Cleveland's Best Restaurants, Cleveland Weekend Guide: CLE Daily

🌧️ 55°; Periods of Rain

🌎 Gap Year: Is your kid thinking about taking a gap? Here is how to do it right.

⚾️ Bazzana Season: The Cleveland Guardians have called up their 2024 first overall pick, Travis Bazzana, to take over second base. 

🏀 Playoff Basketball: The Cleveland Cavaliers take on the Toronto Raptors today in game five of the first round. 

ICYMI: Ramps are now in season, and Northeast Ohio chefs and foragers are hurrying to the woods to pick their own.

Today's Trivia

This near West Side neighborhood allegedly got its name during Prohibition, as a place where people could elude law enforcement.

The 50 Best Restaurants in Greater Cleveland.

Food & Drink | By Cleveland Magazine Staff

No matter the time of day, budget or location, there’s a great meal to be had in Northeast Ohio. Our annual Best Restaurants issue compiles our 50 favorite spots for a breakfast sandwich, streetside taco, hulking steak, comfort food, local delicacy or anything else you may be craving.

• Of Note: Our list of the best 50 restaurants is an expansion from our normal 25.

Find yourself in a new part of town? Our interactive map helps you find a great bite near you.

• Readers' Choice: Cleveland Magazine readers picked for Best New Restaurant, Best Chef and more than 50 other categories in our annual Silver Spoon Awards.

• New In Town: Our Best New Restaurants list showcases some of the impressive newcomers in Northeast Ohio's dining scene.

For a taste of this year's editors' picks:

Abundance: Chef Liu Fang’s pandemic project and your short-lived hobby are not the same. A pregnant Fang immigrated here from China in the early days of COVID. When her Chardon-native husband returned to tend to the couple’s microbrewery business, he was detained for weeks by the Chinese government. Fang made buns to pass the worried time. Upon his release, the pair built Abundance, turning what was initially a pop-up into a modern take on Northern Chinese cuisine. Better days are here now, as the restaurant, located in a historic diner car, just went through an extensive renovation from Amba and Zhug interior designer Kelley Shaffer, who kept the endearing-but-modest spirit and elevated it into the type of transformative experience she’s known for.

Beet Jar: Eating your vegetables doesn’t have to be scary, kids. Not at Beet Jar, at least. In a funky, minimalist Hingetown shop with a few tables and coolers of fresh ingredients (there’s also a stand at Van Aken), breakfast bites, sandwiches and smoothies get the vegan treatment. Let’s be honest: We love a deli sandwich, but they often lack flavor diversity and texture. Not so with the Airport Sandwich ($14), which perfectly layers crunchy veggies and cuts a garlic sauce with spicy jalapenos. It’ll have you thinking about sammies in a whole new way.

Good Company: Is anything more nostalgic than a diner melt ($15) and a snickerdoodle milkshake ($8) with house-made ice cream? Perhaps not, but this nostalgic eatery tries anyway with a lineup of accessible starters, sandwiches, and wings marinated and braised for 72 hours. While the original Battery Park location, which may be moving, near Gordon Square, is worth a trip, those down I-77 South rejoiced upon the arrival of the recently opened Akron location.

Martha on the Fly: All of Cleveland is your brunch spot with this takeout breakfast staple. If you can't snag one of a few seats inside this busy, retro diner, enjoy sandwiches built around rectangular egg patties, a play on the McDonald’s classic on a fresh scotch roll with house-made sausage or bacon, on a streetside bench, in your car or at your kitchen table.

Tripi Italian Specialties: Don’t let the modern gold sign (or its placement in Ohio City) fool you. Inside is your classic, old-school Italian deli experience, perhaps the only such place in the hip Cleveland neighborhood. Enjoy the smell of fresh ingredients as you browse grandma slices, meatballs and deli sandwiches.

