Better Kenmore is thrilled to introduce its new community liaison, Elisha West!
Elisha has called Akron home her entire life, and has spent years applying her passion for people by working with individuals with developmental disabilities – serving as a group home manager, case worker, and foster care provider.
As Better Kenmore’s community liaison, Elisha works to create and maintain connections within the community, businesses and property owners throughout the Kenmore neighborhood. She is also in charge of beautification efforts and placemaking projects, and is organizing a Beautify The BLVD event this Friday, May 5.
“I have thoroughly enjoyed meeting and working with everyone on The BLVD and I am learning so much about the community of Kenmore and all of the opportunities it has to offer! ” Elisha said, adding “my great aunt Ninnie moved here from Louisiana to work at Goodrich and she lived on 14th street with my uncle Paul who was the President of The Hibernian Club on Kenmore Blvd., I am grateful to work for a place they loved so dearly.”
When Elisha isn’t serving the Kenmore community she enjoys working on her fitness with crossfit, biking and hiking in the beautiful Akron metro parks and spending time with her family.
Be sure to say hello to Elisha and welcome her to the neighborhood the next time you see her enjoying a slice of Pierre’s white pizza or sipping on a cup of peppermint tea from SRINA!
Elisha is diving head first into the beautification of Kenmore Blvd. with a vision of mulching and planting beautiful flowers down Kenmore Blvd. and you can help! This Friday and Saturday, May 5th and 6th from 9am – noon, Elisha is looking for volunteers to help clean up, mulch and plant flowers on Kenmore Blvd. to get it ready for the summer. Sign up to volunteer here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080b4dacaa22a0f58-beautify#/
Kenmore Neighborhood Alliance, which was founded in 2016 to create a better Kenmore through cultural, artistic, recreational and business revitalization within the Kenmore Boulevard Historic Business District, has announced that it is rebranding as Better Kenmore Community Development Corporation (CDC).
“We are at the perfect stage in our evolution to rebrand and reintroduce ourselves to the community,” said Corey Jenkins, Marketing & Events Director for Better Kenmore. “We aren’t changing the type of work we do as an organization, but we are refreshing our name and identity to better reflect who we are as an organization.”
Since the organization began seven years ago, over a dozen new businesses and organizations have moved to Kenmore Boulevard, many of the existing business and property owners have invested in building façade improvements, and thousands of people have flocked to the district during its annual Kenmore First Friday events – a series of street festivals which include vendors, food trucks, an outdoor beer garden, community activities, and live music from some of the biggest and brightest artists the region has to offer.
Speaking of music, Kenmore Boulevard is fast becoming known as Akron’s Music Row – home to live music venues, over a half dozen recording studios, a record store, two guitar shops, and a world-renowned luthier.
“As Kenmore’s community development corporation, our vision is a safe, thriving Kenmore with a revived Boulevard at its core,” Better Kenmore Executive Director Josh Gippin explained. “Our approach to achieving this is through placemaking, real estate development, attracting new businesses, hosting community events, promoting the boulevard, and creating lasting connections within the Kenmore community.”
Gippin – who was named as successor to longtime Executive Director Tina Boyes in February – says the organization will continue to focus on initiatives aimed at revitalizing the Kenmore Boulevard Historic District and honor Boyes’ legacy, while expanding the organization’s capacity.
“I really feel that I’ve been passed the torch,” Gippin said. “We’re doing the same things we always have been, but supercharged. The first thing I did when I took over was to build a team, and we have a bona fide dream team that’s firing on all cylinders.”
Better Kenmore intends to facilitate real estate development, in part by acquiring and renovating buildings on the Boulevard. One of them houses SRINA Tea House & Cafe; another, which Gippin says will be completed by this Fall, will be home to an innovative and exciting concept which will be announced later this year. A third building will be completed in Spring 2024, which will likely house a restaurant on the first floor and affordable housing above it.
Gippin has plans for Better Kenmore to strengthen its community outreach initiatives as well. “I’m excited to build the kinds of strong relationships and trust that are needed so that we can all work together on bigger projects that benefit the whole neighborhood,” Gippin said.
Better Kenmore’s signature event, Kenmore First Friday, returns to the Boulevard on Friday, June 2, at 6 p.m. and will run through September 1. June’s installment will feature vendors from Oddmall, six stages of live music including Detention and Funeral Proposals on the 15th Street Main Stage, the Magic City Brewing Company beer garden, food trucks, speed dating, a kids’ activity zone, and much, much more.
“We’ve got some new and exciting experiences planned for First Friday this year,” Gippin said, “and we hope to see you on the Boulevard this Summer!”
Follow Better Kenmore CDC on Facebook & Instagram for updates and events!
In honor of International Guitar Month, we sat down with Steve to learn more about his background, how The Loft at Lay’s got started, and what’s kept Lay’s Guitar Shop on Kenmore Blvd. for the past 60 years.
What’s your background?
My background is construction. I owned several construction companies and mainly I did concrete work. I had a company with about 60 employees, then I sold it to a bigger company and I ran it as a division for about eight or nine years before I retired.
I’ve loved guitar since I was in school. I started playing when I was in Junior High School. My first guitar was a 1967 Fender Jaguar that my parents bought for me along with a Fender Pro Reverb amp.
When and how did you come up with the idea for the Loft?
I’ve known Lay’s owner Dan Shinn and his brother Joel Shinn for many years, and as I was looking toward retirement I had some money to invest. I told them if they ever wanted to do any retail I would like to be a partner as long as it was high end stuff.
I wasn’t looking for a job, but was interested in doing it out of my love for good, high quality guitars.
What types of guitars does The Loft specialize in?
We started out carrying acoustic guitar lines like Santa Cruz, Bourgeois, Huss & Dalton, and added a number of guitar lines since then. Gibson is always a standard here, we’ve got our own brand of Lay’s guitars, we’re one of 14 dealers for Bedell guitars and recently became one of only two dealers for Echopark guitars in the United States. We’re also a dealer for Knaggs guitar dealer and the exclusive Ohio dealer for Lowden guitars.
Can you tell us more about the Lay’s branded guitars?
For a long time we did not have the facilities nor the time to invest in building Lay’s-branded guitars except for custom builds for customers. Now, we have a second facility where we are able to ramp up the production to where we will always have a good supply of Lay’s guitars in stock.
And we’re doing some different things as well. For example, we’ve got a load of Korina wood that we’re building with, and we’re experimenting with some different pickup brands. And we have our fabric covered guitars as well.
What do you think the most important, interesting guitar you’ve had in The Loft is (either because of ownership or age)?
We’ve had a number of interesting pieces here. We’ve had a lot of nice vintage guitars, but one that stands out is the last acoustic guitar that Greg Lake (of Emerson, Lake, and Palmer) toured with before he died. We’ve had a number of other guitars that artists have played or owned.
One thing that we’re kind of famous for is our Les Paul conversions. And so we’ve had some very, very nice Les Paul conversions.
How would you best explain a Les Paul conversion to someone who maybe isn’t familiar with the concept?
The Holy Grail of electric guitars are the 1958, 1959, and 1960 Gibson Les Paul “Bursts.” So we take 1950’s Les Paul Juniors and Specials, which are more affordable, and convert them into the coveted “Burst” style Les Pauls. So instead of spending half a million dollars on a guitar that started its life as a “Burst, customers can buy one of our conversations for a fraction of the cost made out of old wood and vintage parts.
Steve Givens (left) holds an Echopark guitar, while Echopark founder Gabriel Currie (right) shows off a Lay’s Les Paul Conversion.
Over the years Lay’s has evolved from a guitar repair shop, to a place for custom builds, and now with The Loft a place to shop for guitars. What’s next in the evolution of Lay’s?
We want to grow the Lay’s Guitar brand and get the guitars we build into the hands of some high profile players and get some endorsees. They’ve wound up in the hands of a few players already. Brad Paisley has had a couple that he’s played and still has at least one.
Lay’s opened in Kenmore during some of the Blvd’s glory years and has remained here as it slowly began to decline, through its wilderness years, and it’s here to see its gradual revitalization. What’s made Lay’s here through all the ups and downs?
Some guitar companies have actually asked if we would move to another location that maybe would serve them better, but the feel and the vibe of what we have here is what we’re looking for and we don’t want to lose it by moving anywhere else.
You serve a lot of people locally, you also have customers all over the world. Where’s the furthest/most interesting place you’ve sent a guitar to?
We ship to Canada regularly and have shipped guitars to Japan, Russia, China, Japan, Austria, Germany, Sweden, and other parts of Europe. Sometimes shipping costs can be prohibitive when it comes to shipping to some regions.
