It's easy to believe there's no grocery stores in downtown Cleveland if you don't know what you're looking for, but Constantino's Market is definitely there, at 1278 W 9th St.
On the plus side, they have a lot of local grocery, they're family owned, and the quality of the food is very good. The downside is the price- but what would you expect from a grocery store with no competition? If you want groceries without having to drive out of downtown, you probably have to hit Constantino's.
The popular consensus is that it's good for the prepared foods, but the staples just aren't worth it to buy there.
West 9th Phoenix, downtown, is a cozy place to have a business meeting or grab some coffee. They have gelato, baked goods, all manner of coffee/tea treats, and they're really into the local thing (which I appreciate.)
Cafe Sausalito is located in the Galleria at Erieview, downtown. There aren't an awful lot of restaurants downtown, especially for a mid-priced lunch, so this place gets a lot of businesspeople customers.
I got a burger, and it was just OK. Here's a link to their full menu.
I'm not gonna lie, I like their creative windows better than I like their food.
With such low prices and excellent quality, I don't know how this business makes enough profit to stick around. Whatever they're doing, it's working: Aladdin's has been a Cleveland landmark since the 1970s. Mostly a wholesale operation, they make Middle Eastern specialties to sell to many local grocery stores and restaurants. The company is open to the public for a quick, cheap bite to eat.
Not to be confused with Aladdin's restaurants (a local chain of restaurants selling Lebanese food), the baking company is located on Carnegie Avenue just before downtown.
It's a great place to stop in for a sandwich. I had the hummus, tabbouleh, a pack of pita bread and a couple grape leaves. It was enough to feed myself and a friend, including two tall cans of iced tea, for under ten dollars.
As something to do for free that's also wonderful exercise, I'd highly recommend a bridge walk. Cleveland has an amazing number of beautiful bridges. I'm always surprised that more don't visit them. It's easy to get there from Tower City and the views were lovely.
photo credit: wikipedia.org.
The Detroit Superior bridge is very bike friendly (as is the Hope Memorial Bridge, which connects Lorain and Carnegie roads), and it has a bike lane.
Here was our lovely bridge walk:
We took the RTA train to Public Square.
We walked over the bridge, and took pictures. Once we crossed the bridge, we took a left turn on W. 25 and walked a little while more.
We stopped at Kan Zaman, a middle eastern restaurant on W. 25. (post to come)
After we finished eating, we took the rapid home. It was a lovely way to celebrate spring and see some great views of the city!
There are lots of Asian grocery stores in Cleveland. My new favorite is Park to Shop, in the Asia Plaza on E. 30th Street and Payne Ave.
If you want to make a day of it, it's easy: there are tons of cute shops and Asian restaurants in the nearby area.
It's a bright place, and going there makes me happy. You'll find everything from fresh tofu to seaweed snacks to supplies to make your own sushi!
Unless you're fluent in Chinese, Japanese or Korean, you might end up picking up some snacks that you don't really know what's in them. Which is not a problem (unless you have food allergies), because there's a cute character on the package! Kawaii!
This is where we go to pick up our favorite curry mix, Golden Curry! The store has a sizeable collection of housewares, restaurant wholesale, and fresh items as well.
E. 30th street is near enough to Downtown to hop a bus or bike on down if you're staying there. I used to bike to Asiatown when I lived in University Circle; it took me 45 minutes.
