Scene April 24, 2019

April 24–30, 2019 • VOLume 49 Issue 43

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All the best things to do this week

Film

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Much like yours, you can probably skip Family, out this week at the Cedar Lee

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UPFRONT CONDEMN BUDISH FOR JAIL, BUT APPLAUD HIM FOR TAKING CLIMATE CHANGE SERIOUSLY Photo by Erik Drost FlickrCC

IF NOT FOR THE MISERABLE conditions at the Cuyahoga County Jail and a sweeping corruption investigation, Armond Budish’s annual state of the county address, held last Thursday at the Huntington Convention Center, would have been his strongest yet.

Though the second-term county executive still delivers remarks like a sixth grader reading a book report, his speech was not without substance. The most important element was the unveiling of a collaborative county-wide climate action plan. Budish outlined seven key policy priorities that he says will make the county greener and more inhabitable for generations to come.

It’s possible, if not likely, that the audience interpreted Budish’s point-by-point outline of the climate proposal as a lengthy diversionary tactic. The jail and the probe were clearly on everyone’s minds. In an introduction, City Club board chair Robyn Minter Smyers referred to them gently as “concerns,” and the audience remained largely silent throughout the address. Budish did acknowledge the jail “setbacks” early on, but did his best to put a cheerful spin on the situation.

“I’ve taken and will continue to take decisive action,” he said. “I’m pleased to say that we’ve made great strides!”

He said that the jail was on target to be at or below capacity within the next year, and that every individual now sees a nurse when they arrive.

It’s unlikely that the climate action plan Budish described, then, will do much to affect his legacy.

Former PD editorial page director Brent Larkin now says that Budish’s ability to govern or lead is “greatly diminished, if not destroyed,” and the cement seems to be drying on the notion that Budish is a catastrophic manager who, despite fundraising acumen, can’t hire or retain top staff, gravely misapprehends county financial priorities and has presided over the ugliest period in the history of the county jail.

(It is yet to be determined how much personal responsibility Budish bears for the jail horrors, and whether his actions rise to the

level of criminal misconduct. But Cleveland.com reported last year — it should not be forgotten — that it was Budish’s ruthless pursuit of cutting costs that led to the jail’s becoming one of the “worst in the nation.”)

The climate action plan should nevertheless be applauded and taken seriously. Budish called it a “bold and transformative” effort that was also, much like the other highlights and proposals he described, “proactive, creative, distinctive, inclusive, and collaborative.” Climate action was necessary, Budish said, because climate change is real, and Cuyahoga County is now experiencing “the four Ws: Warmer Wetter Wilder Weather.”

He said he wanted to make the region a “trailblazer” in tackling climate change and said the policies would not only enhance the region’s

quality of life but create numerous jobs.

The seven specific policies outlined were the following: 1) TREES: Ask county council for $5 million over the next five years to plant thousands of trees across the region. Budish wants to encourage companies and organizations to plant trees as well — he envisions treeplanting competitions — and wants to help increase the county’s tree canopy from 14 percent to 30 percent by 2040.

2) GREEN BANK: With support from local foundations, create a bank that lends money and invests in clean energy projects, including residential solar panels.

3) COUNTY GREENWAY: Work to build more pedestrian and bike paths and connect the existing network. Enhance recreational

opportunities while at the same time increasing property values and reducing carbon emissions.

4) PUBLIC TRANSIT ASSISTANCE: “Find ways to increase the use of public transit.”

The county’s contribution will be giving preferential development dollars — all else being equal — to projects located within walking distance of frequent transit routes and providing incentives to companies that wish to relocate to transit-connected job hubs.

5) EV CHARGING STATIONS: Accelerate creation of electric vehicle infrastructure. Currently there are only about 50 charging stations in the county. Goal is to create “robust” infrastructure within three years.

6) TRAFFIC LIGHTS: Work with NOACA to better time traffic signals, thereby reducing idling (and concomitant emissions) and speeding up commutes. NOACA’s next street project: Chester Avenue, from University Circle to downtown.

7) ROOFTOP SOLAR: Heartened by the success of 35,000 solar panels in Brooklyn, which cover the vast majority of energy consumption at the county’s administrative headquarters downtown, add rooftop solar panels to three county buildings and make available to other county communities the same affordable energy pricing that the county receives.

Budish said the climate action plan was a joint project of the County Planning Commission, NOACA, the Cleveland Metroparks, the Western Reserve Land Conservancy, the Cleveland Foundation and the Gund Foundation. — Sam Allard

Gentrification Not the Problem: Study Says Cleveland Continues to Experience Widespread Neighborhood Decline If there is one subject Cleveland likes avoiding — and by that we mean hearing anything about it — it’s the poverty and population loss that has afflicted Northeast Ohio for decades. If there is a study on how Cleveland ranks high on craft

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UPFRONT beer consumption or the restorative character of downtown chandelier placement, this city loves it. Eastside poverty levels, not so much.

A new report — American Neighborhood Change in the 21st Century: Gentrification and Decline — just released by the University of Minnesota Law School, examines poverty and causes in the country’s top 50 metro areas. Its subjects of interest are the degree to which neighborhoods are experiencing economic growth, displacement of low-income people, concentration of poverty, and abandonment.

It is an easy read — with lots of data and tables for those who like that stuff. We won’t go into the specifics of all of it, but they do give a summary of each metro area. Here is what they say about the Cleveland/Akron area: “The Cleveland region features two central cities, Cleveland and Akron. The region’s neighborhoods are experiencing powerful economic decline and virtually no gentrification or growth. The only significant pocket of gentrification appears to have occurred in the Tremont area, and the number of people displaced is, on net, in the hundreds.

“By comparison, nearly half of regional population lives in a strongly declining area. Those same neighborhoods include about 65 percent of low-income population.

Despite losing nearly 10 percent of their population since 2000 — 166,000 people — they have seen a 30 percent increase in low-income population and a 49 percent increase in residents in poverty. They have also seen massive white flight, losing 212,000 white residents, or 20 percent of their entire white population, since 2000.

“In Cleveland’s suburbs, declining areas are undergoing poverty

concentration. But neighborhood decline is much more severe in the cities of Akron and Cleveland, where about 75 percent of population lives in a strongly declining area. In Cleveland proper, poverty concentration is less frequent than outright abandonment, and much of the city’s eastern half is growing poorer while losing lowincome and middle-income population alike.”

Jason Segedy, Akron’s director of planning and urban development, has a good post on this study on his very well-thought-out blog on urban issues, Notes from the Underground.

He once again thinks Midwestern big cities are getting too obsessed with “gentrification” (the Minnesota study makes that point as well), and how it is basically irrelevant in cities like Akron and Cleveland: “Rather than being subject to displacement by gentrification, urban residents who are both black and poor are far more likely to be left behind in neighborhoods experiencing widespread vacancy, abandonment, and disinvestment,” he writes. “Instead of displacement by gentrification, what we are seeing in most cities could be described as displacement by decline — as black middle class residents, in particular, frustrated by the continued social and economic disintegration of their neighborhoods, are moving to safer and more attractive neighborhoods in the suburbs. While the urban renaissance in a handful of neighborhoods gets all of the headlines, it is the rapid concentration of poverty and urban decline that is far more prevalent–and troubling.”

— Dan McGraw

New Cleveland.com Podcast, This Week in CLE, is Not That Bad! Cleveland.com last week launched a weekly news podcast called This Week in CLE. Styled as a reporters’

and editors’ roundtable and hosted by editor Chris Quinn, the podcast is meant to compete directly with WCPN’s Reporters’ Roundtable, from which Quinn recently announced his departure.

“I will miss my weekly conversations with the incredibly talented Rick Jackson, M.L. Schultze, Karen Kasler and Joe Frolik,” Quinn wrote, “but I’m not disappearing. My team at cleveland.com is planning some dynamic new conversations to wrap up what’s going on each week. One will be a weekly podcast we’re calling This Week in the CLE. Because cleveland.com is the center of the Northeast Ohio news universe, we think tapping into the thoughts of our experts will give you deeper perspective on what is driving the news they report. I’ll have conversations with them each week, aiming to publish the podcasts each Thursday evening. That way, people can listen during their Friday morning commutes,” (emphasis mine).

WCPN’s Reporters’ Roundtable airs on Friday mornings as well, so the podcast, which can be downloaded and listened to at any time, is edging in not only on the same content territory but the same preferential time slot. (WCPN’s host Rick Jackson, two weeks back, called their program the “original” weekly news roundup, a subtle bit of media shade in Quinn’s direction.)

Scene will come right out and say it: This Week in CLE is promising.

The first episode features Quinn with metro columnist Mark Naymik and reporter Mary Kilpatrick, and then with different guests for each of four segments: reporter Courtney Astolfi, politics editor Mary Kahoun, public advocacy manager Mark Vosburgh, and pop culture reporter Troy Smith.

The Astolfi segment is the most valuable. It includes analysis of county executive Armond Budish’s

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state of the county address Thursday and updates on the county corruption probe, all from the reporter who’s been closer to the story than anybody. For local news junkies, this content will be fresh and illuminating; likewise the later commentary from Naymik, who really does have his finger on the pulse of a huge number of ongoing local narratives.

DIGIT WIDGET $4 MILLION Public funds secured by demolition companies, through the Cuyahoga County Land Bank, which were used to demolish homes and dump the debris at the Noble Road dump site in East Cleveland.

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Ideal number of words per line of text, according to PD editor George Rodrigue. The PD will switch from a six-column to a four-column layout on May 7 — about 11 words per line — in conjunction with outsourcing local production jobs.

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UPFRONT A note on coverage: Cleveland. com suddenly appears to be on the local lead advocacy group CLASH’s side. In the Vosburgh segment, Quinn and Naymik were bashing city council and Frank Jackson for their unwillingness to take up the CLASH legislation, notwithstanding the missing election falsification language on recently rejected petitions.

To hear Quinn and Naymik talk, this legislation is a no-brainer. In fact, Cleveland.com used that same language in an editorial last week, calling on council president Kevin Kelley to “do the right thing” and accept the CLASH proposal. Quinn and Naymik cast aspersions on council sluggishness and noted the personal grudges that characterize Jackson’s politics. (Jackson doesn’t want CLASH to get any credit, Naymik noted, because Jeff Johnson is involved.)

Well, this sure seemed like a fairly honest accounting of the motivations for city leaders’ recent action and inaction on the issue. But it was also — for this listener at any rate — a striking adjustment from the publication’s previous stance.

Cleveland.com was never as hostile toward CLASH as they have been to citizen groups in the recent past, but they did call the ballot measure “hasty” and “potentially ill-crafted” in a January editorial, suggesting that a “far wiser” approach would be the Lead Safe Cleveland Coalition, the publicprivate group that’s hashing out policy recommendations and planning a summer lead summit.

Now, they’re saying it’d be better to run with the CLASH proposal and add in whatever coalition recommendations seem prudent — particularly as it relates to funding sources — not the other way around.

Finally, while Quinn’s abrupt departure from WCPN to start a competing project may be rightly perceived as a shitty thing to do, Cleveland.com is smart to experiment with, and invest in, podcasts. And competing media organizations are right to compete with each other. It will hopefully inspire both WCPN and Cleveland.com to pursue the most engaging and relevant weekly program possible.

— Allard

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People and Places ...................19 Shops and Services .................. 25 Bars and Clubs ...................... 35 Arts and Entertainment .......... 43 Food and Drink...................... 47 Sports and Recreation .............61

I

t’s that time again, folks, that most glorious and positive time of the year when we take a step back and recognize the absolute best of Cleveland.

The nominations came flooding in this year, and tens of thousands of votes later, we have the definitive list of winners, and what a healthy list it is. Congratulations to all of the winners, and congratulations, too, are in order for all the runners up. It was tough sledding to come out at the very top of what was a heated and close race.

Be sure to visit and support all of the worthy recipients. Without further ado ...

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People and Places Photo by Erik Drost FlickrCC

Cleveland Museum of Art

BEST HOTEL

BEST FREE OUTING

BEST OUTDOOR WEDDING VENUE

2nd: Hilton Downtown 3rd: Westin Cleveland Downtown 4th: Aloft (Flats) 5th: Kimpton Schofield

2nd: Cleveland Metroparks 3rd: West Side Market 4th: Edgewater Park 5th: Wade Oval Wednesday

2nd: Squire’s Castle 3rd: Mapleside Farms 4th: The Shoreby Club 5th: Lago East Bank

BEST PLACE TO TAKE A VISITOR

BEST APARTMENT COMPLEX

BEST INDOOR WEDDING VENUE

2nd: Cleveland Museum of Art 3rd: Metroparks 4th: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 5th: Edgewater Beach

2nd: One University Circle 3rd: The Bingham 4th: The Quarter 5th: The Edison

2nd: The Arcade 3rd: Windows on the River 4th: 78th Street Studios 5th: The Ballroom at Park Lane

BEST FAMILY OUTING

BEST BED AND BREAKFAST

BEST RADIO STATION

2nd: Indians’ Game 3rd: Cleveland Metroparks 4th: Cedar Point 5th: Edgewater Park

2nd: Washington Place Inn 3rd: Glidden House 4th: J. Palen House

2nd: Q104 3rd: 100.7 WMMS 4th: 92.3 The Fan 5th: 98.5 WNCX

Readers’ Choice Winner: Metropolitan at the 9

Readers’ Choice Winner: West Side Market

Readers’ Choice Winner: Cleveland Metroparks Zoo

BEST NEIGHBORHOOD

Readers’ Choice Winner: Lakewood 2nd: Ohio City 3rd: Cleveland Heights 4th: Tremont 5th: Detroit Shoreway/Gordon Square

Readers’ Choice Winner: Cleveland Museum of Art

Readers’ Choice Winner: The 9

Readers’ Choice Winner: The Inn at Brandywine Falls

BEST SEASONAL FESTIVAL/EVENT

Readers’ Choice Winner: The Feast of the Assumption 2nd: Dyngus Day 3rd: Ingenuity Fest 4th: Brite Winter Fest 5th: Cleveland Animals Bar Crawl

Readers’ Choice Winner: Cleveland Botanical Garden

Readers’ Choice Winner: Cleveland Museum of Art

Readers’ Choice Winner: 90.3 WCPN Ideastream

BEST COLLEGE RADIO STATION

Readers’ Choice Winner: 88.7 WJCU, John Carroll 2nd: 91.1 WRUW, Case Western 3rd: 89.3 WCSB, Cleveland State 4th: Black Squirrel Radio, Kent State University Online 5th: 88.3 WBWC, Baldwin Wallace | clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

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People and Places Photo by Erik Drost FlickrCC

3rd: @TheCLEBucketList 4th: @EatLocalOhio 5th: @CraveCLE

BEST COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY Readers’ Choice Winner: Case Western Reserve University 2nd: Cleveland State University 3rd: John Carroll University 4th: Cuyahoga Community College 5th: Baldwin Wallace University

BEST LOCAL STARTUP

Readers’ Choice Winner: Rust Belt Riders 2nd: Inca Tea 3rd: Nooma 4th: Collective Casting

BEST CHARITY OR NONPROFIT Readers’ Choice Winner: Cleveland Animal Protective League

Cleveland Botanical Garden

2nd: Greater Cleveland Food Bank 3rd: Friends of the Cleveland Kennel 4th: Building Hope in the City 5th: Minds Matter Cleveland

BEST RADIO SHOW

BEST SPORTS REPORTER

BEST PLACE FOR A FIRST DATE

2nd: Alan Cox Show (WMMS 100.7) 3rd: Rover’s Morning Glory (WMMS 100.7) 4th: The Bull & Fox (92.3 The Fan) 5th: The Jeremiah Show (Q104.1)

2nd: Terry Pluto 3rd: Andre Knott 4th: John Telich 5th: Zack Meisel

2nd: Barrio 3rd: Cleveland Museum of Art 4th: Astoria Cafe & Market 5th: Lago East Bank

BEST ONLINE RADIO STATION

BEST SPORTS RADIO STATION

BEST PLACE FOR A KID’S BIRTHDAY PARTY

2nd: oWOW Radio

2nd: 850 WKNR

BEST SPORTS TALK RADIO SHOW

BEST INSTAGRAM FOLLOW

Readers’ Choice Winner: Jen & Tim Show (Star 102.1)

Readers’ Choice Winner: Black Squirrel Radio

Readers’ Choice Winner: The Bull and Fox (92.3 The Fan)

Readers’ Choice Winner: Jim Donovan

Readers’ Choice Winner: 92.3 The Fan

Readers’ Choice Winner: @CLEFoodies 2nd: @InThe216

2nd: Ken Carman Show with Anthony Lima (92.3 The Fan) 3rd: The Really Big Show (850 WKNR)

Readers’ Choice Winner: Humble Wine Bar

Readers’ Choice Winner: Children’s Museum Cleveland 2nd: Play: CLE 3rd: Sky Zone 4th: Get Air 5th: Play.Love.Learn Photo by Aerial Agents

BEST SPORTS TALKER

Readers’ Choice Winner: Ken Carman (92.3 The Fan) 2nd: Dustin Fox (92.3 The Fan) 3rd: Anthony Lima (92.3 The Fan) 4th: Jim Donovan (WKYC Channel 3) 5th: Tony Rizzo (850 WKNR)

BEST LOCAL NEWSCAST

Readers’ Choice Winner: FOX 8 WJW 2nd: WKYC Channel 3 3rd: WEWS Channel 5 4th: WOIO Channel 19

BEST ANCHOR

Readers’ Choice Winner: Betsy Kling (WKYC Channel 3) 2nd: Wayne Dawson (WJW Fox 8) 3rd: Kenny Crumpton (WJW Fox 8) 4th: Russ Mitchell (WKYC Channel 3) 5th: Todd Meany (WJW Fox 8)

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Combos • Singles Cartridge Bug Pins Piercing INK: Specialty Sets Also MACHINES Coil • Rotary Cartridge TATTOO KITS GLOVES FOOT PEDALS POWER SUPPLIES CLIP CORDS CHAIRS ARM RESTS AFTERCARE poizon_ _ink MADACIDE Background Tattoo SHARPS CONTAINERS GLASS PIPES • BUTANE • TORCHES INCENSE • DIGITAL SCALES • DETOX GRINDERS • COLLECTABLES & MORE!

