Chef Chris DiLisi and his wife Krista were pioneers. Three years ago they took a chance on a fresh start in an exciting new neighborhood rising on the banks of the Cuyahoga. With the help of their landlords at the Wolstein Group and Fairmount Properties, the DiLisis opened Willeyville, a progressive American restaurant that made everything from scratch using the best possible ingredients.

The pair quietly closed the restaurant three weeks ago.

“We put everything we had into it: mentally, emotionally, financially,” Chris DiLisi says. “I spent 20 years honing my chops and waiting for this opportunity. But you have to follow the deal. I wish we could have written a better ending. It’s sad. I’m definitely sad about it.”

“Following the deal” means taking a chance on an untested location like Flats East Bank instead of holding out for a different location in, say, Tremont or Ohio City or Chagrin Falls.

“I think we were executing on a high level,” adds the chef. “I’ve never been more proud of the food we put out, the service has been great, the ambiance, I thought, was great. I mean, we hit on every single mark. You put the restaurant in Hudson or Moreland Hills and we’re killing it, which is frustrating.”

In the three years since DiLisi opened Willeyville in the Flats, restaurants have continued to come and go. Ken Stewart’s, Crop Rocks and Crop Sticks have closed, while new spots like Bold, Coastal Taco, Alley Cat, Flip Side, Big Bang, Beerhead and Punch Bowl Social have arrived. Those spots will soon be joined by Margaritaville and Rascal Flatts.

New developments often take time to sort out, level off and find a groove. But DiLisi says that he and his wife were not prepared to weather another cold and windy winter to find out.

“That area, at least at this point, is pretty challenging,” he says. “I also feel that there’s an oversaturation of the Cleveland market. It seems that every two weeks there are four more places opening, three others going down.”

This article appears in Nov 9-15, 2016.

For 25 years, Douglas Trattner has worked as a full-time freelance writer, editor and author. His work as co-author on Michael Symon's cookbooks have earned him four New York Times Best-Selling Author honors, while his longstanding role as Scene dining editor has garnered awards of its own.

6 replies on “Willeyville, the First Restaurant to Open in Flats East Bank, has Closed”

  2. The restaurant business is notoriously difficult. The ones that survive do so because they cater to their clientele, are on solid financial footing, and actually understand the business side of what they are doing. To imply that you would simply do better — or, be “killing it” — by moving to Hudson or Moreland Hills means that you didn’t do your research properly. My impression of the Willeyille during the few trips I made there was that, while they did serve a good plated product, they could have been more refined in the service area. I even once had a “mixologist” become borderline enraged when I returned the nearly unpalatable Manhattan I had ordered — it turned out that she didn’t really even know how to make one. I’m sorry, but that’s a drink you don’t wing — especially, when you’re charging $12 for it. That’s my own personal experience, but things like that leave an impression when you’re deciding where to take a group for a nice dinner. To put it bluntly, that would have never happened at Red, Dante or Lola.

  4. Definitely a shame, but not a surprise. My husband and I lived in the Flats for a few months after moving back to Cleveland before buying a home, and I work in the EY Tower, so I am here literally all the time. I’m not an expert in this, but it seems these establishments simply do not have the clientele to support them. There’s only the one apartment building here, with less than 200 units in it, only one major office building, so forget about getting substantial crowds for lunch or even for dinner. This area just isn’t enough of a draw to bring people down here for a night out, except maybe once in a while. The Flats are too far from the Q, the Jake, and really everywhere else in downtown Cleveland that people tend to go. It was a nice try, but without significantly further development that brings residents and workers to the area on a daily basis, it’s just a matter of time before these other restaurants shut their doors. Of course I hope I’m wrong…

  5. La Strada was located on E. 4th. It’s an excellent location with tons of foot traffic. It failed miserably too. The food was good, but the restaurant had no idea what it wanted to be. Restaurants in prime areas of NYC and Chicago go belly up every day. Location matters, but it isn’t everything.

    The Flats is a brand new, ‘can’t miss’ location 7 months out of the year. It’s easy to get to, easy to park in and, for the first time ever, very walkable. For the remaining 5 months, it will rely mainly on weekenders, word of mouth from the locals, and the existing residents, hotel and offices. Most dining establishments should be so lucky. Many, many restaurants survive on much less traffic and in much less popular areas. Places like Shuhei on Chagrin are in arguably terrible locations with zero foot traffic (for those unfamiliar, it’s entrance is in the rear of a small stand-alone office building; the restaurant is in its basement). If you blink, you miss it. Yet, they have been there for over 20 years Why? They know their clientele and provide a solid Japanese-American dining experience at a reasonable price point — i.e., they know the business and have successfully marketed their product.

  6. I’ve lived in the Flats area for over 3 years now, and have been a repeat customer of Lago since before the grand opening. So, you can say that I’ve been next door to it all since the beginning. I share the concerns over there being a bit of a restaurant glut right now, without a good balance of nightclubs or shops or something to keep people interested. On the other hand, Clevelanders can be fickle and sticks-in-the-mud. Even in the height of the summer buzz, I’ve worked with people in the ‘burbs who say, “Oh, you live there? I’ve been meaning to try get down there to all the new places!” (Many of which are going on 2 years old: not so “new”.)

    At the end of the day though, in Willeyville’s case…I hate to break it to them, but…their food was just too eclectic. I’m all for fresh and made-from-scratch, but it needs to taste good, too. Often, it was so over-thought that it didn’t taste memorable or desirable to my taste buds. In all my time living right next door, I can count on my hands (maybe one hand) the times I’d eaten there. But, most of all, if you want customers, you also need to be OPEN. What do Ken Stewart’s, Crop Rocks, Crop Sticks and Willeyville all have in common? CRAZY hours and maybe not serving food on Sundays or part of Saturdays in what is primarily a weekend destination. If you want steady customers, you need to actually be open when they are likely to be there. Willeyville wasn’t.

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