Cleveland's Dining Scene Is Having a Moment—Here's Where to Eat Now

Cleveland has always been a city of immigrants and eccentrics. It gave us Superman, after all. But lately, its food scene is the real superhero. From the legendary West Side Market—a 114-year-old food hall under a stunning Guastavino-tile ceiling—to a wave of inventive chefs reimagining Midwestern classics, this Rust Belt town is earning serious culinary cred.

Douglas Trattner, a local food writer who has spent 25 years chronicling Cleveland's restaurants, knows where to find the city's soul on a plate. He points to the Polish Boy (kielbasa, fries, slaw, and BBQ sauce on a bun) as a local icon, but says the real story is diversity. More than 100 ethnic groups have shaped the food here, from Hungarian paprikash to Lake Erie walleye during Lent.

Today, Cleveland's neighborhoods—Ohio City, Tremont, Detroit Shoreway—are buzzing with progressive bistros. James Beard Award-winner Michael Symon pays homage to his hometown at Mabel's BBQ, where brisket gets a pastrami treatment and the Polish Girl sandwich nods to the West Side Market. For a grand night out, Marble Room serves steak and oysters in a former bank with Beaux Arts architecture that rivals any city.

In Asiatown, Li Wah delivers dim sum that holds its own against San Francisco's. For old-school comfort, Prosperity Social Club dishes pierogies and chicken paprikash in a 1930s tavern. And at Zhug, chef Doug Katz brings Yemeni hot sauce and Mediterranean small plates to Cleveland Heights.

Don't miss Tommy's, a Coventry Road institution since 1972, where falafel and milkshakes share the menu. Or Larder Delicatessen, where koji-cured pastrami draws crowds to a former firehouse. And the West Side Market itself is undergoing a $53 million renovation, but already offers everything from Amish poultry to Parisian crêpes.

Cleveland's dining renaissance is real. Come hungry.