Best Of Cleveland 2019
We've got the scoop on all the coolest ways to show love for your hometown. From a teenage cover band that rocks to a cozy creperie and a fresh-picked bouquet made out of cupcakes, we've got 50 of the best foods, drinks, shops and entertainers to help you stay chill in the CLE.
Flower Walls: Cleveland Flower Walls — These Insta-worthy living backdrops for weddings and other events come alive through the use sunflowers, roses and greenery.
Beer Series: Terrestrial Brewing Co. — Conservation Series, the Battery Park brewery's collaboration with the Cleveland Zoological Society, celebrates occasions such as World Giraffe Day and World Earth Day with the release of special brews.
Orange Juice Tonic: Caffeine — This coffee and orange juice mixture from the Lakewood cafe is the breakfast super-beverage drink you never knew you needed — or even wanted.
Bubble Waffles: Ball Ball Waffle — The new restaurant brings savory and sweet versions of the popular Hong Kong street food to Cleveland's AsiaTown.
Stuffed Animals: Cool Critters — Aliens, animals or monsters? We don't care because these otherworldly critters are an uber-cute and cuddly way to rest your head.
Sporty Cover Band: The Players Club — The jersey-sporting cover band are party-soundtrack specialists that play nearly 100 shows per year.
Chicken Hearts: Cello's Grill — The downtown Brazilian steakhouse introduces us to the traditional comfort food coração de galinha.
Roast-Your-Own Coffee: Fig Leaf Coffee Co. — Seriously, put the K-Cups down, step away from the break room sludge and indulge in these green coffee beans and 23 varieties of unroasted, single-origin, fair-trade beans from Africa and Central and South America.
Dog Paw Butter: Lake Erie Pet Food Co. — Dogs can be sensitive to extreme heat or cold. Pamper your pup — and protect his or her paws from getting cracked or dried out — with this organic-based paw rub.
T-Shirt With A Message: Homage — The Ohio-based T-shirt shop helps us shout it from the rooftops, "We stand with Cookie" in his fight with leukemia.
Nostalgic Pies: Rood Food & Pie — Come to this Lakewood restaurant for the build-your-own sliders, but stay for the pies that'll transport you back to your nona's kitchen.
Boutique Hotel: Gervasi Vinyard's The Casa — This sprawling 24-room boutique hotel with an on-site distillery and coffee shop has us calling in sick on Fridays and taking quick vacations very close to home.
Custom-Painted Sneakers: Hrusovsky Custom Kicks — You might not be able to throw heat or junk like Mike Clevinger, but you can swag out like him with your own pair of Hrusovsky Custom Kicks — even on your wedding day.
Cupcake Bouquets: Abolition Bakery — These made-to-order sweets are house-made with love — and a mission to fight human trafficking.
CLE-Inspired Cocktails: Distill Table — This Lakewood restaurant has a local-focus ethos that extends to its list of cocktails named after local landmarks and with seasonal, local ingredients.
Manousheh: Zaytoon Lebanese Kitchen — The downtown fast-casual spot has us ditching cold pizza for breakfast in exchange for this zesty, traditional Lebanese flatbread.
Infused Honey: Brighton Wool & Honey Co. — This locally harvested and infused honey from Grafton, Ohio, is good on everything — even pizza.
Salt Yoga: Holistic Halo Salt Spa — Don't be afraid to get a little salty. Free your body of toxins with this North Royalton spa's sodium-fueled zen practice.
Unisex Necklace: Oceanne Jewlery — The yee-haw trend isn't over, but whether you're a cowboy or a cowgirl, you'd be hard-pressed to find an accessory that hits peak western vibes like this bolo tie from the Gordon Square boutique. Darn tootin'.
Crepes: Brewella's — There's nothing batter than the sweet stuff inside Brewella's more than 20 sweet and savory crepes.
Korean Barbecue: Rising Grill — Take dinner into your own hands at this Korean Barbecue spot, where diners cook long-marinated tangy bulgogi and short ribs on tabletop gas grills.
Gourmet Cotton Candy: Art of Sucre — This craft candy maker proves cotton candy is more than a carnival treat with more than 20 dynamic flavors.
Chicken Schnitzel Sandwich: Lox, Stock and Brisket — The University Heights with a fanatic following has settled the debate about who has the best crispy chicken sandwich.
