STRONGSVILLE, Ohio — It's been four months since a fire tore through CleaveLand Grocers & Grill, and now the owner is gearing up to open a new location this week in Strongsville.
They may have a slightly different name and a smaller building.
“We're not going to be focusing on the grocery aisle too much, because obviously we don't have the space for it,” said Fasih Syed, the owner CleaveLand Grocers & Grill.
What was CleaveLand Grocers & Grill in Brook Park is now CleaveLand Grill in Strongsville, and they’ll be back in business this Thursday.
It's an opening that comes after a rough journey. In October of 2023, the original CleaveLand grocers location in Brook Park went up in flames, and everything that owner Fasih Syed poured his heart into was destroyed.
We don’t just report the initial story—we follow through to its conclusion. Read and watch our previous reporting on this story below and see more stories that we've followed through on here.
“It was it was the toughest time for us and our families. You know, when that fire happened, we didn't know where to go next,” said Fasih.
While they were working on the rebuilding process, Fasih spent months looking for a new location to operate in.
“We looked around the whole city east side, west side, Westlake, you name it, we went to that spot,” said Fasih.
Soon, they landed in Strongsville off Pearl Road in what used to be Romeo’s Pizza. Now Fasih is just days away from providing the community with the Zabiha halal meats once again.
“Every animal is slaughtered according to our sharia which (is), according to Islam,” said Fasih.
Zabiha halal meats is one of the reasons they opened their store, because they noticed the lack of it at butchers in the area. But, their real claim to fame is their smash burgers and Philly cheese steaks that got them more than 30,000 followers on social media.
“We don't have a tentative date for the kitchen yet, because we're still waiting for the city to come back and do another inspection,” said Fasih.
Though the doors aren't open just yet, customers are anxiously waiting and messaging about when they’ll be open, some even driving in.
“Just Googled it, and you know, had the day off today and this is the address that came up, so drove about 45 minutes out here,” said Andy Cornell, a customer who drove in to try Fasih’s food.
For Fasih, he lost a lot in the fire, but in moments like this, he’s reminded that his customers' loyalty is priceless.
“We do it for the people, we have a bigger purpose in mind than making money, we do it for our community, that’s why we're here,” said Fasih.
This Thursday, the butcher and grocery will open at the Strongsville location, while the kitchen is still pending. For the Brook Park location, fire investigators believe the blaze started near two commercial coolers and don't suspect any criminal activity. Fasih says they do still plan to reopen that location.
