The historic club and restaurant reopened late last year under new ownership
CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio – Nighttown, the longtime Cleveland Heights restaurant and bar, is closing Sunday, Aug. 25, a representative for the restaurant said.
The classic Irish pub-restaurant hosted a variety of jazz acts over the years and also was home to the Press Club of Cleveland. Previous owner Brendan Ring closed it in 2020 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Gregg Levy of Red, the Steakhouse, saw potential with revitalization going on in the area and came in with an ambitious renovation plan.
After two years of construction delays, complications and improvements, Nighttown (12383 Cedar Rd.) reopened late last year under the ownership of the Red Restaurant Group. The historic Cleveland Heights jazz club and restaurant had closed in March of 2020 after 60 years.
“We had to preserve the way it looked,” explained Gregg Levy of Red at the time. “We weren’t going to do this unless it was Nighttown. It’s not Red, it’s Nighttown.”
But sadly, today we are learning that the restaurant will close after service on Sunday August 25th.
A representative for the restaurant said that a public statement would be forthcoming and declined to offer any other information.
John Barr opened the legendary club back in 1965. The torch was passed to longtime owner Brendan Ring 20-plus years ago. In 2021, he sold the property and the business. The property sat idle for two years until the Red Group took over and began renovations.
Ring said at the time of the sale that what sealed the deal was the new owners’ commitment to preserving the legacy that Ring and Barr had cultivated since 1965.
“They told me that they’d like to keep Nighttown, to keep the essence of Nighttown the same and maybe upgrade it and do, in my opinion, some much-needed renovations,” Ring explained. “They made it clear to me that they wanted to keep Nighttown and I liked that about this particular group.”
