CLEVELAND, Ohio — There's a new all-out effort to breathe new life into downtown.
Playhouse Square is officially adding multiple new dining and destination options.
Officials there aim to take guests "Beyond the Stage" for a full-out, immersive experience that will encourage people to come downtown early and stay late after watching a production.
As part of the ongoing initiative, guests will soon have the opportunity to check out three new dining attractions.
It's an ongoing effort to encourage guests to discover and appreciate Downtown Cleveland and all that the theatre district has to offer.
"My goal is to motivate, inspire and get them down here to do fun things," Ricky Smith, Founder of Random Acts of Kindness Everywhere/Founder of Something Good Social Kitchen, said.
The arts, entertainment, and culinary worlds are colliding in the heart of the city.
Smith is a natural-born performer, who finds himself drawn to a stage, whether it's outdoors or inside.
"Goal is just to make this a fun space. I mean Playhouse is already doing their thing. They got 1.3 million people. Goal is to keep them here," Smith said.
As he looked to open his first ever brick and mortar restaurant, the "Something Good Social Kitchen" (which is officially open), he knew it had to be in the heart of Cleveland's theatre and entertainment district.
"Being able to activate the space and people being outside and being able to dj and doing the buy one get one model—so the fatter people get, the more we're helping people in the city," Smith said.
As a small business owner and Founder of Random Acts of Kindness Everywhere, he capitalizes on just about every moment.
Even if it's a fire drill—that happened as we were shooting this piece.
"Don't do the fire. Just do the meeting! If you wanna get out of a meeting—just say you wanna get out of the meetings," Smith said to nearby workers.
He handed out suckers and cranked up the music.
It's an unintentional, in-your-face marketing technique to bring the party, good vibes and fresh eats straight from the grille to nearby office workers and passersby's empty stomachs.
Star chef and Cleveland native Michael Symon even consulted on his menu options.
"Three signature hot dogs. We have a hamburger menu with a spin on it. So all the hamburgers are chopped style. So we actually put the cheese ingredients inside the meat as well," Smith said.
The theatrical experience is one that drives guests from near and far.
After all, Playhouse Square is the largest theatre district in the U.S., behind New York City.
"We're working beyond the stage so that we're incorporating terrific retail to compliment some other new exciting things that have happened in the district," Nathan Kelly, President of Real Estate at Playhouse Square, said.
Kelly says it's about going "Beyond the Stage".
"We're curating our retail experience that is great for 18 hours of the day here," Kelly said.
In addition to new apartments in Playhouse Square and plenty of offices, this summer/fall season, "Encore" on the ground floor of the Lumen High Rise Apartments is set to open.
"Which is gonna be a high end cocktail bar that is going to serve our residents and our visitors with a beautifully curated experience. Even incorporates a lot of elements of the historic items that come out of Playhouse Square," Kelly said.
Then, guests and grab some dessert at Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shop in the Hanna Building.
The three new dining options will complement The Friars Table from award-winning chef and Edwins's founder, Brandon Chrostowski.
"Food is a way to express our lives and it's also the perfect vessel to be able to change a life," Chrostowski said.
All of the restaurant openings coincide with Playhouse Square's ongoing efforts to overhaul the Greyhound Bus Terminal Building for multi-use.
