Porco Lounge & Tiki Room Nominated for Best Bar Team in the US by Tales of the Cocktail

Porco Lounge nominated for another Spirited Award. Credit: Sam Twarek

For decades, tiki bars were looked down upon, not receiving the respect of cocktail enthusiasts like so many other high-end lounges. But that started to change a little more than a decade ago, not coincidentally around the time Stefan Was opened the doors to Porco Lounge & Tiki Room (2527 W. 25th St., 216-802-9222) in Ohio City. At Porco and places like it, the complex rum-fueled beverages got the full mixology treatment, with top-shelf spirits, fresh-squeezed juices, house-made syrups and a level of care often reserved for Prohibition-era cocktails.

In 2007, the Spirited Awards began recognizing the top beverage people and places in the cocktail industry. The accolades are often billed as the James Beard Awards for the spirits world and they are presented by Tales of the Cocktail Foundation.

Since 2018, Porco Lounge has been nominated in the Best U.S. Cocktail Bar in the U.S. Central Region category three times and Best Bar Team category in the same region three times.

Make that four times, now.

For perspective: there are only 10 semifinalists selected in each category for each region out of approximately 29,000 cocktail bars in the US. Since 2007, only nine Ohio bars have been nominated for a Tales of the Cocktail award.

“We are overjoyed to be on the radar and to be able to bring the spotlight to Ohio – and more importantly Cleveland,” says owner Was. “The honor that one takes with an Oscar or a James Beard Foundation nod… that’s this for us.”

From here, the semifinalists go on to the Finalist round in June, but Was already considers his bar — and his team — winners.

“As with most national/international contests, the big prizes tend to go to the big markets,” he explains. “The Tales committee has done a fantastic job with the regional honorees, allowing a broader recognition of the work being done out there. What we do here in Cleveland is special compared to any other market I’ve visited.”

If you know Was, then you know that he is speaking from the heart when he says he’d rather take home gold in Best Bar Team than in Best Bar category.

“Best Bar Team is always the category I hope for because it acknowledges that no single person makes this happen,” he says. “When I see “Team,” that includes everyone involved: employees, brands, purveyors and, most importantly, guests. They’re all needed to achieve this and the recognition should be shared.”

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This article appears in Apr 10-23, 2025.