There's More Than Something Good at Something Good Social Kitchen in Playhouse Square

Something Good Social Kitchen opened this spring in the kiosk that sits on the Playhouse Square Plaza and the bill of fare is, by design, concise. There are all-beef hot dogs, chopped cheese sandwiches and seasonal salads.

I met a pal there for lunch recently and arrived to find a sun-soaked patio, live music and a beehive of activity. While the plaza is the site of many summertime events, the kiosk has remained dark since Zack Bruell’s Dynomite Burgers closed in 2020. Ricky Smith, the local personality behind Random Acts of Kindness Everywhere (R.A.K.E.), opened Something Good in spring and despite his lack of restaurant experience, he has settled into a tasty groove.

What Smith calls “burgers” are actually chopped-cheese sandwiches – and they are mega-delicious. Picture a Philly but with ground beef that gets chopped and cooked on the griddle with a variety of ingredients, loaded into a soft potato bun and topped with condiments and sauces. Customers can order one of three pre-designed builds or design their own from a list of mix-ins and toppings.

The Melt Down is a melty-savory mix of beef, mushroom, onions, banana peppers and cheese. Unlike the typical foot-long Philly, these are packed into manageable 8-inch hoagie buns, making them more affordable and less wasteful. Sloppy Good is a sweet/smoky sloppy joe with beef, BBQ sauce, peppers and onions. If you took a Big Mac, chopped it into bits and pieces and laid it to rest in a hoagie bun you’d wind up with something like the Good Mac. This one combines beef, lettuce, pickles, onions, cheese and a chef’s kiss of special sauce.

All burgers cost $10.50 (except BYO models which vary) and come with rosemary and truffle seasoned chips – but you’ll want to trade up to the crispy straight-cut fries ($2.50).

The crisscross-cut all-beef hot dogs ($7.50) are like edible billboards for Cleveland food products, with Cleveland Kitchen, POP Mustard, Cleveland Ketchup and others making appearances. Options include the Sunshine, with ketchup, whole-seed mustard and sweet relish, the Hug, with BBQ sauce, bacon and crispy onion straws, and the Big Warm, a chili cheese dog.

Smith incorporates kindness, positivity and whimsy at every turn. Instead of taking names for orders, staffers ask about your favorite childhood toy. So instead of hearing “Ann” “Seth” and “Doug,” you hear “Barbie Doll,” “Ricochet Racers” and “Atari.” A joke of the day comes free of charge as does a sucker. But the biggest kindness is the free meal that gets donated for every one purchased, a staple gesture of R.A.K.E.

Something Good Social Kitchen
1302 Euclid Ave., Cleveland
somethinggoodcle.com

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