Beachwood's Dining Scene: Brand New and Tried and True

In Beachwood, dining out is always on the table. The city boasts an abundance of restaurants catering to every craving — from fine dining to quick bites. If you’re looking for inspiration for your next meal, here’s a sampling of some of the city’s tried and true and fresh and new restaurants.

Culinary Classics 

Few restaurants in Northeast Ohio can boast a track record like Giovanni’s (25550 Chagrin Blvd.).  Owner Carl Quagliata opened the Italian institution in 1976, setting off a nearly 5-decade run.  

“Giovanni’s is old-school Italian fine dining with tableside service and classic dishes,” Executive Chef Zach Lardner says. “But we also remain current with our flavors and techniques.”

The restaurant, Lardner says, is proud to be a Beachwood landmark and a go-to destination for its guests’ milestones and celebrations.

“We stay here in Beachwood because we have built a following that extends across multiple generations of loyal patrons,” he says. 

Not far behind in the long game is Hyde Park Prime Steakhouse (26300 Chagrin Blvd.) The restaurant launched in 1988 in Cleveland Heights, moved to Moreland Hills and finally settled into its current Beachwood perch in 2004. 

“We always looked at it as a New York or Chicago-style steakhouse,” says owner Joe Saccone. “The food itself is boutique — chef-driven. We serve prime steaks, Wagyu beef, prime seafood — it’s just dependable.”

While Hyde Park’s footprint continues to expand, Saccone says the restaurant never forgets its local roots. 

“A lot of people who live in Beachwood have been our customers for 35 years, and now it’s their children who are our customers,” he says. “We have the parents, now the children and someday, we’ll have the grandchildren.”

Beachwood’s thriving retail scene was a deciding factor for restaurateur Rick Doody and his partners when they were shopping for a location to open Cedar Creek Grille (2101 Richmond Road) in 2012.

“We love being part of Beachwood — we like the town; we love how we’re being received,” Doody says.

The restaurant, which Doody describes as a “classic American grille,” fills a cozy niche among the area’s dining options. With its warm wood finishes, lively bar and white tablecloth-topped booths, it feels upscale but not formal or stuffy, and the food is approachable but always prepared with an eye toward quality.

“We have everything from a couple of great burgers to prime steaks, to seafood that we hand cut daily,” Doody says. “Everything is prepped in house. We make our own soups, our own dressings, our own salads and our own sauces.

“And,” he adds, “we try to provide it in sort of a timeless ambiance.”

Savory Startups 

Changes to the dining landscape as a result of restaurant successes and growth created an opportunity for Sidonna Turner to bring Jamerican Kitchen Cafe (3365 Richmond Road, Suite 125), which she originally opened in Cleveland Heights in 2019, here to Beachwood. 

“I knew I wanted a smaller spot, and this was a chance be closer to home, closer to my son’s school and to pour back into my community,” Turner says.

As the restaurant’s name suggests, Jamerican Kitchen dishes out a mix of traditional Jamaican cuisine and American comfort food. Wings, wraps and a full breakfast menu mingle with oxtails, jerk chicken, callaloo and escovitch. 

“It’s a nice location, where you feel safe and at peace, she says. “We want you to be comfortable experiencing something new.”

Widely lauded as home to one of Cleveland’s best burgers, Heck’s (3355 Richmond Road) expanded its string of neighborhood cafes into Beachwood in 2023, and brought along a new concept: Antica Italian Kitchen + Bar.

“Beachwood is one of the best places to visit, shop and live, and it was a natural next step for Heck’s expansion to the East Side,” says owner Fadi Daoud. 

Alongside those famous burgers, Heck’s serves an array of salads, sandwiches, entrees and brunch, many with a Mediterranean influence.  

Antica, meanwhile, blends Italian tradition with culinary creativity.

“Every dish is crafted from scratch using a blend of local and imported Italian ingredients — everything from handmade pastas and pizzas to premium steaks and fresh seafood,” Daoud says.

Also new on the Beachwood scene is No Fork (3365 Richmond Road, Suite 150), a casual joint that serves a variety of comfort food that you can eat with your hands (think po’ boys, fried chicken, burgers and Philly cheesesteaks). A hearty breakfast menu is also available, and there’s no shortage of creativity when it comes to signature dishes like the Big Back Brunch Burger, featuring American cheese, bacon and a fried egg with two Belgian waffles acting as the “bun.” 

No Fork’s Owner, Jason Houser, is a recent graduate of the National Urban League and  the PepsiCo Foundation Restaurant Accelerator — a program that offers mentorship and investment to Black restaurateurs. 

Anchored by established favorites and energized by fresh concepts, Beachwood’s dining scene continues to drive the city’s reputation as a destination for commerce, community and culinary excellence.