What should people keep their eyes open for? Anything exciting coming to the Loft?
We have three guitars that will be coming made from the tree mahogany [a.k.a. “The Music Tree”], which is ultra rare. The tree mahogany is one tree that’s found in Belize that the Smithsonian recently did an article on and I’ve got one guitar coming from Santa Cruz and two from Bedell coming made from that tree. Slash has a guitar built out of that tree.
What’s your favorite part about being located in Kenmore?
It’s a friendly, tight-knit community and everybody is here to help each other.
The Loft at Lay’s is open Monday – Friday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. or by appointment. Learn more about The Loft at Lay’s at theloftatlays.com and be sure to follow @steviesguitars on Instagram to see what’s new in The Loft!
The Guitar Department has been a Kenmore Blvd. destination for guitarists and bassists for almost fifteen years.
To help celebrate International Guitar Month, we sat down with Ed Michalec, owner of The Guitar Department to learn how he started, what’s new at the shop, and what he thinks of where Kenmore Blvd. is today.
The Guitar Department opened in 2009, but you began buying and selling guitars in the mid 1980s. Tell us how you got started?
I was initially playing bass and I could not afford a decent instrument. So like so many other people, I kept buying things I thought were better and then I would replace what I had with something else or add to it. Eventually, I liked the idea of buying and selling instruments as much as I liked playing bass and took it from there. I consigned with a local shop that was in Kenmore and eventually, when they went out of business, I opened my own place.
What made you decide to open a physical store after years of selling at shows and consigning?
I was pushed by my wife at the time to get the stuff out of our house. She didn’t like half stack guitar amplifiers in her dining room .
What made you decide to open on Kenmore Blvd. and what’s kept you here?
There was a longtime shop called Musician’s Bargain Basement that was where I consigned most of my pieces and was pretty much the basis for the idea for starting the store. We’ve taken it in a different direction than they did, but when they closed and when other stores that were staples in the area eventually closed, I felt like there was an opening in the market for someone to do something different.
I’ve stayed here because the neighborhood is improving, people finally know where I’m at, and Kenmore Neighborhood Alliance’s work to improve the Boulevard is making it a more desirable place to be and a better place to do business. Plus, there’s a synergy with Lay’s Guitar Repair next door that brings customers in the door every day. We’re thankful for that too.
Thousands of guitars, basses, amps, pedals, and other pieces of equipment have passed through your hands at this point – what’s the most interesting thing you ever had and sold?
Wow. I don’t know. It’s all a blur now. There’s been so many, but I’ve had some really nice pieces. I’ve had some very strange pieces. I’m definitely drawn to the eclectic. I picked up a pretty cool guitar in Indiana a couple days ago, it’s a Bacce Rocket guitar that was handmade in Spain.
I had a Gibson Invader that was covered in calf skin that was featured on a “Ridiculous Reverb Listings” video on YouTube. [the guitar sold as a result of it’s appearance in the video]
I’ll always have the stuff people want, but I buy the stuff I like too. So I always have something a little bit different here. You know, a B.C. Rich might be a pretty normal guitar compared to some of the things we bring in. We do a lot of used and we’re starting to get a little more vintage in again. I’m always searching for something interesting.
These days many musicians are making their purchases online at Reverb or Sweetwater or shopping with the big box competitor fifteen minutes to your north. Why do you think it’s important that musicians still support their local independent guitar shop before calling Sweetwater or going to Guitar Center?
I think the true difference is attention to detail. A lot of the big box stores and bigger internet sellers just open a box and put the guitar on the wall. And if you’re any kind of a player, you understand that a guitar is something that requires adjustment from time to time and a little bit of work to make it more playable. Especially if the guitar has been built in a factory overseas and gone through six climate zones on a boat deck getting here.
Guitars are made of wood, which is cellular and the wood moves. So you need to adjust and intonate and get everything ready to play. That’s something we do with every guitar. It takes a lot of time and effort, but it makes a better playing experience for our customer. When you buy something here, it’s been set up to play.
The smaller shops, most of them typically do that. Most of them are run by players. Most of them care about that. The big box stores, I can tell you, I go into them pretty often and you don’t see that there. I’ll see used instruments with someone else’s dust on it hanging on the wall.
Everything we get goes across the bench. No matter if it’s a $100 guitar or a $7,000 guitar, it gets taken care of before it’s available for sale.
