dark and woodsy is white and glassy, with…
Best Painter
The Rust Belt Monster Collective is not exactly a collective of monsters. Nor is it technically a single artist. But you voted for them for the second year in a row as the city’s best artist/painter! The Collective is a group of six innovative visual artists — Tim Switalski, Randy Crider, Erin Schechtman, Craig Worrell,…
Best College Team
Lordy, do readers love the Ohio State Buckeyes. Northeast Ohio might as well be a suburb of Columbus at this point. The Scarlet and Grey reign supreme year after year on the back of on-field success and plenty of alums hanging around these parts. Plus, if you didn’t go to a big-time college, OSU is…
Best Spot for Tailgating
We may not win on Sundays, but we’ll have a helluva time Sunday mornings. The Muni Lot encapsulates all that is great about Browns fandom — the cooking, the camaraderie, the drinking, the partying, the football tossing and the cornhole. There are the unforgettable characters — Bone Lady, Mobile Dawg, etc. — and the unforgettable…
CTRL + P: Shari Wilkins’ Cleveland Print Room Revives the Era of Film Photography
The Cleveland Print Room is open to photographers and artists of all stripes. The photography cooperative, opened and run by Shari Wilkins, features classes for budding photogs and wall space for inspiring exhibitions. Wilkins’ goal is to get the place buzzing alongside the rest of Cleveland’s burgeoning arts scene. We recently walked around the place…
Best Toy Store/ Best Comic Book or Collectibles Shop
No matter how old or young, everyone likes toys. Steve Presser created a wonderland of retro toys, knick-knacks and kitschy oddities on the east side in Coventry back in 1990, eventually settling into the current location in 2004. Then he brought the, ahem, fun to the west side on Detroit Avenue a few years ago.…
Best Photo Content
Cataloging all the need-to-know news of development, innovation, food and culture in Cleveland, Fresh Water relies not only on reporting and writing to illuminate the compelling tales that fill the e-zine every week, but on dynamic photographs of the people and places that are making and remaking the city at a frantic pace. Bob Perkorski…
Best Music Venue
House of BluesEven though this 1,200-capacity club is part of a national chain, that’s no reason to steer clear — the HOB is a strong anchor in the Cleveland music landscape. The intimate space has great sightlines — even the seats in the balcony give you a good view of the stage — and whether…
Best Karaoke Bar
Take your pipes from the privacy of your car or shower into public — no one cares how bad you sound anyway. Half the fun of karaoke is knowing how badly you’re going to do justice to the latest Lady Gaga track or Free Bird or some obscure cut from the ’70s that will leave…
Best Coffee Shop
Before Erie Island came around, too many downtown workers were resigned to drinking thin java from perma-stained office coffee makers – if they were lucky and the guy before them had bothered to make another pot. This invaluable East Fourth installation, a fixture since 2009, swaps that dingy coffee with expertly crafted lattes and cappuccinos.…
Best Middle Eastern
For a restaurant group that specializes in so-called “foreign” food, Aladdin’s Eatery is remarkably user friendly. In fact, when you think about, it was quite the coup for founders Fady and Sally Chamoun to convince a townful of Midwesterners to put down the corned beef sandwiches and pick up pitas stuffed with falafel, shish tawook…
Best Author
Remember Cash Explosion Double Play? The lottery game show was originally created by mystery writer and Cleveland loyalist Les Roberts. That late-’80s spark of TV creativity planted the seeds of Cleveland in the Chicago native’s mind. He eventually moved here in 1990 and began, perhaps subconsciously at first, gathering the characters and images that would…
Best Photographer
Frank Lanza is more than just a photographer— he’s an artist, he’s an authority, and he’s an anchor in the greater Cleveland photography scene. With a portfolio chockfull of impressive subjects, like Bruce Springsteen, Aretha Franklin and Lady GaGa to name a few, Lanza’s artistic reach extends way beyond the borders of Cuyahoga County. That’s…
