Jack's Deli in University Heights Will Have New Ownership Come January

A year ago, Jack’s Deli (14490 Cedar Rd., 216-691-6837) in University Heights was purchased by the Cleveland Restaurant Management Group, a multi-unit restaurant group led by Marc Glassman of Marc’s fame. The Jewish delicatessen was founded in 1980 by the Markowitz family and operated in later years by Alvie Markowitz and Gary Lebowitz.

After what many loyal customers would call a turbulent year, the deli will once again change hands come January 2026. Don Apel, a familiar face and name in the Cleveland restaurant scene, will take the keys to the delicatessen from the Glassman group. Apel has managed places like Flour in Moreland Hills, 3 Palms in Hudson, Red in Beachwood and many other restaurants.

“I’ve paid my dues under every type of restaurant owner in this city and other cities, but this is my first taste of ownership,” Apel says“I don’t think I could ever be more prepared and more ready of what to do and definitely what not to do.”

Apel says that the first order of business is to right the ship.

“I want to restore what Jack’s was,” Apel states. “I’ve been listening to what people have been saying and my plan is to just get it back to where it was.”

But Apel also says that he isn’t beholden to the past if it will hinder the deli’s future. He references places like Katzinger’s Deli in Columbus, which has been contemporizing the Jewish deli experience since 1984.

“You know, you walk in there and you look at the chalkboard behind the counter and there’s fun names for all the sandwiches,” he explains. “Everything’s very colorful. It’s just a different vibe, a different energy. My ideas moving forward are definitely to make the place a little bit more fun, a little bit more young.”

Apel also says that down the road, the deli might move away from the full-service model for part of the day. Shifting to counter service with food runners would help alleviate the sort of labor costs and hiring struggles that are plaguing restaurants.

“My dream would be to shift in that direction but that’s not something I can do overnight,” he says, adding that breakfast – the busiest meal of the day – would remain full-service.

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