It seems like there’s been news of a B Spot burger bar closing almost daily lately. The lone Columbus location shuttered its doors this past week, shortly on the heels of the closure of the Michigan outpost in the Detroit suburb of Rochester Hills. This past spring, the sole Indianapolis location closed with little warning.
The question for Clevelanders is: Are the locations in Woodmere, Strongsville and Westlake also on the chopping block?
“Hells no!” says Symon. “The Cleveland stores do tremendous numbers.”
Symon added that the numbers at the out-of-town spots were fine, but flat. To succeed, the company had to make a decision about whether to grow or go.
“For us to be successful in other markets, we would have to commit to opening three to five B Spots to get into the fabric of the community,” he notes.
While numerous locals adore Symon and his B Spot brand, the battle for burger bucks grows increasingly harder with each passing mile.
“Something we might have overlooked when we decided to grow the brand is: we’re one of Cleveland’s favorite burgers. And when you go to another city, they already have their favorite burger joints. So, you not only have to have a great product, but you also have to change their habits.”
Given the success of Angeline at the Borgata Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, Roast in Detroit, the impending opening of his new BBQ concept at the Palms in Vegas, and the business of running three successful B Spots here in town, along with Mabel’s BBQ and Lola, the move just made sense.
As for the old Lolita spot in Tremont, because we know you’re asking, there’s no news to report.
This article appears in Aug 1-7, 2018.
They should take down the sign outside Lolita that says “Michael Symon Corner” and update it to “Michael Symon’s Abandoned Corner”
I’d love to hear the success stories of those who think they can out-cook or make smarter business decisions than him. Or you could just STFU.
I was wondering why the non-Northeast Ohio locations still have the old happy hour that was great, but Northeast Ohioans get the shaft with the new crappy happy hour.
Typical Al Glazen getting his panties in a bunch. MS said in May 2016 that he would be opening Sherla’s in May 2017. Then in August 2017 MS said if they could get Sherla’s open by summer 2018 he would be happy. As it stands today it doesn’t appear any actual work has been done on the property and MS is now saying there is no news to report. If he has abandoned the project because it doesn’t make economic sense, the market is over saturated, etc. then he should at least update the residents of the neighborhood that have to walk past the abandoned building every day. It’s frustrating that MS has found time to open restaurants in Atlantic City and Vegas while neglecting his own neighborhood. And of course Al get defensive about these factual statements because heaven forbid someone have any critical commentary about MS
Agree with the happy hour comment. I used to go to the Strongsville one pretty often, but have never gone since the happy hour changed (when I was last there to figure out the change occurred, there were two people dining in there). Every time I go past it now, it looks empty. $40 for two people to grab a couple hamburgers, fries, and a beer when so many other local places do it better is too much, IMO.
Indeed mikeh. I do a lot of happy hours. Luckily, I noticed the BSpot happy hour changed when I glanced at the menu while walking in the Eton mall. I thought, “That was fun while it lasted.” Then, I went on the website and noticed the other locations have the old happy hour! I have not gone since. You’re right it is too expensive for what it is. Plenty of other burgers out there at a better value.
Symon showed he’s a political bigot during the RNC convention, so I avoid all his restaurants. Of course it’s easy to avoid B Spot because their burgers aren’t actually that good. Just a lot of hype, but I see the Symon hype isn’t believe in these other cities outside of Northeast Ohio.
Especially after the TV show The Chew went off the air following revelations of Mario Batali’s mistreatment of women. I’m sure Symon knew nothing about that. lol
Anyway, people are getting sick of “celebrity chefs” in general, and the backlash has begun.