good news for the holiday season: Ruthie & Moe's has just reopened, under new management

Well, we've been waiting and waiting, and I just got a call this morning from our friend Judy that what we all knew as Ruthie and Moe's diner at 40th and Prospect is now reopened as Somers, serving breakfast and lunch from 0600-1500, five days a week, Monday through Friday.

Here's a link to an older web presence to refresh your memory about what the diner thing is all about. We used the place a lot as an early morning meeting place, and look forward to doing so again, soon.

Gloria will let you know more, later. The new owners are the same ones who run Somers Place out on West 150th. Judy is the same lady who was the main waitress at Ruthie and Moe's, and she's been working for the Somers people since the diner closed in early 2006. It's been nearly two years, so get on over there!

an urban guerrilla Easter

I was just reflecting on what a great day we had today, in the midst of and despite all the snow we had in town and on the near west side. We are lucky enough to live right on the bus line, so we were able to mitigate our road risk and take the 79 right downtown to Starbucks on West 6th (which does not shovel and refuses to shovel its walks, by the way, even when called on it) to wait on the 10 AM Easter brunch at The ChopHouse, and it was good. We then still had time to catch the 326 up to East Ninth Street for the 1215 Easter Sunday mass, which the rector of the cathedral, Father Edward Estok, celebrated in a very elegant ceremony, replete with brass. It was a remarkable celebration. Then, dallying on the way out, we got to introduce ourselves and talk for a few minutes to the new Bishop of Cleveland, Richard G. Lennon. The 326 then took us back to Public Square, and the 79 dropped us off back home on Denison by 2:30 PM. We got to savor a lot of Cleveland, and that too, was good. We'll have to run this routine more often. It was a great way to spend a leisurely Sunday.

"a cool place for shady people"

When we rolled out of Gypsy Beans last night after our MeetTheBloggers talk with Professor Kathleen Engel (a really good one, by the way, so watch for it), Gloria and I decided to head up 65th Street towards the lake to see a place that she remembered from her teaching days, and we found it, over on West 58th, overlooking the lake and the freeway: The Parkview Nite Club. It's a really comfortable, cool place with lots of room, lots of things on the walls, TVs, projection screens, and a history of hosting good bands and good music. The food was most excellent, too, and we ate a lot--killer chili (the best I've had in a while), a great juicy burger, pulled pork, fries, chips, cole slaw--and got out for $25, tip included. We'll be back. We're liking what's going on up around Detroit and 65th.

Haviland preview: Ruthie and Moe's to reopen

Last week, when we MTB-talked to Jim Haviland from Midtown Cleveland, Inc., he told us that the owner of Somers Restaurant was purchasing Ruthie and Moe's Diner at 40th and Prospect, with an eye towards reopening soon. Two nights ago we checked out the Wednesday fish fry at Somers Place at 4197 West 150th (no website available that I could find), and we also found a little bit more about the plans for the diner. This morning, we happened to drop back by for breakfast (Somers has the largest selection of steak and eggs combinations I have ever seen anywhere) and ran into our old waitress friend Judy Scott, who's traveling back to the diner on Prospect when it reopens this May. Judy tells us Ruthie is now at Bistro 185, and that the new hours of the diner are 0600 to 1500, which should be good for early breakfast appointments all this summer, at Somer's. Judy's also looking forward to getting back in touch with her old clientele.