First Look: Nighttown, Reopening in Cleveland Heights After a Four-Year Absence

Walking into Nighttown (12383 Cedar Rd.) for the first time in more than four years felt oddly comforting, like returning to one’s familiar home after an extended absence. For Cleveland Heights residents like me, the storied jazz club has been a haven where friends would gather in a cozy corner to sip brown liquor and listen to Jackie Warren on the piano.

Last night, for the first time in 43 months, the restaurant welcomed in guests. New operator Gregg Levy of Red Restaurant Group was eager to show off the fruits of a very difficult and protracted construction process. Delays, complications and budget-busting improvements dragged the timeline out much longer than anticipated, but Levy wouldn’t compromise.

“We had to preserve the way it looked,” Levy says. “We weren’t going to do this unless it was Nighttown. It’s not Red, it’s Nighttown.”

On the surface, the nearly 60-year-old restaurant looks pretty much the same, but everything has been rebuilt, refurbished and/or replaced. From a completely new kitchen, executive chef Rowan Murray will present a menu that blends some Nighttown classics with modern-American dishes. Gone is the multi-page tome that greeted former diners, replaced by a trimmed down menu that focuses on seasonality and freshness.

“I plan to bring in fresh flavors and use fresh ingredients,” says Murray. “It will be the quality of Red with the approachability of a neighborhood restaurant.”

A smaller bar menu will keep patrons fed late into the night, a nod to Nighttown’s dedication to after-hours dining.

When it opens next week, Nighttown will serve dinner only. Lunch and brunch will be added early next year.

Music lovers should not expect the return of large ticketed shows thanks to a new occupancy limit that cuts previous crowd sizes in half. But live music will return, says Levy.

“We will be bringing music back, 100 percent,” he promises. “We know it’s important to the community and to Nighttown patrons, we just want to first deliver the best restaurant first.”

Levy and his partners are committed to preserving the legacy that Brendon Ring and his former boss John Barr had cultivated in Cleveland Heights since 1965.

“I’m so excited, but I’m more excited for the community than I am for myself,” adds Levy. “I truly think that we’re the most important restaurant between Chagrin Falls and downtown Cleveland.”

Subscribe to Cleveland Scene newsletters.

Follow us: Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter