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MARC BONA Features writer, cleveland.com-Greater Cleveland restaurants, food, beer, wine, sports entertainment/history spoke to Bill about - Edwins restaurant leaving Shaker Square for Nighttown space - Rachael Ray, The Chef’s Garden’ cooking show on A+E network - 17 highly anticipated restaurants, bars opening in Greater Cleveland in 2025
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Edwins restaurant leaving Shaker Square for Nighttown space
CLEVELAND, Ohio – Brandon Chrostowski has signed a lease to take over Nighttown in Cleveland Heights and move both of his Shaker Square restaurants, Edwins and Edwins Too, there with refreshed menus and revamped dining approach.
“We have signed a lease with Brandon and Edwins,” developer Rico Pietro said. “It’s fantastic for the area. I think it brings a higher bar of food to the Cedar Hill District. I told him, ‘I can’t wait to have my holiday party’ at his venue. I just think he does things at a different level, and I just think it’s going to be a charming location.”
Chrostowski is promising big things.
“It will be the gem of Cleveland and bolster our mission, too,” he said.
Chrostowski went into Shaker Square in 2013 with Edwins Leadership & Restaurant Institute as a fine-dining training ground for recently released incarcerated individuals. That concept has burgeoned into a life-skills center with various culinary offshoots.
The move gives Chrostowski a needed larger space. He said the goal is to cease operations at Shaker Square after Valentine’s Day – Feb. 14. He’s already planning for an efficient transition to open around the end of February-early March. He will use the name Edwins and not Nighttown, he said, and is aiming to be open seven days a week.
“We’re much bigger now than we’ve ever been before. We’re the No. 1 educator in prisons across America. We need more space, and we need a bigger kitchen. That space offers both,” he said. “It offers a bigger capacity to do business, to keep everyone working and learning, and a much bigger classroom space. That was the biggest thing that jumped up.”
Chrostowski said he signed a five-year lease that includes eventual options. He said his goal is to buy the building a few years from now.
For the restaurant, he plans to implement three concepts under one roof.
First, when you walk in to the Nighttown space, everything to the left and including the patio will be “classic brasserie with our twist on it,” he said. Casual dining will hover around a $25 price point.
“The brasserie menu will have the Edwins classics,” he said. The menu will change seasonally as the restaurant goes equally for after-theater and college crowds.
He described the area to the right as a “salon.”
“Think Parisian – couches, high-tops - and we’ll have a special salon menu for that,” Chrostowski said. “If you want to have a nice cocktail or grab a lobster roll. You can lounge.”
The third menu will go in the open space where a piano used to be. It will include a rotunda of banquettes and provide “ultra fine dining.” The room will seat 50 to 60 in an intimate environment, he said. Tasting menus and a la carte options will be offered, and Chrostowski said it “truly will be something to compete with the New Yorks and the San Franciscos of the world.”
“We’re looking to get a Michelin star. We’re gonna get that star for Cleveland even though it’s a longshot,” he said.
The new home will be a “bigger footprint than both of those (the current Edwins and Edwins Too) combined, with different looks on a restaurant that each student can learn from,” Chrostowski said. " … Nothing changes with the program; it just gets stronger. Nothing changes with the mission; it just gets bigger. It’s the ultimate education for our students.”
Edwins’ life-skills and child-care center, bakery and butcher shop – all located close to Shaker Square – will remain where they are. Chrostowski owns eight to nine buildings in that neighborhood; all are aimed at fostering the futures of people who go through Edwins.
Nighttown, at 12383 Cedar Road, opened in 1965. It was a victim of the coronavirus pandemic shutdown, and owner Brendan Ring closed it in 2020. Armed with a renovation plan, businessman Gregg Levy of Red the Steakhouse, took it over. But it lasted only nine months.
“It was a bittersweet letting the Nighttown brand go, but with what he’s planning to do I think it’s going to bring a lot of excitement to the east side,” Pietro said.
The Nighttown deal is one of a continuing series of culinary initiatives for Chrostowski, who keeps multiple frying pans going when it comes to his business ventures. Last month, The Friars’ Table opnened in the former Cowell & Hubbard spot in downtown Cleveland. He is consultant-operator on the project, a unique endeavor considering Playhouse Square owns the building and Capuchin Ministries LLC, a subsidiary of the Capuchin Order, owns the lease.
“Brandon’s a roll-up-his-sleeves, talented artist,” Pietro added. “Anything he wants to do I’m super interested in working with him. There’s not many people like him who are creative and probably one of one in his craft. If Brandon’s interested in something I’m listening.”
Chrostowski said he is “super excited to be in an historic spot” and is planning an exterior adorned with flowers and a neon sign touting the restaurant. And he aims to put a new stamp on the dining scene.
“We’re not trying to recreate Nighttown,” he said.
Rachael Ray, Farmer Lee Jones to team up for ‘The Chef’s Garden’ cooking show on A+E network
HURON, Ohio — Rachael Ray and Farmer Lee Jones are teaming up with some of America’s top chefs for an A+E cooking show set at The Chef’s Garden.
“The Chef’s Garden” will premiere with back-to-back episodes at 10 p.m. on Monday, January 27, as part of the network’s Home.Made.Nation multi-platform lifestyle program.
Each half-hour episode stars Lee, adorned in his signature red bowtie and overalls, as he meets with renowned chefs as they gain inspiration from regenerative agriculture at the farm. Then, they show off their culinary creativity with fresh ingredients at the Culinary Vegetable Institute in Milan.
Some chefs set to appear on “The Chef’s Garden” TV show include Emma Bengtsson, Curtis Duffy, Jenner Tomaska and Ray. Ray’s Free Food Studios produced the ten-episode series.
The Chef’s Garden is a hub for modern-day farming practices that’s a gem in Northeast Ohio’s culinary scene. The farm uses regenerative practices to grow a huge variety of produce, herbs and edible flowers that it distributes to restaurants all over the world.
The Culinary Vegetable Institute is the farm’s kitchen showcase that often hosts various dinner events throughout the year. The state-of-the-art kitchen space also features an adjoining Airbnb for visiting chefs and guests to stay overnight.
17 highly anticipated restaurants, bars opening in Greater Cleveland in 2025
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Greater Cleveland gained more than 80 new restaurants, bars and food businesses in 2024.
While it’s an impressive feat, the growing culinary scene in Northeast Ohio shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. The new year is already off to a strong start, with several restaurants and bars planning to open locally in 2025
To celebrate the start of another year, check out 17 highly-anticipated restaurants and bars set to open in Greater Cleveland in 2025.
Issho Ni Izakaya/Sushi Kuwahata
2054 Fulton Rd., Cleveland
West Side fans of Issho Ni will soon be able to enjoy traditional Japanese bar food, sashimi and sake in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood. The restaurant group took over the former Cha at Tinnerman space to become Issho Ni Izakaya. On the second floor, Kwan Gong, known for the popular Kyuu-Juu pop-ups in town, will open Sushi Kuwahata, an 8-seat traditional Omakase restaurant.
Jolene’s Honky Tonk
2038 E. 4th St., Cleveland
Jolene’s Honky Tonk will bring a bit of Nashville to East 4th Street when it opens this year. Hangry Brands plans to open a country bar in the former Greenhouse Tavern space, with Sauce the City collaborating with a fast-casual kitchen concept. The planned opening is the Guardians’ home opener this year.
Lopez 44
44 N. Main St., Chagrin Falls
Lopez 44 is a new iteration of Lopez in Chagrin Falls. The restaurant concept is evolving its name and menu in 2025 along with its move to a larger location in the former Flip Side space. The menu will feature Southwestern dishes with a Mexican influence.
