After slinging giant grilled cheese sandwiches in Lorain County for the last seven years, Melt Bar and Grilled is calling it quits in Avon.
According to owner Matt Fish, the pandemic has forced him to reevaluate the locations of his restaurants.
“Navigating the restaurant industry in the post-pandemic world with growing economic issues is becoming more and more difficult,” Fish said. "The world and the industry are rapidly changing around us,” he continues. “We realized in early 2023, a smaller restaurant group would be much better for us to manage regarding operations and guest experience, while setting ourselves up for future success.”
Melt in Avon officially closed on Tuesday. Fish said he plans to get back to the basics with a new menu by bringing back food that made Melt popular in the first place. Sandwiches such as Parmageddon, the Melt Reuben and Patty Melt, and the Melt Pierogi, as well as new deserts.
“We enjoyed seven good years in Avon, however, we feel having a smaller footprint and getting back even more to our hometown Cleveland roots is incredibly important right now. This was a very difficult decision both personally and professionally for many reasons, but ultimately this move will put the company in a much better position for continued success," Fish said.
In 2018, Melt Bar and Grilled was named one of America's 50 fastest-growing restaurants by Restaurant Business Magazine. At that time, the company had 13 locations across Ohio—but in the years since, Fish has closed a number of those, with only five remaining.
“Shrinking the company to be better and more efficient has been the goal for a while. We truly hope our friends and loyal guests will continue to visit and support us at our five current Melt Bar and Grilled locations. Our flagship location in Lakewood is close to Avon so we hope our far westside guests will visit and support our Lakewood location.”
