Donald Nemeth, Brother of WWE’s Dolph Ziggler, Pleads Guilty to Manslaughter and Other Charges in Deadly Robbery From Last Year
Update: Donald Nemeth, brother of WWE superstar Dolph Ziggler, was arrested about a year ago along with Jack King in connection with the January 2106 murder of Joshua Mascol at the University Hotel and Suites on Euclid. It was a drug deal gone wrong — Nemeth and King attempted to rob Mascol, who ended up…
California Delegation Team Members Hit with Norovirus in Sandusky
The California delegates can’t catch a break with this one. Already peeved about their Sandusky accommodations (see earlier story below), the group is now dealing with norovirus — aka the “winter vomiting bug.” Eleven planners for the delegates are being tested and are confined to their rooms at Kalahari, according to WKYC’s Phil Trexler. For…
Man Indicted on Fake Cavs Tickets Scam: UPDATE
Jesse Joe Cundall was arrested earlier this month for scamming Cavs fans and others with fake event tickets in January. Cundall was indicted on 14 charges by the Cuyahoga County Grand Jury. (Read the original story below.) Through selling tickets on Craigslist to the Christmas Day Cavs-Warriors game and the Bruce Springsteen concert in February,…
City of Cleveland Releases Full List of “Fast 8” Movie Shooting Road Closures
Update: The city of Cleveland has released a full list of roads to avoid (or, watch the action) during the shooting for Fast & Furious 8. Again, Cleveland was chosen for secondary photography meaning you most likely won’t be seeing the main cast drifting along East 9th Street. RTA is also adjusting its routes along…
The Making of a Board Game: Two Local Creators Talk ‘Adorable to Horrible’
Erik Flesher and Kirk Wyckoff have always wanted to make a board game. They grew up as self-avowed total nerds, slinging 12-sided dice and reveling in Monty Python sketches. They still do that, but now they’ve achieved one of their big goals with the impending release of Adorable to Horrible. The board game — 2-4 players, ages…
Ferry Service From Downtown Sandusky to Cedar Point Returns This Year
Public ferry service to Cedar Point from downtown Sandusky has returned after more than a decade. Jet Express has announced plans to bring the service back, hopefully permanently if it’s a huge hit. The service will run between downtown Sandusky to the Lake Erie Islands and Cedar Point Marina. The testing phase of the service…
Carol & John’s to Host Massive Free Comic Book Day Party
[image-1]On Saturday, May 7, Carol & John’s hosts its annual Free Comic Book Day. Although the event takes place across the U.S., Carol & John’s hosts one of the largest events in the country. In addition to celebrating comics and comic book culture, Carol & John’s event celebrates Cleveland and its community through local art,…
Local Hardcore Act Releases New Music Video
In October 2011, the activist hacker group Anonymous released the names of 1589 users of Lolita City, an underground pedophile community. In an interview about the effort to expose the bastards, a hacker named “Arson” stated that the mission was only to take down illegal materials. He said the operation wasn’t triggered by any particular…
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame to Host Cheap Trick Day
After years of getting snubbed, the classic rock act Cheap Trick was finally inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year. On Friday, the group comes to town to play the Rock Hall’s 13th annual It’s Only Rock and Roll Spring Benefit at Public Hall. To mark the occasion, the Rock Hall…
For Russo Brothers, Cleveland Cinematheque is Most Important Theater in the World
Captain America: Civil War opens Friday and is predicted to be among the biggest box-office smash hits of 2016. (We saw the film Monday, and rest assured that it’s every bit as gritty and grand as Winter Soldier.) Hometown boys Anthony and Joe Russo directed the film. It’s their second of four directorial entries in…
Someone Who Just Moved Here Reviews Cleveland Things: A Carriage Ride in Chagrin Falls
Sometimes it’s not winter but not yet spring and you’re sitting at your sad computer, in your sad apartment, staring out of the window onto a sad, cold, gray, barren Cleveland landscape. You don’t want to feel this way, so you check all of your social media sites in search of a much-needed hit of…
The Black Market Will Host Two Artistic ‘Swap’ Events This Month
The Black Market in Gordon Square hosts two special swap events over the next two Sundays. This Sunday, Sarah Catt McGee curates an Arts and Craft Supply Swap. Next Sunday, Blackhole Press presents a Sticker, Patch, Button and Pin Swap. At both events, sales are prohibited. Whether you’re moving, doing spring cleaning or just looking…
Magnolia to Join Entertainment Scene in Flats East Bank
To make your way into Magnolia, a new club coming to the Flats East Bank this summer, you’ll have to walk through a small general store-like storefront that sells made-to-order donuts. “The secret to the space is that the entrance is through the donut shop,” says owner Bobby Rutter. “It’s a little hidden element that…
The Cleveland Cello Quartet and Four Other Classical Music Events Not To Miss This Week
Conductor Andrés Orozco-Estrada and pianists Kirill Gerstein will be the next guests of The Cleveland Orchestra this spring. On Thursday, May 5 at 7:30 pm, Friday, May 6 at 7:00 pm, and Saturday, May 6 at 8:00 pm, Orozco-Estrada will lead the resident ensemble at Severance Hall in Zoltán Kodály’s Dances of Galánta, and the…
In Response to Museum Request, City to Delay Cudell Gazebo Demolition 30 Days
An update on yesterday’s gazebo story: In response to a request from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African-American History and Culture, the city of Cleveland will delay the demolition of the gazebo at Cudell recreation center for 30 days. “Because of their expressed interest in discussing a possible relocation of the gazebo, the City will delay…
Cavs Fail to Bury Hawks, Survive Furious Comeback
We’re not sure when the Cavaliers found time to attend Robert McKee’s famed screenwriting classes, but they’ve mastered dramatic structure, turning a runaway blowout into a white knuckle ride in just the last four minutes of the third quarter. (Maybe they could do something to punch up the Blacklist.) That 18-point lead evaporated quicker than…
Here’s the Plain Dealer Story on the First Baseball Game at League Park, 125 Years Ago Today
We were reminded today by the good folks over at Did The Tribe Win Last Night that the first Cleveland baseball game at League Park happened 125 years ago yesterday and thusly, the first Plain Dealer coverage of a baseball game at League Park happened 125 years ago today. It was a 12-3 win for…
African-American Museum Wants to Preserve Cudell Gazebo, Cancel Demolition
A curator at the National Museum of African-American History and Culture (NMAAHC) has written a letter to Cleveland’s law department asking the city to postpone the demolition of the gazebo at Cudell Recreation Center. Twelve-year-old Tamir Rice was shot and killed at the gazebo by Cleveland Police officer Timothy Loehmann in November, 2014, and some…
First Look at Menu for Parker’s Downtown, Restaurant in the New Schofield Hotel
Although the Kimpton Schofield Hotel, located at East Ninth and Euclid Avenue downtown, has been open for about a month, the flagship restaurant within is still getting buttoned up. “We’re about three weeks to a month out,” says executive chef Andrew Gorski. The restaurant, Parker’s Downtown, is an offshoot of Parker’s Grille & Tavern in…
Cleveland Water: Toxic Sediment in Lake Erie is ‘Not a Concern’
James McCarty of The Plain Dealer recently reported on a “mass of toxic sediment” in Lake Erie that’s long been migrating toward shore. The story posed health-related questions about the quality of our local drinking water and about the ecology of the lake. On Monday afternoon, Cleveland Water leadership appeared for a press conference on the matter,…
Tequila Fest Cleveland Returns to Flats This Week for Cinco De Mayo
Cinco de Mayo is this Thursday, which means a bunch of booze-related things but mainly the return of the annual Tequila Fest Cleveland celebration. Now in its fifth year, the festival will held at Lago in the East Bank of the Flats this Thursday, May 5, from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Along with guacamole,…
Report: LeBron to Star in “Space Jam 2”
Update: Hold your horses on the Hollywood Reporter scoop from earlier this afternoon that set the collective internet ablaze. Despite a report LeBron will star in Space Jam 2, no deal is in place sources say. Maybe at some point but not as of yet. — Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) May 2, 2016 *** The script…
Local Film Fest Looking for a Few Good ‘Adventuresome’ Films
Organizers for the annual On the Edge Film Festival, which shows “adventuresome films,” have announced that this year’s festival will take place on Friday, Oct. 14, and Saturday, Oct. 15, at the Breen Center for the Performing Arts in Ohio City. Local filmmakers are encouraged to submit “exciting ‘edge of your seat’ adrenaline movies, enlightening…
Horseshoe Casino Cleveland to Close for 40 Hours for Branding Overhaul
[image-1]The Horseshoe Casino is getting a makeover soon to with its new name, and with that comes the first time the facility won’t be open since it first swung wide the doors back in 2012. On Monday, May 9, it will close and reemerge as JACK Cleveland Casino, almost four years to the day when…
RIP Mitzie Verne, Beloved Member of Local Arts Community and Grandmother of James and Dave Franco (1922-2016)
Although she was perhaps best known as the grandmother of actors James and Dave Franco, Mitzie Verne was better known in the local art community as a tireless champion of Japanese and Asian artwork. She and her husband Dan established the Verne Collection in the 1950s in a small building near Murray Hill in Little…
Akron Gets Its First Bitcoin ATM
Akron made a big jump into the 21st century digital economy this month. A market near the University of Akron unveiled a brand-spanking new ATM featuring the online currency Bitcoin, preferred legal tender of computer hackers, illegal arms traders, and Silk Road types. The new box joins just a handful of similar devices scattered around…
‘The Beauty Queen of Leenane’ Is Grim and Compelling at None Too Fragile Theater
When it comes to black comedies, this piece by Martin McDonagh may not appear to be the blackest of them all. But it possesses that dark Irish sensibility that can cast a pall even as you chuckle at characters thrashing about in their quietly untenable lives. Mag Folan is the elderly woman who sits and…
Michael Symon Says He Will Open a New Concept in Former Lolita Spot
Lolita in Tremont has been closed since a fire this past January ravaged most of the upper floors of the building. Despite significant smoke and water damage, chef and owner Michael Symon vowed to rebuild the restaurant, even if it took a year to do so. Now the chef is saying that when the restaurant…
The Smashing Pumpkins Christen Akron’s New Goodyear Theater with Career-Spanning Set
Already home to two great mid-sized theaters (the Akron Civic and the E.J. Thomas Hall), Akron now has a third venue in the mix. Last night, the newly refurbished Goodyear Theater opened its doors with a sold out show featuring ’90s alt-rock acts the Smashing Pumpkins and Liz Phair. You can see a slide show…
Digging Into the Browns’ First Round Trade and Selection of Wide Receiver Corey Coleman — The A to Z Podcast With Andre Knott and Zac Jackson
It’s the day after the first round of the 2016 NFL draft and the A to Z Podcast is discussing all the Cleveland Browns’ maneuvers. The Browns make a second trade. The Browns select Corey Coleman, wide receiver, of Baylor. The Browns select the number one receiver off the board. All that and Dre’s stories…
