It's been a tough year for the restaurant industry. Winter is usually a little slower in Cleveland. And then the weather turns and restaurants and bars tend to do their best business, when patios are open, festivals are happening around town and everyone's out. Well, when there's a global pandemic just when the weather's warming up, it tends to put a damper on restaurant's finances. But to open a new restaurant, it takes years of building and planning and while some may have delayed, these restaurants have braved the current landscape and gone ahead with their projects anyway. Some may have had the unfortunate luck of opening just before the pandemic. Some have opened with social distancing guidelines. And others plan on opening in the coming weeks and months. No matter the circumstances, they all could use our business and we'd recommend trying each and every one of these new restaurants around town.
35 Cleveland Restaurants That Have Opened This Year or Are Coming Soon in 2020
By Scene Staff on Sat, Jun 27, 2020 at 8:48 am
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Bar Oni
2173 Professor Ave., ClevelandChef Matt Spinner recently announced that come July 25, he will close Ushabu, his wonderful shabu-shabu, sushi and Japanese tasting-course concept in Tremont, adding that the close-quartered dining arrangement no longer made sense. In its place will be Bar Oni, a hip casual Japanese sports pub that will introduce izakaya style drinking and dining to the City of Cleveland. The menu will be built around yakitori, literally "skewered, grilled chicken," which will be cooked atop imported yakitori grills.
Photo courtesy Scene Archives
Burgerim
17100 Royalton Rd., StrongsvilleLedgewood Plaza in Strongsville is getting a branch of the Israel-based gourmet hamburger chain, Burgerim (“many burgers” in Hebrew). The restaurant offers burgers made from traditional Angus, dry-aged and Spanish beef, as well as Hawaiian salmon, falafel and lamb. Burgeim also offers a build-your-own-burger option, where customers can choose between two types of buns, 10 proteins, four cheeses, eight sauces and 11 toppings.
Photo via Google Maps
Swenson’s
4660 Ridge Rd., BrooklynThis beloved drive-in restaurant is opening up its fifth Northeast Ohio location in Brooklyn sometime this year. In the meantime, you can get your fast-food fix at the Akron-based cheeseburger company’s Avon, North Olmsted, Seven Hills and University Heights locations.
Photo via @kryden_on/Instagram
17 River Street
17 River St., Chagrin FallsOne day before Governor DeWine ordered restaurants to close, Jekyll’s Kitchen in Chagrin Falls did just that of its own accord. The 11-year-old restaurant, which had been operated by the Hyde Park Restaurant Group, was changing hands, changing concepts and set to undergo significant physical renovations that would reshape the entire space. 17 River Street opened recently to rave reviews. The concept is be similar to Doody’s Cedar Creek Grille, with a comparable price point, but not a straightforward copy. The fine-casual restaurant has a classic American grill menu with sandwiches, burgers, pasta, steaks and fish.
Photo courtesy Scene Archives
Cent’s Pizzeria
5010 Lorain Ave., ClevelandFormerly home to PM Security, a sturdy brick building on the eastern edge of Detroit Shoreway will undergo significant renovations by the landlord before being handed over to Vincent Morelli, who has been working for the past year to open his own pizza shop. When he’s done with it, hopefully soon, he’ll open Cent’s Pizzeria.
Photo via Scene Archives
Goma
2079 East Fourth St., ClevelandIn the wake of one celebrity chef’s departure from East Fourth Street, another is staking a claim on a different high-profile location on that same street. Chef Dante Boccuzzi will open Goma in the former home of Zack Bruell’s Chinato at the prominent corner of Prospect and East Fourth. It will be the prolific chef’s first downtown restaurant. When it opens in June or July, Goma will be a high-energy Japanese Fusion restaurant with a sushi bar and full kitchen.
Photo via Scene Archives
Citizen Pie Roman Cafe
2057 East Fourth St., ClevelandBack in February, we revealed chef Vytauras Sasnauskas’ plans to open Citizen Pie Roman Café in the former home of Erie Island Coffee on E. Fourth Street. Following a brief pause, the restaurant opened this summer and its one of the hottest new concepts in town.
Photo courtesy Scene Archives
Hampton Social
Flats East BankThe Chicago-based Hampton Social is among four new restaurants and nightclubs set to be installed along a chunk of land bordering the waterfront in the Flats East Bank. Specializing in seafood, the modern and sleek restaurant will also include a speakeasy-type bar and music lounge called the Bassment underneath the dining area. While there is currently no set-date for opening, Flats East Bank developer Scott Wolstein expects to request financing for the project from the city council sometime this year.
Photo by Emmanuel Wallace
Casablanca Urban Cantina
Birdtown, ClevelandThe family behind the beloved Barroco Arepa Bar recently expanded their local offerings by opening up Hola Tacos in Birdtown. Soon, they’ll branch out again, this time with a Latin American-inspired concept close to Hola which will feature wood-fired foods from Argentina, Peru, Chile and beyond.
Photo via Scene Archives
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