Best Competition
Now that the snow has finally stopped — we suspect — and the ice has finally melted — we can only assume — you can start training for the Cleveland Marathon at last. You and everybody else. It’s always sort of a treat, on the first sunny day of the year, to see the thirtysomethings…
Best Team to Root For
Last year, you chose the Browns. But things are different now and, after coming off a season with a playoff appearance lead by new manager Terry Francona and breakout stars like Jason Kipnis, it’s not difficult to see why the Cleveland Indians took over this spot as the 2014 season gets underway. The Indians went…
Best Eco-Friendly Business/ Best Locally Made Product
It’s Tribe time, which means for a limited time you can savor the husky malts of the Rally Drum Red Ale and Conway’s Irish Ale. But Great Lakes has grown into a regional empire that cares about a lot more than just beer. Great Lakes incorporates sustainability, recycling and energy efficiency into every aspect of…
Best Vintage Store/ Best Antique Store/ Best Consignment Shop
Flower Child is a labyrinth, quite literally. Walk through the shop and you’ll dip downstairs, around corners, into closet-sized spaces, open rooms, a hallway, back upstairs and probably down again. Each room is decked out with stuff, for lack of a better description. And we mean that in the best way. You’ll find a vintage…
Best Site for Cleveland Info
In the interest of full disclosure, readers voted Scene as the winner in this category, as well as in a host of other categories in this section. We appreciate that, but we get enough space to tout our own achievements every week. This issue is about everyone else. So here we honor Cleveland.com, which came…
Best New Attraction
Dan Gilbert’s palace of gambling in the historic Higbee Building on Public Square may have opened its doors to bettors in 2012, but Clevelanders are still wild for one of downtown’s newest attractions. And why not? The Horseshoe’s poker room is without comparison in the area, boasting regular low-dollar action for the average Joe and…
Best Martini Bar/ Best Lounge
What was once sort of an open secret around town has now become a full-on Cleveland landmark. The Velvet Tango Room remains the gold standard of martini joints in our city. Though, like all excellent holes in the wall, this one has started to blow up in recent years. There are some around town who…
Best Cupcake or Cupcake Shop
SynDee Klingenberg and Wendy Thompson didn’t invent the cupcake (pretty sure that was Al Gore), but they did launch their Tremont bakeshop A Cookie and A Cupcake in 2008, well ahead of the Great Cupcake Blitz of 2011. Since then, it’s pretty much been downhill for the gourmet cupcake craze, what with everybody and their…
Best New Restaurant
Where was Townhall all our lives? Nowhere close, that’s for sure. This breezy, open-concept café seems to have been airlifted from a balmier climate and plopped down in the heart of Ohio City. By now, savvy diners know to visit this trendy eatery during the day or early evening, before the nightlife crowds descend like…
Best Bartender
The Nauti Mermaid might just be the best bar in the Warehouse District that you always forget about. Nestled alongside Starbucks, a salon and China Sea on West Sixth Street, the Nauti maintains the sort of low-key vibe that runs contrary to the otherwise club atmosphere that dominates the street as the night wears on.…
Best Politician
The current United States senator (Dem.) and husband of Connie Schultz replaces beloved Dennis (!) Kucinich on the readers’ winners list this year. Brown was easily re-elected to the United States Senate in 2012 after facing the historically nasty campaign from then-State Treasurer Josh Mandel. The pro-gay rights, pro-choice, pro-Affordable Care Act, pro-voting access, pro-union…
Best Fitness Club
With eight locations in Northeast Ohio, Planet Fitness has an outlet close to you, no matter where you live. And for only $10 a month, you can work off the pounds in style without subtracting too much weight from your wallet. Readers overwhelmingly agreed that whether you’re a newbie fresh off a New Year’s resolution…
Best Bakery