Cincy Restaurateur Jeff Ruby Withdraws $25K Reward for Piketon Info
After the grisly execution-style murders of eight people in Piketon, Ohio, last Friday, Cincinnati-area businessman Jeff Ruby offered up a reward of $25,000 to anyone with information leading to the killer or killers. Thursday, Ruby rescinded the offer on Twitter due to non-specified developments in the case. With recent complex criminal developments in Pike Co…
Pepper Pike AirBnB Host Comes Home to Used Condoms, Vomit, and More
[image-1]One of those AirBnb horror stories just came true for a woman in Pepper Pike who thought she’d rented her place to two wholesome members of society. The kind of people you needn’t worry about trusting your home to. The first hint that her instinct was wrong came when she got a call from neighbors saying…
‘Good Morning America’ is Broadcasting From Cleveland Next Week
[image-1]They’re first come, first served. Good Morning America is broadcasting live from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum next Wednesday. Tickets are free, so you better grab one up soon before they’re all out. The show is broadcasting its “Deals & Steals on Wheels” edition of the show, which is super rhyme-y.…
Apparently People Are Finding ‘Wads of Poop’ All Over Ohio City
In a rather hilarious news report from WEWS, we’ve come to learn that a bizarre situation is unfolding in Ohio City: People — humans — are just pooping everywhere. Residents in the neighborhood, according to WEWS, are finding human waste “in their yards, on their porches and even in front of local shops.” “You may…
The Capital Grille at Legacy Village Will Open in July
The Capital Grille, a fine-dining chain of restaurants known for its steaks, fresh seafood and award-winning wine list, will open its first Northeast Ohio location in time for the RNC. According to Trent Love, who will serve as executive chef partner, the Legacy Village location will open in early July. The free-standing 9,000-square-foot building is…
Cleveland Will Begin Tearing Down Gazebo Where Tamir Rice Was Shot
As early as next week, the city of Cleveland will start disassembling the Gazebo where Tamir Rice was shot in November 2014. A press release Friday morning said that the city had considered tearing down the gazebo for some time, but that due to criminal and administrative proceedings, the site was still required for “evidential…
ODOT Introduces Tours of the Inner Belt Bridge Construction
Cleveland is filled with orange cones and road blocks for what feels like 364 days of the year. Sometimes it’s hard to have patience to realize the good things to come. But then things start rounding into shape and you have a sense of relief that the end of the cones is near. Take the…
Soon to Be 80, Crooner Engelbert Humperdinck Shows No Signs of Slowing Down
One of the last of the old school lounge/soft rock singers who sings about romantic love like it’s something precious, Engelbert Humperdinck hammed it up when he appeared at Hard Rock Live at Hard Rock Rocksino Northfield Park back in 2014. And yet Humperdinck, who returns to the venue at 7:30 on Sunday, May 8,…
Punk Rockers Blink-182 to Play Blossom in August
Nineties pop-punk hitmakers Blink-182 split back in 2005 but reconvened in 2009 and began recording and touring once more. Now, the volatile band has announced dates for a summer tour in advance of the forthcoming album, California, slated for release on July 1. The tour kicks off on July 22 in the band’s hometown of…
Northeast Ohio Native Tom Bukovac Excited to Return to Town with Country Star Vince Gill
When country singer-guitarist Vince Gill was putting together plans to go out on the road in support of his latest album, Down to My Last Bad Habit, he reached out to guitarist Tom Bukovac, who had played on all of the tracks on the new record, to see if he might want to come along.…
Six Shooter Coffee Hosts Rachel Latina’s New, More Personal Artwork
A week before May’s Walk All Over Waterloo, the neighborhood’s new coffee shop, Six Shooter Coffee Café, invites the public to its first art reception. Recently, Six Shooter owner Peter Brown asked local artist Rachel Latina to display her work on the walls around the coffee shop. Although some of her work has been hanging…
Video: Prince’s Full Rock Hall Induction Performance From 2004
Yeah, you’ve seen the “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” video by now, but what you probably haven’t seen is the full 11-minute performance from Prince earlier in the night’s festivities back in 2004 when the legend was inducted into the Hall. It’ll probably get pulled from YouTube soon so go ahead and watch it now.…
Kimpton Schofield Celebrates Opening with Community Celebration
[image-1]Kimpton Schofield, the first Kimpton Hotel in Ohio, officially opened last month, but earlier this morning the new downtown hotel hosted its “official grand opening celebration.” Adam Gurgiolo, the hotel’s general manager, began by welcoming a throng of media and VIPs by joking that he realized many of the attendees were probably pleased that crews…
Indie Rockers Silversun Pickups Broaden Their Sound with ‘Better Nature’
When an indie rock band winds up on the fast track to fame, members often find themselves unprepared to deal with the demands. Not Silversun Pickups. Throughout the course of a 16-year career, the band has evolved and grown at its own pace. Singer Brian Aubert and bassist Nikki Monninger first met back in 1997…
Pyro De Mayo at Nelson Ledges: Nahko and Medicine for the People Bring Their Vision
The last time Nahko Bear played Nelson Ledges Quarry Park in 2012, he was, by all accounts, a different and younger man. He was gigging solo back then — “I had a blast,” he says now — and the great wheels of fate were only just beginning to spin him toward his current musical journey.…
Now Open: Bloom Artisan Bakery & Café in Campus District
Bloom Artisan Bakery & Café has opened its second location today, joining the original shop at 200 Public Square that opened in March. In addition to turning out premium breads, pastries, soups and sandwiches, both Bloom bakeshops support Towards Employment’s goal of creating pathways out of poverty for thousands of individuals by providing meaningful opportunities for…
Joey’s Bistro on Lee Road is Closed. Next Up: The Fix by Chef Eric Rogers
After a little more than two years in business, Joey’s Bistro (2195 Lee Rd.) in Cleveland Heights has closed. The restaurant relocated to the old Jimmy O’Neill’s Tavern spot after their longtime Chagrin Falls space was gutted by fire and the owners lost their lease. The restaurant group’s Solon location closed two years back after…
River Gallery Managers Collaborate in Unique Exhibition
This spring, River Gallery presents the work of two of its own. Wallpaper/Paper Walls features new and recent work by River Gallery managers Randy Maxin and Mark Yasenchack. In addition to sharing the role of gallery manager at River Gallery for the past year, Maxin and Yasenchack are longtime friends, who share studio space in…
Green Room is Gory Punk-Metal-Fueled Adrenaline Rush
Anton Yelchin and Patrick Stewart star in Green Room, a no-escape thriller about a punk rock band trapped at a Neo-Nazi criminal headquarters-slash-metal bar in the depraved backwoods of Oregon. It opens Friday at select area theaters, and it’s the cinema event of 2016 so far. Directed by Jeremy Saulnier, the commercial cinematographer turned auteur…
How To Talk Yourself Into Being Excited About Whoever the Browns Draft This Week
[image-1]Tonight in Chicago, sometime after 8 p.m., NFL commissioner Roger Goodell will stroll to the podium and announce that a new person has been selected to join the illustrious franchise that is the Cleveland Browns. History tells us, almost assures us, that this person will be bad. This person will be an offensive lineman without…
Backstage Pass: An Interview With the Pop/Rock Band SafetySuit
Once spotlighted by VH1 as a band “You Oughta Know,” SafetySuit takes its musical cues from acts such as U2, Coldplay and the Police, writing arena-ready rock anthems that feature uplifting lyrics and mid-range vocals. In advance of a new studio album due out before the year’s end, the group came through town last night…
Someone Who Just Moved Here Reviews Cleveland Things: Brunch at Townhall With the Kids
Townhall is located in the heart of Ohio City. Its large interior is decorated with exposed brick, reclaimed wood, cement floors, a huge bar displaying every possible delicious thing you could ever want to drink, flat screen TVs in every corner, an enormous patio, and restroom stalls so large you could lay down in them.…
Here’s How Cleveland’s Downtown Business Boom Looks on a Map
Across the world, planners and economic developers are considering how best to present the commercial interface of city. A new City Observatory report outlines how major metropolitan areas shake out in terms of that very important “sidewalk ballet” of people moving through public places, to quote Jane Jacobs. The centerpiece of the report is the Storefront…
All the Important Numbers from the Piketon Massacre in Southern Ohio
[image-1]Ohio investigators are currently poring over evidence and following leads in an attempt to track down the killer or killers responsible for the massacre in Pike County Friday. The series of execution-style killings wiped out an entire family in a rural community 210 miles south of Cleveland and 60 miles south of Columbus. The Columbus…
Bumper Crop for Local Security Consultant as RNC Looms
News Channel 5 has reported that a local security company has seen requests for security improvement plans go through the roof as the Republican National Convention looms. The RNC, which will bring approximately 50,000 visitors and (for better or worse) the national spotlight to Northeast Ohio, is scheduled for July 18-21. And though much attention has…
The Willeyville Launches 12-Course Chef’s Table Experience
Now into its third year, The Willeyville (1051 W. 10th St., 216-862-6422) in the Flats East Bank is ready to shake thing up a bit. Chef and owner Chris DiLisi has launched Table 68, a specially prepared 12-course tasting menu paired with wine and spirits. “The idea started from the inspiration of Minibar from Jose…
Justin Bieber Lip Syncs His Way Through Lackluster Performance at the Q
Derek Zoolander, the fictional supermodel portrayed by actor Ben Stiller, possesses patented looks that parody the way male models walk around with an air of self-importance. The self-obsessed Derek confidently walks the fashion runway in a daze until he stops to dramatically strike a pose. Much like Derek Zoolander, pop singer Justin Bieber carries himself…
Browns Draft Scenarios and Ohio State Football — The A to Z Podcast With Andre Knott and Zac Jackson
This is a two-part A to Z podcast. In the first part Zac and Andre discuss the Cleveland Browns and some of their draft scenarios ahead of Thursday’s 2016 NFL Draft. In the second part, Zac talks to Ben Axelrod about Ohio State Football (and Ben’s shirtless photos on social media). Subscribe to A to…
Welcome to Best of Cleveland 2016
Once upon a time there was a city… It wasn’t the flashiest city. It wasn’t the largest city. It wasn’t the richest city. But the people who called this city home knew it was special. They knew the truth. And they stuck around the place, this jewel of a city, and they went about their…
Best Arts Event
For more than 25 years, the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Parade the Circle has been a signature event for both the CMA and the community. An early signal of summer, this free, family friendly event combines art, music and culture from around the world. Each year, local artists, schools, community groups and families work with…
Best Dive Bar
Duh, right? Whether for the name itself or for the quintessentially divey atmosphere, voters shoved their PBRs in the air en masse on behalf of this West Sixth Street mainstay when asked what their favorite dive bar was. Cheap booze? Check. Tons of sports? Check. Perfect location for happy hour for the downtown set? Absolutely.…