Though I do have some people that ask me to buy stuff right when it comes and I typically don’t do that until we can get the guitar into good shape.
Who are you talking about?
I don’t know. There’s this weird Corey guy in this band called Big Pop who wants to buy everything I buy as soon as I buy it.
If you had to pick a favorite guitar for sale in your shop right now, which one would it be?
I like the 1965 Epiphone Coronet I have right now. It’s a one pickup guitar, and I love Gibson Les Paul Juniors which are also one pickup guitars. And this is kind of the USA Epiphone version of that.
I bought it off an older gentleman who begged his dad for it when he was fifteen years old and played it for years in teen clubs in the sixties and into the seventies. He told me that within six months of getting it, he had made enough money playing music to buy a Fender Tremolux amp – which was very expensive at the time.
He said that he made more money playing that guitar as a teen than his father was making working a job. The only reason he was selling it was he was having trouble with his hands and could no longer play.
There have been a lot of changes on Kenmore Blvd. since you opened here 14 years ago. What are the biggest changes you’ve noticed?
The area is cleaner. People are taking better care of their buildings. More of the storefronts are occupied by actual businesses rather than people using them for other purposes.
People are coming to the area because they’re hearing positive things about it. So I’ll get people in from out of town that have heard of Kenmore and wanted to check it out and came to the store as a result.
What do you want prospective customers and people who have never been to the store to know about The Guitar Department?
We care about the customer. It’s a small staff. It’s a family-owned company. It’s myself and my son Quinn that run it day to day with a few friends who serve as occasional guest staff members that help us out from time to time.
We really do care about the product we put out and want the customer to have a good experience every time.
Anything new and exciting at The Guitar Department that someone who hasn’t been in for the past six to twelve months might not know about?
We currently have a huge selection of Boss and Roland products. That’s our latest edition. Katana amplifiers, Roland Amplifiers, Boss Pedals, anything that Roland makes that’s guitar-centric we pretty much have.
We’ve also brought in JHS Pedals, and it’s not the newest thing, but we’ve added to our Paul Reed Smith selection and have the largest selection of Paul Reed Smith guitars in the area without a doubt.
What should the rest of Akron, Northeast Ohio, and the world know about Kenmore?
Kenmore’s a good place to be. We’ve been here 14 years and area has had its ups and downs, but a lot more ups lately. Things are moving in a very positive direction. It’s a very music-centric area with a lot of musicians. The summertime Kenmore First Friday concert series is not to be missed. It’s just a good place to be.
The Guitar Department is located at 972 Kenmore Blvd. and is open Tuesday & Thursday from 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.; Wednesday & Friday from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.; and Saturday from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Kenmore Neighborhood Alliance is excited to welcome grant manager Eleni Manousogiannakis to its team!
Eleni spent almost a dozen years as an optician for LensCrafters before receiving her Master’s degree in Public Health at California State University- Northridge. Upon earning her degree, Eleni turned her attention to the nonprofit world where she focused mainly on fundraising, operations and quality improvement.
After soaking up the sun for fifteen years in The Golden State, Eleni decided to return to her roots and come home to Akron. No stranger to Kenmore, Eleni spent her childhood here and attended Pfeiffer Elementary School and Kenmore High School where she played volleyball, basketball, was in the marching band, and a member of student council.
“I really enjoyed band camp, the friendships, fun activities, pranks and the discipline I learned through early morning band practices.” Eleni said when reflecting on her time at Kenmore High School.
Eleni has a passion for positive change – and is driven to be a part of change that improves the quality of life for the people she is serving. As a member of the Kenmore Neighborhood Alliance team, Eleni will work to increase grant revenue which in return will be recycled back into the community of Kenmore.
When Eleni isn’t working you can find her watching The Godfathers series, taking a bike ride through the neighborhood, or hanging out with her kids. You might have already met Eleni during the first Better Block while she was painting the sidewalks.
Make sure to say hello next time you see her out and about on The BLVD!
Lori Julien opened Marigold Sol on April Fool’s Day 2021 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. What initially began as an equal parts passion project and a way to move her personal workshop out of her crowded family home has since grown into one of Kenmore’s most unique destinations for both DIY hobbyists and shoppers looking for one of a kind décor.
Lori initially rented workshop space in Wadsworth, but eventually her landlord sold the building and she was forced to move out.
