19 New Cleveland Restaurants That Opened This Summer Or Will Open Soon

Roaming Biscuit

3615 Superior Ave, Cleveland

Since launching her popular breakfast biscuit business in 2019, owner Shawnda Moye says that she literally has been on the move. Not only has she operated solely as a pop-up venture, setting up shop at various farmers markets and cafes around town, but her bake shop has been itinerant as well. As opposed to working out of a dedicated kitchen, Moye had been utilizing restaurant kitchens during off hours. In June, Moye put down roots at the Tyler Village complex in the former home of Byte Café. The Bake Shop and Café will serve as a home base for the Roaming Biscuit, while offering weekday service during which it will sell prepared foods like biscuits, pastries, breakfast and lunch sandwiches and pimento cheese. The Roaming Biscuit will still pop up on weekends around town.

Photo via Scene Archives

El Arepazo

14725 Detroit Ave., Lakewood

El Arepazo Latino, the new Lakewood venture from the owner of El Arepazo y Pupuseria in Fairview Park, is now open in the former Burgers 2 Beer space at the corner of Warren and Detroit. The new restaurant has an extensive menu of Latin American cuisine including tostadas, torta, tacos, burritos, enchiladas, arepas and much more.

Photo via Arepazo Latino and Bar/Facebook

Heart of Gold

4133 Lorain Ave., Cleveland

In June, Heart of Gold came to life to life in the former Plum space in Ohio City. After being closed for the better part of 2020, the Plum in Ohio City was laid to rest earlier this year, making way for a more casual neighborhood bar and kitchen. Oryszak says that his primary objective was to open a completely new restaurant that looked and operated differently from the Plum, but that still produced “thoughtfully composed inventive food and drinks.”

Photo via Jonah Oryszak

Batuqui

17 East Orange St., Chagrin Falls

Following more than a year of construction, Carla Batista and Gustavo Nogueira are ready to unveil the second location of their popular Brazilian eatery. Like the original, which opened on Larchmere in 2015, “Batuqui on the Falls” has repurposed an elegant residential building — in this case, a stately brick Victorian a short stroll from Main Street. Batuqui Chagrin features the same popular dinner menu starring authentic Brazilian dishes like Feijoada and Moqueca Baiana and an ongoing selection of specials and cocktails created by the owners specifically for this location.

Photo via Pure Illuminations

Cloak and Dagger

2399 West 11th St., Cleveland

The greatest sleight of hand that Cloak & Dagger manages to pull off is making guests forget about all the restaurants that previously called this address home. If you want to call attention to your business, it helps to start by differentiating it from the masses. In a monochromatic landscape of sterile, white-tiled rooms, Cloak & Dagger offers the cozy appeal of a warmly lit study, where leatherbound books, antiquities and furniture combine to create a sense of ease but also expectation. The literary device carries over from the décor to the drinks. Like many contemporary cocktail bars, Cloak & Dagger employs a thematic drinks menu, a physical book that is a delight both to hold and behold. These meticulously illustrated pamphlets present a seasonal selection of original cocktails bound together by an overarching motif. Another sleight of hand that Cloak & Dagger manages to pull off – at least for a few acts – is making diners forget that they’re eating vegan. Guests can giddily sip and snack away for hours before realizing that zero animal products have made an appearance.

Photo by Josh Dobay Productions

Lekko Coffee

2529 Detroit Ave., Cleveland

Last year, the co-working space the Beauty Shoppe and its accompanying café Foyer, both located at the Seymour Building in Ohio City, closed. And while the co-working side of the space will not be returning, the café has a new operator. The new third-wave coffee shop will serve standard coffee drinks like drip and pour-over coffee, espresso, cortado, latte, cappuccino, cold-brew and iced coffee. Those will be joined by seasonal specialty drinks like pumpkin-spiced coffee flavored with house-made syrups. Food partners will supply the shop with quick breakfast items, protein muffins and pastries. The owners hope to add lunch items down the road.

Photo by Lindsey Poyar

Floressa Cafe

3328 West 33rd St., Cleveland

Floressa, which launched in 2015, is well known for its high-quality vegan, gluten-free and classic desserts, which are sold regionally at coffee shops like Rising Star, restaurants like Ken Stewart’s and grocery stores such as Whole Foods and Nature’s Oasis. When their cafe opens to the public, it will offer coffee and popular grab-and-go items like cookies, brownies, banana bread, pumpkin bread, chocolate chip cookies, cinnamon rolls and lemon bars. While many of those confections indeed are vegan and gluten-free, there are “classic” desserts featuring flour, eggs and dairy. Down the road, the plan is to add savory breakfast and lunch items like soups, salads and sandwiches. Floressa will be a counter-service operation with seating. Look for Floressa to open sometime in October.

Photo by Douglas Trattner

ETalian

13 Bell St., Chagrin Falls

The transformation from blacksmith’s shop to spa to farmhouse-chic pizzeria is complete. Months of construction have netted an open, airy and attractive space with exposed brick walls, cathedral ceiling, original beams and new windows that look out onto the upper Chagrin Falls. Filling the kitchen in a 6,000-pound imported Italian wood-burning oven that bakes pizzas in around a minute and a half. Pizzas can be ordered unsliced, sliced or folded “wallet-style” for mobile enjoyment from a paper pouch.

Photo by Douglas Trattner

Ohio Pie Co.

15965 Detroit Rd., Rocky River

Pizza lovers routinely make pilgrimages to the colorful storefront in Brunswick, where it is not uncommon for the store to run out of dough. Now those living closer to Cleveland will have an easier time snagging one or two pies. Qualities like a thin-but-not-too-thin crust, subtly sweet sauce, edge-to-edge cheese, and square-cut round pie combine to form Ohio Pie Co’s tasty pies.

Photo via Scene Archives

The Haunted House Restaurant

13463 Cedar Rd., Cleveland Heights

Melt closed its Cleveland Heights location last year after a decade in business. The Haunted House Restaurant took its place, where the only thing that’s scary is “how good the food is,” the one-of-a-kind space presently taking shape pays homage to the pantheon of great horror flicks. Original artwork celebrates iconic characters like Pennywise, Slimer and Frankenstein’s monster. And staffers will dress in theater usher uniforms. The food is described as “urban eclectic American dishes,” with a focus on comfort foods with a twist.

Photo by Douglas Trattner