CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio — It’s a sad day for this local gem in Cleveland Heights.
Restaurant staff broke the news that they’re closing Nighttown down for good, and customers said they’re devastated by this announcement.
“We were surprised and sad. Nighttown has been here for as long as we can remember,” said Gary Friedman, a Nighttown customer.
But in just days, the establishment will permanently be put to rest, shocking customers like Friedman.
“We’re not quite sure what’s going on or why,” said Friedman.
This question is looming among other customers, too, like Lolita Hines.
“We’re like, 'Wait, closing for holiday?' I mean, you know I’m like, 'it can’t be closing,'” said Hines.
Originally opening in 1966, the Cleveland Heights staple closed in 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and was bought by the company behind RED, the Steakhouse, the following year.
Previous owner Brendan Ring told News 5 in January 2021 that the city's $83 million “Top of the Hill” development project created interest in his property, leading to a deal signing the business over to new owners. Ring had been at Nighttown since 1992 and had owned it since 2001 before selling the venue to the restaurant group.
RELATED: Iconic Nighttown restaurant in Cleveland Heights sold to new owners
Under their ownership, the restaurant underwent $2 million in renovations, which News 5 captured in June 2023, months before Nighttown officially opened later in November.
After purchasing Nighttown, the restaurant group mapped out a $2 million plan to remodel the building's interior with new ADA-accessible bathrooms, a new kitchen, a new patio entrance, and other infrastructure work.
RELATED: Owners of RED, the Steakhouse to reopen Cleveland Heights' iconic Nighttown restaurant in 2022
After less than a year, Glenda Miller said she’s devastated to hear Nighttown is closing again.
“It’s just hard to believe. The food is amazing. I can’t believe why they’re closing,” said Miller.
In a statement to News 5, Nighttown officials explained why:
“The management and ownership of Nighttown have made the difficult decision to close the restaurant effective August 25, 2024. While we enjoyed the journey of preserving the spirit of Nighttown and greatly improving and enhancing the underlying infrastructure and facilities, while attempting to usher in the new era of patrons, the challenges brought upon by delays, construction difficulties and unforeseen circumstances made it clear to us that it was time to pass the baton to a new stewardship. We are working with several interested parties in hopes of finding a new author to write the next chapter of this James Joyce script (Ulysses in Nighttown…); in the meantime, we will concentrate our efforts on our flagship fine dining restaurants, RED, the Steakhouse in downtown Cleveland and RED, the Steakhouse in Pinecrest. While we hope to find the next operator in due time, rest assure that many of the experiences, recipes and even staff from our time at Nighttown will be shared with our RED restaurants; we hope to see you there.”
“We’re sad to see you go. But while you were here, job well done,” said Miller.
Ohio Restaurant and Hospitality Alliance President and CEO John Barker said a lot of independent operators have had a tough time since the pandemic; so, while we’re starting to see more restaurants reopen, he said we’re still losing some businesses at the same time due to inflation and high interest rates.
“It's a sad day for sure, and we hope that maybe somebody else will come in and, and maybe, buy the location and reopen it,” said Barker.
There’s still time for you to come down before Nighttown officially closes its doors on Aug. 25.