Best Bar with Games
You don’t have to be a nerd to enjoy Side Quest, but it doesn’t hurt. The relatively young Lakewood bar filled a niche in the Cleveland bar landscape, notably as a destination for quirky, nerdy, friendly, board-game loving folks. There are trivia nights, themed nights (Star Wars, Pi Day), and a healthy batch of craft…
Best Arts/Film Festival
Breaking its own attendance record again in 2016 (102,255 attendees!), the Cleveland International Film Festival miraculously continues to grow. It is a flagship event for the city, and a truly marvelous assortment of international cinema. But the best news for diehard CIFF fans? Executive Director Marcie Goodman announced that even with the sale of the…
Best Burger
Maybe it’s the fact that Swenson’s Drive-Ins are situated a wee bit out of reach for most of us burger lovers to make regular pilgrimages. Absence, as they say, makes the cholesterol-hardened heart grow fonder. Like a distant lover, we pine for the warm embrace of a Galley Boy, a double-decker sandwich that always hits…
Best Barbecue
Barbecue has been top of mind lately, what with some very high-profile openings in recent days. But before there were celebrity chef-run BBQ bistros, there was Hot Sauce Williams, a name synonymous with “Cleveland barbecue.” They might not trade in Texas-style brisket, or whip up Memphis-style pulled pork, but the food is delicious and authentically…
Best Thai
This cozy Tremont restaurant is closing in on a decade in the business of providing Thai food, and it shows no signs of slowing down. From a sprawling list of colorful vegetarian options to meat-filled curry dishes packed with heat, Ty Fun doesn’t skimp when it comes to offering something for everyone. Boneless crispy roasted…
Best Middle Eastern
This downtown favorite, where kabobs are grilled over charcoal and you can watch warm pita bake in a Lebanese stone oven, makes you feel like you’ve been whisked away to the Middle East. An upscale, opulent decor adds a touch of authenticity to the proceedings, where colorful textiles offer a warm embrace. Hummus is spiked…
Best Seasonal Fest/Event
Cleveland is notorious for fickle weather. Sometimes it’s a boon —summer in April! — and other times it’s a bust — winter in April! The weather changes, but the great thing about Cleveland is that it really doesn’t change our plans. We know how to deal with the elements and we’ll celebrate sleet as much…
Best Place for a Kids Birthday Party
Move aside Chuck E. Cheese, Sky Zone Trampoline Park is the new favorite place to have a birthday party for Cleveland’s youngest residents (and, let’s not lie, most adults). The name basically says it all. It’s a trampoline park, and it’s the perfect spot for the kiddos to burn off all that extra energy. There’s…
Best Beach
Is there any contest? Cleveland’s flagship beach is once again its best, morphing into the premier summertime destination with the addition of popular programming and — go figure — clean sand. Thanks to the Metroparks’ crew, this stretch of local waterfront has returned to its previous splendor. Edgewater Live has already become one of Cleveland’s…
Best Gym
There are endless gyms sprouting in defunct strip malls throughout the area, advertising their $10 monthly specials. Nick White had something different in mind for the Tremont Athletic Club, which calls the Fairmount Creamery building home. It’ll cost you a little more, but it’s worth it. From the equipment to the staff to the amenities…
Best Book Store
One of the jewels of Coventry Road, Mac’s Backs is your classic used bookstore. Inside, you’ll find a balcony devoted to science fiction, a basement bursting with peculiar nonfiction, tons of new and interesting literary journals, and a staff as cordial and erudite as you’d hope. This dusty enclave hosts readings with regional visiting authors…
Best Home/Garden Shop
Grace Brothers came along just when the neighborhood needed it most. The Detroit-Shoreway shop is as close to an old-timey general store as we’re likely to get in these contemporary times. Despite its urban address, the shop sells everything a person might need to raise chickens, keep bees or grow a vegetable garden. No need…
Best Comedy Venue Series
Cleveland’s comedy world has been building momentum for years. But nothing’s quite captured attention like the Accidental Comedy Club, our lovely city’s independent comedy operation. A rotating show of standup talent organized by Ramon Rivas and a few others is basically guerilla comedy, ending up in new weird locations as well as holding down some regular gigs.…
Best Place for Arcade Games
Arcade games? Hell yes. Who doesn’t want more of those? Well, listen, it’s 2016, and no generation of gamers has ever been as hard-pressed to find a working Ms. Pac-Man as our current crop of millennial drink-slingers. Good news, though: 16-Bit in Lakewood will make your dreams come true. Their fine roster of classic arcade…
Best Ohio City Bar
ABC the Tavern has snagged this award from such glitzy up-and-comers as Market Garden, Town Hall, Nano Brew and Bier Market. Why? Probably because it feels entirely authentic. With bar bowling, an all-business pool table on the balcony level and more happy hours than regular hours per day (it feels like), this neighborhood watering hole…
Best Movie Theater
The Cedar Lee is such a slam dunk winner every year that having a vote seems almost superfluous. The eastside “indie” theater is the state’s go-to destination for award-season fare, interesting foreign films and emerging indie directors. It’s also the birthplace of the Cleveland International Film Festival — thanks Jonathan Forman! — and monthly midnight…
Best Steakhouse
All steaks are not created equal. Nor are steakhouses. One can settle in for a perfectly delicious steak or chop at any number of other local places, and your wallet would thank you. But for a truly exceptional, top-of-the-line, meat-lover’s extravaganza, the number of suitable options diminishes greatly. The best of the bunch? You’re looking…
Best West Side Market Vendor
It took us a while to truly appreciate the utility of the Ohio City Pasta stand at the West Side Market. When you’re staring down glistening seafood, cowboy-size steaks, and mountains of spicy beef jerky, pale pasta kinda gets lost in the crowd. But in terms of actual weekday meal planning, this place is a…
Best Late-Night Eats
The clock is ticking down to closing time and run-of-the-mill bar food just won’t cut it. You want comfort food and you want it in an Old-World type of joint that’s as nostalgic as it is relaxed. Few places do both as well as this Tremont tavern, where the warm, woodsy walls are inviting and…
Best Deli
Before West 25th became the West 25th that it is today, there was Nate’s Deli. While the neighborhood grows and changes, this family institution remains an enduring fixture. With such a devoted following for both the American deli and the Middle Eastern classics sides of its menu, how could this venerable urban lunch spot not…
Best Indoor Wedding Venue
Built in 1888, the Arcade was and still is one of the most impressive spaces in Cleveland, with architectural details that will stop you in your tracks. The Arcade once was called Cleveland’s Crystal Palace, and when you look up you’ll see why: a skylight made of 1,800 panes of glass soars 85 feet above…
Best Place for a Grown-Ups Birthday Party
It’s basically the spot to be in the Flats right now, which is itself the spot to be right now. So double points for that. Punch Bowl is a massive operation physically and in every other way. Tons of food, tons of booze, tons of people and tons of games. It’s all about bar games…
Best Dog Park
You can take your dog to any old park and Fido will be pretty happy. But the allure of a dog park is two-fold: First, your pup gets pup friends. Second, you get to talk to other people about dogs, which is probably your favorite hobby. Whether you’re apologizing for your pup’s general lack of…
Best Batting Cages
There are a million reasons to go to the batting cages. Kid’s gotta practice for that CYO team. You have to warm up for the Saturday beer league. You’ve got lots of stress to take out on some silly little balls. You’re bored. All good reasons, and all good reasons to head to Swings-N-Things. From…
Best Vintage Store
If you need a bit of retro flair, look no further than Flower Child, perennial winner in this category, and for a million reasons. (A “million” being the estimated count of cool shit you can find there.) The 20th century is the store’s forte, especially items dated between 1930 and 1980. The store is friendly…
Best Local Male Comedian
It’s hard to find a Cleveland funny man with the same perfect balance of joke chops and Rust Belt soul as Mike Polk. Few have left such serious marks on the scene. Polk’s own slacker genius, however, might be his ability to constantly reinvent himself. There’s Polk, the standup. Polk, the viral video auteur. Polk, the coffee table book author. And, in probably…
Best Neighborhood Bar
Now that summer is just around the corner, there’s no better place to kick back and enjoy a shandy or G&T than the patio at Tremont’s Treehouse. For that matter, in the wintertime, there’s no better place than Treehouse to nestle down at a wooden table or booth and nurse a porter or whiskey. With…
Best Tremont Bar
You’re not doing Tremont right if you don’t land at Edison’s for at least some portion of your night. It’s the quintessential Tremont bar, the quintessential Cleveland bar — a real bar’s bar, you dig? Whether you’re just stopping in at the pickup door for a pizza or you’re posting up at the lovely bar…
Best Local Author/Writer
The Minister of Culture for the win! Michael Heaton, a longtime personality at the Plain Dealer, has been informing and entertaining readers for years with his take on music, movies and the people making Cleveland as culturally resplendent as it is. Heaton is an unpretentious writer and a hell of a dude, and you want…
Best Korean
Let’s face it: Korean food is some of the most intimidating stuff around, what with all those little plates of banchan, various raw, pickled or fermented veggies, tofu and fish, and the indecipherable menu. And that’s just the start! But the good folks at Korea House get that, and they go out of their way…
Best Place to Buy Seafood
To the uninitiated, seafood can be a scary thing to purchase and prepare. Hamburger is one thing. Raw oysters and squid are something else entirely. The folks at Kate’s Fish, in the West Side Market, are there for you. For starters, you can be confident that the fish is fresh, flown in from wherever it…
Best Bloody Mary
All hail Mary, our weekend savior. The Bloody Mary has become a brunch-time necessity, giving us a fiery kick and boosting our woozy Sunday mornings. Among the mightiest are those at Tremont hot spot The South Side. This attractive restaurant has developed a world-class brunch, from those beloved chicken and waffles to graham cracker-crusted French…
Best Bakery/Pastries
Anybody with a taste for travel knows that Coquette Patisserie is the creme de la creme of Cleveland bakeries. At this sweet little French cafe in University Circle, rainbows of macarons and French-inspired pastries come to life in artistic grandeur. Cointreau-soaked Genoise cake, lemon curd-filled eclairs, and ginger-apricot goat cheesecakes are but a few of…
Best Outdoor Wedding Venue
The Grand Barn at the Mohicans is the perfect blend of rusticity and elegance, one of those rare places that combines timelessness with modern charm. Step inside and you’ll find yourself saying, “Wait, this is a barn?!” The Grand Barn at the Mohicans is situated just a little over an hour and a half south…
Best Renovation Project
