Dinner/Dancing Cleveland

[JesseJensen]

I am organizing a group of 40 -50 year old singles to
spend a weekend in Cleveland in the New Year to visit
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Could you suggest a fun restaurant or two the group might
like and even better if you know of somewhere that "adults"
could dance afterwards.

Thanking you in advance!
Jesse from Toronto

[NancyH]

I would suggest, given the size of your group, that you contact "Cleveland Plus" http://www.clevelandplus.com/indexcz.asp about helping you to organize (and get the best discounts) for your trip. You'll be needing hotel, transfers and the obvious points to great dining and dancing.

Carrie Cerino's could be a great choice for your group for one-stop dining and dancing. I loved the food there, but I haven't been back since the ownership changed a few years ago; don't worry, it's still in the Cerino family.

If you're going to separate restaurant from dance spot - there are some great restaurants that can accommodate groups of your size - downtown, I think Lola's downstairs room can seat 40, and Greenhouse Tavern also has space if you plan in advance. Crop is moving to a new location (in Ohio City), but something makes me think that they will also have more space for groups once they get there - give them a call. Chef Steve Schimoler of Crop is the Mad Scientist of Cleveland Chefs and quite talented. Also creative and with room for large groups is Light Bistro in Ohio City. Bar Cento has a private room, though I don't know if it seats 40. I think that the Flying Fig also has a private room, but I don't know if it can accommodate 40.

If you are looking to not eat downtown or Ohio City, Michael Symon's Lolita in Tremont has an upstairs room that could accommodate you.

If your group wants to experience the most classy cocktail experience anywhere, check out the Velvet Tango Room in Ohio City - no dancing, but jazzy music and the most amazing cocktails. You might want to reserve the back room for a group your size.

Have a great trip and please report back!

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Flying Fig
2523 Market Ave., Cleveland, OH 44113

Light Bistro
2801 Bridge Ave, Cleveland, OH 44113

Bar Cento
1948 West 25th Street, Cleveland, OH 44113

The Greenhouse Tavern
2038 E 4th Street, Cleveland, OH 44115

Velvet Tango Room
2095 Columbus Rd, Cleveland, OH

[JesseJensen]

Thanks so much ...great suggestions!
Jesse

[rockandroller1]

How big is the group? You might enjoy going somewhere like the Savannah, which is a club in Westlake, a western suburb about 20 mins away from downtown. They have live music every night and the crowd is 30s-50s. I generally don't recommend the suburbs for people but with adults and dancing, a lot of downtown spots aren't really going to work. There's sometimes good music at the club Fat Fish Blue downtown, which also draws around the same age range, but I don't know that people dance there. Anyway, if you are interested in the Savannah, I can make some dinner recs if you tell me the size of the group (note - Savannah does serve bar food but it's not very good). www.thesavannah.com

If you stay in the suburbs, you can avoid paying for parking at a downtown hotel and then be closer to your hotel after going out, which is nice. There are a few hotels there, a Courtyard and Residence Inn I think, and a Holiday Inn. The downside is the suburbs are heavy chain country and I don't have a lot of recs for dinner in non-chain places out that way. But there is a Carrabba's out there near where the hotels are, and Crocker Park, an outdoor mall, is just down the road from the Savannah and it has a Cheesecake Factory (good for groups), a Brio (Italian), a Champps (sports bar/bar food) and a fish place, I think it's Mitchell's. It will be cold walking to/from these places though, it's a completely outdoors mall: www.crockerpark.com

This way the only parking you'd have to pay for is when you come downtown for the rock hall, and if you can find a metered spot (in front, or around Brown's Stadium next door), it's free on weekends at meters and inexpensive during the week at them. Otherwise, parking for the rock hall is around $10 at the area parking lots (note that all will be a walk in open air to the hall, and again, cold - but you're used to that if you're from Toronto).

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Fat Fish Blue
21 Prospect Ave E, Cleveland, OH 44115

[JesseJensen]

Thanks for the info rockandroller, there will probably be about 40 of us.

[rockandroller1]

holy crap, that's a big group! You're going to need a private room at a restaurant for that many people. This makes me think of another option for you - Carrie Cerino's. It's great, old school Italian with some modern and tasty twists, everything is made by hand and very good. It's got great 70s kitsch and several rooms that would work for a group of your size, and downstairs there is a bar and dance floor where there is dancing every weekend for adults. www.carriecerinos.com