CLEVELAND

19097 Drake Rd. 440.572.8287

EASTLAKE

GIRARD

32888 Vine St. 440.942.8668

LORAIN

16 N. State St. 330.545.8131

BARBERTON

832 Broadway 440.242.4080

536 W. Tuscarawas 330.753.0500

AKRON

MANSFIELD

1004 Kenmore Blvd.

330.753.3600

532 Park Ave. W 419.522.1695

SEE OUR AD ON THE BACK COVER

...HOT OFF THE INTERNET PRESS. O n ly

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STRONGSVILLE

4264 Pearl Rd. 216.749.3440

at

clevescene.com

| clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

Ken Carman

BEST PLACE FOR A GROWN UP’S BIRTHDAY PARTY

Readers’ Choice Winner: Punch Bowl Social 2nd: Mahall’s 3rd: Forest City Shuffleboard 4th: TownHall 5th: Astoria Cafe & Market

BEST PLACE TO BUY A HOUSE

Readers’ Choice Winner: Lakewood 2nd: Cleveland Heights 3rd: Rocky River 4th: Bay Village 5th: West Park 6th: Old Brooklyn

BEST ACTIVIST

Readers’ Choice Winner: Amanda King (Shooting Without Bullets) 2nd: Erin Huber (Drink Local Drink Tap) 3rd: Chrissy Stonebraker-Martinez (InterReligious Task Force on Central America) 4th: Amanda Houdeschell 5th: Anhedonia Delight

BEST LOCAL PODCAST Readers’ Choice Winner: The ThomaHawk Show 2nd: Cedar Lee Radio 3rd: A to Z Podcast 4th: Drinks With Larry 5th: BZ Listening

BEST DRAG QUEEN

Readers’ Choice Winner: Samantha Echo 2nd: Lady J Martinez 3rd: Malibuu Peruu 4th: Anhedonia Delight 5th: Calypso Riley

BEST PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL Readers’ Choice Winner: Lakewood High School 2nd: Rocky River High School 3rd: Solon High School 4th: Cleveland Heights High School 5th: Shaker Heights High School

BEST PRIVATE HIGH SCHOOL Readers’ Choice Winner: Saint Ignatius 2nd: Saint Edward 3rd: Hawken School 4th: Gilmour Academy 5th: University School

BEST COMPANY TO WORK FOR Readers’ Choice Winner: Cleveland Clinic 2nd: Hyland Software 3rd: Progressive Insurance 4th: University Hospitals 5th: Company Car and Limousine

CAIN PARK 2019 SEASON RAGTIME 6/13-30

Music by Stephen Flaherty | Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens Book by Terrence McNally

Ani DiFranco 6/13 With Lucy Wainwright Roche

1 7 9 1 7 D e t r o i t Av e n u e | L A k e w o o D, o H | 2 1 6 . 2 2 8 . 9 7 5 0

The Robert Cray Band & Marc Cohn 6/18 Featuring special guest vocalists Blind Boys of Alabama With special guest Shemekia Copeland

Dionne Warwick 6/22

Thank You Cleveland for voting SAcreD Hour: •BEST MASSAGE 2019 • B E S T S PA 2 0 1 9

Cain Park Arts Festival 7/12-14 For Good: The New Generation of Musicals, Vol 4 7/17

3 DOMESTICS $ 3 BOMBS

$

Join us before & after ROCKET MORGAGE FIELDHOUSE & progressive field events

GroundWorks Dancetheater 7/19-21 An Evening with Lyle Lovett and His Large Band 7/24

13th Annual MultiMusic Fest 7/27 Peter White | Jonathan Butler | Kirk Whalum Euge Groove | Sammy DeLeon Band

Air Supply 7/28 Just for Laughs: Comedy Songs from Musicals 8/7

Summer of Love 8/8 Judy Collins 8/10

With special guest Kirsten Maxwell

India.Arie The Worthy Tour 8/15 An Evening with Chris Botti 8/16

AND SO MUCH MORE! Visit www.cainpark.com for a complete schedule

wilbertsmusic.com

food • booze • music

Cain Park Ticket Office Opens June 4

cain cainpark

216-371-3000

On Sale Now At Ticketmaster

Cain Park is produced by the City of Cleveland Heights

| clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

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| clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

Shops and Services Photo by Erik Drost FlickrCC

Heinen’s Downtown

BEST PET-RELATED BUSINESS Readers’ Choice Winner: Three Dog Bakery 2nd: Pet’s General Store 3rd: Dog Life in CLE 4th: Sits ’n Wiggles Pet Sitting 5th: The Natural Pet Enrichment Center

BEST THRIFT STORE

Readers’ Choice Winner: Flower Child 2nd: Common Threads Thrift 3rd: Value World 4th: Savers 5th: Avalon Exchange

BEST RECORD STORE

Readers’ Choice Winner: The Exchange 2nd: Record Revolution 3rd: My Mind’s Eye 4th: Loop 5th: Blue Arrow Records 6th: Black Market Records

BEST SALON

Readers’ Choice Winner: Stella and Shay Beauty Bar 2nd: Blushing Beauty Salon 3rd: Dino Palmieri Salon and Spa 4th: Rule of 3 Salon 5th: Lock Loft

BEST BICYCLE SHOP

Readers’ Choice Winner: Century Cycle

2nd: Blazing Saddle Cycle 3rd: Spin Bike Shop 4th: Joy Machines 5th: Beat Cycles

BEST WINE STORE

Readers’ Choice Winner: Rozi’s 2nd: The Wine Spot 3rd: CLE Urban Winery 4th: Little Birdie Wine Nest 5th: Flight

BEST T-SHIRT COMPANY

Readers’ Choice Winner: Cleveland Clothing Company 2nd: GV Art + Design 3rd: Homage 4th: Emily Roggenburk 5th: Fresh Brewed Tees

BEST CIGAR SHOP

Readers’ Choice Winner: Cigar Cigars 2nd: Cousin’s Cigars 3rd: Mayfield Smoke Shop 4th: Robusto & Briar 5th: JoVann’s Tobacco Shop

BEST TATTOO SHOP

Readers’ Choice Winner: Voodoo Monkey Tattoo 2nd: Lakewood Electric Tattoo 3rd: Forest City Tattoo & Gallery 4th: Tattoo Faction 5th: Kollective Studio

BEST ADULT STORE

Readers’ Choice Winner: Adultmart 2nd: Ambiance 3rd: The Dean Rufus House Of Fun

BEST BARBER SHOP

Readers’ Choice Winner: Quintana’s Barber & Dream Spa 2nd: Eddy’s Barber Shop 3rd: Black Cat Barbershop 4th: Refinery Barbershop 5th: Top of the Line Barbershop

BEST BARBER

Readers’ Choice Winner: Theo Challouf (Quintana’s Barber & Dream Spa) 2nd: Ryan Hardwick (Black Cat Barbershop) 3rd: Jessica Branco (Quintana’s Barber & Dream Spa) 4th: Chuck Falk (Eddy’s Barber Shop) 5th: Ramon Claudio (Top of the Line Barbershop)

BEST STYLIST

Readers’ Choice Winner: Stephanie Zwolenik (Mia Salon Studios) 2nd: Marco Alexzander (Salon Lofts #26) 3rd: Carrie Marginian (Carrie Marginian Hair) 4th: Ken Novak (Kreate Studio) 5th: Rachel Hallahan (Manifest)

| clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

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Shops and Services

Photo by Emanuel Wallace

BEST BOOKSTORE

Readers’ Choice Winner: Loganberry Books 2nd: The Bookshop in Lakewood 3rd: Mac’s Backs 4th: Visible Voice 5th: Appletree Books

BEST VINTAGE STORE

Readers’ Choice Winner: Flower Child 2nd: Sweet Lorain 3rd: Vintage Fashion CLE 4th: Apple Jax Toys 5th: Helm Collective

BEST FLORIST

Readers’ Choice Winner: Urban Orchid 2nd: Lush and Lovely 3rd: Blossom Cleveland 4th: Flowerville 5th: Carol Anna’s Flowers

BEST STORE TO FIND A PLACE OF CLEVELAND

Readers’ Choice Winner: Cleveland Clothing Company 2nd: GV Art + Design 3rd: In The 216 4th: Salty Not Sweet 5th: Wood Thingamajigs

Carol and John’s Comic Book Shop

BEST LOCAL FASHION DESIGNER Readers’ Choice Winner: Emily Roggenburk 2nd: Valerie Mayan 3rd: Jevon Terrance 4th: William Frederick Clothing

BEST JEWELRY STORE Readers’ Choice Winner: Oceanne

BEST LOCAL JEWELRY MAKER Readers’ Choice Winner: Oceanne 2nd: Wanderlust Jewelers

3rd: Wildfoot Studio 4th: Bunny Paige 5th: David Wilkinson Design

2nd: Wicked Sugar Fashion 3rd: Bunny Paige 4th: The W Gallery 5th: Your Wave Length

Advertise with SCENE. Sit down with your guests.

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| clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

Call 216-241-7550 for more information.

Y O U D E S E RV E A BE AUTIFUL W O R K D AY Join our community of flexible work and gathering spaces at 26th & Detroit in Ohio City Professional Coworking | Offices | Private Suites Onsite Cafe | Meeting & Event Spaces

S C H E D U L E A T O U R T O D AY ( WA L K I N S W E L C O M E ) 2 5 2 9 D E T RO I T AV E N U E | 8 8 8 - 2 3 0 - 6 4 6 0 | S A L E S @ B E AU T Y S H O P P E .C O | B E AU T Y S H O P P E .C O / S E Y M O U R | clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

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HANDBAGS | SCARVES | GIFTS | JEWELRY | APPAREL

10252 West 130th Street | Strongsville, OH

Thank You FOR VOTING FOR

Shops and Services

Photo courtesy of VNTG Home

FOR BEST BOUTIQUE!

www.wickedsugarfashion.com

VNTG Home

WEST

294 Crocker Park Blvd.

Westlake 440.899.1957

RIVER

19025 Old Lake Rd. Rocky River 440.333.7994 charlesscott.com

BEST FURNITURE MAKER Readers’ Choice Winner: Sawhorse Woodworks

2nd: Bleu Chic Boutique 3rd: Madelyn Rose Boutique 4th: Homage 5th: Intro Boutique

BEST PLACE TO FURNISH YOUR HOME

BEST PET SHOP

2nd: Helm Collective 3rd: Northeast Factory Direct 4th: Arhaus 5th: West Elm

BEST CLEVELAND FLEA VENDOR Readers’ Choice Winner: Fount 2nd: Fat T’s Cookie 3rd: Urban Planting Cleveland 4th: Shore Society 5th: Betty’s Retro

BEST SPA

Readers’ Choice Winner: Sacred Hour 2nd: Stella and Shay Beauty Bar 3rd: Quintana’s Barber & Dream Spa 4th: Charles Scott Salon & Spa 5th: Beauty & Zen Day Spa

BEST BOUTIQUE

Readers’ Choice Winner: Banyan Tree 2nd: Haven 3rd: Wicked Sugar Fashion 4th: Silk Body Boutique 5th: Apricot Lane

BEST MEN’S CLOTHING STORE Readers’ Choice Winner: Homage

2nd: The Whatknot Bow Tie Company 3rd: J3 4th: Krush 5th: K’s For Men | clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

Readers’ Choice Winner: Banyan Tree

2nd: Hans Noble Design 3rd: Rickey Tanno Design 4th: Domenic Fiorello Studio 5th: Freddy Hill Designs

Readers’ Choice Winner: VNTG Home

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BEST WOMEN’S CLOTHING STORE

Readers’ Choice Winner: Pet People 2nd: 3 Dogs Bakery 3rd: Pet’s General Store 4th: Milo & Me 5th: Pawsitively Pure

BEST PLACE TO BUY A WEDDING DRESS

Readers’ Choice Winner: Radiant Bride 2nd: Miranda’s Vintage Bridal 3rd: The Dress 4th: Something White 5th: A Bride’s Design

BEST CONSIGNMENT SHOP Readers’ Choice Winner: Avalon Exchange 2nd: Curvy Consignments 3rd: Seconds City 4th: It’s So You 5th: Style Loop

BEST VAPE SHOP

Readers’ Choice Winner: Cleveland Vape 2nd: Euphoria Vapor 3rd: Planet of the Vapes 4th: Cloud Chamber 5th: AVAIL Vapor

BEST ANTIQUE SHOP

Readers’ Choice Winner: Flower Child 2nd: Sweet Lorain 3rd: Second Thyme Around 4th: Attenson’s Antiques 5th: Helm Collective

Full Service Herbiary, RISE: Transformational Wellness & Spiritual Development Center, Sisterhood, Brotherhood, & Crone Circles, Pagans Recovering Together Support Group

Stones | Crystals | Jewelry Herbs | Candles | Home Decor Ritual and Practical Magickal Items Spiritual Healing | Tarot Medium Communications | Readings | Reiki

CLASS SCHEDULES AVAILABLE ON

| clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

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Shops and Services

Photo courtesy of Oceanne Jewelry

BLACK SHEEP 216 SMOKE SHOP

NOW AVAILABLE! Oceanne Jewelry

BEST HOME/GARDEN SHOP

Loganberry Books

Readers’ Choice Winner: Petitti’s Garden Centers 2nd: Gale’s Garden Center 3rd: Lakewood Plant Company 4th: Bremec Garden Centers 5th: Lakewood Garden Center

OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK 11AM - MIDNIGHT

(216) 221.7777

2011 Carabel Ave. | Lakewood, OH

BEST GIFT SHOP

Readers’ Choice Winner: In The 216 2nd: Lovely Paperie and Gifts 3rd: Salty Not Sweet 4th: Room Service 5th: Royalton Gifts

Photo: Janet Century

BEST PLACE FOR A MANI/ PEDI Readers’ Choice Winner: Quintana’s Barber & Dream Spa 2nd: Shirley Vu (Salon Lofts #27) 3rd: Pink Boutique 4th: Manifest 5th: Rule of 3 Salon

HIRAM, OH

• Experience adventure in your own backyard

100,000 new, used & rare books ~ more or less ~ ——-

13015 Larchmere Blvd.

Shaker Heights, OH 44120 www.loganberrybooks.com books@logan.com 216.795.9800 30

• Canoe and Kayak the scenic upper Cuyahoga River • Departures 9am-2:30pm through October • Groups, Families, Singles • Book your trek today!

330.569.7621 camphicanoe.com

| clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

BEST EYEWEAR

Readers’ Choice Winner: Eye Candy Optical 2nd: Signature Optical 3rd: Eyes on Chagrin 4th: Broad View Eye Center 5th: Jerold Optical

BEST GROCERY STORE Readers’ Choice Winner: Heinen’s 2nd: Lucky’s Market 3rd: Dave’s Market 4th: Zagara’s Marketplace 5th: The Grocery

BEST PLACE TO BUY SNEAKERS

Readers’ Choice Winner: Xhibition

BEST BEER SELECTION (SHOP)

2nd: West Side Skate 3rd: The Restock 4th: Second Sole 5th: Krush

2nd: Red, Wine & Brew 3rd: Great Lakes Brewing Company 4th: Wine Spot

BEST PLACE TO BUY A MUSICAL INSTRUMENT

Readers’ Choice Winner: Simone’s

CANOE LIVERY

2nd: Weird Realms 3rd: Apple Jax Toys 4th: Ground Zero Comics 5th: Kidforce Collectibles

BEST MASSAGE SALON

Readers’ Choice Winner: Royalton Music Center

2nd: The Studio Cleveland 3rd: Ladies & Gentlemen 4th: Dino Palmieri Salon & Spa 5th: Womb Wellness Center

BEST TATTOO ARTIST

Readers’ Choice Winner: Sacred Hour

BEST AUTO REPAIR

Readers’ Choice Winner: Bruce’s Automotive & Fleet Services 2nd: Ray’s Auto & Truck Service 3rd: Detroit Auto Clinic 4th: Alternative Car Care 5th: Wayne’s Auto Service

BEST COMIC/ COLLECTIBLES SHOP

Readers’ Choice Winner: Carol & John’s Comic Book Shop

2nd: Motter’s Music 3rd: Arrowhead Music 4th: Guitar Riot

Readers’ Choice Winner: Lauren Vandevier (Lakewood Electric Tattoo) 2nd: Eric Kaplan (Two Sons Tattoo) 3rd: Stephanie Streeter (Tattoo Faction) 4th: Al Garcia (Stay True Tattoo) 5th: Kevin Cly (Stay True Tattoo)

BEST PHONE/COMPUTER REPAIR SHOP Readers’ Choice Winner: Broke Ass Phone 2nd: Computer Repair Doctor 3rd: Mentor iPhone Repair

The Possibilities are Endless at VNTG Home CUSTOM FURNITURE Restore, Reupholster, Refinish, Relove Choose from Over 700 Fabrics Furniture Restoration and Reupholstery Custom Furniture Design and Build Custom Draperies and Pillows

l l

Home Liquidations and Clean Outs Consignment and Donation

l l

INTERIOR DESIGN Make Living Beautifully your reality.

Our VNTG DSGN team can help you every step of the way.

Schedule a design consultation.

Home Remodel and Restoration Real Estate Staging

l l

SHOP

vntghome.com Experience our eco-chic 60,000 sq ft warehouse stocked full of thousands of pieces of vintage furniture and décor.

Reupholstery and Refinishing Interior Design

l l

Shop Our 60,000 sq ft Warehouse Vntghome.com

WE BUY HOUSES TOO!

WITH ONE CALL, VNTG HOME DOES IT ALL — SINGLE SOLUTION SERVICES CONTACT US! info@vntghome.com CALL US! 216.505.4322 SHOP US! vntghome.com VISIT US! 1235 MARQUETTE STREET, CLEVELAND OH 44114 OPEN DAILY MON-SAT 9-5:30, SUN 12-5 FOLLOW US!

Afford Luxury, Express Creativity, Live Beautifully | clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

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Manicures/Pedicures Hair & Makeup Massages

Facials Body Wraps Eucalyptus Steam Room

Still The Best...

After 70 Years Downtown Cleveland Family Owned & Operated

Eyes Examined Mark A. Davis, OD

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www.jeroldoptical.com

800 Huron Road Cleveland

216.781.7900

| clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

Located on the 3rd Floor Cleveland Marriott Downtown at Key Tower 216.302.7426 | trilogycle.com

| clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

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| clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

Bars and Clubs Photo by Emanuel Wallace

BEST JAZZ CLUB

Readers’ Choice Winner: Nighttown 2nd: Brothers Lounge 3rd: Velvet Tango Room 4th: Bop Stop 5th: House of Swing

BEST ROCK CLUB

Readers’ Choice Winner: Beachland Ballroom 2nd: Grog Shop 3rd: Agora 4th: Winchester Music Tavern 5th: Stella’s Music Club

BEST BAR OR CLUB FOR LOCAL MUSIC Readers’ Choice Winner: Happy Dog 2nd: Beachland Tavern 3rd: Grog Shop 4th: Mahall’s 5th: Winchester Music Tavern

BEST BAR OR UNDERGROUND CLUB FOR LOCAL MUSIC Readers’ Choice Winner: Grog Shop 2nd: Mahall’s 3rd: Now That’s Class 4th: Beachland Ballroom 5th: Happy Dog

BEST HIP-HOP CLUB

Readers’ Choice Winner: Touch Supper Club 2nd: Barley House 3rd: Grog Shop 4th: Rumor 5th: The Park Social Lounge

BEST BLUES CLUB

Readers’ Choice Winner: Brothers Lounge 2nd: Nighttown 3rd: Smedley’s 4th: Winchester Music Tavern

BEST LGBTQ BAR OR CLUB

Readers’ Choice Winner: Twist Social Club 2nd: The Hawk 3rd: Vibe 4th: Cocktails Cleveland 5th: Distill Table

BEST BAR OR CLUB FOR EDM

Readers’ Choice Winner: FWD Day + Night Club 2nd: Magnolia 3rd: Barley House 4th: Winchester Music Tavern 5th: Touch Supper Club

BEST DIVE BAR

Readers’ Choice Winner: Harbor Inn 2nd: ABC Tavern 3rd: Merry Arts 4th: Becky’s 5th: Dive Bar

Touch Supper Club

BEST PLACE FOR ARCADE GAMES Readers’ Choice Winner: 16-Bit Bar + Arcade 2nd: Superelectric Pinball Parlor

BEST NEIGHBORHOOD BAR Readers’ Choice Winner: The Fairmount 2nd: Merry Arts 3rd: Flying Monkey 4th: Gunselman’s Tavern 5th: Rowley Inn

BEST SPOT FOR DAY DRINKING Readers’ Choice Winner: TownHall 2nd: Market Garden Brewery 3rd: Terrestrial Brewing Company 4th: Sauced Taproom + Kitchen 5th: Rowley Inn 6th: FWD Day + Night Club

BEST SPOT FOR KARAOKE Readers’ Choice Winner: Corky’s 2nd: Tina’s 3rd: Twist Social Club 4th: Eastland Inn 5th: Galaxy

BEST COCKTAIL BAR

Readers’ Choice Winner: Porco Tiki Lounge 2nd: Velvet Tango Room 3rd: Spotted Owl 4th: LBM 5th: Society Lounge

BEST HAPPY HOUR

Readers’ Choice Winner: Barrio 2nd: Pier W

3rd: The Fairmount 4th: LBM 5th: Barley House

BEST NEW BAR

Readers’ Choice Winner: Ohio City Galley 2nd: Flight 3rd: Sauced Taproom & Kitchen 4th: Distill Table 5th: Stella’s Music Club

BEST GENTLEMAN’S CLUB

Readers’ Choice Winner: Christie’s Cabaret 2nd: Lido’s Lounge 3rd: Larry Flynt’s Hustler Club 4th: Diamond Men’s Club

BEST BREWERY

Readers’ Choice Winner: Great Lakes Brewing Co. 2nd: Platform Beer Co. 3rd: Market Garden Brewery 4th: Noble Beast Brewing Co. 5th: Terrestrial Brewing Co.

BEST BAR WITH GAMES Readers’ Choice Winner: Side Quest 2nd: Tabletop Board Game Cafe 3rd: 16-Bit Bar + Arcade 4th: Hi and Dry 5th: Wild Eagle Saloon

BEST BAR FOR SINGLES Readers’ Choice Winner: TownHall 2nd: Barley House 3rd: LBM 4th: 16-Bit Bar + Arcade 5th: Magnolia | clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

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Self- -service pay by the ounce

craft beer bar in the Gateway District And if the beer isn’t enough, we also offer wine, cider, mead, kombucha and more!

