After almost two years in business, World of Beer in Lakewood has closed. The location is just one of a large chain of craft beer-driven taverns around the country. Nearby locations include Columbus and Ann Arbor. The taverns, which serve no food, boast selections of upwards of 500 bottles of beer and 50 ever-shifting taps.

Located in the renovated Bailey Building, the 3,600-square-foot saloon featured a lengthy 30-stool bar, booth seating, and an area for live music. Beer was displayed in prominent brick-wrapped coolers, which flanked the taps. Food, while not served on premises, could be ordered in from nearby eateries.

Attempts to reach founder Mark Pottschmidt and the local GM have been unsuccessful.

This article appears in Dec 24-30, 2014.

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.

11 replies on “World of Beer Closes its Lakewood Location”

  5. i am not surprised that they closed. i once sat at that bar for nearly 15 minutes on a very slow night and no one came to acknowledge that i was there. instead the bartenders bull sh*tted amongst themselves at the other end of the bar while yucking it up. i went across the street to deagans and spent a sh*t load of money there instead.

  6. Not surprising when a place like this closes in Lwood. Nothing special about it. Why pay $5 or $6 for a beer you can get the same one at any dive bar for $3. If craft beers are your thing, there are plenty of spots to buy your own 6 pack.

  7. Seriously, Mongol1? People that want to go to a bar to enjoy craft bar don’t see “buying a 6 pack of your own” as a comparable experience. They also don’t see going to a random dive bar as the same experience, either.

    Plenty of craft beer bars make it work. Sorry to see that this one couldn’t. I’d put my money on a local craft brewery over a chain, though…

  9. As a huge fan of craft beer and experienced homebrewer, I can’t say that I’m surprised, nor am I disappointed that World of Beer has closed. World of Beer has always had a chain vibe with poor service, and despite their extensive beer list I’ve never been impressed with the place.

    The Owners of World of Beer obviously don’t get craft breweries at all. People who drink craft beer want a wide variety of beers, and a relaxing and comfortable atmosphere to drink them in. The fact that this place regularly housed terrible, really downright awful bands on the weekend nights was bad enough. What was worse though was how ungodly loud it got in there… I’m talking about literally having to yell into your friend’s ear who’s sitting right next to you in a sorry attempt to have a pathetic excuse of an attempt at an actual conversation. I’m sorry, if I wanted that experience I’d go to a concert, a sports bar, or some shitty college bar that sells nothing but Bud/Miller garbage with legions of idiots yelling about getting wasted on piss water. If drinking is supposed to be a social experience, how is that the case when you can’t even talk to anyone else in the entire establishment?

    Even when World of Beer wasn’t busy, which would be anytime other than a weekend night, I never had ever been impressed with the service at the place, or the knowledge (lack thereof) of the bartenders there. If you’re bar is specializing in a wide array of craft brews, your bartenders better know what the hell they’re talking about. Here they barely knew the basics, and always had little knowledge of the menu, often never having tasted or even having an idea of what many of the beers tasted like, or what style they would be similar to.

    So, no I’m not sad that World of Beers is closing. The Beer Engine always has been and will continue to be the Lakewood spot for anyone looking for obscure and interesting beers. Even though they only have about half the selection (Still 200-300 beers rotating), they’ve always had a much wider and more obscure variety of beers… it’s simply quality over quantity. In contrast, World of Beers always felt like going to a place that simply sells beers from every 6 pack you can find at major grocery stores across the US, without ever having anything really that unique or interesting.

  10. i stopped in a few times, some experiences better than others. i always wondered when looking at the coolers ‘how many of those have never been sold?’ i imagine there were a few bottles/cans in there that didn’t move an inch from opening day to closing.

    i prefer a well curated, rotating list (like the beer engine) to an overwhelming, exhaustive selection any day.

  11. Look here’s the thing. World of Beer had TOO MUCH beer. No one could ever keep up with it. If you want a great selection and some really good food, Lizardville underneath the Winking Lizard right down the street is the place to go. Other than that, there are a multitude of places that carry a ton of beers in Lakewood. World of Beer would have been successful in a city like Westlake or Rocky River maybe. But the market in Lakewood can’t support a place that frankly, is as uppity as World of Beer was. 16-Bit has a ton of beer and free arcade games, why go anywhere else?

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