Arthur Treacher’s
13216 Cedar Rd., Cleveland Heights
Arthur Treacher’s is plotting its comeback in 2025 and Cleveland is its base. The restaurant, which got its start in Columbus and once boasted more than 800 locations worldwide in the 1970s and ‘80s, was down to two locally-owned locations in Cuyahoga Falls and Garfield Heights. However, a third in Cleveland Heights is planned.
Birdietown
12501 Madison Ave., Lakewood
Birdietown kicked off 2025 by opening its doors the first weekend of the year. The highly-anticipated indoor golf course/restaurant/bar features an elevated menu from James Beard Award-nominated chef Jill Vedaa.
The Witch Doctor
3314 Broadview Rd., Cleveland
Cleveland’s Old Brooklyn neighborhood is getting another cocktail bar in 2025 with The Witch Doctor. The cocktail bar will focus on herbal and botanical drinks with a distinct mystical vibe.
Coyoacán Taqueria & Brew
13133 Shaker Sq., Cleveland
Rey Galindo, whose family owned the beloved former Luchita’s Mexican Restaurant, is opening Coyoacán Taqueria & Brew in Shaker Square. The Mexican restaurant and microbrewery will take over the former Balaton space in the neighborhood.
Riffs Libations & Creations
2418 Professor Ave., Cleveland
The former Kaiser Gallery in Cleveland’s Tremont neighborhood is now Riff’s Libations and Creations. While the space will remain a gallery, the owner plans to debut a more robust craft cocktail menu at a larger bar. Live entertainment and an outdoor patio are also planned.
Urban Meyer’s Pint House
811 Huron Rd., Cleveland
The former Winking Lizard location in the Gateway District will become the second location, and first in Northeast Ohio, of Urban Meyer’s Pint House. Saucy Brew Works acquired the original Urban Meyer’s Pint House in Dublin and will operate the new venue for the elevated sports bar.
Build The Pho
2084 W. 25th St., Cleveland
Build The Pho is expanding from its original home at Uptown in University Circle to Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood. The second location of the build-your-own Vietnamese noodle soup bowl will open sometime later this year in the former home of Campbell’s Sweets.
Shinto Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi Bar
25001 Cedar Rd., Lyndhurst
Shinto has been a popular sushi and hibachi spot in Strongsville since 2004 and opened a second location in Westlake in 2020. Now, they’re moving to the East Side, with plans to open a location in Legacy Village in Lyndhurst this summer.
Toastique
200 Park Ave. Suite 140, Orange
Toastique, a woman-founded café, is set to open in Pinecrest this year. Toastique serves gourmet toasts, smoothie bowls and other nutritious options, targeting those who want a quick, healthy bite. Pinecrest will be Toastique’s first Ohio location.
Brewella’s
16426 Madison Ave., Lakewood
Brewella’s in Lakewood announced after celebrating its 6th anniversary last year that it plans to move into a bigger space in 2025. The cafe will just be moving down the block to a new location with more seating and the ability to host private events.
The Dugout
East 4th Street
Hangry Brands has even more plans for East 4th Street with an upcoming seasonal bar called The Dugout. The sports bar and ice cream concept will take over the current valet area. It will be a part of a Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area so folks can walk around with alcoholic beverages in specific cups.
Buttercream and Olive Oil
W. 130th St., North Royalton
Buttercream and Olive Oil will be moving into a brick-and-mortar location in North Royalton later this year. The bakery will also serve as a boutique and culinary school, with various cooking and baking classes that all feature olive oil.
Bell & Flower/Rick’s Cafe space
86 N. Main St., Chagrin Falls
The former home of Bell & Flower and Rick’s Café in Chagrin Falls has been under construction since last year, with plans to open a new restaurant in 2025. While the plans were to name it Cafe Lola, owners Rick Doody and Joe Saccone are refining the name and concept this year.
Coppia
TBA
Coppia in Chesterland is an East Side favorite for fine dining with plans for change in 2025. While the owners haven’t officially announced where the new location will be, the restaurant will offer a similar dining experience in a larger, revamped space.