46 New Restaurants To Try In Cleveland This Summer

Explore the Van Aken Market District

3401 Tuttle Rd., Shaker Heights

The Market District is one of the more exciting spots to open in the area in the last few years. There’s a food hall where you can grab food from a bunch of awesome local spots like Lox, Stock and Brisket and Banter, then grab a pastry at On The Rise bakery and a coffee at Rising Star. Then grab some cheese from Old Brooklyn Cheese Co before exploring the local shops like Whiskey Grade, Emily Roggenburk, Xhibition and Double Rainbow if you have a little one.

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Ujerk Caribbean Eatery

850 Euclid Ave., Cleveland

UJerk, a Jamaican-themed fast-casual restaurant, opened in the City Club Building downtown. The colorful restaurant specializes in jerk chicken salads, sliders, sandwiches and wraps. Other items like tuna salad, shrimp salad and falafel also can be enjoyed in slider, sandwich and wrap form. On weekends, UJerk trots out the Rasta Pasta, an Alfredo-esque pasta topped with jerk chicken.

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The Sleepy Rooster

5120 Chillicothe Rd., Chagrin Falls

In February, Craig and Sarah Fitzgerald opened The Sleepy Rooster in Chagrin Falls. After graduating from Le Cordon Bleu Institute in Pittsburgh, Craig worked in fine dining restaurants in Pittsburgh and Florida. At Sleepy Rooster he focuses on top-flight breakfast, brunch and lunch dishes like fresh-baked biscuits and gravy, goetta and eggs, avocado toast and fried bologna sandwiches.

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Hibachi Japan Steak House

6025 Kruse Dr., Solon

For decades, Hibachi Japan Steak House has entertained and fed generations of Cuyahoga Falls residents. Last year, owner Morgan Yagi expanded northward, converting the former Akira restaurant in Solon to a new Hibachi Japan. The main dining room has 12 hibachi tables where guests can enjoy teppanyaki-fired dinners built around soup, salad, fried rice and a choice of chicken, shrimp, lobster and steak, but also sushi in the form of rolls, platters and pieces.

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Summer House

12900 Lake Ave., Lakewood

In March of 2020, Summer House opened in the former Swingo’s space at the Carlyle in Lakewood. This restaurant from Tony George promises guests a summertime vibe 365 days of the year. The large space has been completely reimagined, with a 50-seat bar and stellar views of Lake Erie and downtown Cleveland. The bill of fare is Mediterranean, but there are plenty of creative American dishes on the menu as well.

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Soba

1827 Coventry Rd., Cleveland Heights

After working for years in a traditional hibachi-style Japanese restaurant, Jingbo Xiao had the brilliant idea to adapt the food to a fast-casual concept. He did just that when he opened his first Soba in Sandusky. He followed that up with a new location in the former Jimmy John’s space on Coventry. The fully customized “bowl-type” experience tops bases like fried rice, egg noodles and soba noodles with veggies and proteins like chicken, steak and shrimp capped off with sauces such as teriyaki, garlic butter and yum-yum.

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Sixth City Sailor Club

668 Euclid Ave., Cleveland

Joseph Fredrickson and the team from Society Lounge snatched up the former Hodge’s space downtown just in time to take advantage of that spacious courtyard patio and outdoor bar. The affordable, approachable neighborhood bar features slushie drinks, draft cocktails and quick-fire cocktails. To go with the refreshments is a seafood-focused menu starring items like clam chowder, shrimp fritters, crab cakes and fried clams.

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17 River Grille

17 River St., Chagrin Falls

Last summer, Rick Doody unveiled this well-appointed restaurant in the former Jekyll’s Kitchen space in Chagrin Falls. The interior has been completely reworked to open the space up and better align it with those dramatic water views. All new furniture, fixtures, fabrics, flooring and lighting complete the transformation. Classic American grill dishes like lobster bisque, wedge salads, cedar-plank salmon, pork chop Milanese and steak frites with Bearnaise are what’s for dinner.

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Shinto Japanese Steakhouse

857 Columbia Rd., Westlake

Sheng Long Yu, owner of the 17-year-old Strongsville restaurant of the same name, opened this splashy west-side eatery in the former home of Miami Nights. Inside the meticulously renovated space are multiple hibachi tables, conventional tables, a sushi bar and cocktail bar. Japanese food fans can enjoy an extensive menu filled with sushi, teriyaki and lively teppanyaki-fueled feasts.

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Sauce The City Galley

1400 West 25th St., Cleveland

With the addition of Pearl’s Kitchen in late winter, the Sauce the City Galley became, for the first time since the Ohio City Galley closed, fully occupied with restaurants. In addition to original tenant Sauce the City, the food hall now features chef Jose Melendez’ pan-Latin Twisted Taino, serving mofongo bowls, tostones, empanadas and tripletas, chef Tiwanna Scott-Williams’ Pearl’s Kitchen, a comfort-food spot selling Southern-inspired dishes like blackened salmon BLTs, shrimp and grits and bourbon bread pudding, and Good Meal Jane, an enigmatic pizza ghost kitchen. Next on leader Victor Searcy Jr.’s to-do list is getting the bar back in business.

Photo via Scene Archives