She wasn’t planning to find a new location to rent, but her plans quickly changed when she and her husband stumbled upon a vacancy at 962 Kenmore Blvd. during a Kenmore First Friday.
She fell in love with the window wrapped store front and inquired about renting it right away. After securing the space, she quickly decided it would be an injustice to keep such a prodigious parlor to herself and realized it needed to be a brick and mortar shop and not just her private workshop.
This is when the inspiration to open the vintage shop now known as Marigold Sol, struck.
“Marigold is the flower for October, which is when I formally started my business,” Lori said when asked how she came up with the name for her shop. “Marigold signifies creativity. I wanted to do a play on soul – it has sun, light and creative soul but in a different way.”
When you first walk into Marigold Sol, you’re welcomed by a thoughtfully curated boutique full of custom and vintage pieces of décor – some of which have been salvaged and given a new life by Lori, with others crafted by her vendors and partners.
Additionally, it’s a place for Lori to share creativity through Marigold Sol’s workshops-where creatives and self-proclaimed “non-creatives” can learn new skills and craft pieces to cherish-regardless of experience.
“I want to create a design inspiration area [in the store],” Lori said. “I want people [to] come in and be inspired and have a vision of what they can do with the Wise Owl paint [I sell].”
Wise Owl paint is an eco-friendly woman-owned company out of Michigan designed with the crafty DIYer in mind.
After two years in Kenmore, Lori doesn’t regret her decision to open a shop on The BLVD one bit.
“It has been really good being on Kenmore Blvd.” Lori said. “I love what [former Kenmore Neighborhood Alliance executive director] Tina Boyes did for everything here and I am looking forward to seeing where [new Kenmore Neighborhood Alliance executive director] Josh Gippin takes it from here. People should know that Kenmore is a good place with good people who care about the community and want to see them succeed. They need to be here to see it.”
Marigold Sol will host its two-year anniversary celebration this Friday, March 31, from 6 – 8 p.m. The celebration will include snacks, scratch off tickets, discounts and more. Additionally, Marigold Sol is offering extended hours on Saturday from
10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Make sure to stop by to congratulate Lori on two years on Kenmore Blvd. and check out everything Marigold Sol has to offer!
Marigold Sol is located at 962 Kenmore Blvd. in Akron and is open Wednesday Through Friday 12pm until 5pm, Saturdays 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. and by appointment by calling 330-803-0419. You can find them online at marigold-sol.com, on Facebook @marigoldsol and on Instagram @mymarigoldsol.
Sharness Dowdy is the proud owner of The Nite Owl located at 992 Kenmore Blvd. Open since 2021, the restaurant has become known as a Kenmore gem – specializing in food for the soul.
After working the graveyard shift for over six years, Sharness was inspired to open The Nite Owl when she noticed there were no restaurants open late to serve night shift workers like herself.
As a Kenmore resident, Sharness loves the many youth sports programs offered in the community and enjoys supporting her 9 year old son Jakhilan, who is a member of the Kenmore Youth Basketball and Football teams.
“Youth programs help kids engage in positive activities with other kids and it teaches them mentorship, team building and they can have fun while learning a new sport,” Sharness explained.
We sat down with Sharness to learn more about what inspired her to open The Nite Owl, and what she loves most about being not only a Kenmore resident but also a business owner on Kenmore Boulevard.
What Inspired you to Open The Nite Owl?
I worked at Akron General Clinic Hospital late at night and there were never any good food options open that late. From that point I decided that I wanted to change that, so I started planning my own restaurant. Planning this restaurant involved a lot of work. There was a lot of research involved in opening the restaurant, the logistics of running it, down to things like planning the menu. I used to cater for my friends’ businesses and that really inspired me to kick start this journey. I started out by selling only cheesecake and it really took flight from there.
Where did the name”The Nite Owl” come from?
It really comes down to the fact that I am just that, a Nite Owl. Which is why I always worked late shifts. Since I know the problems people who work late nights face when it comes to food options, I decided that I really wanted my restaurant to cater to them.
What Inspired you to make The Nite Owl a comfort / soul food restaurant?
I wanted the food I cooked for my restaurant to be the same food I would make at home and feed my family with, that’s what makes it special to me.
What is your favorite dish to cook?
I really love cooking all kinds of food so this is a tough question to answer. I would have to say that my favorite dish to cook is the Alfredo because I get to use my artistic culinary skills and I can make it look pretty.