Only a couple shorts months away from its much-anticipated opening, the brand new Public Square in the heart of downtown looks as good as advertised. Designed by nationally renowned New York City architect James Corner’s firm, the new Public Square — funded by the city, the county, the state and the region’s major foundations —…
Best Billiards
Like a throwback to the days of yore, River City in Fairview Park offers the region’s sharks a fine place to play each night. Rack ‘em up and shoot ‘em, everybody; you can stop in for a game or two and end up playing ‘til close. It’s addicting. These guys are old school in the…
Best Yoga Studio/Best Yoga Instructor
Cleveland Yoga is an official Baptiste Yoga affiliate studio with more than 100 weekly classes for all ages at two Cleveland-area locations. Never taken a class before? There are courses catering to beginners; and if you’re a little more seasoned, there are classes for you too. The organization was a clear winner with voters, and…
Best Florist
For the second year in a row, Urban Orchid has taken the top spot in this category. It was one of the first shops to open in Hingetown — now one of Ohio City’s most bustling and variegated intersections — and it offers both high-quality floral arrangements and cards and gifts to go along with…
Best Local Female Comedian
Mary Santora, part of the Accidental Comedy Club group (in fact, the “First Lady” of the group, as Accidental’s site proclaims), has opened for a variety of traveling comics, and performed at gigs across the country; but, thankfully for us, she calls Northeast Ohio home. There are only so many bad sex jokes from so…
Best Bar for Singles/Best Bar for Day Drinking
TownHall stormed onto the Cleveland entertainment scene three years ago, and the place just hasn’t let up. We’ve written plenty about this place, and we remain pleasantly mystified at how TownHall sort of takes on different identities as the clock ticks into the night. Day drinking? Yes, of course. This is the perfect spot to…
Best Cleveland Heights Bar
Though Parnell’s expanded, with much success, to Playhouse Square in 2014, the Cleveland Heights location is still Cleveland’s classic Irish pub. An itty-bitty interior means it’s you and the gorgeous array of whiskeys in extremely close proximity. The company’s not half-bad either: It’s the stomping grounds of east-side soccer fanatics, Cedar Lee pilgrims (it’s right…
Best Place to See A Play
If Playhouse Square were not in downtown Cleveland — and it almost wasn’t! — our lives would be nastier and more brutish. But thanks to several visionaries back in the 1970s, we are blessed with one of the nation’s finest venues for enjoying Broadway plays and live performances of all kinds. It is the largest…
Best Patio Dining
Many restaurants like to claim that their patio is an extension of the community, a communal living room where neighbors become friends. Nowhere does that description appear to be more accurate than at Luxe, the 8-year-old Detroit Shoreway restaurant with the city’s best patio for dining. Inclusive, relaxed and comfortably chic, the urban oasis is…
Best Butcher Shop
Given the name, it’s logical to assume that all this small Cleveland Heights butcher shop does is make lives easy for Jewish home cooks come Passover. And while they do a brisk business in brisket, there are so many other reasons to visit this legendary spot. For starters, it’s about the only game in town…
Best Food Truck
It’s hard to manage a good food truck. It’s hard to do good barbecue in Cleveland. And it’s hard to be successful enough with a food truck that a brick and mortar location is a real possibility. Proper Pig has managed all three. Slinging brisket, pulled pork and all the cue you can imagine, Shane…
Best Mac & Cheese
It’s hard to go wrong with mac and cheese, but when it’s right, it’s very, very right. And the only thing better than a great bowl of mac and cheese is devoting an entire section of your menu to it, as do the folks at Two Bucks. That section is the first (and last) place…
Best College Radio Station
College radio is the last and only bastion of “good music on the ol’ airwaves” these days, and our very own WJCU covers all the necessary bases. Not only have they proven themselves willing and able to maintain a fine stable of hosts throughout all hours of the day, but those local DJs really know…
Best Place to Buy a House
It’s not for nothing that Lakewood considers itself “the city of beautiful homes.” If you get involved around here long enough, you’ll hear Mayor Mike Summers laud the city’s 100-year-old housing stock as one of its greatest assets. There’s good variety here too, from starter digs to “forever” homes to some palaces near that big…
Best Sporting Goods Store
We broke the happy news in 2015 that Geiger’s, the Lakewood-based clothing and sporting goods store, had plans to open a downtown location on Euclid Avenue, directly east of Heinen’s. Equally as exciting, the Geigers also sought to preserve some of the unique characteristics of the historic Ivory Building in their store design. The store,…
Best Reason to Believe in the Browns
Everyone talks about the Browns’ horrible track record at quarterback since 1999 — that famous jersey with all their names basically sums up the problem — but the team’s also suffered through just about as many head coaches during that span. Remember Chud? Oh, lord. How about Mangini? This season, hopefully, the powers that be…
Best Local Fashion Designer
Valerie Mayen blasted off like a rocket in 2010 when she landed her first appearance on Bravo’s fashion game of thrones, Project Runway. The then-28-year-old Cleveland designer behind her own Yellowcake label — a funky and colorful line of clothing that would look cool on chic space invaders — lasted nine episodes before getting booted. But…
Best Classical Music Group/Project
Founded in 1992 by award-winning harpsichordist and conductor Jeannette Sorrell, Apollo’s Fire, which was named after the god of music and the sun, has gotten international acclaim. London’s Independent called the group “one of the pre-eminent period-instrument ensembles” after it made its London debut in 2010 in a sold-out concert at Wigmore Hall that was broadcast…
Best Cocktail Bar
Maybe it’s the neon sign outside, but the Velvet Tango Room exudes the confidence of a place that won’t disappoint when it comes to being the best cocktail bar in town. Cleveland’s known that for years, ever since the joint quietly opened up in Duck Island when basically nothing else was there. Here, cocktails aren’t…
Best Detroit Shoreway Bar
Daily shot-and-a-beer specials? Beer-and-a-slice deals during happy hour? Garage-style doors for easy breezy summer afternoons? BBQ? Gnocchi? This neighborhood tavern — ABC’s slightly cleaner sibling, a mile west — will leap onto your favorite-bar list after a single visit. With its exposed-brick interior and ample seating, it’s an ideal spot for a weekend lunch or…
Best Bread
See. Smell. Touch. Taste. Savor. Repeat. It’s a well-worn routine at this world-class bakeshop in Cleveland Heights. For those among us who are not gluten-phobic, walking into On the Rise is an exercise in all-encompassing satisfaction. To bread fanatics (guilty!), there is no greater joy than spotting a fully stocked baker’s rack loaded with slender…
Best French Fries
You might not immediately think of french fries when you think of Greenhouse Tavern. But we’ll bet you a million bucks that a fry is the first thing you’ll reach for when eating the beef tartar, the beef burger, the lamb burger, the rib steak or any other menu item that’s served with pomme frites.…
Best Pizza
Just say the word “pizza” in Cleveland and this 30-plus-year-old institution will doubtless be brought up. There’s a reason this Lakewood favorite stands the test of time, and it has more than a little to do with those thick, buttery crusts and that iconic sauce with just the right hint of sweetness. Subs, pasta and…
Best Local Vineyard/Wine
One can never have too much good wine, which might explain why it was impossible to pick just one favorite vineyard. Food and wine lovers make regular trips to Canton’s Gervasi Vineyard, not only for its handcrafted wines, but also for the delectable Italian food and drop-dead gorgeous setting. Located on a lush 55-acre piece…
Best FM Radio Station
Ah, terrestrial radio, you confounding anachronism. However you like your FM radio these days, it’s hard to deny that WMMS has the goods. Whether you’re in the game for talk or rock, the Cleveland icon is at your service. Yes, we’re long past the days of local ownership and Murray Saul’s quintessential Friday mania, but…
Best Activist
For years, local community activist Basheer Jones has been connecting with youth to help them constructively deal with their anger and frustration. In 2015, Jones visited schools to engage with Cleveland’s young people who don’t know how to react to police violence and who are afraid that they may become targets themselves. Scene has highlighted…
Best Indoor Soccer Venue
There’s no better exercise or intramural sport than soccer. Scoff if you will, but while everyone else is playing softball with a beer in their hand or wolfing down pizza before a volleyball match, the best action is going down on the pitch. Channel your inner Kai Haaskivi at one of a couple local Force…
Savage Love: The One-Night Stand
Dear Dan, I am a trans man and I have no love life. But I did just hook up with a friend two nights ago. It was the first time I’ve had sex in more than a year. My problem is that it was a “one-time thing.” I was hoping to be FWB at least.…
Best Furniture Maker
You’ve probably strolled through TownHall and taken note of the decor. “Holy crap!” you might have said. “Those tables and bar are gorgeous. Where’d those come from?” The answer is Anis Nakhel, owner and designer of Cleveland-based Global Custom Furniture. Handcrafted, custom furniture is the name of the game here, and the products — perfected…
Best Local Recording Studio
Lauded for both his skills and his flexibility, Jim Stewart is the guy behind many of your favorite local albums. He tells Scene that he really came into his own with Ohio Sky’s Curses, and his recent work with Welshly Arms and Ray Flanagan and the Authorities showcases how he’s put those talents to great…
Best Happy Hour – Downtown
Happy hours with flair are the best kind, which means one serving pan-Asian favorites is on the top of everyone’s list. Bac, which means “north” in Vietnamese, opened in February 2010 and quickly became a favorite in Tremont, the land of restaurants and bars. That means a lot of competition, but Bac comes through the…
Best Old School Jukebox
One of the best and most unique perks at Jukebox, the home tavern of Hingetown, is that you get a token for the jukebox for every drink you buy. The more you drink, the more of your music you get to listen to. Stay long enough, and departing patrons will pass you their unused tokens,…
Best Sushi
Raw fish is not something one should trust from the hands of a budget-minded chef. “Discount sushi” is a phrase best left unsaid. All-you-can-eat sushi really means: “What, are you nuts?! Don’t put that in your mouth.” Seafood is pricey, and raw seafood flown hither and yon within 24 hours of being plucked from the…
Best Happy Hour Food
Let’s be frank: Most Happy Hour food isn’t worth eating. And if it is, it’s probably no bargain. If a place really wants to entice people to come in during off hours, it needs to come guns blazing with a combination of quality, variety and value. Grove Hill had us at half-price oysters — but…
Best Tea
This pretty-as-a-picture Hingetown shop caters equally to the casual tea drinker and the fine tea connoisseur. Knowledgeable staffers can guide one through an extensive menu of organic varieties, from herbal to oolong, plus custom blended specialty teas with names like Church Avenue Lavender. Take some home to steep on your own time or enjoy it…
Best Italian
