Three additional restaurants in Lorain will boost dining experiences and the economy

The addition of three restaurants in and near downtown Lorain in the coming months will provide an economic boost to revitalization efforts and bring more dining options to the international city.

Over the past week, Morning Journal reporter Martin McConnell has written three reports on restaurants, and each tells a different story about how they came to be.

The 4th Street Diner, which has new management; the Avon Brewing Co., which moved to the shipyards and became the Lorain Brewing Co. and Event Center; and Broadway Grill and Games, which replaces Game On which closed last fall after more than three years in the basement of the Ariel Hotel on Broadway, are the restaurants.

In May 2023, Lorain businessman Tony Horn opened 4th Street Diner, at 400 Broadway, just in time for summer.

But, by fall, the Rat Pack-themed grill had closed its doors.

Now, Kelly Szewczyk, a restaurant owner and chef for nearly 40 years, will run the business and sees huge potential for the restaurant.

It will reopen on March 11 and Szewczyk is excited to bring her experience to the family restaurant, offering good vibes and good food.

The restaurant will serve much of the same food as when it opened.

However, southern shrimp and grits and fresh house-made pork rinds will be two of the restaurant’s main dishes.

Szewczyk will focus primarily on southern hospitality.

In addition to serving breakfast and lunch seven days a week, the restaurant is working to obtain a liquor license.

The restaurant also hopes to serve moviegoers leaving Rockin’ on the River this summer.

McConnell also wrote that Avon Brewing Co., 37040 Detroit Road in Avon, announced in September that it would remain in its current location, following complications with a plan to move to 36383 Detroit Road in Avon.

However, that changed and Avon Brewing decided to go in a different direction.

After its move to Avon fell through, Avon Brewing began exploring other options.

And he found one.

The brewery announced March 3 its move to the Lorain Shipyards building, 500 Shipyards Way.

For Mathias Hauck, co-owner of Avon Brewing, the move represents a name change for the business and it will become Lorain Brewing Co. and Event Center.

Memorial Day weekend is the target opening date for the new location.

Hauck is excited to move his popular brewery to the banks of the Black River and near the shores of Lake Erie.

He is correct when he describes the shipyard building as magnificent and one of the most prestigious locations in Northeast Ohio.

And Hauck comes to Lorain at an exciting time as downtown is undergoing revitalization.

The brewery’s new location will offer on-site food, drinks and catering, courtesy of Brian Weaver, co-owner of the brewery and Hauck’s brother-in-law.

It will also have a new, cooler space as well as a large kitchen.

Lorain attorney Anthony Giardini, an executive with the company that owns the shipyards, Red Brick Development, believes Avon Brewing’s move to Lorain is a big deal for the building and the international city.

Giardini actually contacted Avon Brewing when he saw that the company had announced that its deal in Avon was dead.

When the shipyard owners initially renovated their building, this was what they hoped to include, a beer microbrewery.

And finally, McConnell told us this week that Broadway Grill and Games will open in downtown Lorain’s only hotel.

Broadway Grill and Games will be a family-themed restaurant with a bar, replacing Game On, which closed last fall.

Radhika Reddy, managing member and co-owner of the Ariel Broadway Hotel, and her team have been working for months on their latest venture, which will cater to parents and their children.

With Lorain County expecting nearly a million visitors for the April 8 total solar eclipse, Reddy hopes to open Broadway Grill and Games.

Broadway Grill and Games will have a similar style to Dave and Buster’s and other arcade-inspired restaurants.

It will be a place where parents and children can come and have fun and enjoy themselves.

There will be pool tables and places where people can play darts and shoot basketball to win small prizes.

Additionally, Broadway Grill and Games will focus on grilling, rather than traditional fried sports bar fare.

The addition of the three restaurants could and should be a key part of downtown Lorain’s continued resurgence.