The article is published as part of an exclusive content-sharing agreement with neo-trans.blog.
It didn’t take long to land a new tenant for a highly visible restaurant location at Cleveland’s Flats East Bank. Just four months after Beerhead Bar and Eatery closed at 1156 W. 11th St., noted local restaurateurs Alex and Arturo Mendez Martinez with partner Guillermo Ayala have executed a lease for the ground-floor space at the corner of West 11th and Main Avenue.
There, they will open their latest restaurant concept, Agave Social. Kevin Moss, senior vice president at the Cleveland office of brokerage CBRE, announced the lease signing this morning on social media and in an e-mail to NEOtrans.
“The owner describes Agave Social as a ‘stylish and social, always chill, go-to restaurant for tequila-forward drinks, modern Mexican bites, and patio vibes by the water. Weekend DJ sets, date nights and good times,’” Moss said.
If the owners’ names don’t sound familiar, then perhaps some of their local restaurants will. “They own 40 locations total, notably Blue Agave, Tres Portillos, Tacologist, Azteca, etcetera,” Moss added in his e-mail.
He also confirmed that the owners are not affiliated in any way with a Tampa, FL restaurant having the same name as their new Cleveland venture. The lease for Agave Social was signed with Flats East Building 4, LLC.
Renovations and redesign of the 3,500-square-foot ground-floor restaurant space are due to get underway soon as the Martinezes and Ayala want to get their new spot open before the summer ends. However, the city’s Building Department Web portal shows no permits pulled yet for the West 11th address.
“They plan to open in early August, so (they’re) just getting started on the work now,” Moss said.
After more than nine years in business, Beerhead closed without any advance notice or fanfare. The only explanation was a note left on the restaurant’s front door.
“After a great amount of thought and deliberation (and a few drinks), we have made the very difficult decision to forego renewing our lease in 2025 to pursue new endeavors,” the notice read.
Beerhead’s Web site shows it continues to operate seven locations including four in Ohio: Avon, Concord, New Albany and Mason. It also has locations in Michigan, New York and Texas. However the Web site continues to show the Cleveland Flats location.
Beerhead was one of the first businesses to open at Flats East Building 4 after it was built in 2015. The eight-story building has restaurants and bars on its first floor, tenant parking behind and above on the first and second floors and six stories of apartments above that.
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