The origins of Presti’s, the venerable Little Italy institution, date back to 1903 when the Presti family started a small bread bakery. More than 100 years later, they’re still supplying Cleveland with an endless menu of freshly baked sweets, now in a full-service, dine-in cafe on Mayfield Road. Now on its fourth generation of bakers,…
Emotional Rescue: Singer-Songwriter Christina Perri Writes about the Ups and Downs of Relationships on Her New Album
When singer Christina Perri set out to record Head or Heart, the follow-up to her 2011 major label debut Lovestrong, she knew she didn’t want to make an album that sounded identical to Lovestrong. “I didn’t want to do the same thing — I know a lot of artists who do that,” she says via…
Best Wine Shop
Selecting a bottle of wine can be one of life’s more perplexing experiences. To begin with, what kind? How much should you spend? And what’s the difference between this Burgundy and that pricey pinot noir? Should you just buy the bottle with the coolest label? Or screw bottles. What kind of box wine is best?…
Best Sports Blog/ Best Podcast
There was a time four or five years ago when everyone and their brother was starting a sports blog in Cleveland, what with LeBron mania at fever pitch and all. Naturally, a lot of those faded away — it turns out it takes a lot of work and more than a dose of passion to…
Best Party Throwers
The entertainment winds in Cleveland seemed to change every few years for a while there, with one scene springing up at the expense of the previous king of late night. These days, Cleveland counts multiple strongholds for entertainment and moonlit escapades, from East Fourth to Ohio City, from the revamped Flats to Tremont. And at…
Best New Bar
Porco Lounge & Tiki Room is on West 25th Street, but not the main strip. It’s far enough south that it considers itself part of the Tremont neighborhood. But it’s close enough to both Oho City’s and Tremont’s most popular haunts to make it a walkable destination for both, and though it still seems off…
Best Dessert Menu
If you think voters are collectively posing as Capt. Obvious by choosing the Chocolate Bar as the Best Dessert Menu winner, just know that they didn’t do it because of the place’s name. After all, you’d be hard pressed to find another establishment that has twice as many dessert options as most restaurants have for…
Best Patio for Drinking
How can you tell that a patio is ideal for drinking? People drink on it… year-round… in Cleveland. You can smell MGB from down the block — and not just because of the pleasant malt aroma emanating from the brewhouse. There’s also that woodsy campfire perfume coming from the towering stone wood-burning fireplace. During winter,…
Best Comeback
Cleveland Indians”Unfinished business.” It’s the fairly official motto for the Tribe’s 2014 season, referencing the team’s brief and rather crushing playoff appearance last fall. With a batch of nice, long-term contracts for most of our stalwarts, we’re looking ahead with utmost optimism. But this season’s hope is built totally on last year’s fun. Manager Terry…
Best Radio Personality
He’s a tough pill to swallow at times (as evidenced by Marc Maron’s detailed description of the radio show’s “vomit cannon” antics; WTF?), but Rover (real name: Shane French) remains nonetheless a Cleveland institution. For some, Rover is an icon. For others, a guilty pleasure. Either way, the guy slices through the doldrums of a…
Best Golf Course
The Cleveland Metroparks lays claim to some of the finest links in Northeast Ohio, and Manakiki is one of its best. Formerly a private club, Manakiki is now an example of regional courses where you can play 18 holes for what you would pay for a bucket of balls and a Coke elsewhere. And while…
Best Adult Store
In the realm of adult merchandise, there’s some comfort in shopping at a chain. Under the leadership of adult-entertainment luminary Rondee Kamins, Adultmart has grown and thrived in Northeast Ohio. Cleveland is the historic capital of the porn industry, so it makes some sense that a retail and distribution giant are right here in town.…
Best Hair Salon
It’s tough to find the perfect hairdresser, we know. And once you’ve found him or her, you must not let go until death or some other sort of unfortunate career change strikes. Regardless of your circumstances, the fine folks at Dino Palmieri will take care of any and all follicle-related needs. Their menu of services…