Modern and stylish, Lago was one of the first restaurants to help usher in the new era of the East Bank of the Flats. Nestled in the boutique Aloft hotel, this trendy Italian restaurant is just as memorable to travelers passing through town as it is to locals in search of refined dining. Both flock…
Best AM Radio Station
In need of your morning or afternoon talk fix? WTAM awaits on your dial — or your preset in-car buttons — like a beacon of hodge-podge news and sports chatter. You’ve got Mike Trivisonno holding down the boorish end of things, whether you like guilty pleasures or right-winger obnoxiousness, and you’ve got Wills and Snyder…
Best Company to Work For
Someone somewhere at Hyland is going to email us and say we should correct the category to say “Hyland, creator of OnBase” or “OnBase by Hyland” instead of “Hyland Software.” That bit of detail and branding obsession is quite literally the only negative we can come up with for the perennial award-winning software company out…
Best Bowling Alley
It’s a bowling alley and oh-so-much more. But the big draw here is the bowling part of the equation: 16 lanes, electronic scoring, great locations. The Corner Alley landed with a strike on East Fourth and has expanded with a second location in the Uptown District. There’s good reason for that. It boasts great bars,…
Best Record Store
When former Clevelander Chad Bilyeu, a guy who runs a multimedia studio based in Amsterdam that delves into art, music, nightlife and publications, needed a local outlet to sell one of his cassette-only releases, he hit up this record store/coffee shop/art gallery. The folks there were happy to help him out as they specialize in…
Best Place to Furnish Your Home
This locally based furniture store first opened in 1986 on the East Bank of the Flats. Now, it’s become a massive enterprise with more than 50 stores across the states. The company sends reps around the world to work with artisans who can produce unique pieces only be found at Arhaus. Think Pier 1 on…
Best Actor
It takes great skill for an actor to transform himself from one person to another. But becoming another species entirely is an even bigger challenge, and that’s what Pat Miller accomplished in last year’s production of Bat Boy at Blank Canvas Theatre. From the opening moment, when he was suspended upside-down from a crossbeam high…
Best Film Maker
For the third consecutive year, TurnStyle Films takes home top honors for film production. Voters must be wise to the high-quality material this local outfit has been churning out since they formed in 2010 at the 48 Hour Film Fest. Documentaries? Music vids? Short films? They’ve produced some of the slickest cinematic material in the…
Best Happy Hour – Westside
It’s been around since 1965, and with damn good reason. Pier W takes the cake in a bunch of categories — Romantic Restaurant, Seafood — and while it’s known as a special-occasion kind of place, don’t look past its happy hour as a chance to get in the door on a day other than your…
Best Cocktail
Sure, sometimes you want to sit out on a nice patio while you’re guzzling a potent adult beverage. And then there are the times you want to gulp your poison in an industrial, but comfortable, basement. Lucky for us, Spotted Owl in Tremont provides the underground ambiance, in a century-old space, for serious drinking. It also serves some…
Best Chinese
For almost 40 years, the FDA banned the import of authentic Sichuan peppercorns. We suggest you make up for lost time by eating at Szechuan Gourmet. The real-deal peppercorn adds spice, sure, but it’s more about that thrum of electricity that tingles on the tongue. A mainstay of the cuisine, these peppercorns pop up in…
Best Romantic Restaurant/Best Seafood
Despite the so-called “death of fine dining,” there are still special-occasion restaurants out there, the types of places that inspire us to go the extra mile ourselves in terms of dress and budget. When we’re looking to impress a date — be they crush, significant other or spouse — our destination is a destination place…
Best Vegetarian/Best Veggie Burger/Best Restaurant for First Date
TownHall already was a trailblazer in terms of health-conscious cuisine when it became certified as GMO-free, so there’s little surprise that it crafts its menu with vegetarians in mind. Beyond the Ohio City restaurant’s everyday menu, where diners will find flatbreads and bowls with a power-punch of veggies, the spot also hosts a vegan night…
Best Local Coffeehouse/Best Coffee
What started out as a neighborhood coffee shop has developed into a citywide phenomenon. Ever since the first shop opened in the Ohio City Firehouse, Cleveland coffee snobs can’t get enough of the carefully sourced and roasted beans. But the beans are only half the story; it’s the helpful baristas who are well-versed in the…
Best Radio Show
Listen, the guy’s a pro. Whether you tune in as a guilty pleasure or a mandatory part of your morning routine, it’s clear that Rover and the crew command a devoted following in Cleveland and elsewhere. They dabble in the irreverent, the gross, the sometimes-insightful, and all the wonderful inside jokes that a good, well-crafted…
Best Charity or Non-Profit
Harness Cycle and Toast are two near-westside businesses you’ve probably heard of. What you might not know is that both businesses benefited and succeeded in part thanks to Bad Girl Ventures, a nonprofit dedicated to helping women build and sustain businesses in Cincinnati and Cleveland. Through microfinance loans and mentorship, BGV helps provide a few…
Best Places to Hike
Lace up the boots, grab some trail mix and hit one of the many Cleveland Metroparks hiking trails, on both the east and west sides. With hundreds of miles of trails and more than 23,000 acres of land (and growing!), there’s something new to experience every weekend. North Chagrin, Mill Stream Run, Big Creek! With…
Best Salon
That mess of a salad you’re calling a hair style could probably use a bit of upkeep. And that corner barber shop that charges $6 to hastily run some scissors through your mop ain’t gonna cut it. You need some styling, maybe some color, and probably a whole lot of other help, to be honest.…
Best Cleveland Flea Vendor
Ah, the Cleveland Flea. It’s a signature event for the city, a smorgasbord of stuff. Drinks and furniture and clothes and knickknacks and — oh, what’s that over there? A deer head I can mount in my family room? Perfect! What else? The answer is just about everything, including jewelry and plenty of it. Stop…
Best Director
As the artistic director of Beck Center for nearly three decades, Scott Spence has continually offered top quality theatrical work while balancing creative risk-taking with responsible stewardship of the programming. That’s important, since we’ve seen several other theater companies go belly-up for economic reasons. But when Spence takes risks, as he did with his massive,…
Best Local Album
Local indie rockers the Modern Electric spent three weeks in Austin in 2014, recording their latest album, Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, with producer Mike McCarthy (Spoon). They found the producer’s name on the back of a Spoon record and sent him the song “All We Have is Now,” a brisk pop track with fluttering vocals and…
Best Happy Hour – Eastside
For three hours every day, Paladar delivers $5 mojitos, $5 margaritas, $5 sangria, $2 off specialty cocktails and more. You get the idea? Good. The Latin inspired decor and menu (you’ll want to try the avocado deviled eggs or crispy yucca fries, both happy hour specials) offer something a little different to your happy-hour routine.…
Best Wine Bar
Tucked off the main drag, in a grotto of sorts off Linda Street, Rocky River Wine Bar has long been a westside gem. Credited informally with kicking off River’s Linda/Detroit development boom (see Bomba, Whole Foods, Market, etc.), the place is upscale without being snooty. You can pretty much cite any rationale for dining here:…
Best Fried Chicken
Fried chicken is a lot like sex: Even when it’s bad, it’s good. But exceptional fried chicken? That actually can be better than sex — good sex even. It’s not like customers at SoHo are all moaning When Harry Met Sally style during dinner, but they are cooing about the fried chicken. And why shouldn’t…
Best Local Juice/Juice Bar
Restore has upgraded the customarily hippie-dippy juice experience into one that fits seamlessly with its cosmopolitan address. The light industrial interior offers a relaxing alternative to the buzzy coffee shop scene, where burnt coffee and canned music do nothing for one’s peace of mind. Restore, in the heart of the Gateway District, is indeed restorative,…
Best Ice Cream
To be an ice cream sensation, you have to be fresh. And that’s been Mike and Pete Mitchell’s mission since day one. Grass-fed dairy and plucked-from-the-farm ingredients have been swirled into this home-grown ice cream since the start. That’s why every small batch of Mitchell’s Ice Cream has such a devoted following at stores around…
Best Indian
Outgrowing its former under-the-radar status, this petite Northern Indian jewel has a loyal fan base that appears to expand by the day. One visit and you too will understand why. More than just friendly and approachable, the kitchen turns out bold, colorful flavors with plenty of bang for your buck. The Lakewood eatery’s lunchtime buffet…
Best Sports Reporter
Cleveland is a town built on sports talk. (Hey, if we can’t pull a championship, we’re more than happy to at least talk about everything else, right?) WKYC’s Jim Donovan, who just picked up a Greater Cleveland Sports Awards Lifetime Achievement Award for his years of service, has long been a beloved figure in local…
Best Meteorologist
You can get weather reports anywhere. Look at your phone, look at your computer, look at your TV, ask the neighbor, shove an arthritic knee out the door. So what makes someone choose one source over another? Well, reliability is certainly a factor; but everyone’s working off basically the same info, so what else? How…
Best Road Race
The 2016 Rite Aid Marathon has categories for folks at just about every fitness level, and with thousands coming out to watch the race, it’s as much about the city and our support of each other as it is about the runners themselves. This year’s marathon will be held May 15 in downtown Cleveland, and…
Best Bicyle Shop
More than just a store, Spin serves as a meeting place where cyclists of all levels can gather to go on evening rides. Stocked with all kinds of bikes, including fat tire bikes and single-speed commuters, Spin has everything a cyclist could want. It even carries chamois cream made by Ohio-based Ritual, a company that produces…
Best Spa
We can speak from experience here and back up your fellow readers who vouched for Sacred Hour. Go get a massage. Do it. You need it, and even if you don’t need it, you want it. Trained staff will pamper you until you’re a gooey, relaxed gumdrop of a person and not that tense, angry…
Best Dance Troupe
Even those outside the dance community should be able to appreciate stunning choreography, and Verb Ballets delivers that on the reg at various venues across Cleveland. We’ve looked forward to the troupe’s Arts in August performances in the past, and we’re excited once again to find Verb Ballets keeping us on our toes throughout the…
Best Jazz Club
In terms of acoustics, the Bop Stop, the tiny jazz club just west of downtown Cleveland, can’t be beat. Unfortunately, it sat vacant for many years; but since the Music Settlement, a leading music education institution in the region, took control of the building and handed the reins to promoter Gabriel Pollack, the place has thrived. Now,…
Best Bar for Karaoke
If you haven’t yet been to Tina’s Nite Club in the residential interior of Detroit-Shoreway’s easternmost salients, you either have no hipster friends or you’ve never been toasted at 1:30 a.m. on an otherwise uneventful Saturday night and decided that Whitney Houston needed a proper tribute. So what? We all wanna dance with somebody, and…
