UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio – Ohio’s first Lefty’s Famous Cheesesteaks Hoagies & Grill is set to open in University Heights with Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson as one of the owners.
Sam Berry, owner and founder of Lefty’s, told cleveland.com the restaurant will be opening at 2115 S. Taylor Road at Cedar Road across from The Haunted House Restaurant. Opening is planned for 12:30 p.m. Thursday, April 4.
Berry said he is having a tent set up and will make a celebration of it.
“Deshaun’s coming, we’re going to have giveaways for the kids, water bottles, shirts, footballs,” said Berry, who added he expects Watson to attend for a couple of hours.
It was a no-brainer for the Detroit-based company to move into Northeast Ohio, he said.
“Deshaun is an equity owner in the company,” he said. “It’s his hometown now. He plays for the Cleveland Browns. From a marketing strategy it works hand in hand.”
The vicinity’s “pretty dense population” will boost business, he said, and similar eateries like Charleys’ Cheesesteaks show that the region supports the sandwich style.
“It’s a good market to get into,” he said.
Lefty’s is going into a free-standing building that formerly housed a KFC. Berry said he expects growth in the area for his company and sees the University Heights restaurant serving as a training-center hub while extending the franchise.
“Our goal is to expand everywhere in Ohio. That’s why DeShaun and I purchased this property. Usually we’re in strip centers and in-line centers. We bought this property to make it our flagship store in Ohio,” he said.
Lefty’s has 38 locations. With Watson as an investor, it previously had several eateries in Houston, where Watson played from 2017 to 2020. Lefty’s has three locations inside Ford Field, home of the Detroit Lions. Toledo had a Lefty’s, but it was pop-up only, he said.
Berry said he finds being Michigan-based and close to Ohio is a positive thing because residents of the bordering states “have similar palates.”
Berry is counting on those palates gobbling up a variety of cheesesteaks at his restaurant, which he founded in 2010. He’ll probably find a few hungry souls five blocks to the west at Cleveland Heights High School.
“There’s a lot of students there,” he said of the school, which 1,600 students attend.
Berry is left-handed – hence the name – and his restaurant features hoagies, burgers, corned beef, loaded fries, sides and desserts. Top sellers are the Original Cheesesteak with caramelized onions and white American cheese, as well as the Southpaw Cheesesteak, which has steak, grilled onions, white American cheese, cheese sauce and is topped with – get this - crushed Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.
Corned beef egg rolls and cheesesteak egg rolls also are available. The mix of menu items and a high-profile owner in Watson have Berry feeling confident about the inaugural Lefty’s in Ohio.
“We’re bringing a unique brand that should fit good,” he said. “We’re lefties, where everything is done right. If you don’t eat left you don’t eat right.”
Related coverage: Lefty’s Cheesesteaks entering Greater Cleveland market with Deshaun Watson as equity owner
Stories by Marc Bona
I cover restaurants, beer, wine and sports-related topics on our life and culture team. For my recent stories, here’s a cleveland.com directory. WTAM-1100′s Bill Wills and I talk food and drink around 8:20 a.m. Thursdays. Twitter and IG: @mbona30. My latest book, co-authored with Dan Murphy: “Joe Thomas: Not Your Average Joe” by Gray & Co.
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