Tremont favorite Prosperity Social Club is finally reopening this month, and with a twist. On Friday, Prosperity will host a fish fry, serving its award-winning beer-battered haddock along with house-made tartar sauce, Asiago and Parmesan mac and cheese and sweet, tangy coleslaw. The fish fry menu will be available for dine-in, takeout or curbside pickup, and a wider menu will be reintroduced in the coming weeks. We caught up with owner Bonnie Flinner and talked about the fish fry, reopening plans and what the next few months will look like at Prosperity.
Why did you choose a fish fry for your reopening?
People say it’s the No. 1 fish fry in Cleveland. We thought that since that’s what we’re known for, and I’ve had a lot of customers reach out and say how much they miss it, the first day open we’re going to do a fish fry as a sort of soft opening for the kitchen crew so all of our staff can get acclimated to our jobs after being off for so many months. We are starting to get pre-orders already for Friday. We will have a limited amount available, so once it’s gone on Friday, it's gone, but of course we’ll have it every day and then re-feature it every Friday.
Why did you choose July 31 for your reopening date?
I was hoping the COVID-19 numbers would be lower by now and that waiting to open would be beneficial in that respect, but it is not, so we are just going to take all the necessary precautions and go from there. We’re taking everything day by day, and our No. 1 priority is safety for ourselves and our customers. We are going to make any necessary modifications for that. I think a lot of the neighborhood community is looking forward to us reopening. It’s been hard not seeing people that we see on a regular basis, so it will be nice to start seeing those faces again and reuniting with our regulars and doing what we’re supposed to be doing.
What safety measures will be in place?
We are spacing all of our tables out, but we’re going beyond that. I’m really not too concerned about maximizing all my space. I would definitely have safe distances between customers and less tables. We purchased these bar dividers that are Plexiglas and they sit on the bar and they are moveable — you can move them between groups of customers. We will obviously require customers to wear their masks when they’re not seated, but I think the most important thing is that our entire staff is really committed to making this process work for our business and our community so we can reduce the numbers.
What’s on the menu this summer?
We’ve taken a two-month approach to reopening our menu on August 1. It’s a very unknown time and everyone has to remain flexible, so we scaled back the menu so that our prep work and our inventory will be in a safe spot in case something happens and we get closed down again. On Saturdays and Sundays, we’re creating picnic packs, and those are going to be really fun summertime-type of food — an appetizer, an entree and a dessert priced per person. We will also have blankets available for purchase if people want to go sit in the park. We’ll have everything available for carryout, and then in a couple of weeks we’ll have everything set up for delivery as well.
When You Go: 1109 Starkweather Ave., Cleveland, 216-937-1938, prosperitysocialclub.com