Your Complete Guide to Cleveland Concerts (April 24 – 30)
thu 04/24 Aloners/Running Dog Labor Exchange/Harvey Pekar: 9 p.m., $5. Now That’s Class. Bad Boys Jam: 9 p.m. Brothers Lounge. Behemoth/Goatwhore/1349/Inquisition/Black Crown Initiate: 5 p.m., $22 ADV, $25 DOS. The Agora Theatre. Clan of the Cave Bear/Fertile the Drip: 9 p.m. Mahall’s 20 Lanes. The Devil Makes Three/Joe Fletcher: Alternative Americana is on the rise,…
Best of Cleveland 2014
Cleveland is a pretty damn great place to live. You know that in your heart, which is why you’ve stuck around and made yourself a nice life here, but every once in awhile it’s nice to be reminded of that glorious fact. That’s the mission of Best of Cleveland, the issue that we turn over…
Best Performing Arts Theater
Playhouse Square is the nation’s largest performing arts complex outside of New York City, and the thrill of going to see a touring Broadway musical in one of its elegant theaters really never gets old. There’s something old-timey about it, you know: a night on the town. But it’s not just Broadway musicals you’ll find…
Best Nightclub/ Best Industry Night/ Best Bar for Dancing
There always seems to be somewhere new to go these days — some new joint that has popped up in the latest, trendiest neighborhood. But readers hold a soft spot in their heart for Liquid, which has been a nightlife mecca for 19 years. Brent Lewanski, who also owns Westpark Station, McCarthy’s in the Flats…
Best Food Truck/ Best Tacos
What can possibly be better than warm corn tortillas stuffed with zesty chorizo sausage or tender shredded beef? How about a truck that delivers those tacos to a street corner near you? Since opening a few years back in Tremont, Barrio has been the go-to spot for reliable, delicious and unique taco creations (and tequila,…
Best Patio Dining
Clevelanders possess the single most important tool for identifying the best patio — a solid five months of pent-up, frigid frustration. So there are few categories they take more seriously than Best Patio Dining. Enter Reddstone, the Battery Park gem that won this very category a year ago and donned the Best Patio Drinking crown…
Best Company to Work For
Sure, you can’t smoke if you work there, but you shouldn’t be smoking anyway. The Cleveland Clinic, founded in 1921, cares for 5.1 million patients every year, and remains not only one of the largest employers in the region, but a calling card for Northeast Ohio as well. The Clinic routinely sits among the top…
Best Reason to Go Downtown
It’s become one of the most significant threads of conversation and marketing in our city: The restaurant scene here is straight baller. And it really is. The joyous blend of incredibly talented chefs with a rabid, often deep-pocketed customer base has produced the perfect conditions for business to simply boom. New places are opening up…
Best High School Team
Our Famed Alma Mater Graces, every shrine within our hearts! Chuck Kyle’s iconic football program and Mike McLaughlin’s perennial soccer powerhouse make these guys the athletic faces of the region and a thrill to watch in the fall. With her unforgotten faces, and the faith that she imparts. Teams at Iggy’s are so good that…
Best Barber Shop
We all know (and love) the radio spots by now, right? The extremely enthusiastic gentleman relaying Lady Jane’s amenities, like leather sofas and big-screen TVs. The voice of Lady Jane’s understands the needs of men. He proffers only optimism and righteousness, along with great haircuts. The men’s salon is rapidly taking over the U.S., though…
Best Farmers Market
It’s not a “farmers market” in the traditional sense, but the West Side Market has picked up this award enough times now that such distinctions hardly seem to matter. But when it comes to historic urban markets, WSM is the real deal. And if you haven’t been (and you still somehow get away with calling…
Best Blog or Blogger
He’s doing the lord’s work, some have said: Scouting every single bar in bar-heavy Lakewood. Sam Bridgeman, at the game since 2012, has drunk the finest drinks that city has to offer. In the author’s own words: “I’ve lived in Lakewood nearing a decade now and have a long list of bars I want to…
