A Cleveland Success Story

As many people know, I have a special love for a good burger. I often tweet about the stops I make along the way to various burger joints around Cleveland, and if my wife asks me what I want without offering any suggestions as to where we dine; my stock answer is, I could eat a burger.

Cleveland is known for it's spectacular blunders. The Drive, The Fumble, The Move, and now The Magic all seem to strike a chord with every Clevelander. Recently Cleveland has played host to federal investigators looking into the personal dealing with our county Commissioner Jimmy Dimora. Yeah, we have a politician who calls himself Jimmy. He had a press conference yesterday where he blamed everyone else investigating him as crooked, thus using the 'who ever smelt it, dealt it' defense.

What Cleveland needs is a success story for once. Is it wrong for me to be upbeat about a city that seems to never have anything going right for itself? No. I don't think so. Well coming July 1, to my hometown of Avon Lake, Ohio is a success story. It is a success story that comes out of a large blunder [yet again] in Cleveland, the high end restaurant that thought that Avon Lake had a ton of money, but then again didn't realize that we Avon Lakers were a bit cheap.

A few years ago, Cleveland started re-making itself. All of a sudden there were trendy little restaurants springing up in a part of town that is not know for its scene. The little borough in Cleveland, the Tremont neighborhood, started a revitalization. The Hallmark was a little restaurant called Lola. The brain child of Chef Micheal Symon, it went on to gain him notoriety and fame on the Food Network. Then he closed it. Was this the start of yet another classic Cleveland blunder? No. He moved the restaurant and retooled the old one. He moved Lola downtown, in the newly emerging Euclid corridor. A few years back the Euclid corridor made a cameo in Spiderman. You wouldn't recognize it now. The old restaurant was renamed Lolita, and thus out of one, came two, great places to be seen and eat in Cleveland.

Symon, since, has gone on to become an Iron Chef on the Food Network and built another restaurant in Detroit. A good ole Cleveland success story. Thank goodness. Finally.

Now with his latest creation opening up in Avon Lake, I can't wait to visit this newly minted, 'must dine' spot. I look forward to many adventurous meals there. I have usually played it safe while dining out with the wife. But like I said before, burgers hold a soft spot, and taking a look at the menu, Symon has created a burger we all love, but I still can't wait to see how he has made it his own. The Bar Symon Burger. Fried Egg, Cheddar. Two other things that I can't get enough of.

Funny thing. Cleveland is known as a city full of fat people. Is it no wonder that our restaurant scene has grown? God I love this city!

I can guarantee that you will be hearing about this on the Podcast. I can't wait to eat there.

**programming note**

The Throwing Quarters Podcast will be back with new episodes on July 14.