Where do young people go out? (Cleveland, Akron: best neighborhood, lofts, condos)

[ecologito]

Hi

My wife and I moved to Cleveland 3 months ago and we are finally settled. We would like to know where young adult professionals go out.

To give people an idea, back in Charlotte NC we used to go to a local bar with a back open patio, ping pong tables on the outside. On the inside there were 2 pool tables a couple of screens showing sports and tables to eat a snack.

Here is the website of the place: Thomas Street Tavern :: Your Neighborhood Bar

Any ideas where can we find something similar in the Cleveland area?

[tjohio]

Tremont is fun, the treehouse. A new bar everyone is talking about Snickers near battery park (west 65) but the most fun and classic cleveland right now is at Rocky River drive and Lorain. There are three bars with million plus dollar makeovers. The clientell are attorneys, judges, firefighters, Police. If you are a west sider this is a great little area with plenty of free parking. The Public House, P.J. Mcyntires and West park station. Mcyntires is like a classic pub from ireland as it Public house.wps is local color.

[newmex]

Coventry Ave. in Cleveland Hts, also where Fairmount Rd enters into Cleveland Hts. I used to go up and down Lorain and Madison in Lakewood.

If you want to, take a drive to Akron, all up and down Main St., Highland square on Market St. about 2 miles west of downtown Akron.

[twange]

I'll chime in as well.

Tremont/Ohio City is great if you're OK with a more urban setting. In Cleveland, this means an area in transition from fairly gritty and crime ridden to hip and trendy. If you're not used to this dynamic, it could freak you out. For example, while the clubs and restaurants themselves are pretty swanky, you might park on a street that looks crappy and scary. But it has been slowly changing over the past 15 years. The Treehouse, Public House, The Southside are all great bars. I love the Ohio City area around 25th near the West-Side Market. This area has seen tremendous turn-around the last 10 years, but you'll see a lot of creepy characters milling about the place. Here's a simple rule I think holds up in any city: Places that are well lit and/or have a lot of people around, are generally safe.

Check out Lakewood as well. There are a ton of great, non-pretentious neighborhood bars to hang out and watch games, meet people etc...Madison and Detroit are loaded with pubs. Here's a few to check out:

Buckeye Beer Engine | buckeyebeerengine.com - Bookmark us now!
:: Melt bar and grilled, Lakewood, Ohio ::
.:: Winking Lizard Tavern ::.
(this is a local chain, but this one is a great location in an awesome old Elk's Lodge Building with a vintage bowling alley in the basement)
Sullivan's Irish Pub & Restaurant


The area where Detroit Ave curves into Rocky River also has some nice bars(Around the Corner, West End Tavern, Riverwood)

That bar with cops, lawyers etc(Rocky River Drive and Lorain) is really cool. I've been there a few times with my cop friends...can't remember the name though....

The area downtown, Prospect from E.4th to E.9th around Quicken Loans Arena and Jacobs field is decent, with some nice pubs and restaurants but Euclid is a right mess currently. Here's some cool places:

Flannery's Pub (Cleveland, Ohio) - Come In and Welcome.
A.J. Rocco's

Also, here's a good website with lists of places to check out:

Cleveland Restaurants

[nocondorfx]

average joe bars(NOT divey though!) near north royalton- north royalton you have scorchers on ridge rd with a patio, the blue moose on sprague - also a larger one in parma with a big outdoor patio and bar, several along a small 1/4 strip on pearl rd. in parma all with good sized patios, and slim and chubbys in strongsville. The boneyard is also right on 82 in broadview heights.
Lakewood has some nice 'friendly neighbor' ones(mmm the Melt... beer and grilled cheese) I myself often go to w.6th&9th streets downtown-(from time to time you can spot professional athletes, exotic automobiles,stretch limos) as well as ohio city (bier market,greatlakes, etc)

[DomenicP]

Besides Tremont, I would also recommend Little Italy -- especially during summer nights with the outdoor tables.

I'm not sure if these compare, but you may want to try Wonder Bar and/or Corner Alley on E. 4th street. Maybe even House of Cues in the Warehouse district.

What part of Cleveland do you live? That could help with better suggestions.

[TheProf]

East 4th Street downtown is probably the hottest new area for young people. It's a 1-block strip on an old narrow street 2 blocks from the center of town (Public Square/Tower City) where they've converted historic warehouses and office buildings into mixed use lofts, apts/condos with highly diverse street-level retail... You've, of course, got the House of Blues whose major billings are bands that appeal to the 20-something crowd -- the restaurant next door serves good down-home Cajun-style food (like it's neighbor around the corner, Fat-Fish Blue). Then there's the year-old Corner Alley which features a martini-bar/sit-down diner bowling atmosphere featuring pool tables, video games and a ton of wide screen sports plus funky lighting. The place buzzes most times of the day. Flanagan’s, at the other end of the short street, and Zocalo's, a newer Tequila bar/Mexican restaurant, are very youth oriented... other spots on the street, like high-end Lola's, huge Picwick & Frolic (+ Hilarities Comedy club) and the new Wonder Bar (jazz) are more for the 30s/middle age crowd ... but that's what makes 4th Street so great, its diverse.

The white hanging lights, compactness and upstairs residences give the place a Midwestern spin on Bourbon Street.

[askajak]

The Warehouse District is also popular with the younger crowd. There are lots of bars, restaurants, and clubs.

[E Rocc]

It depends on where you live. A lot of people stay close to home because of DUI laws, some local PDs even like to run "checkpoints".

[theguv]

Ecologito, I like the look of that place in Charlotte. Here's what I think would be similar in Cleveland. I know there a ping-pong tables somewhere in cleveland, but I cannot think of it..... maybe in Lakewood??
Anyway, here's my list of similar places in the Cleve>

Barking Spider (university circle): huge outdoor patio with lots of trees, live folk, jazz, & blues every night, nice beer list but not overwhelming, indoor/outdoor foosball, woodburner in the winter months.

Major Hooples (duck island): outdoor patio w/sports projected on a bridge, sand volleyball coming this summer, great neighborhood feel

Prosperity Social Club (tremont): comfy outdoor patio, great neighborhood feel on the inside with tons of board games as well as a mechanical bowling game, GOOD food and great beer selection.

Mulberry's (west bank flats): no outdoor patio, but the place has two indoor multi-use courts (street hockey, volley ball, basketball, etc) with an upstairs bar overlooking.

Sunset Grill (whiskey island): sits in one of the original structures (1800s) on whiskey island. huge outdoor patio on a lawn next to a marina. 8 sand volley ball courts are a 5 minute walk away.

Stone Madd (detroit shoreway): large stone outdoor patio w/ fireplace, a classy place, but they have a regulation size bocce ball court in the back room!

ReddStone (detroit shoreway): large patio with lots of trees and water features, rock'n'roll feel on the inside. this patio is large enough to feature ping pong or a mini golf hole. we'll see what this summer brings...

ParkView (detroit shoreway): the best, IMHO, neighborhood bar in Cleveland. awesome blues jam on wed nights. pinball and mechanical bowling inside and sports on a big screen inside and out.

In addition, since summer is coming, I'd highly recommend exploring Tremont on foot. Some of the best neighborhood bars and some of the best patios are in Tremont. Some of my favorites include the TreeHouse, Edisons, and Lincoln Park Pub.