Karen Small to Open Breakfast and Lunch Diner at Former Jack Flaps Spot in Ohio City

There is a silver lining to the sudden closure of Jack Flaps, a popular breakfast diner in Ohio City. Chef Karen Small has announced that she will take the space over and open a diner of her own.

“I’ve had my eye on that space for a bit, and when Jack Flaps closed I contacted the landlord right away,” explains Small. “I always loved the space, loved the location, loved the size. It was hard to pass up.”

Small, who opened the venerated Flying Fig (2523 Market Ave., 216-241-4243) in the same neighborhood 20 years ago, was motivated to grab the space because of what she believes is a gap in the marketplace.

“I think that as a city we don’t have enough breakfast places and variety for stuff like that,” she says.

Small envisions the as-yet-unnamed café to serve breakfast, breakfast-all-day and lunch items until the early afternoon. The menu, she reports, is still a work in progress, but it will reflect her cooking style and respect for ingredients in whatever form it takes.

The 30-seat restaurant will undergo some interior changes to make it feel less industrial and slightly “funkier,” adds Small. The hope is to acquire a liquor license for the space.

Small says that neighbors can look forward to an early December opening.

“It would be really easy to just waltz in there and start cooking, but this is likely the last restaurant I’m going to open – and the first one that I will open completely on my own,” she says. “I just want to do it right."


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