On the Rise: Cleveland's Independent Restaurant Scene

Cleveland is not quite at the epicenter of the so-called rust belt - a term coined in the 1980s referencing the loss of manufacturing jobs followed by population loss and urban decay - but it's certainly a notch in the belt.

That moniker, perhaps, better fits Detroit and Flint, Michigan, Pittsburgh and Erie, Pennsylvania, Gary, Indiana, and cities of their ilk that fell into economic distress and decline with the exodus of manufacturing and the jobs they create.

No doubt, Cleveland is a former hardscrabble industrial center that is working hard at building a new economy focused on technology, education and health care, much like its sister cities in the Northeast and Midwest.

Perhaps what separates the new Cleveland from these cities struggling to reinvent their economies is the independent restaurant scene. I'd say we're a good 10 years ahead of Detroit and other cities in this region and it's all because of the independent restaurant operators, says Myra Orenstein, acting executive director of Cleveland Independents, an organization representing more than 90 locally owned and operated independent restaurants in northeast Ohio.

There's a depth of creativity with food in Cleveland today that didn't exist 15 years ago and the depth of appreciation by the customer has grown right along with it,
- Zack Bruell

The Cleveland restaurant community is widely recognized as a creative, chef-driven environment that has pushed the dining envelope and, in so doing, has helped launch a much needed attitude adjustment for the people who call Cleveland home.