Best Indoor Concert Venue
Even though this 1,200-capacity club is part of a national chain, don’t hold that against it. The place is a strong anchor for the Cleveland music scene and often hosts shows that independent promoters such as the Beachland Ballroom and the Grog Shop have booked. The intimate space has great sightlines — even the seats…
Best Local Beer
In a town lauded for its craft beers, the contest for “Best Local Beer” is a tough one. But Willoughby Brewing Co., which has been slinging its Peanut Butter Cup Porter for years now, is no slouch. The eastside staple consistently ranks high on lists of our favorite breweries in town and the most underrated…
Best Japanese
We, like a sizeable portion of the Greater Cleveland community, adore this Coventry mainstay for its sushi. But when we want to expand our horizons a bit from raw and rolled fish, we know we have access to a whole host of Japanese-inspired options. There are the wisp-like tempura-fried treats, from asparagus to zucchini, with…
Best Vegan
Helio Terra might not be the kind of place one lingers, although there are a handful of seats and stools for dine-in guests. But that doesn’t stop the customers who are on a mission to track down some of Cleveland’s cleanest food. Everything here is vegan, much of it is raw, most of it is…
Best Cupcakes
You had us at “buttercream frosting.” Since 2009, SynDee Bergen and Wendy Thompson have been charming us with their cupcake brilliance, from decadent caramel and black Hawaiian lava salt to lighthearted cassata-inspired strawberry treats. The go-to is a pillowy chocolate cupcake with — what else? — a cookie delectably, adorably nestled into the frosting. All…
Best Sports Talker
Walter Cronkrite might have covered wars, assassinations and other big-deal Historical Events. But could American’s most august broadcasting personality handle 15 losing Browns seasons since 1999? Could Peter Jennings keep his tie clip in place after Johnny Manziel? No way, Jose Mesa. Which is why Tony Rizzo’s long tenure on the Cleveland sports scene —…
Best Golf Course
Any Northeast Ohio duffer worth his stroke — or not — has played Big Met. It’s not a rite of passage, per se, but it’s essentially the standard bearer for our region’s spectrum of playing levels. Whether you rock a two-handicap or you’re not even sure what a “putter” is, you’ll find good company on…
Best Wine Store
Everyone likes wine — even if you sometimes sort of fake your way through it — but not nearly enough of us know a shred of anything about the stuff. Some of it is red, some’s white. It’s good! But the Wine Spot, which can look intimidating in its great and varied selection, is a…
Best Boutique
Cori Imbrigiotta is the talented woman you have to thank for the best boutique in Northeast Ohio. Your closet will thank you too. Their Chagrin Falls shop is carefully curated and stocked with the latest looks that will help you leave your hapless, tired stacks of dresses, trousers and tops from 2010 in the rearview.…
Best Hip Hop Artist/Group
Better known as Machine Gun Kelly, rapper and actor Richard Colson Baker just might be the most popular act to come out of Cleveland in the past decade. Last year, he dropped General Admission, the long-delayed followup to 2012’s Lace Up. He played a few special local CD release shows when the album came out and spent…
Best Rock Club
Before they opened the Beachland Ballroom & Tavern in Collinwood over a decade ago, co-owner Mark Leddy booked garage and punk bands at Pat’s in the Flats while co-owner Cindy Barber worked as a journalist. Diehard music fans, they turned their dream of running a club into a reality when they purchased this old Croatian…
Best Bar to Watch the Tribe
With the arrival of a bona fide social district in the Flats, in the Columbus Road lift bridge area, in the long shadows of the Jake, it’s fitting that this west-bank staple has nabbed this year’s award away from the likes of Brick & Barrel or Merwin’s Wharf. At Hoopple’s, as you gobble a taco…
Best Outdoor Concert Venue
Even after four decades, Blossom still stands as the best place to catch a concert under the stars. Set on 200 rolling acres in the heart of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, the venue features the perfect atmosphere for those looking to lose themselves in the performance. The design of the pavilion and the bowl shape of the surrounding grounds…
Best Bar in The Flats
A dueling piano bar in the newly revamped Flats East Bank? Hell yes. When the city’s newest entertainment district officially “opened” last summer, you couldn’t stop the crowds from heading there every night of the week. With warm weather now — for the most part — upon us, the place is only going to grow…
Best Soul Food
What’s “soul food” anyway? If pressed, I guess we would say that it is food traditionally prepared and enjoyed by African Americans living in the South — an “edible jazz” borne out of economic necessity. But food this good could not be contained, and with Northern places like Chow Chow picking up the torch, we’re…
Best Pop-up Dinner or Series
We cry daily over the loss of the Katz Club Diner and its prettier sister the Bar Car. And while the occasional pop-up dinner does little to quell the anguish, it’s something. Tickets sell like hotcakes for chef-owner Doug Katz’ frequent pop-ups, which replaced regular lunch and dinner service following the fire. He goes all…
Best Downtown Lunch Spot
On the weekends, Barley House might be the hotspot of Warehouse District nightlife, but it’s just as popular in the middle of the day. The combination of the location and easy-going vibe make it an especially convenient spot for downtown workers looking to take a break from the office. Daily soup and sandwich combos elevate…
Best Hotel
Even before the Flats East Bank took off, Aloft was an anchor for one of downtown’s hottest new social districts. With excellent prices, modern rooms, and easy access to electric nightlife, Aloft has helped Cleveland elevate its downtown accommodations to the next level. Hungry? Grab a bite at BOLD Food & Drink, Wileyville or Lago…
Best News Reporter
P.O.D.! The Plain Dealer’s education reporter has knocked the socks off every journalist statewide; they’re trying to keep up with him as he uncovers the education morass in Ohio. And while readers mostly don’t know or care about the names in the bylines, it’s a different story when they’re seeking out news on their kids’…
Best Pet Related Business
You love your pup, and if you could, you’d take your four-legged pal everywhere you go. Sadly, you have to work for a living. And that probably means long stretches when your buddy is home, just sitting there waiting for you. Which is why you need a dependable dog walker. Enter Pet Zeppelin, which is,…
Southern Cafe Boasts No Frills, All the Flavor
I had never stepped foot inside Southern Cafe in Lakewood, but it sure didn’t feel that way. As soon as the server dropped off the menus, a powerful feeling of déjà vu washed over me. From the appetizers and mains on down to the sides, every dish on the menu sounded very familiar. In fact,…
Best T-Shirt Company
Repping your city is easier and more fashionable than ever with help from CLE Clothing Co. Their motto says it all: “Spreading Cleveland Pride One T-Shirt At a Time.” Founded in 2008 by two guys with a cool idea, the company now has 25 employees and stores downtown on East Fourth Street, at Uptown on…
Best Dry Cleaner
A westside institution that has ably withstood the advances of other dry-cleaning up-and-comers (not to mention laundromat mogul, and former Cleveland Brown, Joe Jurevicius), Clifton Cleaners tends to be busy, and there’s a reason for that. Getting your clothes dry cleaned there is inexpensive, and your items always turn out immaculate. Though they don’t deliver,…
Best Photographer
Everyone’s a photographer these days, thanks to smart phones and app filters. But even among the pros, having a camera and some equipment does not make you good. When you’re getting married, or engaged, or just want some fine photos you can frame and adore forever, you want a legit pro, but also someone with…
Best Local Music Bar/Club
This Detroit Shoreway concert club and restaurant that boasts a cool vintage look and takes a band-friendly approach that both national and local acts admire. Unlike other clubs that ask bands to play for little or no money, the club requires that bands simply play for the door money. The club also hosts a monthly…
Best New Bar
Once left for dead, the Flats East Bank has become the new hot spot for twenty- and thirty-somethings looking for places to dine and drink. And when it comes to dining and drinking, the neighborhood spools off to both sides of the economic spectrum. Sure, there’s fine dining, but there’s also the sort of neighborhood…
Best Band
Prior to forming Honeybucket a few years ago, the three members were in bands that played a variety of musical styles. That’s why they prefer to think of their music as “Newgrass” rather than traditional bluegrass. All three band members have pop-rock backgrounds and write “poppy bluegrass traditional rock songs.” To record its 2013 debut,…
Best Bar Trivia Night
Trivia night is hallowed territory in Cleveland, and each group has their own favorite watering hole and night of the week. At Bottlehouse Brewing Co., Monday is an early-week beacon of questions and answers and delicious beer. They’ve got cool stuff happening at all hours of every night of the week here, but trivia is…
Best Bagel
A better bagel begins with a plan. And for the boys behind this popular startup, that plan was to come up with a style of bagel not readily available here, a sort of hybrid between doughy New York-style bagels and the sweet and squiggly ones commonly found in Montreal. After years of trial and error,…
Best Tacos/Best Margaritas
By this point, it’s safe to say that Barrio has made itself a taco empire. The coveted build-your-own bites are stuffed full of meaty goodness like house-made chorizo and Coca-Cola marinated steak, topped with everything from traditional veggies to apple jicama slaw, and ooze with sweet and spicy salsas. Washing these down with some of…
Best Grocery Store
With the remarkable influx of newcomers now dwelling in our fair city, downtown Cleveland was begging for a grocery store. What it received was well beyond what anybody could have imagined. Heinen’s, which set up shop in the historic Cleveland Trust Building, is the reason our Instagram feeds suddenly began filling up with pictures of…
Best Place to Take a Visitor
Cleveland has more visitors than ever these days, and often these out-of-towners are in need of a little local direction. We could list thousands of places to take a Cleveland rookie — and we have — but if you don’t make the West Side Market your first stop, you’re doing it wrong. It’s a wholly…
Best Instagram Follow
Why take photos of people when you could take pictures of puppies? Damn good question. And why stop at puppies when you could take pictures of puppies eating peanut butter? The Cleveland Instagram sensation known as @clegreg, or Greg Murray outside of the social media site, is gaining quite a bit of attention for his…
Best Thrift Store
Part of the Ohio City landscape long before the breweries on West 25th, Unique Thrift Store is exactly what it says it is: unique. Filled to the brim with housewares, clothing, books and trinkets, you’ll never know what you might find when you step through its doors. It’s the perfect place to shop for a…
Best Place to Ski
For some residents of Northeast Ohio, the arrival of winter is time to hunker down and dial up the Netflix and blankets. For others (and that category should include you), it’s reason to get the hell outside and enjoy the weather on the slopes. We all can’t jet off to Aspen, but we can make…
Best Cigar Shop