Over

50 taps to explore

LIVE HALF

MUSIC EVERY FRIDAY & SATURDAY

OFF ALL TAPS

THURS 9P-CLOSE

OPEN FOOD POLICY so bring or

order in what you like

Join us before and after baseball games at Progressive Field 818 HURON RD. GATEWAY DISTRICT | NEAR THE CLEVELANDER 216-331-5600 | WWW.WHISTLEKEG.COM 36

| clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

| clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

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Bars & Clubs Photo courtesy of Ohio City Galley

Ohio City Galley

BEST BARTENDER

Readers’ Choice Winner: Matt Campy

Lakeland

S K C O R Music Mayhem in the Big Tent May 11 | 8 p.m. | FREE

Featuring: Abby Normal and the Detroit Lean Rock, Disco, Swing, Ska, and everything in between

Monica Robins and the Ninja Cowboys Contemporary Country with classic anthems and standards

food trucks | cornhole | beer and wine sales Proceeds benefit student scholarships

2nd: Kevin Patrick 3rd: Bryan Freeman 4th: Chris Kiser 5th: Joey Gentile

BEST WINE BAR

Readers’ Choice Winner: Rocky River Wine Bar 2nd: Humble Wine Bar 3rd: CLE Urban Winery 4th: Toast 5th: Flight Cleveland

BEST BAR PATIO

Readers’ Choice Winner: Collision Bend Brewing Company 2nd: Treehouse 3rd: The Fairmount 4th: Nano Brew 5th: Market Garden 6th: Merry Arts

BEST BAR TRIVIA NIGHT Readers’ Choice Winner: Side Quest 2nd: Jukebox 3rd: Bottlehouse 4th: Twist Social Club 5th: Becky’s

BEST LOCAL BEER

Readers’ Choice Winner: Great Lakes Brewing Co. 2nd: Platform Beer Co. 3rd: Masthead Brewing Co. 4th: Sibling Revelry Brewing 5th: Market Garden Brewery

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| clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

BEST CLUB OR BAR TO DANCE

Readers’ Choice Winner: Twist Social Club 2nd: Barley House 3rd: FWD Day + Night Club 4th: Dive Bar 5th: Speakeasy 6th: Magnolia

BEST BAR ON THE WATER Readers’ Choice Winner: Collision Bend Brewing Company 2nd: Shooters 3rd: Music Box Supper Club 4th: Coastal Taco/Lindey’s Lake House 5th: FWD Day + Night Club

BEST BOTTLE SELECTION Readers’ Choice Winner: Banter 2nd: Winking Lizard 3rd: Harbor Inn 4th: LBM 5th: FWD Day + Night Club

BEST DRAFT SELECTION

Readers’ Choice Winner: Tremont Taphouse 2nd: Winking Lizard 3rd: City Tap 4th: Sauced Taproom and Kitchen 5th: Beerhead

BEST SPORTS BAR

Readers’ Choice Winner: Winking Lizard 2nd: The Clevelander 3rd: Merry Arts 4th: Harry Buffalo 5th: Rivals

Always Something Happening Here at the corner of Madison & Lewis!

HAPPY HOUR Monday-Saturday 3-8

THE BEST LIVE MUSIC IN TOWN 9P-2A WED FRI & ALL SHOWS FREE! NO COVER! SAT

HUGE CRAFT BEER SELECTION

MON

16 Taps + Bottles & Cans $1 BEER & FREE POOL

All Day/Night • Multiple Tables VOTED BEST PLACE TO SHOOT POOL

LIVE COMEDY! $3 VODKA TUES OPEN MIC ON STAGE WITH MC

WED

$3 WHISKEY MUSICIANS JAM NIGHT

Everyone welcome! Everybody plays!

All instruments provided or bring your own!

Just show up and jam away!

LADIES NIGHT THUR DRINK SPECIALS ALL NIGHT LIVE DJ KARAOKE • SING ON STAGE

FULL SCHEDULE OF EVENTS: iggysbar.weebly.com Like Us On

IGGYS BAR & see videos of previous shows + upcoming events scheduled

13405 MADISON • LAKEWOOD • 216-472-4449 | clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

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Join Us Before-During-After

Cleveland Baseball Games And Enjoy

$2 MILLER LITES All Season Long!

4506 Lorain Ave. Cleveland Call 440-829-2196 to make a reservation

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| clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

AWARD WINNINGSTER B ASIAGOALCO & M CHEESE!

Welcome to Smedley’s Bar & Grille!

LOBSTE BISQUE R !

• A Military/SAFETY FORCES Friendly Establishment for Blue Collar Workers • DAILY FOOD & DRINK SPECIALS | Sundays - Free Taco & Burrito Bar

AST BREAKVFED SER ALL DAY

HL OI TS T

Excellent STEAKS • Burgers • Lake Erie Perch • St. Louis Ribs

TUESDAY $1 DOMESTICS

LIVE MUSIC WEDNESDAY thru SunDAY DRAFT 7PM-CLO S WED. BAD BOYS OF BLUES JAM SE THURS. FREE BYRDS JAM 2014 BEST Live Music Venue Runner-Up 2008 BEST Jazz & Blues Winner 2009 BEST Jazz & Blues Runner-Up 2015 BEST Live Music Venue Finalist 2016 BEST Live Music Venue Finalist 2010 BEST Jazz & Blues Winner 2011 BEST Live Music Venue Finalist 2017 BEST Live Music WINNER 2013 BEST Live Music Venue Finalist 2018 BEST Live Music WINNER

SINGLE TICKETS ON SALE NOW!

JUNE 27-29, 2019 P L AY H O U S E S Q U A R E

Tower of Power | Christian McBride | Dianne Reeves and the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra Béla Fleck & The Flecktones featuring Victor Wooten, Roy “Futureman” Wooten and Howard Levy John Scofield’s Combo 66 with Gerald Clayton, Vicente Archer and Bill Stewart Jazz Funk Soul with Jeff Lorber, Everette Harp and Paul Jackson Jr. Sax to the Max with Michael Lington, Vincent Ingala and Paul Taylor Ernie Krivda/Matthew Whitaker | Jamey Haddad’s Under One Sun | Helen Sung and Michela Marino Lerman Regina Carter and Xavier Davis | Akiko/Hamilton/Dechter B-3 Trio

LINEUP SUBJECT TO CHANGE.

19-0001 JazzFest 2019 9.25x5.90 Scene LIneup Ad.indd 1

19-0001

www.tri-cjazzfest.com | clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

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4/1/19 12:07 PM

Northeast Ohio’s Premier Brass & Woodwind Showroom Newly Expanded 4,000 sq. ft.

Brass, Woodwinds, Strings, Keyboards

Expert Assistance

Repairs and Service

Incredible Selection of Accessories In the Vibrant New Downtown Kent

135 S. Water St., Kent woodsysmusic.com 330-673-1525

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| clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

Arts and Entertainment Photo by Emanuel Wallace

BEST DANCE PARTY

Readers’ Choice Winner: Velvet Dog 2nd: Emo Night CLE 3rd: Magnolia 4th: I Got 5 On It 5th: In Training

BEST ARTS/FILM/MUSIC FESTIVAL Readers’ Choice Winner: Cleveland International Film Fest 2nd: Ingenuity Fest 3rd: Parade The Circle 4th: Brite Winter Fest 5th: LaureLive

BEST MOVIE THEATER

Readers’ Choice Winner: Cedar Lee Theater 2nd: Cinemark At Valley View 3rd: Capitol Theatre 4th: Cinematheque at Cleveland Institute of Art 5th: Silver Spot Cinema

BEST LOCAL AUTHOR OR WRITER

Readers’ Choice Winner: Nikki Delamotte FreshProduce

BEST CONCERT VENUE

BEST SINGER/SONGWRITER

2nd: Beachland Ballroom 3rd: Jacobs Pavilion 4th: The Agora 5th: Music Box Supper Club

2nd: Diana Chittester 3rd: Scott Redford 4th: Shawn Roland 5th: Anthony Covatta

BEST BAND

BEST COVER BAND

2nd: Country Redford 3rd: Post Road 4th: Billy Likes Soda 5th: Billy Morris and the Sunset Strip 6th: Tilted

2nd: Billy Likes Soda 3rd: Tilted 4th: Jester’s Revenge 5th: Loudmouth

Readers’ Choice Winner: Blossom Music Center

Readers’ Choice Winner: Tropidelic

Readers’ Choice Winner: Marina Strah

Readers’ Choice Winner: Old Skool

2nd: Connie Schultz 3rd: Susan Petrone 4th: Mark Hamer 5th: Brandon Stanwyck

BEST PLACE TO CATCH A PLAY Readers’ Choice Winner: Playhouse Square 2nd: Cleveland Public Theatre 3rd: Beck Center for the Arts 4th: Dobama Theatre 5th: Blank Canvas Theatre

Photo by Erik Drost FlickrCC

BEST DJ

Readers’ Choice Winner: Mattitude 2nd: Mimo 3rd: DJ Nu Era 4th: DJ Red I 5th: DJ Moist

BEST FEMALE VOCALIST

Readers’ Choice Winner: Sarah Radcliff 2nd: Madeline Finn 3rd: Kaydence Jayne 4th: Angela Cole 5th: Ashley Armanni

BEST MALE VOCALIST

Readers’ Choice Winner: Scott Redford 2nd: Matt Goodrich 3rd: Shawn Roland 4th: Anthony Covatta 5th: Guy Snowdon

Playhouse Square | clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

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Playwrights Local & Powerful Long Ladder Ensemble Present

THIZ GIRLZ LYFE A PLAY BY ERNESTA JEFFERSON

Arts and Entertainment

Photo by Emanuel Wallace

DIRECTED BY TERRENCE SPIVEY

MAY 3­18 | WATERLOO ARTS PLAYWRIGHTSLOCAL.ORG

WE WENT OUT WHEN YOU COULDN’T.

2nd: Logan Smith 3rd: Eric Coble 4th: David Hansen 5th: George Brant

convergence-continuum THE PRIDE

by Alexi Kaye Campbell / directed by Jonathan Wilhelm A diptych portrait that counterpoints two parallel love stories with very dissimilar outcomes, in 1958 and 2008, between different characters named Phillip and Oliver that interweave with each other in this time-bending play.

Mar 29 - Apr 20 STATEMENTS AFTER AN ARREST UNDER THE IMMORALITY ACT

by Athol Fugard / directed by Terrence Spivey Set in apartheid South Africa, where interracial relationships were a criminal offence, a black man and white woman meet secretly in the library where she works to make love and share their hopes and fears.

May 24 - Jun 15 TOM AT THE FARM

2019 SEASON:

STAR-CROSSED

by Michel Marc Bouchard / directed by Tom Kondilas After the sudden death of his boyfriend, Tom travels from the city to a remote farm for the funeral, and finds a religious family who know nothing of his existence. Tom is threatened by the deceased man’s brother and is drawn into a brutal, sexually-charged game.

Jul 12 - Aug 3 SHAKESPEARE’S R & J an adaptation by Joe Calarco / directed by Cory Molner In a boys’ boarding school, four students discover the forbidden text of Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet and secretly enact the play in an athletic deluge of adolescent agitation, terror, and fierce desires that parallel their own lives.

Aug 30 - Sep 2 HOMOS, OR EVERYONE IN AMERICA

by Jordan Seavey / directed by Clyde Simon Told through interweaving glimpses into the life of an everyday couple unexpectedly confronted by a vicious hate crime, Homos is a fearless, often funny, openly emotional examination of the moments that can bring two people together – or pull them apart.

Oct 18 - Nov 9 CONSTELLATIONS

by Nick Payne / directed by Geoffrey Hoffman The play follows Roland, a beekeeper, and Marianne, a theoretical astronomer, through their romantic relationship. Marianne waxes poetic about cosmology, quantum mechanics and multiple universes pulling people’s lives in various directions, as the play itself takes the pair’s story through the stars to alternate realities.

Dec 6 - 21

At convergence-continuum’s LIMINIS THEATER 2438 Scranton Rd, Cleveland 44113 the the historic Tremont neighborhood.

Tickets $20 general admission, $15 seniors (65+), $10 students at convergence-continuum.org and 216-687-0074

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BEST LOCAL PLAYWRIGHT

Readers’ Choice Winner: Lisa Langford

EVENT SLIDESHOWS. ONLY AT CLEVESCENE.COM

CROSS THE THRESHOLD INTO ALTERNATIVE THEATRE

Third Fridays

| clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

BEST ACTOR

Readers’ Choice Winner: Cody Kilpatrick Steele 2nd: Chris Richards 3rd: Davis Aguila 4th: Bryant Carroll 5th: Joey Gentile

BEST ACTRESS

Readers’ Choice Winner: Nicole Sumlin 2nd: Adrienne Krol 3rd: Angela Cole 4th: Tasha Brandt 5th: Faye Hargate

BEST HIP-HOP ARTIST OR GROUP

Readers’ Choice Winner: Fresh Produce 2nd: Toby 3rd: Old Skool 4th: Malik X 5th: Prhymal Rage

BEST DIRECTOR

4th: Lizzie Schlafer 5th: Argonian Photography

BEST PAINTER

Readers’ Choice Winner: Frank Oriti 2nd: Eileen Dorsey 3rd: Samantha Bias 4th: Justin Roberts 5th: Leigh Bongiorno

BEST ARTIST

Readers’ Choice Winner: Derek Hess 2nd: Eileen Dorsey 3rd: Cat Swartz 4th: Kris Petrenko 5th: Samantha Bias

BEST ART GALLERY

Readers’ Choice Winner: 78th Street Studios 2nd: Spaces 3rd: Waterloo Arts 4th: 2020 West Schaaf Gallery 5th: E11even2

BEST ARTS EVENT

Readers’ Choice Winner: Third Friday at 78th Street Studios 2nd: The Delusional Divas of Drag 3rd: Bricolage at Maelstrom Collaborative Arts

Readers’ Choice Winner: Mark Hamer

BEST COMEDY VENUE

2nd: Michael Rogaliner 3rd: Jon Nix 4th: Jeremy Andrew Davis

Readers’ Choice Winner: Hilarities 2nd: The Improv 3rd: Winchester Music Tavern

BEST PHOTOGRAPHER

BEST LOCAL COMEDIAN (FEMALE)

Readers’ Choice Winner: Arastasia Photography 2nd: Mike Beach 3rd: Rustic Light Photography

Readers’ Choice Winner: Mary Santora 2nd: Liz Blanc 3rd: Marla Demarchi

Photo courtesy Nimblestick

Tropidelic

BEST LOCAL COMEDIAN (MALE)

Readers’ Choice Winner: Mike Polk Jr. 2nd: Bill Squire 3rd: Joey Gentile 4th: David Morales 5th: David Horning

BEST DANCE TROUPE

Readers’ Choice Winner: Cleveland Burlesque 2nd: Cleveland Dance Project 3rd: GroundWorks 4th: Shrimp’s Oh Strip Show 5th: Nerdy Dancers of CLE

BEST ILLUSTRATOR

Readers’ Choice Winner: Derek Hess 2nd: Derf Backderf 3rd: Gary Dumm 4th: John G 5th: Chris Morris

BEST LOCAL ALBUM

Readers’ Choice Winner: Paradox–Diana Chittester 2nd: Blue Skies and Summer Nights–Country Redford 3rd: Holding All the Aces–Billy Morris and the Sunset Strip 4th: Bee on a Rose–Ma Holos

BEST VOCAL GROUP

Readers’ Choice Winner: North Coast Men’s Chorus

2nd: Greater Cleveland Chorus 3rd: Cleveland Chamber Choir 4th: Men of Independence 5th: Country Redford

BEST FILMMAKER

Readers’ Choice Winner: Robbie Barnes & Kinsley Funari (The Holiday Girls) 2nd: Mike Wendt 3rd: Mark Hamer 4th: Robert Banks 5th: Eric Swinderman

BEST ART FAIR

Readers’ Choice Winner: Lakewood Arts Festival 2nd: Cain Park Arts Festival 3rd: Parade the Circle 4th: Waterloo Arts Fest 5th: Hessler Street Fair

BEST STREET FAIR

Readers’ Choice Winner: Taste of Tremont 2nd: Hessler Street Fair 3rd: Night Market 4th: Ohio City Street Festival 5th: Waterloo Arts Fest

BEST PERFORMANCE ARTIST

Readers’ Choice Winner: Pick Up Stix Stilt Walking 2nd: Marcia Custer 3rd: North Coast Men’s Chorus 4th: Cleveland Chamber Choir Photo by Emanuel Wallace

Taste of Tremont | clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

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r e g u l a r m e n u a l s o a va i l a b l e

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| clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

Food and Drink

Photo by Emanuel Wallace

BEST RESTAURANT

Readers’ Choice Winner: L’Albatros 2nd: Salt + 3rd: Barroco 4th: TownHall 5th: Marble Room Steaks & Raw Bar 6th: Astoria Cafe & Market

BEST NEW RESTAURANT Readers’ Choice Winner: Larder 2nd: Landmark 3rd: Boss ChickNBeer 4th: Ohio City Galley 5th: Rood Food & Pie 6th: Bull & Bird Steakhouse

BEST CHEF

Readers’ Choice Winner: Jill Vedaa 2nd: Zack Bruell 3rd: Michael Symon 4th: Jonathan Sawyer 5th: Doug Katz

BEST FRENCH FRIES

Readers’ Choice Winner: Tommy’s 2nd: Bar Cento 3rd: Banter 4th: B Spot 5th: TownHall

BEST GERMAN RESTAURANT Readers’ Choice Winner: Das Schnitzel Haus 2nd: Der Braumeister 3rd: Hansa Brewery 4th: Balaton

BEST MEXICAN RESTAURANT Readers’ Choice Winner: Momocho 2nd: Barrio 3rd: La Plaza 4th: Luchita’s 5th: El Carnicero

BEST JAMAICAN RESTAURANT Readers’ Choice Winner: Taste of Jamaica 2nd: Irie Jamaican Kitchen

BEST FRENCH RESTAURANT Readers’ Choice Winner: L’Albatros 2nd: Le Petit Triangle 3rd: Edwin’s 4th: Tartine Bistro 5th: Le Bistro Du Beaujolais

BEST KOREAN RESTAURANT Readers’ Choice Winner: Seoul Garden 2nd: Korea House 3rd: Rising Grill 4th: Ha Ahn 5th: Miega

BEST SUSHI

Readers’ Choice Winner: Ginko

Cleveland Vegan

2nd: Pacific East 3rd: Voodoo Tuna 4th: Mizu 5th: Sushi 86

BEST JAPANESE RESTAURANT Readers’ Choice Winner: Ushabu 2nd: Shinto 3rd: Pacific East 4th: Ginko 5th: Shuhei

BEST CHINESE RESTAURANT Readers’ Choice Winner: Li Wah 2nd: Szechuan Gourmet 3rd: LJ Shanghai 4th: King Wah 5th: Wonton Gourmet

BEST THAI RESTAURANT Readers’ Choice Winner: Thai Thai 2nd: Thai Kitchen 3rd: Peppermint Thai 4th: Ty Fun 5th: Banana Blossom

BEST VIETNAMESE RESTAURANT Readers’ Choice Winner: Superior Pho 2nd: Minh Anh 3rd: Pho Thang 4th: Saigon 5th: Nam Wah

BEST PHO

Readers’ Choice Winner: Superior Pho 2nd: #1 Pho 3rd: Minh Ahn 4th: Bowl of Pho 5th: Pho Thang 6th: Ninja City

BEST SEAFOOD RESTAURANT Readers’ Choice Winner: Pier W 2nd: Blue Point Grille 3rd: Alley Cat 4th: Salmon Dave’s 5th: Astoria Cafe & Market

BEST DESSERTS (RESTAURANT) Readers’ Choice Winner: Chocolate Bar 2nd: Salt + 3rd: Clifton Diner 4th: Rood Food & Pie 5th: Astoria Cafe & Market

BEST PASTRY CHEF

Readers’ Choice Winner: Ange Lupica, Salt + 2nd: Amanda Montague, Lilly Handmade Chocolates 3rd: Britt-Marie Culey, the former Coquette Patisserie 4th: Rood Food & Pie 5th: Astoria Cafe & Market

BEST BAKERY/PASTRIES

Readers’ Choice Winner: Luna Bakery & Cafe 2nd: Kelsey Elizabeth Cakes 3rd: On the Rise 4th: KB Confections 5th: Pink Bandana Bakery

BEST IRISH RESTAURANT Readers’ Choice Winner: The Harp 2nd: Stone Mad Pub 3rd: PJ McIntyre’s 4th: Flannery’s 5th: Craggy Bogland’s

BEST PIZZA

Readers’ Choice Winner: Angelo’s 2nd: Geraci’s 3rd: Il Rione 4th: Citizen Pie 5th: Athens | clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

47

WI N E S H O P AN D BA R

THANKS TO ALL THE CLEVELAND WINE NERDS

FOR NOMINATING US IN THIS YEAR’S BEST OF CLEVELAND 2019!

Flight Cleveland is your neighborhood wine shop and bar offering an approachable, adventurous and affordable wine experience.

CO NTAC T 216.400.6867 wine@flightcleveland.com www.flightcleveland.com

@FLIGHTCLEVELAND

LOC ATI O N 5712 Detroit Ave Cleveland, OH 44102

H OU RS MON: Closed TUE - THU: 3 pm – 10 pm

FRI: SAT: SUN: FB.COM/FLIGHTCLEVELAND

3 pm – 11 pm 12 pm – 11 pm 12 pm – 6 pm

FLIGHTCLEVELAND.COM

Thank You CLEVELAND FOR SUPPORTING MARKET AVENUEWINE BAR & KOFFIE CAFE! 2517 Market Ave | Cleveland, OH 44113 (216) 861-2233

2521 Market Ave | Cleveland, OH 44113 (216) 696-9463

CRAFT SANDWICHES SOUPS SALADS DAILY SPECIALS CATERING & LUNCHEON DROPS AVAILABLE! MON-SAT 11AM-7PM 4309 LORAIN AVE CLEVELAND, OHIO 44113 216-465-9600 | herbntwine.com 48

| clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

NEW DINNER MENU @ NICKS! OPEN TIL 3AM ON FRI & SAT Say Cheese…

because you are going to want to take a picture of

these delicious masterpieces...

Black Iron Mac & Cheese Skillets from the Greek Gods, baked fresh to order in a black iron skillet with our secret Gruyere cheese, topped with panko bread crumbs, fresh baked garlic sticks and your favorite Greek God or Godess toppings.

