When Michael and Tim Schoen walked into 44 N. Main Street, they knew it was the perfect spot for the tavern concept they had been working on for many years. For more than a decade the trim storefront in Chagrin Falls was home to Flip Side, a popular burger bar run by chef Shawn Monday. The closure of that spot created a gap in the marketplace that the Schoen brothers were uniquely suited to fill.
There is no burger in Cleveland more celebrated and desired than the Tinman. When the Ohio City Galley opened in 2019, that irresistible smash burger quickly became the most talked about item at the food hall. Back then, burger bars such as B Spot, the Rail and Flip Side were dishing up juicy half-pounders. The Schoens went all in on thin, stacked and saucy. After the Galley closed, the burger lived on at BottleHouse Brewery in Lakewood and Cleveland Heights. Now, it is one of the headliners at Eugene Tavern, which opened this summer.
But is a burger – even one as illustrious as the Tinman – enough to sustain an entire restaurant? No, but it does have the power to draw in diners, who come for the burger and return for the pork schnitzel sandwich. You might even call it a gateway burger.
“When we first opened, we didn’t know what to expect,” Michael explains. “We knew people wanted the burger, and they were clamoring for a place where they could come in and get a pint and a burger. But people are coming back and trying new things because they trust the burger.”
When chefs like Schoen turn their attention to tavern food, good things tend to happen on the plate. But there is so much more that needs to go right for a place to succeed. Eugene offers that rare confluence of comfort, hospitality, value and kick-ass food. The menu might look like every other neighborhood pub, but the similarities end when the food arrives.
“My whole approach is to make everything that you want to eat and do it really, really well,” says Schoen.
In his hands, chicken tenders ($15) are ridiculously crispy, uncommonly juicy, and paired with dipping sauces good enough to eat with a spoon. Brussels sprouts ($12) are well caramelized but still pleasantly crisp-tender. They are judiciously drizzled with a maple-scented aioli and sprinkled with roasted pumpkin seeds for crunch. A seasonal salad ($14) features earthy beets, crispy apple slices and greens tossed in a cumin-citrus dressing.
Eugene Tavern’s fish and chips ($21) will ruin you for the soggy, greasy versions served elsewhere. Pearly white cod is encased in a craggy, golden-brown crust. The fish gets dipped in creamy tartar sauce and the thick, hand-cut fries get a malt vinegar aioli. I can confirm that the famous Tinman ($15) hasn’t lost a step, but it’s hard to resist the fried chicken sando ($15) with hot honey, bundled in the same buttery challah buns as the burgers.
When Schoen described his PB&J ($15) to me prior to opening, I could not imagine a world in which the combination of flavors could work. The entire table went nuts for it. Inside the warm, toasty, griddled milk bread is a sweet-savory-tart-salty blend of fruit jam, pistachio butter and Spanish cheese. It would work equally well for breakfast or dessert.
To make it these days, an independent restaurant needs to be small, flexible and responsive. When Schoen can get his hands on reasonably priced pork collar ($26), the kitchen braises it until meltingly tender and serves it with whipped root vegetables, cabbage and black garlic jus. A rotating steak frites might star grilled bavette, bone-in ribeye or another cut of Ohio beef depending on availability and price. If the roasted salmon with three-bean ragout doesn’t wow customers, it will be swapped out for something else.
The room has never looked better thanks to cosmetic changes that lowered the lights, improved the sound, and warmed the space. Those in search of that burger and pint can grab stools at the 10-seat bar by the open kitchen and choose from a dozen different craft drafts. The wine list is small but populated by some solid labels.
In the few short months that Eugene Tavern has been open, the restaurant has earned a place in the Chagrin Falls dinner circuit and rolled out lunch service during the weekends. If you do go, I suggest the Tinman burger, but also any number of other delicious items.
Eugene Tavern
44 N. Main St., Chagrin Falls; 440-468-0310; eugenetavern.com
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