Guests who dined at Jack’s Deli (14490 Cedar Rd.) in University Heights on Sunday had no idea that it would be their last meal there. Others who would have loved to have dined at Jack’s “one last time” will never get that opportunity. Yesterday, the iconic Jewish delicatessen that was founded by the Markowitz family in 1980, purchased by the Cleveland Restaurant Management Group in 2025, and sold to Don Apel later that same year, closed its doors.
“We knew it was going to be an uphill battle from the beginning,” Apel explains. “We took over a failing restaurant, but we tried. I’m very proud of what we accomplished, but we’ve basically been breaking even for the past four months. I couldn’t even afford to hire a manager.”
Apel says that the economic realities of running an ingredient- and labor-intensive restaurant like Jack’s in today’s environment are untenable.
When your number-one product is corned beef, he says, you live at the mercy of the market.
“The cost of corned beef has gone up 15 percent in just the four months that we’ve been here,” he adds. “It’s crazy.”
Corned beef is beef brisket – the same item that barbecue restaurants can charge $40 per pound for. There’s shrinkage during cooking, waste during trimming. The meat is layered into fresh-baked rye bread,
“We bit the bullet for a long time on the prices before bumping them up accordingly,” Apel says.
Also, in a move that caused more fury than a poor Browns trade, Apel discontinued the unlimited free pickle plate.
“We had customers who would order one cup of coffee and eat three plates of pickles,” he says.
When asked why he opted for a sudden closure as opposed to setting a future date to allow customers to say goodbye, Apel cited security concerns.
“I’ve been a part of restaurants that announce closing dates and it can get a little ugly in terms of losses,” he reports.
As for what comes next for Jack’s, the Jack’s property and Apel, it’s too soon to know, he says.
“I’m not saying that it is going to be a completely different restaurant, but it definitely won’t be called Jack’s and it will make sense for us,” he states. “We’re going to need some time to put all that together.”
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