APOLLO: Vegetarian Philly...Chopped garden burger, tomatoes, green bell peppers, carmelized onions, mushrooms, and spinach… $13.00 HADES: Spicy Fried Chicken… Fried boneless chicken tossed in our own buffola style sauce, spinach, tomatoes, green bell peppers, and jslspenos… $14.00 ATHENA: Black and Blue… Marinated strips of sirloin steak, crumbled smoked bacon, tomatoes, green bell peppers, carmelized onions, muchrooms, spinach, and bleu cheese crumbles… $16.00 DENETER: Veggie lovers… Spinach, tomatoes, carmelized onions, mushrooms, and feta cheese… $12.00 APHRODITE: Gyro… In house baked gyro meat (lamb and beef),tomatoes, carmelized onions, mushrooms, spinach, and feta cheese…$14.00

ZEUS: For pork lovers or smoked lovers… In house smoked and candied pork belly, smoked bacon crumbles,carmelized onions, tomatoes, spinach, green bell peppers, and mushrooms… $15.00 ARTEMIS: Fresh, in house smoked turkey, spinach, carmelized onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, and green bell peppers… $14,00 HERMES: Spicy lovers… Chorizo, jalapenos, green bell peppers, carmelixed onions, mushrooms, spinach, and tomatoes… $14.00 HERA: Cheese Lovers… Very cheesy mac and cheese…

$11.50

Add ons: 2 Fresh Amish eggs Poached on top…

$1.50

Goat cheese, Greek Feta, Crumbled Bleu Cheese, or Shredded Gruyere Cheese… $2.00 Extra Cheese Sauce $1.00 Extra Homemade Garlic sticks…

$!.00 for each one

Small House Salad or Cup of soup…

Add Extra Veggies…

O I T A P W NO N OPE

$2.50

$1.50

4116 Lorain Ave Cleveland, OH 216-631-7757

OPEN 7 DAYS

Sunday-Thursday 7am-3pm Friday & Saturday 7am-3am | clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

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Food and Drink Photo by Emanuel Wallace

BEST BARBECUE

Readers’ Choice Winner: Mabel’s 2nd: Proper Pig 3rd: Woodstock BBQ 4th: Ohio City BBQ 5th: Landmark

BEST POLISH RESTAURANT Readers’ Choice Winner: Sokolowski’s 2nd: Little Polish Diner 3rd: Seven Roses

BEST BAGELS

Readers’ Choice Winner: The Cleveland Bagel Company 2nd: Bialy’s Bagels 3rd: Fiona’s Coffee Bar & Bakery 4th: Cocky’s Bagels 5th: D&R Bagels

BEST VEGETARIAN RESTAURANT Readers’ Choice Winner: Tommy’s Larder

BEST BRUNCH

Readers’ Choice Winner: Lucky’s 2nd: Pier W 3rd: TownHall 4th: Astoria Cafe & Market 5th: Landmark 6th: Crop Bistro

BEST COFFEE HOUSE

Readers’ Choice Winner: Rising Star Coffee Roasters 2nd: Phoenix Coffee Co. 3rd: Coffee Coffee Coffee 4th: Fiona’s Coffee Bar & Bakery 5th: Six Shooter Coffee

BEST CAKES

Readers’ Choice Winner: Kelsey Elizabeth Cakes

3rd: Johnny’s Little Bar 4th: Gunselman’s Tavern 5th: Harry Buffalo

BEST LATIN RESTAURANT Readers’ Choice Winner: Barroco 2nd: La Plaza 3rd: Paladar 4th: El Carnicero 5th: Campus Grille 6th: Rincon Criollo

BEST BUTCHER SHOP

Readers’ Choice Winner: Ohio City Provisions 2nd: K&K Portage 3rd: Saucisson 4th: Edwins Butcher Shop 5th: Sebastian’s Meats

2nd: Luna Bakery & Cafe 3rd: White Flour 4th: KB Confections 5th: Pink Bandana Bakery

2nd: TownHall 3rd: The Root Cafe 4th: Cleveland Vegan 5th: Zoma Ethiopian Restaurant

BEST STEAKHOUSE

Readers’ Choice Winner: Red the Steakhouse 2nd: Marble Room Steaks & Raw Bar 3rd: Strip Steakhouse 4th: Hyde Park Prime Steakhouse 5th: Urban Farmer Steakhouse

BEST MIDDLE EASTERN RESTAURANT Readers’ Choice Winner: Aladdin’s 2nd: Nate’s Deli 3rd: Taza 4th: Anatolia Cafe 5th: Sittoo’s

Photo by Doug Trattner

BEST VEGAN RESTAURANT Readers’ Choice Winner: Cleveland Vegan 2nd: Tommy’s 3rd: TownHall 4th: The Root Cafe 5th: Wild Spork 6th: Earth Bistro

BEST LATE-NIGHT EATS Readers’ Choice Winner: Barrio 2nd: Happy Dog 3rd: Edison’s 4th: The Fairmount 5th: TownHall

BEST BURGER

Readers’ Choice Winner: Heck’s Cafe 2nd: Buckeye Beer Engine

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| clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

Ushabu

CLEVELAND’S PREMIER TURKISH & MEDITERRANEAN CUISINE

20th ANNIV Saturday,

ERSAR

MADE IN HOUSE FROM SCRATCH WITH THE HIGHEST QUALIT Y INGREDIENTS & ALWAYS FRESH

May 4 • 8Y PARTY :00pm ..

Featuring.

T PORTERHSE HARKS

Breakfast/Brunch Menu - SATURDAY 11-3PM MOTHER’S DAY SPECIAL Complimentary Glass of Sparkling Wine ASK ABOUT OUR PARTY ROOM FOR YOUR NEXT SPECIAL EVENT.

2270 Lee Road Cleveland Hts, Oh 44118 | (216)321-4400 | anatoliacafe.com

| clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

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2621 W. 14th Street | Cleve., OH 44113

216-241-5025 grumpys-cafe.com

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| clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE CHICKEN, RIBS, FISH & OUR OWN 13 GOURMET SAUCES! V’s HOURS

We can customize your catering order with many Gourmet options such as:

SUNDAY’s and MONDAY’s OPEN FOR CATERING ONLY

FRIED OR BAKED CHICKEN • WING PIECES CHICKEN STRIPS • TENDER AND TASTY BABY BACK RIBS TUESDAY-SATURDAY ROAST BEEF • FISH • ITALIAN PASTA • SANDWICHES OPEN FOR CATERING FRIED VEGGIES • HOMEMADE SIDE DISHES AND INDIVIDUAL ORDERS 11AM-7PM SPRING MIX SALAD • GOURMET BREADS CHOCOLATE CHUNK COOKIES LET V’S CATER YOUR NEXT EVENT (By Appointment)

BIRTHDAY PARTIES • BABY SHOWERS WEDDING RECEPTIONS • FUNERALS • ANNIVERSARIES COMPANY PARTIES • CAR DEALERSHIPS Or Any Other Event You May Have!!

OUR CHICKEN NEVER FROZEN • OUR VEGIES HAND BREADED CATERING ORDERS MUST BE PAID IN FULL 1 WEEK BEFORE PICK UP CHECK OUT THE REST OF OUR CATERING MENU AT vsgourmetchicken.com

CALL US: 216.738.7000

15418 LAKESHORE BLVD. | CLEVELAND V’s HOURS

SUN -MON OPEN FOR CATERING ONLY (By Appointment) TUES-SAT OPEN FOR CATERING AND INDIVIDUAL ORDERS 11AM-7:00PM vsgourmet@yahoo.com | vsgourmetchicken.com

• Authentic Korean Cuisine

• Offering Signature & Showcase Korean Barbeques 3 7 0 9 PAY N E AV E N U E | C L E V E L A N D , O H I O 4 4 1 1 4 (216)465-3561 www.risinggrill.com

• Unforgettable Dining Experience

| clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

53

Photo courtesy of Red the Steakhouse

Red the Steakhouse

BEST SANDWICH

Readers’ Choice Winner: Slyman’s 2nd: Melt Bar & Grilled 3rd: Herb’n Twine 4th: Dave’s Cosmic Subs 5th: Cocky’s Bagels

BEST FOOD TRUCK

Readers’ Choice Winner: Wild Spork 2nd: Cleveland Cookie Dough 3rd: Hatfield’s Goode Grub 4th: Smokin Rock n’ Roll 5th: Cocky’s Bagels

BEST PATIO DINING

Readers’ Choice Winner: Collision Bend Brewing Company

2nd: Cafe Tandoor 3rd: Saffron Patch 4th: Tandul 5th: Jaipur Junction

BEST DONUTS

Readers’ Choice Winner: Brewnuts 2nd: Jack Frost 3rd: Becker’s 4th: Biagio’s 5th: Goldie’s

BEST BREAKFAST

Readers’ Choice Winner: Grumpy’s Cafe 2nd: Lucky’s Cafe 3rd: Inn on Coventry 4th: Jack Flaps 5th: Landmark

BEST SPANISH RESTAURANT

BEST DINER

2nd: Sangria y Tapas

2nd: DinerBar on Clifton 3rd: The Inn on Coventry 4th: The Place to Be 5th: Landmark

BEST AFRICAN RESTAURANT

Readers’ Choice Winner: Zoma Ethiopian Restaurant 2nd: Empress Taytu 3rd: Lucy Restaurant & Bar 4th: Kifaya’s Kitchen

BEST CHICKEN WINGS

Readers’ Choice Winner: Winking Lizard 2nd: Greenhouse Tavern 3rd: Around the Corner 4th: Rush Inn 5th: Boss ChickNBeer 6th: Scalpers Bar & Grille

BEST ITALIAN RESTAURANT

Readers’ Choice Winner: Mia Bella 2nd: Luca 3rd: Bruno’s 4th: Pepper’s 5th: Lago East Bank | clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

Readers’ Choice Winner: India Garden

2nd: TownHall 3rd: Luxe Kitchen & Lounge 4th: Georgetown 5th: Jekyll’s Kitchen

Readers’ Choice Winner: Mallorca

54

BEST INDIAN RESTAURANT

Readers’ Choice Winner: George’s Kitchen

BEST BREAD MAKER

Readers’ Choice Winner: On the Rise 2nd: Blackbird 3rd: Breadsmith 4th: Stone Oven 5th: Fluffy Duck

BEST GREEK RESTAURANT

Readers’ Choice Winner: Astoria Cafe & Market 2nd: Greek Village 3rd: Taki’s Greek Kitchen 4th: Simply Greek

BEST SOUL FOOD

Readers’ Choice Winner: Zanzibar 2nd: Angie’s Soul Cafe 3rd: Urban Soul

ay Motherc’siaD Spe l FREE $5.00 GIFT CERTIFICATE TO MOMS

Fantastic food, craft cocktails, beers & fun games!

Cheers to our 2019 Scene Magazine Best of Cleveland finalists...

Anatolia Cafe • BottleHouse Brewery • Cedar Lee Theatre CLE Urban Winery • Dobama Theater • Phoenix Coffee The Stone Oven • The Wine Spot Zagara’s Marketplace • Zoma Ethiopian Restaurant

cedar LEE D I S T R I C T

Open For Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and Drinks 7 Days/Week

1104 Rowley Ave | Cleveland, Ohio 44109 216.795.5345 | therowleyinn.com BAR HOURS: Mon-Fri 7a-Close/ Sat- Sun 5:30a-Close KITCHEN HOURS: Mon-Thurs 7a-10p Fri 7a-11p | Sat 8a- 11p | Sun 8a-10p

cedarlee.org | clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

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Neighborhood Bar Filled with Homemade Specials Eat Great, Make Friends & Drink Better!

HAPPY HOUR! •M-F 11AM - 6PM• $2.00 Domestic Bottles $2.25 Well Drinks • $1 Off Wines

www.eastlandinn.com Berea, Ohio

440.625.0040

Fridays

KARAOKE days

Satu

Tues

rday

IA TRIV

L BANIVE DS

s

4857 Robinhood Drive | Willoughby, OH 44094 440.946.8250 | www.craggyboglands.com

Authentic Irish Food, Traditional Irish Drinks, Great Conversation

Best New Restaurant & Best Deli

1390 W. 9TH STREET

216-687-9494 MALLORCACLE . COM

(C LEVEL AND W AREHOUSE D ISTRICT )

YOUR TASTE OF SPAIN & PORTUGAL 22 YEARS OF CREATING OUR FAMILY ONE GUEST AT A TIME

BRAZILIAN STEAKHOUSE A Truly Unique Steakhouse Offering continuous table side service and 17 cuts of meat

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| clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | AprilPrivate 24 - 30, Dining 2019 Available) (Semi

Mon.-Thurs. 4pm-10pm Fri./Sat. 4pm-11pm • Sun. 4pm-9pm 1300 W. 9th St., Cleveland • BrasaGrill.com

FOLLOW US ON A TOUCH OF SPECIAL MENU SUNNY & ALCOHOL SPAIN PACKAGES. BOOK WITH RIGHT HERE US. IN DOWNTOWN Voted Best Seafood CLEVELAND In

LOCALLY OWNED

Cleveland 5 Years In A Row! d velan A CleFor Over Gem Years!

22

(Private Dining Available)

Mon.-Thurs. 11:30am-10:30am Fri./Sat. 11:30am-11:30pm • Sun. 1pm-9pm

1390 W. 9th St., Cleveland MallorcaCleveland.com

| clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

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Food & Drink

Photo by Emanuel Wallace

Come, Taste The Island Spices BEST JAMAICAN

Authentic Jamaican Cuisine

5104 Mayfield Rd. | Lyndhurst, OH 44124 | 440-565-7230

Xinji

BEST FRIED CHICKEN

Readers’ Choice Winner: SoHo Chicken + Whiskey 2nd: Boss ChickNBeer 3rd: Landmark 4th: Larder 5th: Mr. Chicken

BEST PASTA

Readers’ Choice Winner: Ohio City Pasta 2nd: Luca 3rd: Lago East Bank 4th: Scorpacciata Pasta Co. 5th: Pasta Co-op

BEST ICE CREAM

Readers’ Choice Winner: Mitchell’s 2nd: Honey Hut 3rd: Mason’s Creamery 4th: East Coast Custard 5th: Sweet Moses

BEST DELI

Readers’ Choice Winner: Larder 2nd: Corky & Lenny’s 3rd: Jack’s Deli 4th: Joe’s Deli 5th: Davis Bakery

BEST BAR FOOD

Readers’ Choice Winner: Happy Dog 2nd: TownHall 3rd: ABC Tavern 4th: Gunselman’s Tavern 5th: LBM

BEST JUICE BAR

Readers’ Choice Winner: Restore 2nd: Pulp 3rd: Beet Jar 4th: Daily Press 5th: Anna in the Raw

BEST TEA CAFE

Readers’ Choice Winner: Inca Tea Cafe 2nd: Cleveland Tea Revival 3rd: The Tea Lab 4th: Algebra Teahouse

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| clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

BEST ROMANTIC RESTAURANT

Readers’ Choice Winner: Pier W 2nd: L’Albatros 3rd: Marble Room Steak & Raw Bar 4th: Chez Francois 5th: Astoria Cafe & Market

BEST SUB SHOP

Readers’ Choice Winner: Dave’s Cosmic Subs 2nd: Herb’n Twine 3rd: Grum’s 4th: Papa Joe’s 5th: Sharpy’s

BEST TACOS

Readers’ Choice Winner: Barrio 2nd: La Plaza 3rd: Taco Tontos 4th: Bomba 5th: Bakersfield Tacos

BEST TAPAS

Readers’ Choice Winner: Salt+ 2nd: The Fairmount 3rd: Astoria Cafe & Market 4th: Sangria y Tapas 5th: The Pompadour

BEST SNACK

Readers’ Choice Winner: Campbell’s Popcorn 2nd: Peterson’s Nut Company 3rd: The Cleveland Caramel Corn Co. 4th: Randy’s Pickles 5th: Sidekicks Salsa

BEST RAMEN

Readers’ Choice Winner: Xinji 2nd: Otani Noodle 3rd: Noodle Cat 4th: Mason’s Creamery 5th: Ninja City

| clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

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Scenic 5K Run & 1 Mile Walk

Proceeds benefit

Saturday, July 13, 2019 10:30am Flats East Bank, Cleveland

After Party hosted by our premier sponsor

More info: www.hermescleveland.com or call 216-623-9933 Facebook: @parrotheadrun • Instagram: @parrot_head_run 60

| clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

Sports and Recreation Photo by Erik Drost FlickrCC

Cuyahoga Valley National Park

BEST BEACH

BEST PLACE TO HIKE

BEST PUBLIC POOL

2nd: Huntington Beach 3rd: Mentor Headlands 4th: Fairport Harbor

2nd: Rocky River Reservation 3rd: North Chagrin Reservation 4th: Brecksville Reservation 5th: South Chagrin Reservation

2nd: Beachwood 3rd: Bay Village 4th: Cumberland 5th: Purvis Park

BEST GOLF COURSE

BEST GYM

2nd: Manakiki 3rd: Fowler’s Mill 4th: The Country Club 5th: Mallard Creek

2nd: Method Sports & Fitness 3rd: Planet Fitness 4th: Barre3 5th: Results Fitness

Readers’ Choice Winner: Edgewater Beach

BEST DOG PARK

Readers’ Choice Winner: Lakewood Dog Park 2nd: Edgewater 3rd: Bow Wow Beach 4th: Canine Meadows

BEST BILLIARDS

Readers’ Choice Winner: ABC Tavern 2nd: Iggy’s 3rd: Game On

BEST SPORTING GOODS STORE

Readers’ Choice Winner: Cuyahoga Valley National Park

Readers’ Choice Winner: Big Met

Readers’ Choice Winner: Lakewood Park

Readers’ Choice Winner: Tremont Athletic Club

BEST PLACE TO SKI

BEST YOGA STUDIO

2nd: Chapin Forest

2nd: The Studio Cleveland 3rd: Hope Yoga 4th: Elements Fitness Studio 5th: Be Fitness

Readers’ Choice Winner: Boston Mills and Brandywine Photo courtesy of Cleveland Metroparks

Readers’ Choice Winner: Geiger’s 2nd: Second Sole

Readers’ Choice Winner: Inner Bliss

BEST SPECIALITY EXERCISE CLASSES

BEST BOWLING ALLEY Readers’ Choice Winner: Mahall’s

Readers’ Choice Winner: Harness Cycle

2nd: Corner Alley 3rd: Wickliffe Lanes 4th: Pinstripes 5th: Roll House

2nd: Cleveland Exotic Dance 3rd: Be Fitness 4th: Elements Studio 5th: ReFORM PT & Pilates Edgewater Park | clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

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| clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

O

Photo by Sam Allard

nce again this year we have honored the Best of Cleveland, which remains one of the most rewarding moments in the calendar. And there was plenty to celebrate, as always. Congrats to all the winners!

But as a complement to that illustrious list we have, for the first time, compiled a corresponding Worst of Cleveland.

Consider it a long-overdue if incomplete reckoning of all the absolute most garbage people, places, things, groups and opinions that rot at the heart of this city. They deserve not to exist in anonymity — and yes, many of these have been touched on in brief or in depth in various issues and stories — but to be called out by name and levied with the title of the Worst of Cleveland forever more. And the winners are ...

CLEVELAND CITY COUNCIL

A serious question in Cleveland, Ohio, is whether the city’s legislative body (city council) has any value at all.

Other than fielding calls from disgruntled constituents, hosting pancake breakfasts for seniors and holding interminable committee hearings full of inane and/or self-serving questions, it’s hard to come up with a single recent accomplishment that’s not more directly attributable to another person or entity. They are the absolute worst.

Council is these days a rubberstamp body of 17 small-minded electeds utterly subservient to corporate interests and the mayor. Like good, mindless sycophants, they await the rewards borne of loyalty and therefore refuse to rock the boat.

Not a soul on council put out a statement condemning (or even questioning!) the egregious and ongoing misuse of council funds by Ward 4 Councilman Ken Johnson, for example.

Was this because they were all doing versions of the same thing? Or was it because they’ve forgotten who they’re supposed to be serving? To be honest, they couldn’t even rock the boat if they wanted to, as they’re governed by

outdated party policies like the Unit Rule, which demands that all members vote unanimously.

Outsiders are kept at bay by the strategic appointment of successors, and the public is kept at bay by “emergency” legislating, in which ordinances are passed on an accelerated schedule with no public comment and limited review.

In practical terms, city councilpeople care largely (if not exclusively) for their individual wards and with limited exception have abandoned the progress of the city to pursue a warped sense of ward equality. If there are any funds to distribute — for repairing potholes, say — hours of arguments break out to ensure that each councilperson gets to take home exactly 1/17th of the total funding. There is no evident concern, beyond the occasional symbolic floor speech, for the city’s most urgent issues and worst injustices. To the extent that there is, council doesn’t pass policy. It designates some money for a nonprofit or a consultant to deal with it.

The body’s petty, me-first attitude has predictable effects: namely, the total disdain for the citizenry that has been the hallmark of council under its

City Council

current president, Kevin Kelley.

