Cleveland's Best Bars: Bar Oni

Here in America, we think we invented getting drunk and watching a ball game. Not so, says Bar Oni chef and owner Matthew Spinner. With his izakaya sports bar in Tremont, Spinner is introducing Clevelanders to Japanese bar culture through yakitori small plates, Sapporo beer and house-made highballs.

“The skewers work so well with beer because they’re all salty, savory and vibrant,” he says. For a group, try the 12-piece skewer set ($50), the chef’s ever-changing selection of six meat and six veggie skewers. Familiar selections such as chicken thighs, pork belly and okra sit next to more adventurous ones.

Try This: Spinner says chicken thigh ($4) with tare sauce and scallions is the quintessential yakitori skewer. 2173 Professor Ave., Cleveland, 216-713-1741, bar-oni.com

Click here to learn more about 50 of Cleveland’s best bars, drinks and bartenders.