Gourmet Cannoli: Holy Cannoli — This Orange Village baker creates crisp, cream-filled and homemade-style pastry that has us saying, well, holy cannoli these are good!
Bourbon Lockers: Hook & Hoof — This meat-centric Willoughby restaurant takes the mug club trend up way more than a notch with a bourbon-bottle club.
Double-Crust Pizza: Upper Crust — This North Olmsted shop has made the calzone-pizza-pie hybrid of our late-night eats dreams full of steak, chicken breast and a whole lotta veggies.
Dog Tea: Soma Tea — As the wellness trend begins to extend to pampered pups, this tea shop has created an all-natural drink to solve many dogs' common ailments.
Japanese Tasting Menu: Ushabu — The cozy Tremont restaurant known for shabu-shabu also has a seasonal tasting menu that delivers the tastiest history lesson in Japanese food and culture that you can find.
Unexpected Rock Stars: Fake ID — While they may not be able to get into the club, these teenaged rockers have the chops of any guitar slingers in town.
Lobster Tater Tots: Thyme Table — We're huge fans of mixing low- and high-brow, and this Bay Village restaurant's lobster tater tots do it with ease.
Key Ring: Blair Ritchey — You'll be sure to never lose your keys again when you attach this local handbag designer's piece to them.
Bacon For Dinner: Bull & Bird Steakhouse — This Chagrin Falls joint, which roasts whole slabs of thick-cut bacon for three hours, understands the one unshakable truth in life: bacon is good anytime, anywhere and with anything.
Cookie Shot Glasses: Sweet Fix Bakery — Don't let Santa drive after he chomps on these novel treats from the Cleveland Heights bakery.
Pupusa: El Arepazo y Pupuseria — The Fairview Park's Central American menu is great top to bottom, but the pupusas are the flavor-packed stuff of heaven.
Beard Oil: Beardology — How does Baker Mayfield keep that beard looking so good? He softens and conditions it with hand-made oil from this maker based in her Medina home.
Cashew Milk: Beet Jar Juice Bar — Poof! Beet Jar Juice Bar turns cashew milk and blue-green algae into a cereal-milk-like smoothie like magic.
Escape Routes: Trapped Escape Room — This escape room with various locations around Cleveland has puzzles and clues are so fun you won't even want to escape.
Entertainment Troupe: Fire and Light Performing Arts — This 12-person entertainment troupe lights up any engagement with hypnotic and LED-enhanced performances.
Chutney Bowls: Chutney B — This Shaker Heights spot is a fast-casual restaurant centered around rich, flavorful chutney.
Sauce-less Chicken Wings: Boss Chick N Beer — This mouth-watering Berea wing spot jokingly charges $100 if you even ask to sauce its deliciously dry rubbed wings — they're that good.
Punny Greeting Cards: Letterpress Jess — Make any occasion hilarious with this Canton greeting card maker's cartoonish puns.
Coworking Space: Beauty Shoppe — This sprawling, 12,000-square-foot co-working space in Ohio City has us feeling focused on our side hustle or our passion project 24 hours a day.
Asian Tacos: Balance Pan-Asian Grille — The downtown fusion spot proves blending cultures makes everything better — even tacos.
Weekend Escape: Getaway Beaver Creek — Halfway between Pittsburgh and Cleveland, Getaway Beaver Creek is your own personal Walden.
Brunch Board: Astoria Cafe & Market — The Detroit Avenue market and eatery takes brunch to new and delicious heights with a charcuterie board loaded with rare pork, house-made jams and cheese from Old Brooklyn Cheese Co.
Spritzes: Craft Collective — The Shaker Heights cocktail bar puts a new, Aperol-less spin on Spritzes.
All-Season Patio: Sapphire Creek Winery & Gardens — In Chagrin Falls, a cozy fireplace and wooded scenery has us screaming: Patio Season Forever!
Wine Flights: Flight Cleveland — The Gordon Square wine bar is helping to demystify and unpretentious-ify wine with super fun and adventurous three-glass flights.
Paper Flowers: Crafted Floral Collective — These hyper-realistic paper flower bouquets look alive but live forever.
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The votes are in! Our readers pick their faves in more than 60 categories. Best burger, best DJ, best spa & more!
Celebrate with us at the Best of Cleveland Party Friday, Oct. 25 at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