No bullshit: This is the perfect place to rest your ash. In need of a quick box on the way home or a full-fledged evening escape? Cigar Cigars is sort of a dream shop, because you can achieve anything you want here. The employees are top-notch, and they’ll lend an educated hand to anyone in…
Best Gift Shop
Native Cleveland, in Collinwood’s Waterloo District, is the best place to gear up with all things, well, Cleveland. You can get just about anything at Native Cleveland. Phone case? Check. Stickers? Check. Beer can holders? Check. Wooden Earrings? Throw pillows? Totes? Check. Check. Check. Basically, the place is jam packed with things that won’t lead…
Best Artist
Since closing his legendary Tremont gallery, Asterisk, in 2010, Cleveland’s renaissance man Dana Depew has only deepened his impact on the local community. With an increased focus on his own work, Depew has become one of the most prolific artists in the region today. His diverse portfolio includes virtually every medium and material imaginable —…
Best Underground Music Bar/Club
This Coventry Road concert venue opened in 1992 when owner Kathy Blackman and two business partners took over a Cleveland Heights bar on the corner of Coventry and Mayfield roads. Since that time, the club has moved to a bigger space at the corner of Coventry and Euclid Heights Boulevard. It regularly hosts an eclectic…
Best Bar to Watch the Cavs
What’s on tap at the Tremont Taphouse? An ever-changing collection of offbeat microbrews, flights of whatever’s clever, and some of the crispest HD TVs in town. With a long bar and a narrow dining area, there’s no place you can sit within the chic, dimly lit space without an oblique or head-on view of the…
Best DJ
A fixture on the Cleveland club and hotel lounge scene, DJ Mimo is the go-to guy for cocktail parties — he’s even spun at the historic Pump Room in Chicago’s swanky Gold Coast neighborhood. In the five short years he’s been active on the local club scene, Mimo has opened for acts such as ATB,…
Best French Restaurant
L’Albatros is a peerless Cleveland restaurant that just so happens to be a French restaurant. As we’ve learned from our culinary studies, not to mention the Best Chef category, owner Zack Bruell can wrap a wonderful restaurant around any cuisine, be it Asian, Italian or Coastal seafood. Here, in this transformed University Circle carriage house,…
Best Polish
We don’t have to tell you about Sokolowski’s, the popular Polish cafeteria in Tremont. After hearing about it for so long — the joint’s been peddling perogi for 90-plus years, for Pete’s sake — you’ve surely been. You already know about the famous home-style stuffed cabbage and savory Salisbury steak, served up without fanfare to…
Best Taco Tuesday
We like to say that Sachsenheim Hall is off the beaten path, but its long-standing Taco Tuesday night is far from a best-kept secret. In fact, most people who’ve passed through this century-old German social hall, where beer is served in boots, will simply narrow it down to “best.” If the haunt’s character isn’t enough,…
Best Desserts
Soda jerks in white paper hats fill glasses with fizzy phosphates. Milkshake-sipping couples sit around wrought-iron tables. No, you haven’t stepped into a time machine, you’ve just landed at Gordon Square’s vintage treat shop, Sweet Moses. You’ll experience a delicious dose of nostalgia at this soda fountain, where every bite of ice cream takes you…
Best Family Outing
It’s America’s Roller Coast, of course. For pure family friendly adrenaline and thrills, it’s hard to find a better spot in the entire country. Thankfully, Cedar Point is just a stone’s throw down I-90 for us Clevelanders. The fine folks who run the place take great care of its legacy and future — adding new…
Best College or University
With the announcement earlier this month that CSU would build a stand-alone film school — the first in the state of Ohio — the downtown university continues to grow and wow. CSU already boasts a top-ranked graduate school of urban affairs, a “center for population dynamics” that churns out exciting research, and regionally recognized programs…
Best Toy Store
Big Fun regularly wins this category for good reason. Located in Cleveland Heights’ Coventry neighborhood, the store stocks a slew of hard-to-find toys from both the past and present. If you’re looking for Star Wars, Transformers and G.I. Joe figurines, the place has got you covered. Items stretching from floor to ceiling, and new toys…
Best Bike Route
There was a time in the not so distant past when the only reason to go down to the Flats was to drop a body or get blasted at a bar. Now the Flats is the end point for one of Northeast Ohio’s best bike paths. From Cleveland, the historic Towpath Trail stretches more than…
Best Tattoo Shop
Need ink? Voodoo Monkey, plain and simple. This place has carved out a reputation in town for having some of the most kickass artists around. Their seven on-site artists offer a well-rounded assortment of skills and creativity. Whether you’re getting your first piece done or you’re rounding out that sleeve, they’ll take care of you…
Best Place to Buy a Wedding Dress
Sometimes the best way to get things is to rely on the tried and true, and that’s why David’s Bridal still reigns supreme when it comes to wedding dress shopping. The very first David’s Bridal opened in 1950 and they currently operate three stores in the Cleveland area. Consultants at each store can help with…
Best Painter
For the second consecutive year, you voted the talented Frank Oriti as “Best Painter.” Oriti’s unique, photorealistic portraits of friends and family have earned him well deserved acclaim from both near and far. A graduate of both Ohio University (MFA, 2008) and Bowling Green (BFA, 2006), Oriti developed his work ethic in local steel mills.…
Best Hip Hop Club
There’s a reason a ton of Cleveland’s highest-profile athletes populate Rumor’s VIP room, and it ain’t because the bottle service is cheap. Rumor sports the best lineup of hip hop on either side of the Cuyahoga. DJs keep the weekend grinding from Good Thursdays to Social Fridays to Saturday Night Vibes to Sold Out Sundays.…
Best SIN Night
Sunday night is when service industry folks get to start their weekend. While the rest of us are tucked away courting some desperate zzzs before work on Monday, they’re out and about. Specifically, they’re out and about at Liquid, which for years now has been the go-to spot for SIN specials and a chance to…
Best Female Vocalist
Formed in 2012, Seafair expanded to a four-piece when singer-keyboardist Chayla Hope and guitarist Joshua Riehl recruited drummer Ryan Kelly and cellist Tara Hanish, both of whom had played in the terrific local act Unsparing Sea. The group then became even bigger when it added guitarist Mike Flaherty and violinist Andrea Belding to the fold.…
Best Chef
We’re sure there are activities at which Zack Bruell does not excel. Maybe it’s watercolor painting, perhaps it’s deep-sea fishing, or even organic vegetable gardening. What he does not suck at, we are certain, is cheffing. With a consistency that rivals an atomic clock, Bruell opens new restaurants, in diverse neighborhoods, built around novel concepts.…
Best Greek
Greek Village Grille owner Tommy Karakostas went on to open the higher-end Greek restaurant Santorini in the Warehouse District, but this more casual eatery continues to garner mass appeal. It all starts with those great gyros, rotisserie-cooked until the flavorful meat gets charred and crispy, the perfect foil to the cool and creamy cucumber sauce.…
Best Wings
Whether you’re hitting the downtown spot before a Cavs game or pub-crawling through Lakewood, Harry Buffalo has become the quintessential sports bar and gathering place. The joints are loud, they are laid-back and they’re the perfect place to knock one or three back. In other words, these are the kinds of joints where you want…
Best Diner
Clevelanders are fanatical about their greasy spoons and diners. When it comes to breakfast, we tend to be steadfast in our devotion to “our place.” But even first-time visitors at Southside Diner feel at home after a single step inside. The shiny, smile-inducing red and white decor bursts with 1950s kitsch, and while they do…
Best Neighborhood
Before Ohio City was Ohio City and before Detroit-Shoreway housed the Gordon Square Arts District and before Hingetown or SOLO even arrived in the imaginations of young creative developers, Tremont was Tremont, or, depending on your age, the South Side — a hub for artists and castoffs on the fringes of Cleveland’s industrial valley. And…
Best Local Newscast
When you need to know what’s happening in your city, you don’t want someone screaming at you, you probably don’t want to click through a 21-part slideshow, and you damn well expect some seasoned journalists and broadcasters sifting through the nonsense to tell you what’s what. Those and many other reasons — including the reassuring,…
Best Vietnamese
In years past, you’d have to start any conversation about Superior Pho by warning people that it’s a little hard to find. There’s no storefront, after all. It’s tucked in the middle of a plaza. And what’s this pho thing they’re serving? It had been a cherished little secret for those in the know, but…
Best Arena/Stadium to Watch a Game
Progressive Field enhances the fan experience every single year, so it’s no surprise to us that Cleveland voters overwhelmingly handed it this award. With the addition of Momocho, Fat Head’s brewery and other local eats to an already impressive roster of unique food options, going to Progressive Field is like dining out in one of…
Best Adult Store
Let’s be honest. If you’re in the market for a dildo, S&M gear or some porn, it’s preferable to shop at a chain. Under the steady captaincy of adult-entertainment luminary Rondee Kamins, Adultmart has grown and thrived in Northeast Ohio, destroying the competition in our annual voting. Cleveland is of course a historic capital in…
Best Pet Shop
Wherever you live in Ohio, there’s a Pet People close to you. Why’s that important? Because you want the very best for your pet pal, from food to toys to beds to shampoos to cages to treats and whatever else is necessary for your buddy. And, let’s be honest, all that’s not necessary too. They…
Best Illustrator
John G. is a force of nature in the comics underground. He’s known for many things, including branding the visual identity of Melt Bar & Grilled, co-founding the annual independent comics and small print convention Genghis Con, co-creating the comic book Lake Erie Monster with his friend and high-school classmate Jake Kelly (“Best Local Concert…
Best Blues Club
Cleveland is a great blues town, but if you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. Brothers Lounge, the westside mainstay, should be your first stop. Thursday nights are the natural outlet; you’ll find the Bad Boys of Blues holding court as the house band with a guest singer…
Best Bar Patio
How do you improve what was already one of the best bar patios in town? You go big, naturally. Nano Brew lives in the old Garage Bar site, and the Garage Bar had one of those roomy-but-cozy patios that made you linger. Last year, Sam McNulty & Co. upgraded the already dope spot, which is…
Best Male Vocalist
Singer for Post Road, a local cover band that plays “today’s Top 40 party country,” Shawn Roland has a rich baritone that’s well suited to singing tunes by the likes of Kenny Chesney, Luke Bryan, Eric Church and Jason Aldean. The Twinsburg-based group regularly performs songs by those country stars in its sets. On “That’s…
Best New Restaurant
For such an unassuming concept, Banter sure has attracted its share of buzz. After opening its doors in the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood this winter, the bar and restaurant switched from being the most anticipated new eatery to the most talked about one. A lot of that support has to do with the owners, a quartet…
Best Cakes