Beyond the fact that they hold no regular public comment period at weekly meetings — and even sit with their backs to the public in council chambers, a structural arrangement that makes manifest their hostility — council and its staff spend concerted time and money ensuring that citizen actions are squashed. They have no interest in echoing and amplifying the voices of the people. They prefer to silence them. — Sam Allard

*** I-480

Let us collectively rise as a unified region, setting aside petty squabbles and differences, to bestow upon I-480 — that gaudy asphalt hellscape born of, and then turned enabler of, sprawl — the double birds it so richly deserves.

The 41-mile stretch of aggravation, which delivers both physical and psychic injury on a daily basis, is but one link in

Northeast Ohio’s vast network of ever-expanding, ever more expensive to maintain highways, but it is universally acknowledged as the worst.

The Valley View Bridge, for instance, carries about 180,000 vehicles per day across the Cuyahoga River and the Ohio & Erie Canal. And even before work began last year to replace the enormous 4,155-foot bridge, one of the state’s busiest, the stretch of freeway between I-77 and I-271 had issues. Major issues.

Driving across the Valley View Bridge and seeing its giant concrete barriers and chain link fence is akin to traveling through a war zone. The freeway often resembles a parking lot as cars regularly back up and slow to a crawl at rush hour, whether because of sun glare, congestion, delayed contractor work, all three, or none of them at all. It doesn’t matter whether you’re traveling east or west, it’s viscerally atrocious. Throw in some tricky and poorly designed mergers for some additional mayhem.

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Photo by Doug Kerr FlickrCC

Interstate 480

Better signage at key areas — as you head east past I-77 and as you head west and approach Broadway — would go a long way toward helping alleviate congestion and upping safety, but that, of course, would ratchet down the Mad Max feel of the whole enterprise, which seems to be what ODOT is going for.

Construction work on the Valley View Bridge, which now has in its mid-section an ominous giant steel structure that looks like “The Claw” that U2 used on its 360 Tour, has only made matters worse. Oh, and all of the construction won’t be done until 2024. It never ends!

Fuck off, 480. Just fuck the fuck off forever. — Jeff Niesel

*** “SUMMITS”

Everyone knows that summits are worthless publicity stunts favored by folks who call themselves thought leaders.

The dictionary is noncommittal on the etymology, but the word itself — “summit” def. #2 — was probably hatched at Aspen or some vacation ski-resort, where rich people have been known to convene over beers after invigorating afternoons on the slopes, finding themselves discussing issues like “poverty” and “ways to make the world a

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better place.”

Yuck. Summits are the worst.

In Cleveland, they illustrate not only the ineptitude of our leaders, but their inalterable managerial hardwiring, which suggests that meeting and talking about problems constitutes doing something about them.

(A note, for the record: Meeting and talking about problems are crucially important, provided they are a precedent to policymaking, or action of one kind or another. Around here, that’s not how it works.)

Look no further than this big “Economic Inclusion Summit” that’s supposedly taking place in September. What the hell is that bullshit supposed to be?

If you look at the committees, you’ll see that nearly half of them are concerned with momentum.

One committee is about building momentum. Another is tasked with maintaining momentum.

The summit was planned — honest to god — at another summit, held in December. The planning summit was organized by a committee of 15 business leaders which, several other leaders took pains to note, didn’t seem very inclusive at all.

Nevertheless, a group of about 75 folks gathered at cleveland. com headquarters to talk about the region’s strengths. (Note: not its weaknesses!) They were using a method called “appreciative

| clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

inquiry,” developed at Case, which is all about looking on the bright side. Outside the building, protesters chanted that while being invited to a summit on economic inclusion was nice, having input in the planning of said summit would be much more meaningful.

The lead crisis is another great example. While the local activist group CLASH has been hitting the streets collecting signatures to put lead-safe legislation on the ballot, leaders have assembled a public-private coalition, one of the primary aims of which is planning a lead summit. That’s the ticket! Just what we need to hold negligent and/or predatory landlords accountable! A cup of coffee and a group brainstorm session about our strengths!

Summits are for leaders. If and when actual citizens are invited to the table, they can expect to

have their voices heard … and promptly ignored. — Allard

*** ARMOND BUDISH

County Executive Armond Budish is such a consummate farce that it’s a wonder he hasn’t resigned and hightailed it to Florida, where at the very least he could be made comfortable.

He emerged from self-exile last Thursday to deliver a State of the County address so out of touch with the county and its marquee question — what is to be done about the Cuyahoga County Jail? — that the first round of applause didn’t arrive for 30 minutes. (His only other recent public appearance: Showing up for official announcement, alongside Frank Jackson and Dan Gilbert, that Quicken Loans Arena would be renamed the

Photo courtesy of Cuyahoga County

Armond Budish

Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, a fact that all parties agreed was, and trumpeted as, an important development for the future of the arena.) He has zero credibility or moral authority. Most of what he says can be dismissed out of hand as nonsense. It’s a mark of his minimal news value that the region’s top editors didn’t even show up for his annual speech.

They were over in Playhouse Square for a Press Club event, where, incidentally, the first question in an audience Q&A asked PD editor George Rodrigue whether the paper would ever get around to apologizing for the endorsement of Frank Jackson and Budish and call for their resignations.

Even longtime PD editorial page director Brent Larkin has abandoned Budish. He has dressed him down in multiple columns for a lack of relevant experience, a horrible managerial style and an insipid brand of leadership that has threatened to destabilize county government itself. Only Cleveland.com editor Chris Quinn remains by his side.

It was Quinn who presumably penned one of the more brazenly irresponsible editorials in recent memory, calling for an end to the investigation into county corruption on the basis of Budish’s claims that he had done nothing wrong.

Budish, as everyone knows by now, is literally the worst.

He can take some comfort in the fact that his legacy is cemented. His chief contribution will be the utter failing of the Cuyahoga County Jail, a facility that saw eight people die — including four by suicide — in the second half of 2018 because Budish wanted to cut costs. He had no interest in cutting costs, or even thinking about the financial implications, when it came to public contributions for the Arena formerly known as Quicken Loans. Budish called the completion of the arena’s renovation — though it’s not yet complete — one of the past year’s major highlights. Meanwhile, during his State of the County speech, the former jail warden was being indicted. What a joke.

Known for nothing more than his fundraising acumen at the Statehouse and a former legal practice at which he helped senior citizens shelter their money from government collection — a stand-up guy! — Budish is now known only for his incompetence,

including an inability to hire and retain competent directors, and his tone-deaf public speaking. Get lost, bozo. — Allard

***

THE “SUPERLATIVE IMPERATIVE”

The Superlative Imperative is a term we coined in 2018 to describe the defective philosophy of our region’s leaders, one that, for decades, has undermined Cleveland’s progress. It refers specifically to the idea that leaders, instead of tackling the material issues that affect the majority of citizens, promote the construction of big buildings and fanciful megaprojects as a cure for civic malaise. They want to have the biggest, the best, the most or the first of anything.

In which case we’ve got

valuable data from more than 200 American cities, while knowing precisely where they intended to locate all along.)

Since we’re on the subject, you can’t move a city when its people are poor and hungry either.

Cleveland was tops in the nation last year in the category of “child poverty.” Fully 47 percent of the city’s kids live below the federal poverty level. Families live in vast food deserts without internet access — and, by the way, Cleveland remains one of the most hyper-segregated metropolitan areas in the country — but our region’s board chairs and elected officials generally only get together to unveil construction milestones. They love cutting fucking ceremonial ribbons, donning ridiculous hard hats and shoveling ceremonial dirt, which Photo by Erik Drost FlickrCC

Tower City

tremendous news! The Superlative Imperative can add one more superlative to its stupid trophy case: It’s the worst.

“You need big symbols of physical progress,” said the head of McKinsey’s Cleveland office a few decades back. “They are momentum-building and pridebuilding. You can’t move the city without physical splashes.”

Nor can you move a city, it turns out, without an educated workforce. The lack of tech talent and a sufficient talent pipeline were the chief reasons why Amazon did not select Cleveland as one of 20 finalist cities for its second headquarters last year. (Though as most folks now know, Amazon executed the HQ2 “sweepstakes” to harvest

conveniently doesn’t get them dirty at all.

Our public and private leaders need to recognize, as we wrote last year, that the goal should be making Cleveland better, not making it the best. — Allard

***

BLANKET 15-YEAR TAX ABATEMENTS

Anyone who lives in Tremont, Ohio City or Detroit-Shoreway can tell you that the city of Cleveland’s blanket 15-year tax abatement policy — the worst, obvs — is no longer doing what it’s ostensibly designed to do. That is: spur investment in areas that wouldn’t otherwise get it by offering an incentive to developers.

This sweeping policy functions

as a direct handout to said developers, because they’re able to jack up the sales price of their new builds, knowing that home purchasers are more than happy to pay a premium since they won’t be paying taxes for the likely duration of their residence. Many of them flee just before the taxes kick in. Developers love the policy because they can keep cramming condos into hot areas already attracting new residents, and Cleveland upholds the status quo, content as ever to redistribute funds upward. You know, to the folks who really need it.

The two frustrating side effects of this policy are: 1) That neighborhoods that would benefit from a generous incentive are overlooked. Why would developers take a risk by building in Buckeye when they wouldn’t have to take a risk (and could still get the abatement) by building in Ohio City? 2) That longtime homeowners in hot neighborhoods shoulder an increasing percentage of the tax burden. Taxes go up as neighborhoods get hotter, but the folks responsible for the hotness, for all that rising home value, don’t pay.

The good news is that city council has said the program could do with some tweaking, and just last week, the city announced that it was commissioning a study on the abatements in partnership with a number of local nonprofits.

“Equity requires inclusion,” said Councilman Kerry McCormack, “and we can’t have an inclusive process without first having a process that includes all stakeholders — residents, homeowners, developers, schools, researchers, and more must contribute to the process.

Comprehensive research and equitable community engagement will create space for resident voices, while helping us to make sound policy decisions based on the hard facts.”

If the city passed legislation based on hard facts, it would be the very first time. We look forward to it!

— Allard

*** TOWER CITY

After Dan Gilbert finalized his purchase of the Avenue at Tower City from Forest City in 2016, the billionaire and public subsidy welfare recipient said he didn’t

| clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

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buy the thing for it to just sit there.

He wanted to “create a one-of-akind urban shopping, dining and entertainment destination that will make all Clevelanders proud.”

Bedrock Real Estate Services chairman Jim Ketai added: “We are early in the planning stages of a unique, new design for this centrally located, landmark piece of real estate. Our vision for … this exciting property … will be announced in detail in the coming months.”

Here we are in the spring of 2019, three years later, and the continued deterioration of the once proud landmark can be summed up by one fact: Even McDonald’s has left the food court.

Of course, if you believed Dan Gilbert’s promise from the start, we have a Phase II of a casino you might be interested in.

When the Avenue opened in 1990, it housed luxury stores like Barney’s, Versace and Gucci.

Forest City transformed the transit hub into a retail experience. And even though the company’s grand plans — additional riverside skyscrapers, a venue for the Rock Hall — never came to fruition, it enjoyed a prosperous existence before everything began shuttering and the facility existed mainly as an entry point for Cavs and Indians fans to get to the arena and stadium. Recent years, even before Gilbert’s acquisition, had not been kind, and now it’s mostly home to empty storefronts and discount shops.

That’s a far cry from the vision promised for the 366,000-squarefoot landmark. But hey, at least Tower City security guards can kick out third-graders on a class field trip to view the architectural details of the building because “it’s not a public space,” or boot someone from the lobby who was waiting for the bus inside on a 7-degree winter day in 2018.

Tower City, of course, was featured in Cleveland’s doomedfrom-the-start bid for Amazon HQ2, so maybe progress slowed while waiting for the official “thanks but no thanks” from Mr. Bezos.

Otherwise, rumors have the Avenue as a proposed new home for a $150 billion tech hub dubbed City Block which would not only serve as a home for all things Blockland and blockchain and Bernie “From the Block” Moreno but also startups and a small regional office for a Fortune 100 tech company and a school where kids can learn to code blockchain. Here’s to hoping that tech incubator dream becomes reality — someone should be using that space — but pardon us for fearing that City Block has more potential to become the Med Mart/ Global Center for Health and Innovation Part II than a magical source of gravity to suddenly make Cleveland a tech center.

— Brett Zelman

*** DEFENDERS OF THE LAND

There are two truths that should not be debatable but nonetheless remain controversial here. First, that Cleveland is not a great city. Second, that it is not only acceptable, or even tolerable, but healthy and necessary to point out the reasons that the first truth is, well, true.

Among the many variations of civic-pride garments floating around from Cleveland’s some five- or eight-dozen T-shirt purveyors is one that reads: Cleveland is the City. A more accurate version would read: Cleveland is a City, but even then it wouldn’t be entirely accurate.

Maybe: Cleveland is a Very Troubled City.

Many residents would not only prefer not to consider that fact but would offer heated, biased and

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uniformed defenses. What of the Cleveland Orchestra? What of the glorious foundations? Uh, you ever hear of that Baker Mayfield guy? This city is downright affordable! Dude, have you even tried Barrio’s tacos? Who cares how much Metroparks CEO Brian Zimmerman makes? Have you been to the parks? Give the man a million bucks!

Blind and blithe defenders of The Land (ugh) believe, with no actual supporting evidence, that everything is great. And what could, on a surface level, be merely annoying — Scene, for instance, has regularly received a deluge of comments, emails and phone calls complaining that we actually hate Cleveland, that we’re so negative, which is a trend that will likely accelerate upon the publication of this Worst of Cleveland issue — can also be read as a dangerous and direct thread to many of the various and multitudinous malfeasances and failures that plague the city.

Civic pride is great, but in the same way civic discontent can either stir action or batter one down into a resigned existence, pride of the unexamined brand can be a recipe for civic malaise.

Focusing on and/or touting superficial success, or success for some but not all, is to ignore everything but a tiny sliver of what’s happening in Cleveland — this, to the continued detriment of huge swaths of Cleveland.

It’s how we get a fourth term of Frank “Inaction” Jackson. It’s how Armond Budish can skate unopposed into a second term.

One shouldn’t need to be reminded of the issues at play here — lead, staggering child poverty, shit public transit, discriminatory nuisance ordinances, generational and continued redlining in housing and internet access, Cleveland’s ignominious perch as one of the nation’s most segregated cities — but it has been made readily apparent that those reminders need to be delivered often and with force.

Doing so doesn’t mean we or anyone else hates Cleveland. Quite the opposite. And conflating criticism with hatred isn’t just dumb; it’s how you establish and become accustomed to mediocrity.

Criticism improves. Criticism raises expectations. Criticism informs execution. Criticism is how you move from being a city

to the city.

Cleveland’s got a long way to go. — Vince Grzegorek

*** The HealTh line

The HealthLine is the bus rapid transit service linking Public Square to University Circle and East Cleveland via Euclid Avenue.

It was touted, when it launched in 2008, as an efficient transit option that combined the dedicated route (and presumed speed) of a train line with the affordability of city buses. Now, it flat-out sucks. It’s seriously the worst.

The numbers tell the story.

People abandoned the HealthLine in record numbers last year.

Nearly 15 percent fewer riders (3.6 million, down from 4.3 million the previous year) drove down RTA’s ridership decline across the system. The dramatic drop is due largely to the fact that the HealthLine has canceled its proof-of-payment fare collection system, in which you simply walked onto the bus when it arrived after you’d validated your ticket at the stop. So fast! So efficient!

Now, it’s just like a standard

city bus, where everyone enters at the front door and pays for a ticket or shows their passes to the driver. This causes significant delays and regular bunching. It’s rarely on-schedule and now takes anywhere from 8 to 13 minutes longer than originally advertised to get from Public Square to Windermere in East Cleveland. You’d be better off briskly walking down Euclid than dealing with this infuriating route when there’s more than three or four cars on the road.

Due to stubbornness or ignorance, RTA has refused to seek out sensible solutions to their fare enforcement problem. A local judge ruled in 2017 that having armed RTA officers enforcing fares was unconstitutional. One obvious solution, which would retain the speed of all-door boarding but would still allow for periodic enforcement, would be to have unarmed civilian employees checking fares. They could also just shrug and eat the costs of the 1 out of 7 of riders who don’t pay, thereby increasing the quality of the service for everyone. But no dice. While RTA pursues a potential system redesign and

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Photo by Cherry Wind: Wikipedia

The Corner

completes its “pillar studies” in key areas — positive steps! — it has let the HealthLine deteriorate from a sterling example of Bus Rapid Transit to an annoying, unreliable, sluggish bus route that everyone hates. — Allard

social spaces, cheap tickets and an atmosphere more Ohio City or Tremont-esque than a night at the ballpark with the parents.

And they nailed it.

“I was standing on top of

*** THE CORNER (KINDA)

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Okay, this is a bit of a bait and switch. So before you chalk this up as yet another instance of Scene just hating on something popular for the sake of hating on something popular, or accusing us of wanting all of you off our lawn, just hear us out.

The Corner has become exactly what the Indians hoped it would be when they announced significant renovations to Progressive Field in the offseason between the 2014 and 2015 seasons that included not only a revitalization of the dead right outfield area but also a move for the bullpens and the installation of the shipping crate makeover in the upper deck. (Those crates, lordy … .)

Responding to fan input and industry trends, the Indians constructed the two-story bar and standing-room area featuring a fire pit, a 40-tap system and plentiful TVs to cater to a segment of fans who desired more

Hall | clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April City 24 - 30, 2019

The Corner bar watching fans flow into the ballpark,” a former Indians’ marketing honcho told Crain’s Cleveland last year about the area’s success.

“Seeing their expressions, their reactions to it, but also seeing that they gravitated to the areas we expected in ways that were natural — going to the drink rails, to the Corner bar.”

“The Corner bar and District Ticket have been game-changers for us,” said another VP. In more PG-13-rated front office executive-ese, the team activated the shit out of right field in ways that Tyler Naquin could only dream of.

Five years after its inception, the Corner is a party, a place to see and be seen. It’s a place to hang out, where beer-can pyramids rise toward the heavens and where, for most weekend and big-draw games, there’s nary an empty spot along the ample drink rails — a testament to its enduring popularity.

But here’s the thing: The Corner is a pretty terrible spot from which to actually watch a baseball game. Start with the sun, which will pound you into submission during late-day games and force you to essentially live with your hand as a visor, even if you’ve brought along a hat or sunglasses. Add in the fact that from the Corner you can’t actually see the corner where the foul line meets the fence. Distractions?

Aplenty here: people moving here and there; the jostling as your row grows ever more crowded; the conversations from those around you who are paying not one iota of attention to the on-field proceedings enveloping you like a demon white-noise machine. The view? Not great, Bob. You’re about as far from the action as you can get.

The better option — not for everyone, of course, because a large swath of those walking through the gates sign up for exactly all that, and that’s okay

Photo by Sam Allard

— is the left-field standing room area (separate in this case from the home run porch). How far below the radar does that side fly? There’s not even a name for it. It’s just the left-field standing room area. The team either has no interest in or no corporate motivation to brand that sucker.

Which is just fine, because its anonymity is a boon to those who want a closer vantage point, sans sun glare, with a full view of the field, and compatriots who are way more likely to know the count (or the score, for that matter) at any given moment than 90 percent of the denizens out in the inferior standing-room area.

Maybe check it out, and enjoy it.

— Zelman

*** Cleveland City Hall’s OffiCe Of COmmuniCatiOns (speCifiCally , dan Williams and latOya Hunter)

to respond to basic questions that are focused, not on the myriad ways in which Frank Jackson’s administration has failed, but on things it has done — maybe quite accidentally — well.

For every time top city officials are investigated by TSA over violating security protocols at the airport, and the subsequent lies the communications team told reporters about the privileged reports they by no means could release without approval from the TSA (who gladly told reporters, on the record, that the claim was malarky), and for every time they refuse to answer questions about Frank Jackson’s nearly yearlong part-time schedule, there’s also outright refusal to field inquiries about positive things.

Take FHAct50, a new program from the Ohio Housing Finance Agency, from which Cleveland, along with Columbus and Cincinnati, applied and later was approved for $3 million in financing for affordable housing that, with tax credits, could turn into $30 million in private investment. This started last September, and Cincinnati has already transparently announced which neighborhoods are under consideration. Cleveland, meanwhile, has been dead silent and Mr. Williams ignored, over the course of four months, a series of emails simply asking where Cleveland was in its progress.

It takes an almost herculean effort to prod any response or tidbit of information from the office. Basic questions, when they garner any response at all, are asked to be submitted as official public records requests, which are then ignored by a different department, which then forces reporters and news organizations to take the city to court. And when records are received, they are outdated, flat-out wrong, or incomplete.

It’s real great stuff. So bravo to this fine team for being the absolute worst and let this award remind them that the disdain they show for the rest of us is returned tenfold.

There is your garden-variety city government obfuscation and delay, and then there’s the zenlike artform of informational stiff-arming and dissembling practiced by the staff of Cleveland City Hall’s Office of Communications. That would be media relations director Dan Williams and assistant media relations director Latoya Hunter.

We’ll throw Frank Jackson’s chief of government and international affairs — Valarie McCall, the Mayorette — in there too, because it is she who essentially controls and authorizes the possession or dissemination of information regarding City Hall.

