Chef Michael Schoen has partnered with BottleHouse Brewery to open food concepts at the brewery’s Cleveland Heights (2050 Lee Rd., 216-214-2120) and Lakewood (13368 Madison Ave., 216-926-0025) locations. Each has its own theme and menu, shaped by the needs of the neighborhood, Schoen explains.
The original plan, says the chef, was to launch the Lakewood kitchen in March and the Cleveland Heights concept later in the year, but the pandemic convinced management to push back the former and speed up the latter.
BottleHouse East opens today for beverage service, but the kitchen, which Schoen is calling LouieQ, will debut on Wednesday, July 8. He describes the menu as “Tex-Mex barbecue” starring chicken and vegan chorizo tacos, tamales and smoked duck hot dogs. A host of fun side dishes includes Mexican-spiced heirloom popcorn, watermelon salad topped with cotija cheese and mint, and potato salad with pickled eggs and chiles.
Schoen will be working out of the existing pop-up kitchen at the Cleveland Heights brewery, while utilizing the Lakewood kitchen as a central commissary. Guests who visit will see a renovated interior with all new seating, paint and art, adds the chef.
“If you walk into the space now it’s completely different,” he says. “It’s a transformed space.”
The Lakewood brewery will open its doors for drinkers on July 15, with food to follow on August 1. That kitchen will go by the name of Eugene, aka “home of the Tinman burger.” That crave-worthy double cheeseburger, which made a splash at the Ohio City Galley, will join simple “backyard barbecue” style foods like three-cheese mac and cheese, french bread pizzas, vegan sloppy joe and sides.
“It will be a little bit different from what people were used to going into the Ohio City Galley,” explains Schoen.
The focus at both locations will be on takeout, with meals being packaged up as “picnics in a box” for consumption onsite or off-premises. Online ordering and touchless transactions will promote safe enjoyment of the foods.
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