While Cleveland's food scene continues to impress, not every local restaurant, bakery and eatery made it through 2018. Here's a look at some of the places we said goodbye to this year.
While Cleveland's food scene continues to impress, not every local restaurant, bakery and eatery made it through 2018. Here's a look at some of the places we said goodbye to this year.
Hours spent at the intimate University Circle boîte seemed to slip right by thanks to bottomless glasses of Champagne, just-shucked oysters, dreamy French pastries and the kind of conversation that has been replaced by droning televisions. Sadly, all of that came to an end in April when the Culeys lowered the curtain on the beloved shop and said “au revoir.”
A major era in Cleveland food will come to an end on March 31 when the Carnegie location of Hot Sauce Williams closed its doors for good. While there are two other locations left to get your Polish Boy fix, the Carnegie mainstay is sorely missed.
With the opening of Ninja City in Detroit Shoreway, owner Bac Nguyen decided to close his flagship restaurant in Tremont to focus exclusively on the new venture. After an admirable eight-year run, the Bac Asian Bistro closed on April 14. “That place is my baby,” Nguyen said of the closure. “Me and my family put our hearts and souls into that place. It allowed us to pivot from what we were doing at other restaurants earlier.”
When it opened in 2014, the Happy Dog at Euclid Tavern was a revival of one of Cleveland’s most beloved and historic clubs. The current lease expired in November and management pulled up stakes. Fans are still able to hang out and eat dogs at the Gordon Square location. The future of the legendary club, however, once again is uncertain.
As it so often does in this business, Bistro 185's notice that it was "closed for remodeling" has turned out to be only partially true. The restaurant closed for good in November. It's sad for Collinwood as the restaurant had been a neighborhood asset. Two years ago, chef Ryan Kaston purchased the restaurant from owners Marc and Ruth Levine, who successfully operated it for a decade. Before that, the attractive bar and restaurant was known as John Christie’s Tavern. It just couldn’t hold on.
Through a Facebook post, Brasa Grill, Cleveland’s first but no longer only, Brazilian steakhouse has announced that it closed in November. The Warehouse District staple was known for offering a bountiful salad bar and a continuous stream of grilled and roasted meats, served tableside by spit-and-saber wielding servers.
Photo Courtesy of Brasa Grill Steakhouse, Facebook
The story was almost too good to be believed. John Krissinger, a Chagrin Falls grad, was scouring the business-for-sale websites looking for a Cleveland-based restaurant when he happened upon a listing for Dink's diner, a beloved community asset for more than 50 years. In Late January, North Main Diner closed, lasting just two years and following in the steps of Fresh Start Diner and Dink’s before it.
The second iteration of Cha Spirits and Pizza, which opened in Ohio City last December, closed for good Sept. 15. Owner Susan Walters had hoped for more after the move from Battery Park, but a disagreement on new lease terms at the Whitman Ave. space means the end of business. That location was previously home to the short-lived Pasta and Pastries.
Since the restaurant opened five years ago, it has enjoyed not only steady business by “bringing a taste of the Big City to the 'burbs,” but also raked in awards like Best New Restaurant, Best of Cleveland, and countless other honors, not the least of which was being invited to cook at the James Beard House in New York. Still, the place closed in June.
The Corner Alley in uptown closed in May. While the restaurant and bowling alley has operated in its University Circle spot since 2014, the venue was apparently too big to keep operations going. The downtown location is still going strong.
