Food & Wine highlighted how the Cleveland eatery became a refuge for vegetarians and vegans in Northeast Ohio while welcoming meat-eaters too.
Published: Jan. 29, 2026, 12:12 p.m.has been a mainstay of the Coventry neighborhood since 1972 and more than 50 years later, the mom-and-pop restaurant is receiving some national attention.recently posted a profile on Tommy’s with the headline “This Welcoming Little Restaurant Has Fed Cleveland’s Skate Kids, Hippies, Theater Kids, and Everyone Else for Half a Century,” honoring the longstanding restaurant.
mostly due to owner Tommy Fello’s commitment to providing menu options that cater to any diet. Writer Sari Kamin reflected on her youth in the late 90s, where Tommy’s felt like a refuge for kids exploring vegetarian and vegan diets where anyone, even their meat-eating parents, could enjoy dining.like Big Fun, High Tide Rock Bottom and Record Revolution, also got a shout-out in the piece, with Kamin recognizing how much the neighborhood has changed. “The once-colorful storefronts now sit mostly vacant, save for a handful of old-timers and a smattering of vape shops and convenience stores. And yet, somehow, Tommy’s remains, still bustling and miraculously unchanged,” the story reads.Fello also spoke to Kamin for the piece, reflecting on how Tommy’s started from his idea to open a soda shop at 19 years old. Back then, his rent was $250 a month — quite a difference from his current $7,000 per month deal. While a lot has changed, many aspects of Tommy’s, mainly its extremely inclusive menu, are thankfully still the same. “The fact that we were able to accommodate people and their dietary restrictions, even back then … people would try things that they’d never had,” Fello said to Food & Wine. “If they liked it, they’d come back, and there weren’t too many places they could get it. That’s why I’m still in business, completely by accident.”Alex is a food and culture writer on cleveland.com's life and culture team, primarily covering restaurants, bars, spirits, beer, wine, entertainment, and cooking. She's interviewed notable chefs both local and...
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