As a red-blooded American weaned on classic rock, metal, and punk, I have had the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on my bucket list for as long as I’ve known what good music sounds like. This past summer, I finally made the pilgrimage to Cleveland to pay my respects at the glass-encased shrines of my musical heroes—Van Halen, Keith Richards, Muddy Waters, and the pantheon of guitar-wielding gods.
As expected, the Rock Hall was spectacular—alone well worth the trip to Ohio. But the real surprise was how much I enjoyed discovering the rest of Cleveland: the magnificent Cleveland Museum of Art; delightfully gritty live music venues; and superb restaurants a fraction of the price of those in my hometown of New York City. After a weekend in The Land, I was sold: Cleveland, indeed, rocks.
Although proudly Midwestern, Cleveland feels like an East Coast metropolis in many regards: a compact and elegant downtown; a skyline of stately Art Deco and Neo-Gothic towers; and strong influences from Italian, Jewish, and Irish immigrants. A town that has weathered many a tough winter, both literal and economic, Cleveland has character in spades. That’s perhaps why so many celebrated artists, from cartoonist Harvey Pekar to the Nine Inch Nails and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, hail from this industrial powerhouse on Lake Erie.
Gourmet Plates and Eastern European Soul Food
Memorable meals in Cleveland run the gamut from diner staples like Polish Boys and pierogies to soulful, chefly plates at acclaimed restaurants like Cordelia or Thyme Table. Home to a deeply rooted Ashkenazi diaspora, Cleveland boasts its own take on delicatessen classics like smoked pastrami, bagels, and kosher comfort fare. Equal parts elite chef and mad scientist, Chef Jeremy Umansky of Larder Delicatessen and Bakery uses koji, the microorganism used to make sake and soy sauce, to craft corned beef, pickles, and such briny flavor bombs. Larder’s plates—vivid colorwheels of pickled beets, carrots, ramps, and meats—are as pleasing to the eye as to the palate. For a memorable dinner, Cordelia, helmed by Chef Vinnie Cimino, celebrates Cleveland’s cosmopolitan culinary roots in dishes like chicharrones dusted with za’atar and old-school smash burgers jazzed up with caramelized cheddar and neon green pickles cured in Kool-Aid.
Equally compelling are delectable cheap eats like Polish Boys, kielbasas topped with fries and coleslaws, or diner-style pierogies smothered in fried onions—welcome fortitude before big nights in districts like The Flats or Tremont. Foodies and chefs spend hours meandering through West Side Market, a 19th-century indoor market under a soaring red-brick vault, housing scores of butchers, cheese-mongers, greengrocers, and artisans from around the Midwest.
The many waterfront bars and restaurants of The Flats, a neighborhood on the banks of the Cuyahoga River, thump well into the night with young revelers. Grab a table on the patio of Collision Bend Brewery to watch the ships pass by while tippling punchy IPAs and crisp pilsners. For an admirable selection of Ohio suds paired with live jazz and local color, head to HappyDog, a neighborhood favorite in the Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood. An Eastern European exclave, Cleveland is rife with every description of hotdog, kielbasa, wurst, or sausage; however, Happy Dog might be the only place serving franks topped with mac ‘n’ cheese, potato chips, or fruit loops—a sweet-n-salty treat that, after a certain point in the evening, really hits the spot.
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