Taco Roosters, Which Closed Last Month on Coventry, to Reopen This Fall as One Pot Korean BBQ and Hot Pot

By management’s own admission, Taco Roosters was a failed experiment. The restaurant, located in the former Panini’s Grill space on Coventry Road in Cleveland Heights, closed last month after nearly two years. The Mexican theme didn’t align with the restaurant group’s area of expertise, which includes Asian eateries like Seafood Shake across the street.

So owner Hangchun Zheng decided not only to close the restaurant and re-concept the property, but also to completely start from scratch. The prominent building, long ago home to Hyde Park Grille and Sal & Angelo’s, is being taken down to its shell. Layers and layers of former renovations are being stripped away to make way for the latest chapter in the building’s 100-year lifespan.

Come fall, the space will reopen as One Pot Korean BBQ and Hot Pot (1825 Coventry Rd.). Like others in this trendy restaurant category, One Pot will offer guests an all-you-can-eat BBQ and hot pot dining experience. Unlike most of its colleagues, however, this restaurant is being fabricated in China and shipped overseas in a million pieces, not unlike Lao Sze Chuan at Pinecrest.

When it’s assembled, One Pot will likely be one of the more impressive KBBQ restaurants around. Each of the 25 or so tables will be outfitted with grills for BBQ and burners for hot pot. One Pot also will be the first of its kind in the region to take the cooking experience outdoors thanks to a covered dining area.

Management expects the dust to settle sometime in October.