This trio of disgraceful civil servants is bounded by a deep and shared disdain for the public and the collective lowest of low bars they have established for what it means to be conduits of transparent and honest information to residents. That, of course, comes via their repeated and willful refusals to answer questions from reporters from this humble altweekly, as well as Cleveland.com, the Plain Dealer, Crain’s Cleveland and all four TV — Grzegorek stations. It’s into this black hole that questions and requests are funneled to be lost and forgotten, met not with helpful answers but almost complete and utter silence parking and entering as the trio abdicates their duties.

BlOssOm musiC Center To what end? Oftentimes to Blossom itself, it should go protect the mayor and City Hall. without saying, is a gem of a But this trio also routinely fails venue. A slice of bucolic heaven

***

| clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

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Photo courtesy of Quicken Loans Arena

where the music is made better by the surrounding nature and vice versa.

Getting into and out of the facility is a whole ’nother thing.

Complaints about traffic in Cleveland should always be taken with a Cargill-sized dosage of salt. This isn’t L.A. or Chicago, after all. No one has to commute three hours to inch five miles down the road. But when it comes to gripes regarding the unending bumper-to-bumper hellscape at Blossom for a sold-out show, no one is exaggerating. Believe every story you hear about the place. They are all true. Some dad who went to the Jimmy Buffett show last year is still trying to get home. A couple of pals who went to Dave Matthews Band in 2016 became so frustrated by the snaking river of unmoving cars after the show they simply walked into the woods and now live off the land.

Fifty-one years ago, the worldrenowned Cleveland Orchestra opened the state-of-the-art bandshelled amphitheater for its summer home. But to get its money’s worth, the orchestra’s parent organization, the Musical Arts Association, allowed outside concert promoters to bring in huge touring shows, as Live Nation does today.

The main problem is that while the venue has a 23,000-person capacity, the heavily forested spot is landlocked inside the Cuyahoga Valley National Park and offers only three entrances. To preserve the nature of the green 200-acre space, the roads are windy and annoying. These beautiful trees can’t just be hacked down to allow for a convenient car exit, or an easy Lyft pick-up zone.

So after a sold-out show you may have to wait two hours in one of the many parking lots for car lines to even start to die down. Point of clarification: You absolutely will, should you stay till the very end, endure an hour-long exit. Some try and get smart and leave the show early, but that means missing part of a concert you paid good money to attend. (Honestly, it’s worth it.

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The difference of leaving before, during or after the encore can mean the difference between an easy ride home and an aggravating bottleneck that will take you into the next day.)

Entering isn’t bad, but the situation can get dire for shows that involve tailgating, which involves alcohol, which means frequent nature calls and ohso-few legitimate destinations in which to answer. With so few port-o-potties in the parking lots (which Blossom should remedy) those lines get long fast, so people resort to going between cars and nearby bushes. Genitalia is out everywhere.

Because of its location, the traffic issue at Blossom isn’t going to be solved in the foreseeable future. But might we suggest skipping the next concert by whichever aging rock star, and heading to a Cleveland Orchestra classical concert instead? Lines are minimal, you can bring in your own booze and food, and lawn tickets start at $25.

Quicken Loans Arena

— Laura Morrison

*** TALKATIVE CONCERTGOERS

The guy was singing his heart out and no one gave a shit. At least that’s what Caamp frontman Taylor Meier accused his Beachland Ballroom audience of last month. The Ohio folk-rock three-piece has such a strong local following that they sold out back-to-back shows. But when Meier started in on a beautiful new acoustic solo during the first concert, people in the back started talking loudly.

“You all can go fuck yourselves,” Meier said when he finished the song, visibly shaken.

The diehards up front tried to cheer him up, but he never quite recovered. He ran off the stage following a short encore, presumably to pout.

The incident, while handled immaturely by the artist, shows just how terrible Cleveland audiences can be, even to bands

| clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

they profess to love.

If you’re at a bar where live music is supposed to be background noise, that’s one thing; but during a big show, especially during the quiet moments, it’s time to shut your piehole.

The Agora, with its bar in the back, is another spot where concertgoers will yammer on through whole sets. Multiple recent Scene concert reviews have noted how rude audience members there can be. This reflects poorly on our city and does not make artists want to come back our way (making every music booker’s job in this town that much harder).

Arguments can be made that a person who spent significant dough on a ticket should be able to do whatever they want at a show, as it’s their money and their time. But the people around you spent money, too, and they don’t care about your workday or your boy drama; they came to see a musician who at some point

meant something to them.

So how can we as audience members do better? It comes down to this: Music is for listening and dancing and jumping and yelling along to, not talking over. Follow these guidelines and we’ll all have a great time.

— Morrison

*** THE ROCKET MORTGAGE ELDHOUSE , NEE QUICKEN LOANS ARENA

You have probably already — and will undoubtedly in the future — enter into a conversation with someone who compliments the extensive renovations of Quicken Loans Arena. Check out that glass! It reflects the city skyline! Glass! Skyline!

It will, to them and possibly you, represent banner cooperation between that local demigod Dan Gilbert, the Cavaliers, the city and the county. It will be a shiny new building — and dear god, do

we love shiny new buildings, and not thinking about how they got there. The millions of taxpayer dollars that subsidized the renovation? Worth it, because Dan Gilbert spends money on payroll.

Plus, the public owns the building anyway. It should have to pay for its upkeep.

We’ve done our level best over the past two years to bring much needed clarity to the reasons why those arguments are baseless. Often, that reasoning has fallen on deaf ears. But for us and those who have taken the time to actually learn about the deal, the glittering façade and introduction of something called the South Neighborhood, among other uplifts, are a totem not of how Cleveland has succeeded but of how it has once again failed.

How deals exactly like this one are hatched in secret with no public input. How the corridors of power aligned to squash a ballot initiative that dared ask whether it was in the region’s best interest to hand over tens of millions of dollars that would better be allocated elsewhere. How thoroughly and blindly the city and the county display absolute fealty to the business community.

Gilbert and others say that there’s no official nickname for the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse as of yet, that something will occur naturally — the Rock, for instance, much like Quicken Loans Arena became simply known as The Q. Here let us suggest an appropriate moniker: The Rock Bottom Fraudhouse.

— Grzegorek

*** Criminal aCtivity nuisanCe OrdinanCes

In February of 2018, the city of Bedford declared a property a nuisance and fined the owner $250. The issue? The tenant had sought help months earlier over concerns that her boyfriend was going to kill himself. Later, she called police again, believing him to be suicidal. After the nuisance declaration from Bedford, the landlord evicted the tenant.

In October of 2015, a Lakewood woman called 911 after someone overdosed and died in her home.

Some months later, another person overdosed and she called again. EMS were able to save that victim, but in the aftermath Lakewood sent a letter to her

landlord: They’d declared the property a nuisance. The landlord began eviction proceedings that very same day.

Welcome to the infuriating land of Criminal Activity Nuisance Ordinances, where calling 911 can mean losing your home.

Nuisance laws came in vogue in the early 2000s, with cities enacting them to protect some vague sense of decency and community standards. They are, by definition and practice, pretty broad, which means that for every intention of, say, shutting down a drug house, they also became a magnet for barely veiled racism, as well as a tool cities can use to force out renters and those with subsidized housing vouchers.

Studies have routinely found they unfairly harm minorities and those with mental health issues, among others.

Bedford is one of 21 Northeast Ohio cities with Criminal Activity Nuisance Ordinances on the books, and one of just four that includes domestic violence in the statutes. It is also now facing a federal lawsuit brought by the ACLU and the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland that calls for its CANO to be taken completely off the books because a decade of public records show how it routinely has served as a discriminatory tool.

How blatant is the racism here?

When its CANO was passed in 2005, the mayor explained: “One of the things that we take pride in is middle class values. We believe in neighborhoods not hoods. That is one of the reasons we passed that nuisance law tonight. I have made mention of the students walking down the streets and those are predominantly African American kids who bring in that mentality from the inner city.”

So, 100-percent blatant.

“People should be able to pick up the phone and call police for help: Laws should not be used to penalize, deter, and harass ordinary residents for exercising rights under the United States and Ohio constitutions to speak about their concerns, ask for police assistance, and petition the government for redress of grievances,” Legal Aid attorney Jennifer Sheehe said when the lawsuit was filed.

We wholeheartedly agree.

Every one of the remaining 21 municipalities in Northeast Ohio should immediately begin work to strike these ordinances straight to the dumpster.

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— Grzegorek | clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

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ing n n a l P t n Eve Call 9191 8 8 2 6 1 2

TRUE COCKTAILS · BITES brings an eclectic vibe that invites business professionals, artists , fashionistas and everyone who is looking for a fun night out. Our vibrance and diversity sets us apart from the crowd. We

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| clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

feature DJ Fridays and Saturdays from all over the country. Where else can you dance, eat, have a cigar and enjoy a smooth cocktail? Come join us and find out why TRUE Cocktails · Bites is the best kept secret in the city.

Photo courtesy of GroundWorks

GET OUT

everything you should do this week WED

04/24

theater

A Bronx Tale Oscar winner Robert De Niro and Tony winner Jerry Zaks teamed up to direct A Bronx Tale, a musical based on the film of the same name.

The story centers on a boy who aspires to be a mob boss, and it features tunes from Alan Menken (Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin).

Tonight’s performance takes place at 7:30 at Connor Palace, where performances continue through May 12. Tickets start at $35. (Jeff Niesel) 1615 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org. spoken word

Cleveland Stories Dinner Parties Cleveland Stories Dinner Party is a weekly series that pairs fine food with storytelling. Through it, the folks at Music Box Supper Club hope to raise awareness of the mission of the Western Reserve Historical Society’s Cleveland History Center. The goal of the Cleveland Stories Dinner Party is to “bring to life some of the fun, interesting stories about Cleveland’s past — from sports, to rock ’n’ roll, to Millionaires’ Row,” as it’s put in a press release. Admission is free, with no cover charge, although a prix fixe dinner, designed to

complement the night’s theme, is $20. Tonight, Dr. Brad Ricca, the author of Super Boys: The Amazing Adventures of Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster – The Creators of Superman, will speak. Ricca won a Cleveland Arts Prize in Literature for Emerging Artist of 2014 and was winner of the 2014 Ohioana Book Award in Nonfiction. Doors open at 5 p.m., dinner is served at 6, and the storytelling starts at 7. (Niesel) 1148 Main Ave., 216-242-1250, musicboxcle.com. film

The Silence of the Lambs In Jonathan Demme’s classic thriller, The Silence of the Lambs, FBI agent Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) works with imprisoned psychiatrist Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Sir Anthony Hopkins) to track down a serial killer. The movie shows tonight at 7 at the Capitol Theatre as part of the Happy Hour Classic Series. Admission includes a complimentary cocktail or soft drink and light appetizers starting an hour before the screening.

Tickets cost $10. (Niesel) 1390 West 65th St., 216-651-7295, clevelandcinemas.com. film

Turn It Around: The Story of East Bay Punk Turn It Around: The Story of East Bay Punk, a documentary film that

The GroundWorks gala It Takes Two! comes to the Cleveland Museum of Art. See: Saturday.

covers more than 30 years of the California Bay area’s punk music history, focuses primarily on the emergence of Berkeley’s 924 Gilman Street music collective. Iggy Pop narrates the flick, and the punk band Green Day — one of the Bay Area’s biggest musical exports — executive produced the movie. It screens tonight at 7 at the Rock Hall. Admission is free for members, or $5.50 for non-members. (Niesel) 1100 Rock and Roll Blvd., 216-515-8444, rockhall.com.

THU

04/25

music

Debussy & Scriabin Regarded as one of the best pianists in the world, Jean-Yves Thibaudet joins the Cleveland Orchestra tonight at 7:30 at Severance Hall to premiere Scottish composer James MacMillan’s “Piano Concerto No. 3: The Mysteries of Light,” a piece which takes its inspiration from a set of reflections on the rosary introduced by Pope John Paul II. The orchestra will also play pieces

by Higdon, Debussy and Scriabin.

Guest speaker Caroline Oltmanns, a Youngstown State University professor, will give the pre-concert talk that takes place an hour before the concert. Performances continue through Saturday. Consult the

Cleveland Orchestra website for more info. (Niesel) 11001 Euclid Ave., 216-231-1111, clevelandorchestra.com. comedy

Zainab Johnson Having grown up in Harlem as one of 13 siblings in a Muslim family, comedian Zainab Johnson has plenty of material at her disposal.

Originally, she worked as a teacher, but after appearances on HBO’s All Def Comedy and BET’s Comic View, her career in comedy began to take off. She performed in the Montreal “Just For Laughs Festival” as one of the 2014 New Faces of Comedy, as well as one of the breakout new comedians on NBC’s Last Comic Standing Season 8. She performs tonight at 7:30 at the Improv, where she has shows scheduled through Sunday. Tickets cost $17 to $20.

(Niesel) 1148 Main Ave., 216-696-IMPROV, clevelandimprov.com. comedy

Bob Marley Comic Bob Marley doesn’t play reggae, but he does sing out of his butt. Like the time his wife put him on the Atkins Diet and, he reports, the “assflac” duck flew out his butt as he hovered over the toilet with bacon grease dripping from his eyelashes. Yeah, this guy is not above fart jokes.

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GET OUT

DANCE

Other topics of humor include the agonies of waiting for a pizza, the comparison of strippers to pillows, and the process of pretending to understand legal documents. He’s pretty hilarious. The show starts at 7 tonight at Hilarities and performances run through Saturday.

Tickets start at $25. (Liz Trenholme) 2035 East Fourth St., 216-241-7425, pickwickandfrolic.com.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Celebrating its 60th anniversary, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater continues to push dance into new territory while still honoring signature classics like Revelations, Ailey’s masterpiece of hope and redemption. The troupe comes to the State Theatre tonight at 8. Performances also take place

Sunday. There will be camping, hiking, biking, swimming, cliff diving, basketball and volleyball.

The Quasi Kings headline tonight and the Rumpke Mountain Boys headline tomorrow night. Jam acts such as the Cat’s Meow, the Flying Jays, the JiMiller Band, Roots of Creation, Michelle Finacham and Cheryl Anne Crowe will be on hand.

Admission is $70 for Friday through

MUSIC

Open Mic Night/Live Band Karaoke Every Thursday, Stella’s Music hosts a night of music, poetry and comedy.

The club’s doors open at 5 p.m., and performances begin at 8 p.m. Artists can sign up at stellasmusic.com/ open-mic to secure a 15-minute time slot. Signups will be available at the club as well. Meanwhile, happy hour takes place from 5 to 7 p.m.

Admission is free. (Niesel) 2217 East Ninth St., 216-272-3377, stellasmusic.com.

THEATER

FILM

The Wild Pear Tree In The Wild Pear Tree, director Nuri Blige Ceylan’s first film since winning the Palm d’Or at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, a college graduate returns to the rural town where he grew up to deal with his father’s gambling debts. The movie makes its Cleveland debut tonight at 6:45 at the Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque, where it also shows at 7:30 tomorrow night. Tickets cost $12, or $9 for Cinematheque members and students. (Niesel) 1610 Euclid Ave., 216-421-7450, cia.edu.

FRI

STEVIE NICKS

Tyler Henry: The Hollywood Medium The E! Entertainment TV hit show Hollywood Medium has helped to launch the career of Tyler Henry, a 22-year-old guy who believes he can speak with the dead and predict people’s futures. Last year, Henry took his show on the road for the first time; now, he’s swinging through NEO. His performance features a multi-media video presentation and interactive audience Q&A. It kicks off tonight at 8 at MGM Northfield Park Center Stage. Consult the website for ticket prices. (Niesel) 10705 Northfield Rd., Northfield, 330-908-7793, mgmnorthfieldpark. mgmresorts.com/en.html.

FILM

JANET JACKSON

THEATER

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DEF LEPPARD

THE CURE

RADIOHEAD

04/26

42nd Street A small-town girl steps off the train in New York City with dreams of starring on Broadway, and when the lead breaks her ankle before opening night, she gets her shot.

That’s the plot summary of 42nd Street, the Cleveland Metropolitan School District’s 20th annual All-City Musical, which comes to the Ohio Theatre tonight at 7:30.

Performances continue throughout the weekend too. Tickets cost $15.

(Niesel) 1501 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.

the interactive, improvised comedy show that transports the audience to an Irish wake where villagers tell tales and sing songs for their dearly departed Flanagan. Finding the humor in life and death, the wake acts as a dark backdrop to an otherwise hilarious show in which alcohol fuels the humorous reminiscing. Sort of like a tragic Tony ’n’ Tina’s Wedding, the show engages the entire audience. This weekend’s final performances start at 8 p.m. tonight and Saturday at Kennedy’s Theatre on Playhouse Square. Tickets are $26. (Patrick Stoops) 1501 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.

ROXY MUSIC

THE ZOMBIES

tomorrow and Sunday. Tickets start at $10. (Niesel) 1519 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.

Sunday, or $50 for Saturday and Sunday. There is no extra charge for camping. (Niesel) 12001 State Route 282, Garrettsville, 440-548-2716, nlqp.com.

Rembrandt: From the National Gallery, London and Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam Directed by Kat Mansoor, Rembrandt: From the National Gallery, London and Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam tells Rembrandt’s life story via the 2014-2015 landmark exhibits in London and Amsterdam of his late works. Cleveland Museum of Art curator Betsy Wieseman worked on the exhibit in London; she’ll be on hand at the screening to talk about the artwork and answer audience questions. The screening takes place at 1:45 p.m. at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Tickets cost $14, or $10 for museum members. (Niesel) 11150 East Blvd., 216-421-7350, clevelandart.org.

SAT

04/27

MUSIC

Earlybird Music Festival Festival season at the Nelson Ledges Quarry Park kicks off this weekend with the Earlybird Music Festival, which takes place today through

| clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

THEATER

FOOD

Flanagan’s Wake Here’s another sign of the season: This weekend marks the final 2019 performances of Flanagan’s Wake,

Food Truck Round Up Today marks the second annual Food Truck Round Up at Crocker Park, where an assortment of

food trucks will be serving up grub from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Participants include Wild Spork, Hatfield’s, Manna Truck, Southern Thangs Grub Truck, Barrio, Cameo Pizza, Cleveland Cookie Dough Co. and Sweet!

Mobile Cupcakery. The roundup serves as a benefit for the Hunger Network of Greater Cleveland, and, in keeping with the theme, customers will have the option to “round up” their bill to the nearest dollar. All the rounded-up proceeds will go to the Hunger Network of Greater Cleveland.

Today’s gathering kicks off food truck season at Crocker Park.

Starting next week, Truck Stop Tuesday will take place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Tuesday through Sept. 24. (Niesel) 189 Crocker Park Blvd., Westlake, crockerpark.com. fundraiser

It Takes Two! Now in its 11th year, the annual GroundWorks DanceTheater benefit, It Takes Two!, will showcase local celebrities who’ll be partnered with GroundWorks company members to perform original dance routines in a Dancing With the Starsstyle competition. Local celebs such as Western Reserve valuation services director Rand Curtiss, Fairport & Luma wealth advisor Emily Drake, Brunswick Companies senior veep Michelle Hirsch, Cleveland Foundation program officer for evaluation and learning Myron J. Marshall Jr., Evergreen Cooperatives CEO John McMicken, City Club of Cleveland CEO Dan Moulthrop and Calfee senior advisor Cindy Vrsansky Schulz will participate. The evening benefits GroundWorks’ educational and outreach programming. This year marks the fourth year the gala has gone down at the Cleveland Museum of Art; but, for the first time ever, the gala will take place in the museum’s beautiful Atrium.

All attendees will also enjoy dinner, live music and dancing.

The fun begins at 7 p.m., with performances starting at 8.

Consult the GroundWorks site for details and ticket prices.

(Niesel) 11150 East Blvd., 216-751-0088, groundworksdance.org.

theater

Native Gardens Described in a press release as a “hilarious hot-button comedy about thorny neighbors with good intentions,” Native Gardens focuses on two people who’ve just bought a fixer-upper next to a house with a pristine English garden. A disagreement over a fence erupts into all-out war. The Cleveland Play House production of the play comes to the Allen Theatre tonight at 7:30.

Performances continue through May 19. Tickets cost $25 to $97. (Niesel) 1407 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, clevelandplayhouse.com.

SUN

04/28

music + film

Close Encounters of the Third Kind, In Concert Written and directed by Steven Spielberg and featuring a score by John Williams, Close Encounters of the Third Kind is a sci-fi classic. It centers on Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss), an electrical lineman who experiences a close encounter with a UFO. He becomes increasingly obsessed with the experience and makes his way to Devil’s Tower in Wyoming to find out more about the aliens. Today at 3 p.m. at Severance Hall, the Cleveland Orchestra plays the score during a screening of the movie.

Check the orchestra website for ticket prices. (Niesel) 11001 Euclid Ave., 216-231-1111, clevelandorchestra.com. film

Leadbelly Gordon Parks, the terrific African-American photographer whose early work is currently on display at the Cleveland Museum of Art, directs Leadbelly, a biopic about the famous folk and blues singer and guitarist. The film focuses on the man’s troubled youth in the segregated South, including his time in prison. The movie screens at 1:30 p.m. today and at 1:45 p.m. on Tuesday at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Tickets cost $12, or $9 for CMA members. (Niesel) 11150 East Blvd., 216-421-7350, clevelandart.org.

OPENING SATURDAY, MAY 4 SPRING HOURS:

Friday: 5:00 - Close | Saturday & Sunday: 12:00pm - Close

OPENS Cinco De Mayo Weekend!

SELLOUTS Saturday, May 4 • 2pm to 6pm

SHADOW OF DOUBT BAND Tom Petty Tribute

Sunday, May 5 • 2pm to 6pm

WHISKEY ISLAND MUSIC SERIES Every Wednesday Beginning June 5 Featuring The Region’s Best Bands

ALL SUMMER LONG

Full Schedule Available on Our Website.

music

The Nightingale A Cappella Concert The Nightingale, a popular women’s ensemble, performs today at 2 p.m. at the Beachwood Community Center, where it will deliver a set of a cappella music, including jazz

www.facebook.com/whiskeyislandstillandeatery www.whiskeyislandstillandeatery.net | clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

77

OPERA THEATER PRESENTS

SPRING SCENES from operas – grand and light Dina Kuznetsova Stage Director John Simmons Music Director, piano

Friday, April 26 at 7:30pm Saturday, April 27 at 3pm Kulas Hall TICKETS ON SALE NOW $20 adults | $10 students | $15 seniors and groups of 10+ cim.edu/scenes or 216.795.3211

GET OUT tunes, doo-wop songs and pop hits.

The program is presented by the Beachwood Arts Council. Admission is free. (Niesel) 25325 Fairmount Blvd., Beachwood, 216-595-3400, beachwoodartscouncil.org.

BOOKS

Sunday Beat The Sunday Beat is a free weekly live music series featuring jazz, roots, Americana, folk, blues and bossa nova at Visible Voice Books.

Purchase a Sunday New York Times, and you’ll receive a free bottomless mug of coffee or tea and half off a Jim Alesci’s Place pastry. Music runs from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. As an added bonus, anyone who shows a same-day receipt from brunch at Music Box, Prosperity Social Club or any Tremont or Ohio City restaurant receives 10 percent off any Visible Voice book purchase. The bookstore is open today from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

(Niesel) 2258 Professor Ave., 216-961-0084, visiblevoicebooks.com.

patrons choose from “an unlimited selection of jams from hip-hop to hard rock,” and are encouraged to “be as bad as you want.” Fueled by drink and shot specials, it all goes down tonight at 10 p.m. (Niesel) 2785 Euclid Hts. Blvd., Cleveland Heights, 216-932-1966, bsideliquorlounge.com.

TUE

04/30

MUSIC

Open Turntable Tuesday Tonight from 6 to 9, the Winchester hosts its weekly Open Turntable Tuesday. Jason Gokorsch will book guest DJs and offer slots to people who want to bring their own vinyl and spin their favorite songs or deep tracks.

First time DJs are encouraged, and equipment is provided. Patrons can also bring records for the night’s DJ to add to their set. Sign up on Northeast Ohio Vinyl Club’s Facebook page. (Niesel) 12112 Madison Ave., Lakewood, 216-600-5338, facebook.com/ TheWinchesterMusicTavern.

FOOD

MON

04/29

TRIVIA

In partnership with DANCECleveland

Alvin Ailey “Revelations” April 26-28

216-241-6000 Group Sales 216-640-8600 playhousesquare.org

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Monday Night Trivia Do you have tons of obscure music knowledge? Are you a student of fast food menus and their nuanced histories? What say you about the geographic evolution of Scotch whisky?

Tonight’s your chance to wow your friends, make yourself instantly more desirable to someone you’re newly dating, and hang with Cleveland’s headiest hipsters and hot dog lovers. It’s the Happy Dog Monday Night Trivia. Starting at 8 p.m., expect themed rounds and general knowledge questions that seem considerably trickier than some of the other live trivia locales in town. Obviously, have a hot dog and a craft brew while you’re at it. And arrive early: Tables fill up fast. (Sam Allard) 5801 Detroit Ave., 216-651-9474, happydogcleveland.com.

NIGHTLIFE

Shit Show Karaoke Local rapper/promoter Dirty Jones and Scene’s own Manny Wallace host Shit Show Karaoke, a weekly event at the B-Side Liquor Lounge wherein

Truck Stop Tuesday Crocker Park in Westlake has launched its seasonal Truck Stop Tuesday, a weekly food truck gathering that takes place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Needless to say, admission is free, but the food will cost you. Truck Stop Tuesday continues through Sept. 25.

(Niesel) 189 Crocker Park Blvd., Westlake, crockerpark.com.

MUSIC

Vinyl Night Jukebox owner Alex Budin has described his 1,350-squarefoot music-focused bar in the Hingetown ’hood as “a place where people can expect to hear and learn about music of multiple genres, all of which is concentrated in a constantly evolving jukebox.”

The club hosts a vinyl night every Tuesday that serves as a listening party for new releases, partnering with Loop in Tremont, so patrons can hear a new album on vinyl.

You can bring your own vinyl and spin it too. It all starts at 5 p.m.

(Niesel) 1404 West 29th St., 216-206-7699, jukeboxcle.com.

scene@clevescene.com t@clevelandscene

MOVIES SOME OF ITS PARTS

The whole is not greater in generic new Taylor Schilling vehicle Family

By Sam Allard TAYLOR SCHILLING, STAR OF the Netflix comedy Orange is the New Black, delivers a sharp performance in the new comedy Family, out Friday at the Cedar Lee. But the film is so predictable and generic in its broad strokes that the viewing itself feels like going through the motions.

Schilling is Kate Stone, a New Jersey hedge fund VP despised by her colleagues for the cruelty and dismissiveness with which she treats her staff. Her character is meant to illustrate the personal perils of focusing on one’s career at the expense of all other relationships.

But rookie director Laura Steinel, who also wrote the script, takes the character too far. Kate is radically honest and purports to say what everyone else is thinking, but does so at inopportune moments, a recurring gag that’s sullied by its repetition.

When she is summoned to her brother’s house in the suburbs and more or less commanded to watch her niece, Maddie, for the week due to a family emergency, she forgets Maddie’s name. Twice. Maddie is in middle school.

Kate’s week with Maddie comprises the film’s plot. The effects that each has on the other comprise its message, which is of the gooey “acceptance and tolerance” variety — something like “understanding the misunderstood.” (Again, this from the perspective of the New Jersey suburbs.) Maddie is an odd duck

Photo courtesy of SXSW

who doesn’t fit in — “Sometimes I don’t even feel like a girl,” she confides in Kate in one scene. “I feel like a monster.” And Kate, who is first disgusted by her niece and her obsession with snacks and swords, softens to her. There are real moments of sweetness between the two.

Maddie accidentally falls in with some local Jugalos, fans of the rap-rock outfit Insane Clown Posse.

The script is aware that Jugalos are largely disparaged as subhuman druggies hell-bent on seeing “titties.”

And even while the film may be interested in humanizing them — even them! — it’s not above making jokes at their expense. “I’m sorry for

your loss,” a convenience store owner says, when he learns that Maddie has gone to the Gathering of the Jugalos.

The film features some decent supporting performances, including Veep’s Matt Walsh, playing his usual beaten-down middle-aged man, and SNL’s Kate McKinnon, overdoing it as a suburban mom. Brian Tyree Henry appears from time to time as a karate instructor who weirdly gets roped into the film’s climactic pursuit. But the best supporting role may be “Baby Joker” (Fabrizio Zacharee Guido), a teenage Jugalo whom Maddie meets at a gas station.

Baby Joker is the Jugalo movement’s lighter side, a tender-hearted outcast with a preposterous haircut and

speech pattern who is nonetheless as welcoming of the weirdos as Christ himself.

At 85 minutes, Family is a smallscale production that has the vibe of something shot over the course of a few days. Schilling really is strong, taking an over-the-top character and making her struggles relatable, but there’s very little reason to see this one at the theater — on the weekend of Infinity War: Endgame, no less. Get a few laughs with it when it comes to streaming services in a few months.

sallard@clevescene.com t@scenesallard

SPOTLIGHT: WILD NIGHTS WITH EMILY TOLD IN A SERIES OF FLASHBACKS, Wild Nights with Emily, a new, ridiculously irreverent and inventive biopic about the “spinster recluse” Emily Dickinson, traces how the poet toiled in obscurity and carried on a romance with her brother’s wife while experimenting with the literary form in genuinely novel ways.

Much like Drunk History, the Comedy Central series that stages famous historical events with intoxicated comedic actors and actresses playing the roles, Wild Nights with Emily uses humor to relate Emily’s remarkable story. It opens at the Cedar Lee Theatre on

Friday.

While still young girls, Emily (Dana Melanie) and Susan (Sasha Frolova) become romantically involved. Emily, however, gets thrown for a loop when Susan announces she intends to marry Emily’s brother Austin (John Pena Griswold). Privately, however, Susan explains to Emily that the marriage is a matter of convenience and will simply enable them to spend more time together.

Turns out, she was right. Flash forward a few years and an adult Emily (Molly Shannon) and an adult Susan (Susan Ziegler) can hardly keep their hands off one

another. Adult Austin (Kevin Seal) doesn’t have a clue that they’re lovers.

Ultimately, writer-director Madeleine Olnek ( The Foxy Merkins) aims to provide a reappraisal of Dickinson’s life and work. And to that extent, the movie is a success, even if it’s rather disjointed and takes a number of sometimes confusing detours, including one which centers on Atlantic Monthly editor Thomas Wentworth Higginson (Brett Gelman) and another that focuses on Emily’s “meeting” with Ralph Waldo Emerson (Robert McCaskill).

The film also shows the extent

to which Dickinson came up against those damned male literary gatekeepers who had the chance to publish her work but declined to do so. “What is poetry in essence?” asks Higginson as he tells Emily she’s “not ready to publish” because her poems make him feel “unclear.”

His haphazard attempt to edit her work derailed one of the most significant literary careers in America, something that’s clearly not lost on Olnek. — Jeff Niesel

jniesel@clevescene.com t@jniesel

| clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

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By Douglas Trattner WE WALKED INTO ADDY’S DINER on a recent Saturday morning and grabbed a couple stools at the counter. Over our shoulder we spied a large party of a dozen people, which is murder on any kitchen but particularly problematic for one that measures its footprint in square inches. After asking if we wanted coffee, our server mentioned that the large party’s order was just now hitting the griddle, properly calibrating our expectations.

My fears of a painfully slow breakfast were quickly allayed, however, as the cook — who also goes by “owner” — settled into an uncanny impersonation of an octopus, simultaneously cracking eggs, flipping pancakes, poaching eggs and about a dozen other perfectly timed tasks. Despite the ginormous order ahead of us, our breakfasts still landed in about 12 minutes, and my over-easy eggs were textbook.

We don’t ask a lot of our diners, simply that they provide hot coffee, good food, efficient service and honest prices. To examine the food under a microscope is to miss the point. Still, we’ve endured wave after wave of pimped-out places offering things like “elevated comfort food” or “reimagined diner fare” — many to delicious ends — but at what cost?

Diners like Addy’s normally vanish into the annals of time, they don’t magically resurface. Implausibly, both of those events took place at this very spot in the Colonial Arcade, also known as 5th Street Arcades.

After 35 years in the breakfast business, the owners of P.J.’s Luncheonette sold their old-timey diner to the owner of the newfangled Jack Flaps, which also (check Facebook) has a place in Ohio City.

But in this narrative, the space winds up reverting to an un-twee diner after three and a half years.

Even more poetic is the fact that new owner Joe Abouhassan was previously booted from his space in the Standard Building after 15 years of hash slinging.

The real winners in this saga are the customers, who get the benefit of a tastefully renovated restaurant space courtesy of the outgoing owner, coupled with the value of a

Photo by Emanuel Wallace

modestly priced, user-friendly menu thanks to the incoming. Breakfast is served all day and includes a full meal of two eggs, bacon, toast and jam for a Lincoln and change.

Upgrade to the Grand Slam ($7.99) and you’ll net two eggs, two pancakes, home fries, meat and toast. Addy’s pale golden pancakes are massive with a nice sponge texture, while the home fries are

with a side of sour cream. Also on offer are french toast, waffles and even eggs Benedict.

With few moving parts, a patty melt ($7.99) leaves no room to conceal shortcuts. This one nails the basics: sweet sauteed onions, Swiss cheese melting into a medium burger, and golden brown rye bread still slick from the griddle. I’m not a fan of the sort of battered french

ADDY’S DINER 530 EUCLID AVE. (IN THE COLONIAL ARCADE) 216-202-1368 FACEBOOK.COM/ADDYSDINER

fluffy and crisp-edged, even after a dozen people beat you to the punch.

Three-egg omelets come predesigned or custom built, with the popular Western ($6.99) flush with ham, peppers and onions, and the Diner ($7.49) struggling to contain the spinach, mushroom, pepper, tomato, onion and cheese. Construct your own from a list of veggies, meats and cheeses. Eminently portable and plentiful, the breakfast burrito ($5.99) is a tight twist of scrambled eggs, ham and cheese

fry served here, but they are fried to order, hot and crisp. Like the patty melt, a Club sandwich ($8.49) comes with a few immutable rules of construction, all of which are followed to the letter, right down to the frilly toothpick. Bacon, lettuce, tomato and thin-sliced turkey are interwoven between three slices of toast and then bisected corner to corner into triangles that even Pythagoras would applaud.

Start with a cup of meaty, zesty chili fortified with kidney beans and

garnished with a packet of oyster crackers. Go light with an entree salad like the Cobb, crowned with grilled chicken and hard-boiled eggs. Or settle into a hearty platter of roast beef with mashed potatoes and gravy. It’s all waiting for you at the diner.

If there’s a lull in the breakfast or lunch traffic, the first thing that Abouhassan does is scrape down the griddle, restock his ingredients and prepare for the next swell.

After that he invariably makes the rounds of his appreciative customers, extending his palm to reveal a bag of peanut M&Ms, say, or to reconnect with an old friend.

During one of my visits, a group of well-dressed men burst into the diner with aplomb.

“You’re back!” one of them said to the owner. “The place looks amazing! We walked all the way across downtown to eat here. Is it still the same menu?”

The smile that materialized on Abouhassan’s face was bright enough to read by.

dtrattner@clevescene.com t@dougtrattner

| clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

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| clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

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N THE CORNER OF EAST 65th Street and Fleet Avenue in Cleveland’s Slavic Village stands Brittany’s Record Shop. On the inside, the walls are decorated with artwork from the likes of September Shy and Dakarai Akil. A shelf features more artwork along with some merch from local bands the Katy and Sink or Swim. In the back of the shop, Brittany “DJ Red-I” Benton and Samantha “Playne Jayne” Flowers sit, wrapping up the day’s loose ends. Together, the duo is known as FreshProduce.

Flowers is getting the specifics on a possible performance date, and Benton is putting the finishing touches on the layout for the cassette release of their latest album, Phases. A song by the S.O.S. Band, “High Hopes,” plays in the tape deck and is a perfect backdrop.

This release is the duo’s fourth album of original material and fifth release in total. Something is different this time around. The ladies took their time and also found themselves collaborating with other artists more than ever.

“Most of the other albums just seemed to come together out of nowhere or we’d have a few sessions and knock a whole album out,” Benton says. “In two years, we released three albums. With this one, it took like a year and a half.

We started over several times to change

the direction and themes.”

At one point, the group considered releasing a serial-themed type of project. It was going to be a five-piece album based on different vibes, sounds and subject matter, but that idea was scrapped.

“After we kept blowing it up, from the ashes arose this project,” Benton says. “I probably made at least 50 different beats. This was the first album where we had to decide what was going to make the album and what wasn’t. There’s other songs not on Phases, not because they aren’t good but just because we wanted to catch a feeling.”

Phases features collaborations with Gold Rose, Candi Fresca, Lawtisha Williams, MellowXzact, Joey Aich, Paper Paulk, Cathalyn of the Katy, James John and Kyle Kidd of Mourning a BLKstar.

“We worked with a lot of people,” Flowers says. “That took a couple of months in itself. Getting people in and working. That was a whole new aspect.

I feel like when we first started, I wrote like 10 songs, which is normal for me.

I think if we’re working with a bunch of different artists, I still feel good about the process.”

The duo has always tried to work with a wide array of others, but this time it found greater success.

“We’ve had collaborations,”

Photos by

Emanuel Wallace

Benton adds. “If you look at our first album, We Are FreshProduce, there’s collabs on “Duce” and we had collaborations on “4080” as well. It was never more than one or two songs, but with this one, I feel like everybody we reached out to bit this time. I feel that was a testimony to the fact that we’ve been consistently doing music for the past few years and people know and trust us.”

“Pick Your Weapon,” one of the songs on Phases, was produced by legendary Columbus-based producer and educator J. Rawls. He took a liking to the duo after being hipped to them

by DJ O-Sharp after a performance in the Capital City.

“He reached out to us when we went to Columbus a while back,” Flowers

says. “Then, at Sanctuary [the monthly dance party at Touch Supper Club], we sat down and talked about working it out. He sent us some beats in between the time, and we made some shit to it.”

“It was cool with J. Rawls,” Benton adds. “Black Star was a foundational album for me growing up, and I remember a lot of the neo-soul and hip-hop that was coming out. I think those were really essential in shaping me and the kind of music I wanted to make. I didn’t even know at the time that it was Rawls behind a lot of the production.”

Over the past few years, FreshProduce had been feeling increasingly disrespected by certain people within some sectors of the Cleveland music community. The track

| clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

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“Mercy” finds those microaggressions coming to an ugly head.

“Sometimes, it’s harder to take the high road because you felt like your retribution hadn’t been served yet and you’re kind of left holding the bag,” Benton says. “But with a lot of the same people, karma has made short work of them. They’ve been handled. It’s almost a thing like you can argue and fight, or you can reel everything in, defend what you have and live to fight another day.

I think we chose to take care of things that we built instead of going back and forth to try and wage some kind of war.

I’m just sitting back with my popcorn watching those people get handled.”

Flowers’ position on the issue is the same. She prefers to let the music speak for itself.

“We suggested with those individual people,” Flowers says. “So it’s not something that’s unknown. But things kept continuing and instead of being petty about it, we just kind of put it in the music. Which was something we already do. We talk about where we are in life. It’s there. Once people listen to the music, you can hear our general attitude towards certain individuals. We put it out there, left it there and moved on.”

On the other side of the coin, the crew finds itself having fun on the album’s closer, “Miyenz.” It’s a playful song that will sound very recognizable, especially to fans of the local adult contemporary radio station, the Wave.

FreshProduce also founded Beat Freak — a monthly gathering at the record shop that gives local beatmakers a platform to showcase their music and network with others who share similar interests.

“It’s an outlet that didn’t exist,” Flowers says. She serves as the host who keeps things moving each month.

“Brittany’s definitely the brain child of the operation. When she came with the idea, it was more like, ‘what do I need to do to make sure this pops?’ We had the T-shirts. We made it a super community event. It got a good response, not only for the producers but the people who attend as well. It’s an opportunity for them to get to know other creatives in Cleveland.”

Benton is proud of the impact that Beat Freak has had thus far and is optimistic about the event’s future.

“I feel like Beat Freak was a way we could put the beat maker front and center to showcase them and encourage emcees, poets and singers to get on the mic and do live collaborations, which kind of gives it an open mic feel,” she says. “We don’t discriminate.

We don’t care if you make boom-bap, trap, electric, house, experimental or whatever. We love it all. We tried to bring generations together. It’s not a big space but it is a space. A lot of people come here religiously. I just want it to grow. I would love to see Beat Freak go international, but I also love that it’s right here in Cleveland.”

The group also continues its outreach in conjunction with the FreshLo initiative.

“That’s in its second year,” Flowers says. “We’ve been doing stuff all year round. One of our students has a show on 95.9 FM every Saturday. Two students just started an open mic. Three students started a juice business and we also made a documentary that will be premiering on April 20 about the work we’ve been doing and also what we’ve been doing at the Boys & Girls Club. It’s called ‘Bridging the Gap.’” They are currently taking applications for upcoming programming this summer. The initiative serves the Central and Garden Valley neighborhoods.

“I feel a sense of pride” (in the students), Flowers continues. “They’re more accomplished than some people who have been doing things for five, six, or even 10 years. A lot of them said it was the best summer of their lives. It’s exciting to get an opportunity to help guide them.”

Phases was released earlier this month on all streaming platforms. Last month, the group celebrated its release with a show at the Grog Shop, where the group performed the album in its entirety with the featured guests.

“I was really excited for all the collaborations,” Benton says. “Shoutout to everyone who was on this project.

Even when Sam and I got together, we wanted to do things that brought the city together. The thing that really held Cleveland back was that division and competition, but not the healthy kind. It was more like competition that stunts everyone’s progress because people don’t want to be unified. Maybe it’s because we’re millennials and think and move differently, but we need each other.”

Much like the S.O.S. Band song that reverberated through the record shop, FreshProduce also has high hopes, and the women don’t see themselves letting go of them anytime soon.