If you or somebody you love is fond of classic European pastries, you know all about this amazing Ohio City bakery. For 60 years, Farkas has been lovingly producing the types of Hungarian treats that draw people out of their homes — wherever they may stand — and down to the shop. Farkas rolls out…
Best Sandwich
Geez, has it really been ten years already? Back in 2006, Matt Fish opened the first Melt in Lakewood. Of course, back then it was the only Melt. But Fish’s vision for dynamite grilled cheese caught hold of Cleveland’s hearts and stomachs. Lines were out the door and soon he was off to Cleveland Heights.…
Best Latin
Mastering a cuisine known for its bold flavors, Paladar uses the freshest ingredients to make sure each and every dish pops. At this slick eastside restaurant, diners enjoy a culinary tour through the best of Latin cuisine, from the ever-popular tacos to the bright and summery ceviche. Do not miss the build-your-own guacamole section of…
Best Free Outing
It’s the gift that keeps on giving — not to mention a Cleveland landmark and a national jewel. The Cleveland Museum of Art has been bringing world-renowned fine art to the city for more than a century. Best of all, it costs nothing to spend an afternoon there. Free. Not a penny for a priceless…
Best Co-Working Space
The office is dead. Old school. Kaput. All the cool (venture capital-backed) kids are setting up shop in shared spaces to launch their projects and dream businesses, all the while getting input and mentorship from those around them. Until very recently, Cleveland didn’t have too many coworking outfits to choose from. LaunchHouse in Shaker Heights…
Best Hot Dog
Hot dogs are “happy food.” We grill up hot dogs at summer barbecues. We knock back hot dogs at the ballpark. We scarf down hot dogs at Costco while shopping for giant flatscreen TVs. That makes Happy Dog a place that sells happy food. The bar–east or west–makes the happy food happier by putting the…
Best Public Pool
The sun’s out, the temps are tipping toward the triple digits, and you can’t stand to be in your apartment one more minute. Where to? A pool, of course. But which one? Make the drive out to Beachwood’s outdoor pool and aquatics center. Trust us, and trust those who have piled the votes for this…
Best Barber Shop
A haircut can be just that: a snip and a trim and out the door. Chances are, though, the budget shop you’re now using gets you in and out the door so fast for a reason. It’s shoddy work, a rush job with little attention. When you’re sporting a buzzcut, that’s one thing; when you…
Best Vape Shop
We used to call this category “best headshop,” but that sort of business has evolved these days. Don’t worry, good ol’ Puff ‘n’ Stuff still has you covered in that area, but they’ve also got a massive inventory no matter what your vaping needs. You could score that stuff online, sure, but what you can’t…
Best Local Concert Poster Designer
Last year, Jake Kelly released Fliers: 2000-2015, a self-published book featuring more than 400 black-and-white local concert posters. Having produced more than 1,000 fliers since 2000, Kelly has become the most prolific concert poster designer currently working in the region. Kelly began designing fliers for bands in high school, and later for concerts while living…
Best LGBTQ Club
It went away briefly, and then it returned. Thank heavens. Bounce reopened its doors in Hingetown with all the fabulous offerings you’ve come to know and love from the club: drag shows, DJs, and a dynamite happy hour. But it also rolled out a brunch and a weekly comedy night. It’s the most inclusive, friendly…
Best Gentleman’s Club
They say location is everything and this local institution certainly has that going for it. Located on the west bank of the Flats, it’s near a comedy club, a bar and a music venue, making it a worthy destination for a night out on the town. It’s the go-to spot for bachelor parties too. The stage…
Best Cover Band
Based in Twinsburg, Post Road, which includes singer-guitarist Shawn Roland, singer Sarah Marie, guitarist Steve Radcliff, bassist Dave Warner, drummer Dave Vogrin and guitarist Andrew Krakowski, plays what it calls “today’s Top 40 party country.” The band’s set list features tunes by all the biggest stars in that world — expect to hear tracks by Kenny…
Best Brunch
Brunch in Cleveland — heck, brunch anywhere — used to be an exercise in muted creativity. How many different dishes can we create from a pantry of four ingredients: bacon, eggs, potatoes and bread. A Bloody Mary does not count as an ingredient, despite its ubiquity. But then something magical happened: Chefs who couldn’t be…
Best Donuts
We may never know all the secrets to crafting the perfect doughnut, but thanks to the crew at Jack Frost, we don’t need to. Judging by the crowds that lined up to welcome them back after six months of limbo while they rebuilt their store, this Old Brooklyn doughnut shop is a cherished neighborhood asset.…
Best German
One can’t subsist on beer steins alone. Besides, all that dancing, cheering and singing along to the accordion-wielding house band is going to work up an appetite. So in between rounds at the year ‘round Oktoberfest-like celebration, downtown’s liveliest beer hall has the hearty German food that gives you a lifeline. Sausages straight from the…
Best Spanish
The Spanish dining experience is one that is never rushed — a meandering of fine wine, food and conversation. That’s precisely the approach at this Warehouse District white-tablecloth gem, which continues to enchant diners. The talented team of servers, who are known to charm and dazzle as they guide you through the tastes of Spain…
Best New Apartment Complex
When The 9 opened in the fall of 2014, the place completely reinvented the East Ninth Street corridor. It’s a monument to the past and future of downtown Cleveland. It’s the best new apartment complex simply because it’s so much more than an apartment complex. (Readers clearly love it.) Every vein of the New Cleveland…
Best Local Start-up
It hasn’t been around long but there’s reason to see a bright future for CLESeats. Stop by the site or use their app before a night on the town and you’ll be presented with a host of deals that change daily. Could be a deal on an appetizer, could be a dessert. Could be a…
Meet the Band: Night Demon
MEET THE BAND: Jarvis Leatherby (vocals, bass), Dusty Squires (drums), Armand John Anthony (guitar) VENTURING OUTTA VENTURA: The band started back in 2011 when it recorded its first EP. It played its first-ever live show in 2012 and then has relentlessly toured for seven to eight months a year ever since. “It’s just a three-piece,…
Best Darts
Cleveland has a long and storied history when it comes to darts. The Harbor Inn in the Flats helped usher the bar sport into popularity in the 1970s; and there was a time you couldn’t call yourself a Cleveland bar if you didn’t offer darts along with shots and beers. Those days are gone, sadly,…
Best Barber
Readers spoke and you should listen. Bobby Bushay hangs his shears over at Eddy’s Barber Shop on Coventry and his legions of fans want to share their support of the fella with you, so here it is: Book your next cut with Bobby. Let Eddy’s explain the appeal: “Master barber, hip hop enthusiast, sneaker head,…
Best Place for a Mani/Pedi
Those daggers you call nails could use some love. Keep them looking tip-top and immaculate with the good folks at Anthony Vince. The national chain has multiple regional locations, both east and west, to better serve your hands and feet, because — let’s face it — they’re going to do a better job than you…
Best Art Gallery
Built in 1924, the building now known as Transformer Station was originally one of 16 substations built by the Cleveland Railway Company. Noted local architect John Williams oversaw the building’s renovation and expansion. A collaborative effort between the Bidwell Foundation and the Cleveland Museum of Art, its programming is shared equally by the museum and…
Best Electronic Club/Bar; Best Bar to Watch the Browns
The Barley House has been many things in its lifetime. It was, and still is, a nightlife destination on West Sixth. Its menu offerings are better than the average bar food. It’s the home of rowdy Sunday Browns tailgates and live radio shows. Cleveland’s athletes still drop by every weekend, making it a place to…
Best Brewery
Ah, the titan of Cleveland craft brews… Great Lakes Brewing Co. is the foundation around which our city’s burgeoning brew economy was built. The Ohio City stalwart is an all-around great experience: good food, a great and pleasant interior, a really cool basement (the world’s best basement, Ramon Rivas II will tell ya), and a…
Best Dance Party
For several years now, the party hearty group known as Secret Soul Club — DJs Antoine Henderson, Tom Dechristofaro and David Petrovich — has thrown wild monthly parties that show off the trio’s good taste in music, The guys strive to hunt down records that “really sizzle and have that intangible quality that sticks in…
Best Jamaican
Most Jamaican joints around town — and there’s a handful — follow a well-worn formula that does everything but make the experience open and accessible to timid newbies. From the bullet-proof glass to the lack of dine-in seating, these places might serve great food, but only the most diehard jerk chicken fans will brave the…
Best African
Cleveland is blessed with an abundance of appealing options when it comes to ethnic eats. But only one restaurant in town does what Empress Taytu does. And what it does is transport diners to another place, where the food is exotic, the setting unique and the service as gracious as one could hope for. Authentic…
Best Mexican
Mexican food was turned on its head when Momocho first planted its flag in Ohio City. The funky, dimly lit ambiance has made it one of Cleveland’s most striking destinations. The stylish eatery has become well known for offering inventive twists on classic Mexican dishes, giving us a taste of Mod Mex in the process.…
Best Irish
Raise a pint because it’s time to eat and drink like you’re Irish every single day of the year. If the wide variety of traditional boxty dishes don’t get you in the spirit, the live Irish music certainly will. For the casual diner, there are loads of approachable and delicious American-style options, but it’s the…
Best Bed & Breakfast
You needn’t travel far for the best R&R in Northeast Ohio. Just hop over to Chagrin Falls, what with its scenic downtown and river and quaint houses, and dip into the Inn of Chagrin Falls. Let visions of Star’s Hollow dance through your head as you enjoy the accommodations which include 15 distinct rooms, beautifully…
Best Place for a First Date
Here’s the key to a good first date: narrative. You want to create an atmosphere of adventure, an arc. Little Italy affords new/prospective lovers a chance to move from place to place and develop unique memories of their first date. Begin with wine at Anthony’s before taking a stroll around the neighborhood as the sun…
Best Skate Park
With 9,500 square feet of solid concrete all to themselves, skaters don’t need to worry about getting in anyone’s way at Lakewood Skate Park. The idea for the skate park was nearly 30 years in the making, after area skaters kept finding themselves in trouble with Lakewood police and looking for a place to call…
Best Stylist
“Your work is amazing. You are a magician.” So begins one of the many glowing testimonials for Mallory Madeya at EnV Salon. Hair’s a fickle thing, and sometimes the best intentions go awry. And thanks to dull shears or some other cosmetological disaster, that picture you showed your stylist is miles away from what ended…
Best Antique Shop
Lorain Avenue has more than its fair share of junk shops scattered throughout the so-called Antiques District. Reincarnation Vintage Design isn’t one of them. In fact, it’s not really an antiques shop at all, at least not in the traditional sense. Owners Ron and Cyndy Nicolson might start with good old things, but then they…