Best Tumblr Page
If you want to see how some local musicians are properly utilizing social media, look no further than the tumblr account of Smoke Screen, the hip-hop duo who go by the names Mooke and Chemist. Their page, smokescreen216, does it right — quality, succinct, flashy — avoiding the annoying social media pitfalls that plague many…
Best Place for Free Fun/ Best Spot to Take Wedding Photos
There’s no better place than the Cleveland Metroparks to bask in the glow of being ooey, gooey and newly married. With gardens, waterfronts and grasslands aplenty, the parks offer the perfect backdrop for taking precious once-in-a-lifetime photos that will surely generate some serious Facebook envy. But you need not be tied together in happily ever…
Best Bar/ Best Place to be Seen on a Saturday Night
The epicenter of the Cleveland social scene these days can be found on West 25th Street in one of its newest additions. In less than a year, Townhall has quickly become the place to see and be seen around town, whether you’re a twentysomething hipster or middle-aged professional. Thanks to the urban cafe’s sophisticated drink…
Best French
Since nabbing the “Best New Restaurant” award back in 2009, this contemporary French bistro tucked into a University Circle carriage house has only managed to improve with age. Chef-owner Zachary Bruell has an uncanny knack for delivering magical, memorable dining experiences with near-clockwork precision. And if there is a cuisine and menu that is more…
Best Pizza
Whether it’s the delivery man knocking on your door or your boss letting you know this legendary pizzeria has catered your business meeting, the sight of the Angelo’s logo translates into good news. It’s the type of place you actually make sure to exit the bar early for so you can hit it before the…
Best Event Space
Whether you’re on the lookout for a spot to host a corporate lunch or an after party for a DJ, the House of Blues has the space and menu to cater to your wildest or simplest dreams. The Cambridge Room is luxurious and cozy with a separate bar (great for avoiding the commoners!), the restaurant,…
Best Reason to Stay in Cleveland
Come for the vast array of top-notch drinking holes and that starter job opportunity, but stay for your family, which is actually a hell of a lot cooler than you realized when you left Ohio back in 2003 in a haze of marijuana smoke and hormones in pursuit of some hazy life experience in New…
Best Minor League Team
The Lake Erie Monsters repeat for Best Minor League Team and we continue to agree for at least a few reasons. Because Cleveland has no NHL squad, the Monsters remain the only option on the ice (unless you get tickets to University School vs. Padua or something). Plus, the Monsters play at the Q, so…
Film Review of the Week: Jodorowsky’s Dune
After the cult success of El Topo (1970) and The Holy Mountain (1973), surrealist Chilean-French director Alejandro Jodorowsky embarked upon one of the most spectacularly unsuccessful attempts in the history of cinema: an adaptation of Frank Herbert’s seminal sci-fi epic Dune. Jodorowsky, who says he “asks of films what North Americans ask of psychedelic drugs,”…
The Black Lips Navigate the Juvenile and the Jubilant on their New Album Underneath the Rainbow
What do garage rockers the Black Lips and Southern gospel preachers have in common? Turns out, they have plenty in common. Black Lips singer-bassist Jared Swilley and his bandmates have spent the last decade preaching the gospel of fuzzy, jangly rock and bringing it across the world on tour. He would know. Growing up outside…
Best Arts, Culture or Music Blog
Cleveland is the rock capital of the universe — we have the building to prove it, after all — and Cellar Door Cleveland does that tradition proud on its site, which catalogs just about anything a music fan wants to know. Record reviews, show reviews, interviews, rankings, videos and more are updated every week to…
Best Twitter to Follow
If you’re only following one person on Twitter, you should probably follow more people. But if it were just one, readers think it should be Michael Symon — the Iron Chef, restaurateur, sports fan and all around Cleveland cheerleader. Not only does his Twitter feed boast oodles of delicious looking photos of his latest culinary…
