A Decade of Cleveland Dining Losses

As we say farewell to 2025, we’re also closing the books on the decade that began in 2015, which got us thinking back to all the books that closed during those 10 years.

Each week, month and year, Cleveland loses great restaurants. But the past decade arguably has been the most devastating of any that preceded it. In that relatively brief span of time, an irreplaceable collection of exceptional, diverse and original spots went up in smoke.

The decade started ominously with the loss of Steve’s Lunch in Ohio City, when a grease fire destroyed in minutes what took 62 years to build. This year, we watched the doors close at one-of-a-kind spots like Lava Lounge and Crust Pizza in Tremont and Alea in Ohio City.

In the past five years alone, Cleveland lost more culinary heavy hitters than it has during any other period. It’s impossible to quantify the lasting effects of such a calamity, with Covid – and its long-lingering hardships – laying waste to many of the city’s best chef-driven bistros. Doug Katz closed Fire Food and Drink, Karen Small closed Flying Fig, Michael Nowak closed Black Pig, Ben Bebenroth closed Spice Kitchen, Michael Symon closed Lola Bistro and Jill Vedaa closed Salt.

When places like those above close, we lose not only the city’s top dining destinations, but also the crucibles that cultivate wave after wave of great chefs who go on to open new businesses.

Some restaurants – such as Katz’s Fire – seem like they could endure relatively unchanged in perpetuity, while others burn so hot and bright that permanence is all but impossible. Jonathon Sawyer’s Greenhouse Tavern, which closed right before we heard the word Covid, is such a place. During those early years, the restaurant possessed a freshness and vitality that was unmatched and wildly engaging. Steve Schimoler’s Crop Bistro, especially in its initial Warehouse District run, also buzzed with exhilaration, innovation and delight.

The significance of kitchens like Lolita, Moxie and Bar Cento cannot be overstated. These three restaurants, which we lost in 2016, 2019 and 2022, respectively, turned out more culinary professionals than any other trio of eateries. The number of chefs who passed through those kitchens and later opened restaurants is remarkable.

Other places, while perhaps less influential, were no less adored for their food, hospitality and position in their respective communities. Deagan’s Kitchen and Bar, Tremont Taphouse and Felice on Larchmere are three such places that so perfectly meshed with their neighborhood’s identity that the losses still are felt.

Neighborhoods across the region have their own local legends that, when gone, leave a lasting sadness. Chagrin Falls will never be the same without Gamekeeper’s Taverne and Rick’s Café, which enjoyed 80 years in business between the pair. Collinwood punched above its weight for years thanks to places like the Grovewood Tavern and Bistro 185, both of which closed in the past decade. Coquette Patisserie was the sole bright spot in the sprawling and insipid Uptown development.

The past decade proved particularly unkind to dive bars, wiping out a royal flush of joints that offered solace and camaraderie for sun-weary barflies. We lost dusty gems like Ontario Street Café, Moriarty’s Pub, Duck Island Club, House of Swing and the Barking Spider, causing grief enough for the ages.

But when you bring up the topic of Cleveland restaurants that are missed, a handful of names always jump to the top of the conversation. These classic establishments were so enmeshed with our collective identity that the idea of any of them closing was once unthinkable. But close they did, leaving indelible holes in the culinary landscape. In 2023, Corky & Lenny’s closed after 67 years in the Jewish deli biz; in 2020, we said goodbye to both Sokolowski’s University Inn in Tremont and Nighttown in Cleveland Heights, losing a combined 160 years of service in less than 12 months, and, in 2017, Sterle’s Slovenian Country House served its last family-style feast after 60 years.

As we move further away from Covid, the hopes are that there will be a revival of fearless and uncommon new ventures, but those ambitions are still stifled by the weight of so many other economic obstacles. It’s going to require buy-in from the public, which has increasingly abandoned dine-in experiences for fast-casual or delivery meals. But diners also need a compelling reason to shower and leave the house.

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