RIP George Schindler, Cleveland Restaurant Legend

The Cleveland restaurant scene lost a legend over the weekend. George Schindler started on his culinary path at 15, when he took a job washing dishes at Parma Community Hospital cafeteria. He went on to open many of Cleveland’s most successful, consistent and beloved restaurants.

After opening Cabin Club in 1991, Schindler and his partners went on to open Salmon Dave’s, Blue Point Grille, Delmonico’s Steakhouse, Rosewood Grill and others. His Hospitality Restaurants group set the bar for service and hospitality thanks to an old-school approach that saw the work as meaningful, noble, important. It is mentors, managers and restaurants like these that train the next generation of good employees.

“George was our North Star,” Chris Kneeland, Managing Partner of Hospitality Restaurants, said in a statement. “He showed us what true hospitality looks like, not just in how we serve guests, but in how we treat people. His wisdom, generosity, and kindness will forever guide this company. Because of George, we know the difference between simply running restaurants and building a family that takes care of people”.

Despite juggling a billion tasks, George always answered the phone – even if the news was bad. His is a dying breed in a struggling industry, weighed down by a perfect storm of challenges.

In 2010, I interviewed a group of Cleveland’s most successful restaurateurs for a Scene story titled “Wisdom from the Masters.” When asked what advice he would give to others in the industry, he said, “The concept of what good food is may change over time. But people will always expect — and demand — good service.”