Best Act
Comedy in Cleveland is an interesting beast, with very little organization and lots of bad standups repeating material at five or six weekly open mics. That’s why smarmy sketch content can be such a breath of fresh air. Last Call Cleveland won this honor last year and they take home the crown again this year.…
Best Local Print Publication
Everybody knows that print publications are struggling in the digital era and yet Scene is thriving since changing ownership at the beginning of the year. At a time when our daily paper has cut back on coverage, reduced staff and stopped home delivery on certain days of the week, it’s a testament to Scene’s longevity…
Best Rock Club
Prior to opening the Beachland Ballroom & Tavern in Collinwood some 14 years ago, co-owner Mark Leddy played organ with retro rockers Satan’s Satellites and booked garage and punk bands at Pat’s in the Flats. Co-owner Cindy Barber worked as a journalist (she was editor at Cleveland Free Times for six years and started there…
Best German
No surprise here: Schnitzel is king at Das Schnitzel Haus. But there’s much more to the menu at this rib-sticking German powerhaus than thinly pounded, breaded and fried cutlets of pork and veal. For starters, there are the genre-busting sauerkraut balls, the size of plums and served with kicky horseradish sauce. Thin pan-fried potato pancakes…
Best Polish
Year in and year out, Sokolowski’s nabs the top honors in this category — and not for a lack of competition. Cleveland’s Eastern European roots have sprouted more than our fair share of tasty, rib-sticking Polish restaurants. But this joint, with its non-assuming cafeteria-style approach, just seems to tickle the fancy of most residents. Lucky…
Best Place for a Family Outing
The Metroparks Zoo is truly one of the jewels of the Emerald Necklace, a perfect venue for exotic animal kingdom outings, a manageable half-day trip for the lazy or child-burdened, or a full-day trip if you come armed with resolve, decent arch support, and an abiding passion for watching elephants. The elephants really are quite…
Best Resident
Yes, you! And you! And — waaaaayy in the back there with your nose buried in Scene’s Best of Cleveland 2014 issue — you! You’ve been a real treat all year, you. With your unwavering pride in all of Cleveland’s awesome, budding neighborhoods, you’ve ensured that “Cleveland” bears at least a slightly less depressing connotation…
Best Place to Get Your Zen On/ Best Place for a Run, Hike or Bike Ride
The Cleveland Metroparks is the place to go for any physical, emotional or spiritual exercise because, well, with 25 unique reservations and hundreds of wooded and paved trails, it’s basically as accessible as a brewery in downtown Cleveland, and, we’d bargain, twice as nice looking. You can pick up practically any outdoor hobby here. Snowshoeing?…
Best Beer Shop
The folks at Winking Lizard looked around one day and realized, hey, our bars have some of the best beer selections in the city, but where might one go to buy bottles of all this stuff on a retail level? Thus was born Lizardville, which is part bar, part restaurant and part beer-bottle bonanza. Organized…
Best New Store
Sisters Katie and Kelly Svijovic quit their jobs in 2012 and turned their shared love for jewelry and accessories into reality by opening Wicked Sugar in Strongsville last year. It’s been a hit so far. Their offerings toe the line between edgy and sweet (which is where the store’s name comes from), and customers have…
Best Editorial Writing
Scene’s Terry Pluto Scribbles: 1. Guy’s got a nice conversational tone to his prose, which has kept readers coming back to him for decades — both for sports commentary and faith-based perspectives. 2. The Chicago Tribune once called him “perhaps the best American writer of sports books,” which is nothing to sneeze at. 3. “I’m…
Best User-Friendly Website
No one likes to pay for auto insurance, let alone shop for a policy. But Northeast Ohio’s own Progressive makes the process as painless as it can be, according to readers. Whether it’s browsing for a quote, filing a claim or reaching out to a customer service rep for any number of auto-related questions, Progressive…