Tutto Carne: A chalkboard near the entrance lists prized cuts, ranging, on one evening, from an 18-ounce Chateaubriand ($108) to a 64-ounce bistecca ($320). Once they’re gone, they’re gone. And they go — with customers sawing into top selections from chef Zachary Ladner’s Village Butcher Shop in Mayfield. The Little Italy steakhouse, which is perfect for date night with its haute decor and polished service, follows the meat market’s philosophy of using every bit of the animal.

Talk of the Town

Cleveland's average gas price shot up to $4.18 yesterday, per GasBuddy. Patrick De Haan, the head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, says Ohio could see another spike this week amid ongoing refinery challenges in the Midwest. 

A $3 million Transformative Arts Fund from the City of Cleveland is facing transparency issues. Cool Cleveland reports that final budget reports for each respective project "has different formatting, categories and logic for totals and percentages, with many categories vague and lacking specifics." An Axios Cleveland report says their 2024 public records request on the grants came back "with no responsive records."

Over 200 tobacco sellers in Cleveland face the risk of a $500 fine if they fail to renew their annual license before the deadline, reports Signal Cleveland. The Dec. 31 deadline could result in fines totaling more than $100,000 under a new law passed last year that requires annual licenses from the city. 

Cleveland Guardians broadcast team to see changes throughout the year, with longtime announcers Matt Underwood, Rick Manning and Andre Knott no longer doing the majority of games. Expect Al Pawlowski and former Cleveland players Chris Gimenez and Cody Allen to join the booth team, reports Cleveland.com.

Dance parties, wine fests and more to do this weekend.

Things To Do | By Jeff Niesel

Henry Cho at the Agora | Comedy | April 30

The comedian known for making light of family life, marriage and growing up as a Korean American in the red state of Tennessee brings his Empty Nest tour to the Agora. The show begins at 8 p.m. 5000 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, 216-881-2221, agoracleveland.com

The Temptations and the Four Tops at MGM Northfield Park | Music | April 30

The two Motown groups bring their tour celebrating the 60th anniversary of "My Girl" to MGM Northfield Park's Center Stage. The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. 10705 Northfield Road, Northfield, 330-908-7793, northfieldparkracino.com

Midwest Wine Fest at Lago | Food & Drink | May 1-3

The organizers of this three-day event that takes place at Lago through Sunday promise "global discovery." Expect to sample wines from all around the world. Find hours of operation and more info on the website. 1091 W. 10th St., Cleveland, 216-862-8065 winefestcle.com

MIX: Year of the Horse at Cleveland Museum of Art | Party | May 1

Cleveland Museum of Art kicks off Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month with this special edition of MIX that features dance performances and house and techno sets by the likes of SceneAmatiX and Zosimo Maximo. There will also be themed food and drink specials. It all begins at 6 p.m. 11150 East Blvd., Cleveland, 216-421-7350, clevelandart.org

Go Fest Yourself at No Class | Music | May 2

Local emo rockers Mud Whale put together the lineup for this festival that features up-and-coming regional acts. The music begins at 4 p.m. at No Class. Garbage Kids Vegan will be on hand selling food. 11213 Detroit Ave., Cleveland, 216-221-8576, noclasscle.com

For our full list of things to do.

Yesterday's Trivia Answer

What radio station debuted as WHK-FM before switching its call letters and emerging as one of the great rock tastemakers of the 1970s and 1980s? WMMS

Check back tomorrow for the answer to today's question.

From the Editor

What a time to be a foodie in Cleveland. In March, the James Beard Awards named Cordelia chef Vinnie Cimino a finalist for the second time — just months after he opened his second restaurant, Rosy. But it’s not just him, a month later, the Michelin Guide — considered the bible for foodies — announced an expansion with a new dining guide covering the Great Lakes, an expansion that includes Cleveland. 

Both of these moments of national recognition point to what we already know: Cleveland is a great place to eat. So great, we could no longer contain our annual Best Restaurants list to just 25. So, we doubled our recommendations this year, proving that no matter the cuisine or time of day, there’s no better place to eat than Cleveland.