FreshProduce, the Katy, Uptowne Buddha, Mellow Xzact, 9 p.m. Friday, April 26, Happy Dog, 5801 Detroit Ave., 216-651-9474.

Tickets: $7, happydogcleveland.com

ewallace@clevescene.com t@mannywallace

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MASONIC CLEVELAND: 3615 Euclid Ave, Cleveland OH 44115 HOUSE OF BLUES: 308 Euclid Ave, Cleveland OH 44114 masoniccleveland.com / houseofblues.com | clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

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ORANGE ANIMAL album release•Del Rios BALANCED BREAKFAST•Jordan Dean PRE-PRIDE on the EAST SIDE w/ANHEDONIA DELIGHT SWEEPYHEADS•Vvissionss•Oregon Space Trail of Doom SODOWN THE TECHNICOLORS•Deal Casino LOS CAMPESINOS! HOP ALONG SEBADOH•Eleanor Friedberger DEVIN THE DUDE NILÜFER YANYA THE FAINT•Ritual Howls•Closeness BOUNCING SOULS—SOLD OUT! BUILT TO SPILL—SOLD OUT! MUDHONEY•Kid Congo Powers

Tickets can be purchased for all shows at the club without a service fee, by phone 216.321.5588 for a $1.00 surcharge, or at any of the following locations:

BRITTANY’S RECORD SHOP (Cleveland) ERIE STREET GUITARS (Willoughby) LOOP (Tremont) MY MIND’S EYE RECORDS (Lakewood) RECORD REVOLUTION (Cleveland Heights) RECORD SHOP (Willowick) SQUARE RECORDS (Akron) THE VINYL GROOVE (Bedford)

| clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

HIPPO CAMPUS WITH SAMIA

MYKAL ROSE WED 5/1 THU 5/9 FRI 5/10 WED 5/22 THU 5/23 FRI 5/24 SUN 5/26 WED 5/29 THU 5/30 FRI 5/31 FRI 6/21 SUN 6/23 MON 7/8 WED 7/10 SAT 7/14 THU 7/18 TUE 7/30 TUE 8/6 TUE 8/13 WED 9/18 WED 10/16

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LIVEWIRE

all the live music you should see this week Photo courtesy of RCA Records

WED

04/24

Afton Showcase: 6:30 p.m., $12.

Grog Shop.

Cleveland State Jazz Showcase: 8 p.m., free. Bop Stop.

Mike, Jim, & Bill Play the Beatles’ Revolver and Rubber Soul: 7 p.m., $15. Nighttown.

Neighborhood Brats/Vacation/The Missed/Public: 8 p.m., $8 ADV, $10 DOS. Now That’s Class.

Peelander-Z: 8:30 p.m., $12 ADV, $15 DOS. Beachland Tavern.

Walter Trout/Kristine Jackson: Blues singer-guitarist Walter Trout released his latest album, Survivor Blues, in late January. On the surface, it’s your traditional covers record, but a quick scan of the track listing reveals that this is, in fact, not a quickly tossed off collection of Trout’s versions of the tried-and-true standards that have been done to death. Instead, he took the road less traveled, something which is immediately evident listening to the incredible version of “Me, My Guitar and the Blues” that leads off the album.

(Matt Wardlaw), 8 p.m., $26.

Beachland Ballroom.

Whitechapel/Dying Fetus/ Revocation/Fallujah/Spite/ Uncured/Buried Alive: 5 p.m.

Agora Theatre.

THU

04/25

Brian Auger’s Oblivion Express with Special Guest Frank Gambale/CuDa & CuDa: 8 p.m., $30 ADV, $35 DOS. Beachland Ballroom.

Carried By 6 with DJ Corey Grand, Dom Deshawn, Sarob, Trek Manifest, Joey Aich, Visual 9: 9 p.m., $10 ADV, $12 DOS. Grog Shop.

Constant Source/Wave Trails/The Tom Katlees: 8 p.m., $5 ADV, $7 DOS. CODA. The Handsome Boys/Bobby Vaughn/Daniel Palmentara/Joe Joyce/Harrison Mills: 8:30 p.m., $5. Happy Dog. Kristine Jackson & Becky Boyd (in the Supper Club): 7:30 p.m., $6 ADV, $8 DOS. Music Box Supper Club.

Shawn Maxwell’s New Tomorrow: 7 p.m., $15. Bop Stop.

The Paul Pope Band: 7:30 p.m., $20 ADV, $25 DOS. Music Box Supper Club.

Singer-songwriter Elle King comes to the Masonic Auditorium. See: Friday.

Satsang: 8:30 p.m., $15. Beachland Tavern.

SEAX/Warsenal/Destructor: 8 p.m., $8. Now That’s Class.

Tesla/The Cringe: 7:30 p.m., $47.50$85. Canton Palace Theatre.

FRI

04/26

Birth: 8 p.m., $15. Bop Stop.

Buckethead: 8 p.m. Agora Theatre.

Freshproduce/The Katy/Mellow Xzact: 9 p.m., $6. Happy Dog. Hard Day’s Night, a Beatles Tribute Band: 8 p.m., $14 ADV, $17 DOS. House of Blues.

Journey Tribute by E5C4P3: 8 p.m.

Music Box Supper Club.

Phil Keaggy: 8:30 p.m., $50.

Nighttown.

Elle King/Barns Courtney: The daughter of Saturday Night Live alum Rob Schneider and model London King, singer-songwriter Elle King spent her early years in Los Angeles before her parents’ divorce sent her and her mother to southern Ohio. The small southern town of Wellston figures prominently in her story; after years of searching for her own sound, King found herself back in the backcountry with her blues, rock and bluegrass-infused debut album, Love Stuff. She comes to town tonight in support of last year’s Shake the Spirit, which she’s described as “a journey of finding

self-love.” (Bethany Kaufman) 9 p.m., $30-$35. Masonic Auditorium.

The Millennium Tour Featuring B2K (Omarion, J Boog, Fizz & Raz B), Mario, Pretty Ricky, Lloyd, Bobby V, Ying Yang Twins & Chingy: 8 p.m., $45.50-$102.50.

Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.

The Nick Moss Band featuring Dennis Gruenling: 8 p.m., $18.

Beachland Tavern.

She Wants Revenge/Dark Water Rebellion: 8 p.m., $25. Beachland Ballroom.

Slothrust/Summer Cannibals: 8 p.m., $14 ADV, $16 DOS. Mahall’s 20 Lanes.

Springsteen Tribute by Swamps of Jersey (in the Supper Club): 8 p.m., $8 ADV, $10 DOS. Music Box Supper Club.

This Wild Life/Sleep On It/Crooked Teeth/Hold Close: 6:30 p.m., $18 ADV, $20 DOS. House of Blues Cambridge Room.

Tiny Tree/Mossom/The Boom Shakalakas/Divorce Horse: 8 p.m., $5 ADV, $8 DOS. CODA. Jackie Warren: 10:30 p.m., free.

Nighttown.

The Wound/Spike Pit: 9 p.m., $7.

Now That’s Class.

SAT

04/27

The Annual Swing Prom with The Pitt Vipers featuring Sweet B:

7:30 p.m., $15 ADV, $18 DOS. Beachland Ballroom.

Leaf Borbie & the Family Tree/ Flesh Panthers/Mellow Bustelo: 9 p.m., $8 ADV, $10 DOS. Beachland Tavern.

Check Please/Learning Curve/ Room at the End of the Hall/ Jacob Boarman (in the Locker Room): 7 p.m., $10. Mahall’s 20 Lanes.

Phil Keaggy: 8:30 p.m., $50.

Nighttown.

Nightmarathons/Joy Ceiling/Youth Pallet: 8 p.m., $7. Now That’s Class.

Maura Rogers & The Bellows (in the Supper Club): Local singersongwriter Maura Rogers started songwriting in college at BaldwinWallace’s noted music theater program, and she also worked for Great Lakes Theater Festival after college. She’s been a fixture on the local music scene for the past decade. For her latest album with her backing band the Bellows, she spent 11 days recording tracks with locally based producer Jim Wirt. The first single, “92 Days,” comes off as an inspirational anthem that’s in the vein of Melissa Etheridge. (Jeff Niesel) 8 p.m., $10 ADV, $12 DOS. Music Box Supper Club.

Uli Jon Roth: 8 p.m. Agora Theatre.

Sister Smirk/Uno Lady/P. Stoops: 8:30 p.m., $7. Happy Dog. Squirrel Nut Zippers: Originally released way back in the summer of 1996, Squirrel Nut Zippers’ second album, Hot, defied all expectations. At the time, pop fodder from acts such as the Spice Girls ruled the airwaves. What a shock, then, when Hot yielded the hit single “Hell,” a song that featured woozy horns and a swinging bass riff. The album went on to sell 1.3 million copies and launch a veritable revival of swing music. Singer-guitarist Jimbo Mathus, who played in indie acts such as Metal Flake Mother and Johnny Vomit & the Dry Heaves prior to forming the Zippers, started the band with his then-wife Katharine Whalen. The group would splinter in 2000, but Mathus has revived the band and brings a retooled lineup to town tonight. (Niesel) 8 p.m., $25 ADV, $28 DOS. The Kent Stage.

Jackie Warren: 10:30 p.m., free.

Nighttown.

Helen Welch: A Little Brit Different: 8 p.m., $20. Bop Stop.

| clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

89

LIVEWIRE The Willow Tree/Steve Wright/ Gretchen Pleuss: 8 p.m., $5 ADV, $7 DOS. CODA. Wish You Were Here: Masonic Auditorium.

SUN

APR 25 | MAY 2, 9, 23, 25

04/28

Barbara Barrett & Beyond Category: 7 p.m., free. Bop Stop.

Bilmuri/No Dice/Live Happily/ Pollen Eyes/Speedo Agreed: 7 p.m., $10 ADV, $12 DOS. Mahall’s 20 Lanes.

Fig/Kim Haffey/Alyssa Boyd/Wes Meadows/B0xed wine m0m: 8 p.m., $5 ADV, $7 DOS. CODA. Floot-a-Palooza: 3 p.m., free. Bop Stop.

Robben Ford: 7 p.m. Music Box Supper Club.

Living Hour/Item/Jaite: 8 p.m., $8.

Now That’s Class.

Overkill/Death Angel/Act of Defiance: 7 p.m., $25 ADV, $30 DOS. House of Blues.

Ufomammut 20-Year Anniversary/ Kings Destroy/Black Spirit Crown: 8:30 p.m., $15 ADV, $17 DOS. Grog Shop.

MON

04/29

Australian Pink Floyd: 7:30 p.m., $32.50-$44.50. MGM Northfield Park Center Stage.

Baldwin Wallace Musical Theater Program: 6:30 p.m., $15.

Nighttown.

Tom Odell: 8 p.m., $25 ADV, $30 DOS. House of Blues.

Emily Reo/Foxes in Fiction (in the Locker Room): 8 p.m., $8 ADV, $10 DOS. Mahall’s 20 Lanes.

TUE

90

| clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

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Blessed/Royal Beasts/Jaite: 8:30 p.m., $8. Grog Shop.

Cell/CPU Rave/Spike Pit: 9 p.m., $7. Now That’s Class.

Hubb’s Groove Tribute to Cannonball Adderley & Wayne Shorter: 8 p.m., $20. Nighttown.

Jack & Jack/Alec Bailey/Spencer Sutherland: 7 p.m., $28 ADV, $33 DOS. House of Blues.

Ann Marie: 8 p.m. Agora Theatre.

Luca Mundaca: 7 p.m., $20.

Nighttown.

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| clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

91

KentStage DON’T MISS THESE GREAT SHOWS • TICKETS ON SALE NOW!

BAND OF THE WEEK THE PAUL POPE BAND

By Jeff Niesel

Photo courtesy of the Paul Pope Band

Squirrel Nut Zippers Sat. April 27

Red Wanting Blue Fri. May 3

Pete Seeger 100th birthday party featuring

John McCutcheon Sat. May 4

Four Bitchin Babes Wed May 8

Martin Barre

Uriah Heep May 9, 10 & 11

Celebrates 50 Years of Jethro Tull May 14 & 15

MEET THE BAND: Paul Pope (guitar,

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Nils Lofgren Band Thu May 16

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Alex Bevan & David J. Young

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| clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

IT STARTED WITH AN UNTITLED SONG:

Pope says that when he was growing up, he thought Elvis Presley was “it.”

“When I saw him perform, I knew that’s what I wanted to do,” he says.

“Every Christmas, my parents would buy me a plastic guitar, and I’d play with the thing, and it’d be broke by the next Christmas, and they’d buy me another.” Pope started taking lessons when he was 8 and began performing when he was only 13.

He still plays “Untitled,” the first song he ever wrote. “I wrote it about the death of my father, because my dad died when I was 13,” he says, adding that he wrote it when he was 15. “Ironically, it requires a really high range. But for some odd reason, I’ve never had a hard time singing it, which is weird. Every once in a while, Mr. Classic on WNCX used to play it.”

A FOND FAREWELL: After having some success in the ’70s with the rock act Molkie Cole, Pope opened his own recording studio in Elyria and formed the Paul Pope Band with Tom Kriss, the original bassist from the James Gang, and guitar prodigy Billy Sullivan. He’s kept the band going for the past 30 years, playing with Glass Harp drummer John Sferra, Beau Coup bassist Bill March, Molkie Cole bandmates Phil James and Bob Steinmetz, and Eric Carmen drummer Donny Krueger. But now,

Pope has said he will play one last set of shows with the group and call it a day. Drummer Donnie Krueger, bassist Bill March, and guitarist Billy Sullivan will join him for the farewell show that takes place on Thursday at the Music Box. “I never thought in my wildest dreams that I’d still be doing it,” says Pope, 64.

“It’s just gotten to be too much.

Every show [on the farewell tour] is a little different. I want to make the Cleveland show a little longer. I want to play as much original music as I can. I don’t think I was made to play other people’s music. I like to play original music. That’s always been the thrill for me.”

WHY YOU SHOULD HEAR THEM: Lone Shoe, a 2001 album that compiles some of Pope’s best material, commences with the hard-driving “Bombs,” a barroom rocker, and delves into power pop with “Miss Understood” and “You Can’t Hide (in the Shade),” catchy tunes that benefit from harmony vocals. “Second Time Around” possesses a Beatles vibe and shows off Pope’s vocal prowess.

WHERE YOU CAN HEAR THEM: facebook.

com/paul.pope WHERE YOU CAN SEE THEM: The Paul

Pope Band plays a farewell show at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 25, at the Music Box Supper Club.

jniesel@clevescene.com t@jniesel

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| clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

SAVAGE LOVE THE LIKED BOYS

By Dan Savage My best friend’s father is an avid user of social media. He’s retired and spends most of his day posting memes on Facebook and Instagram.

Recently, I realized he might not know how Instagram works. I noticed over the past week or so that he has been following, liking, and commenting on a lot of Instagram pictures of young gay men. I don’t think he realizes that anyone who follows him can see that activity. At first I was worried, not because he might be gay or bisexual, but because he may still be “in the closet.” He’s married, with a son (my friend), and to my knowledge, if he is bisexual or gay, nobody knows. I thought about warning him that his activity is public, but then I saw more.

Not only has he been liking pictures of younger looking men, he’s also been liking and following accounts of very young boy models. Underage boys. I don’t want to jump to conclusions, but the evidence is there. So now I’ve gone from wanting to warn this guy that he may be accidentally outing himself by not knowing how apps work to feeling morally obligated to tell my friend that his dad is into dudes and might be a pedophile. I can only imagine the ramifications this news would have on him and his family.

— Best Friend’s Dad “I’m sympathetic to BFD’s concerns,” said Dr. Michael Seto, director of forensic rehabilitation research at the Royal Ottawa Health Care Group and an expert on pedophilia and sexual offending.

“I know many people wonder what to do if they suspect someone is sexually attracted to children. And I understand how much of a burden it can feel like to keep a big secret, especially from a best friend.”

But before we discuss your options and responsibilities here, BFD, let’s get our terms straight: If by “young boy models” you mean teenage boys past puberty but under the age of consent, then your friend’s father’s behavior is icky and inappropriate — but it is not, by itself, evidence that he’s a pedophile.

“Clinically, pedophilia refers to attraction to prepubescent children,” said Dr. Seto, “though I know it’s still commonly used in public to refer to attraction to anyone underage.”

Actually, the term “pedophile” gets tossed around so indiscriminately that

some of my own readers have used it to describe (or condemn) people in their 40s or 50s who are attracted to (or fucking) grown men and women in their 20s and 30s. For the record: An attraction to younger/youngish adults does not make someone a pedophile. If that were the case, almost everyone on earth could be described (and condemned) as a pedophile. Dr. Seto estimates that just 1 percent of men are in fact attracted to prepubescent children. So depending on your point of view — depending on whether you’re a glass 99-percent empty or 1-percent full kind of guy — pedophilia is either exceedingly rare or alarmingly common.

“Attraction to underage teens —

other ways, including addictions, problems holding down a job, problems in adult relationships, unreliability, and criminal behavior. My hypothesis is that someone who doesn’t show these signs is unlikely to offend against a child. They might look at child pornography, though, which is illegal and problematic, or they might look at legal images of children — like on social media — as a sexual outlet.”

Viewing child pornography is hugely problematic because it creates demand for more child pornography, which leads to more children being abused. But even if no new child porn were ever created, sharing images of the rape of a child is itself a violation of that child. And while it may not be

One thing we know is that people who are low in self-control are more likely to act on sexual as well as nonsexual impulses. boys or girls — is more common,” said Dr. Seto, “though it’s hard to estimate how common because it’s a taboo subject. We get hints from the popularity of certain porn genres like ‘schoolgirl,’ ‘twink,’ ‘barely legal,’ and so on. We also have a hint from how so many fashion models begin working in their teens.”

But Dr. Seto emphasizes that sexual attraction does not equal sexual behavior.

“The Instagram follows and likes may indeed suggest an attraction to underage boys,” said Dr. Seto. “And it may even be pedophilia if the models are that young. But that doesn’t mean his friend’s father is going to do anything beyond following or liking.”

Understanding what separates pedophiles who’ve offended against children from pedophiles who’ve never inappropriately touched a child is an important focus of Dr. Seto’s research, BFD, and his insights could inform your course of action.

“One thing we know is that people who are low in self-control are more likely to act on sexual as well as nonsexual impulses,” said Dr. Seto.

“That low self-control shows up in

pleasant to contemplate what might be going through a pedophile’s mind when they look at innocent images of children, it’s not against the law for someone with a sexual interest in children to dink around on Instagram.

“Returning to BFD’s question about whether to disclose, I don’t think it’s an easy yes-or-no answer,” said Dr. Seto. “It depends on what else BFD knows about the father. I’m required by law and professional ethics to report [someone] if I believe an identifiable child is at imminent risk. This mandatory reporting requirement is NOT triggered simply by knowing whether someone is sexually attracted to children. Instead, I have to consider information like whether the person has ever expressed fantasies or urges about a specific child, whether they work with children regularly, whether they live with children who are in their attraction category, or whether they have ever engaged in suspicious behavior like direct messaging with a child.”

Does your friend’s dad work with underage boys? Does he sometimes look after underage boys — say, grandsons? Has he ever behaved in

an inappropriate manner around underage boys — e.g., inventing reasons to be alone with them, offering them booze or drugs, or making suggestive comments offline or online?

“In the absence of these kinds of red flags, what we have here is someone who might be sexually attracted to underage boys but who might not pose a serious risk to children,” explained Dr. Seto. “So while not disclosing might mean some risk of a child being harmed, disclosing could definitely cause harm to the best friend, to the father, and to their relationship.”

You’re in an agonizing position, BFD. You essentially have to weigh the chance — most likely very remote — that your friend’s dad would harm a child against the near certainty that telling your friend about his father’s behavior would do irrevocable harm to their relationship. Your relationship with your friend would also be at risk; this is definitely one of those circumstances where the messenger risks being shot. Figuratively speaking. I hope.

Personally, BFD, I would err on the side of protecting even a hypothetical child. I would say something to the dad, perhaps via direct message (you could create a throwaway account and reach out anonymously), and I would also say something to my friend. But I would emphasize what the best available research tells us about pedophilia: It’s not something a person chooses, and most pedophiles never sexually abuse children. So even if your best friend’s father is attracted to prepubescent boys — if he’s looking at prepubescent children and not teenagers who happen to be just under the age of consent — that doesn’t mean he’s harmed a child or would ever harm a child. He may need help to avoid offending — if, worst-case scenario, he actually is attracted to children — and being held accountable by loved ones is one way pedophiles avoid offending.

Dr. Seto is the author of Pedophilia and Sexual Offending Against Children: Theory, Assessment, and Intervention and more. Follow him on Twitter @MCSeto.

mail@savagelove.net t@fakedansavage

| clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

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GOOD CREDIT • BAD CREDIT • BANKRUPTCY 102

| clevescene.com | Best Of Cleveland | April 24 - 30, 2019

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Bulletin Board WANTS TO PURCHASE

minerals and other oil & gas interests. Send details P.O. Box 13557, Denver, CO 80201

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AkroN BarBerton • Lorain Stop in and fill out an application or upload your resume to: glasshousecleveland@gmail.com