Chagrin Falls' restaurant spaces are moving on different timelines. Eugene Tavern has opened, STEAK still has no confirmed opening date, and Pub Frato has moved into the former Raintree building.
Eugene Tavern Opens in June
At 44 N. Main St., the space later became home to Flip Side Burgers, which ran there for a decade before closing in 2024. What followed was Lopez 44, a Mexican concept from Cleveland Restaurant Management Group that didn't stay open long. The space sat unsettled until chef Michael Schoen decided it was where he wanted to run his first solo restaurant.
Schoen isn't new to the region. He built a following with the Tinman smash burger at the Ohio City Galley back in 2018, then spent years partnering with other operators, first at BottleHouse Brewery in Lakewood, later at a second BottleHouse location in Cleveland Heights. He told Cleveland Scene, "I've always been a part of somebody else's dream." Eugene Tavern, which he opened with his brother Tim under a new company called Big Day Hospitality, is the first one that's entirely his. He aimed to have a limited menu ready during the town's Blossom Time Festival in late May, then opened in full on June 24, 2026. The room seats about 65 people, including a 12-seat bar, and the menu keeps the Tinman front and center alongside a newer half-pound tavern burger and a fried hot chicken sandwich.
Eugene Tavern went from announcement to open doors in a matter of weeks.
STEAK Is Still Awaiting an Opening Date
Then there's 504 E. Washington St., where Burntwood Tavern operated for 15 years before its lease ran out and the location closed on March 7, 2025. Within about three months, Hangry Brands, the company behind Tremont's STEAK, announced it had signed a deal to take over the building. The ownership group includes Jason Beudert, Chelsea Rice, and former Cleveland Guardians manager Terry Francona, and the plan called for a full interior and exterior renovation with a target opening of early 2026.
As of this writing, no opening date has been confirmed. Reporting from February still listed the timeline as "early 2026," and no announcement has followed since. The project is now more than 18 months from Burntwood's last day of business, and the storefront's windows remain covered.
Here's how the two Chagrin Falls timelines compare:
- Burntwood Tavern closes March 7, 2025. Hangry Brands announces STEAK will replace it within three months. Target: early 2026. Status as of September 2026: no confirmed opening.
- Flip Side Burgers closes in 2024. Lopez 44 operates there before Eugene Tavern takes over the lease, runs a limited Blossom Time Festival menu in late May 2026, and opens fully on June 24, 2026.
What This Means for Where You Eat Next
Pub Frato, an Italian-American concept with a decade of history in Concord, has moved into the old Raintree building on Pleasant Drive, adding garage doors that open the dining room to the street. No firm opening date has been widely reported for that one either.
Hangry Brands has a track record in Tremont, and the project calls for a full renovation of a building that size. But if you've been driving past 504 E. Washington wondering when the lights will come on, the honest answer right now is that nobody outside the company knows, and the company hasn't said.
What you can do this month is walk into Eugene Tavern for a Tinman burger on a weeknight; the other spaces are still awaiting confirmed opening dates.
If you're curious about what else is shifting around the village, from the shops filling in near the falls to how the surrounding streets are holding up, Heather Young keeps a close eye on Chagrin Falls as both a market and a place people actually live. Let's Connect if you ever want a second set of local eyes on the neighborhood.