Do you offer any specials during the week?
Yes, we have multiple specials throughout the week.
Tuesday: Cheeseburger and fries for $5.
Wednesday: Six piece wings and fries for $9.
Thursday: Buy any trio and receive $1 off your order.
Friday: Fish and fries for $10.
How did you learn to cook?
I learned to cook from my great grandmother and my grandmother. I have many memories of being very young and standing on the chair in front of our stove helping them cook. The first thing I ever learned to cook was skillet fried corn and baked chicken.
What is the most popular item on the menu?
The most popular item on our menu is hands down our rollies. The best way to explain our rollies is comparing them to an egg roll with a non-traditional filling. We have so many different types of rollies. The flavors we offer for our regular rollies are chicken bacon ranch, cheeseburger, philly cheesesteak and chicken philly. We also offer deluxe rollies which are cheeseburger mac, firecracker chicken and rice, BBQ chicken and rice and our soul rollie. You can get them with a side of boom boom sauce to really complete the taste.
Our rollies are a huge hit!
Are you planning on adding anything new to your menu?
Yes, we are planning on doing something new for the summer. I want to add some lighter food items to the menu. I have this really delicious salmon salad that I am excited to make!
As a Kenmore resident, what do you love most about Kenmore?
I love seeing all the new businesses opening up on Kenmore BLVD. I keep seeing vacant buildings turn into businesses and it feels really good. It feels like Kenmore is coming back to life.
What is the most rewarding part of managing The Nite Owl?
The most rewarding part of managing The Nite Owl is seeing all my hard work come to life and just being here and being able to be a part of it. Owners of large corporations don’t have the opportunity to really be a part of their restaurants. I love being a small business owner and being able to really contribute to my business. I get to do a mix of everything. I really love being here and being in the kitchen.
What is the biggest challenge you’ve had to overcome with The Nite Owl?
The biggest challenge was definitely the life curve that the pandemic threw at us and everyone. It has been very hard to get people to work for me and inflation forced us to raise our prices which hasn’t sat well with a few of our customers, it is hard for them to understand why we have to raise our prices.
Tell us about a time when a customer made you feel like a million bucks.
One of my regular customers stopped by the store the other day and he always buys the banana pudding but this time he was praising it and asked me if I could make him a huge pan all for himself. It is such a good feeling seeing people enjoy my restaurant’s food.
What do you find unique about Kenmore?
I think the Kenmore Neighborhood Alliance really makes Kenmore unique. They help to bring a sense of community to Kenmore. They are always looking for new ways to uplift the community and are helping to bring it back to the way it was before and I think that is so great.
Is there anything else you would like for people to know about The Nite Owl?
I want people to know that we have been working really hard and we are just happy to serve the community.
The Nite Owl serves food for your soul Tuesday through Thursday from 4 p.m. – 12 a.m. and Friday through Saturday from 4 p.m. – 2 a.m. from its location at 992 Kenmore Blvd. You can place your order through their website theniteowlrestaurant.com, DoorDash, or in person at the restaurant. Follow them on Facebook at The Nite Owl, your mouth will be watering after scrolling through their photos showcasing their delectable food options.
After eight years of opening primarily only for live music and events, The Rialto Theatre now serves food and drinks four days a week.
In need of a new lunch time hang out? Ready for a new after work haunt? Then we’ve got good news for you.
The Rialto Living Room – which opened inside The Rialto Theatre in late 2021 – is now open Wednesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., with a full bar and food from Paninoteca, including hand crafted paninis, tacos, desserts and soups.
Aside from SRINA Tea House & Cafe’s brief residency inside the Rialto Living Room, the space had previously only been open during concerts, performances, and other events.
Rialto co-owner Seth Vaill said he hopes the new hours will attract a regular lunchtime and after-work clientele. Vaill added that the Living Room also features an “open stage,” where patrons can both perform and enjoy live music.
“We want this to become a favorite new spot for people to stop in for a sandwich or a drink or conversation and feel like they are in their own living room,” he said.
The bar – which features over 30 beers – and restaurant combination has already proved popular amongst the musicians and concert goers who have had the opportunity to experience it since Paninoteca began serving up its signature sandwiches last fall – the most popular of which is the “La Roma” which includes ham, pepperoni, San Marzano marinara, fresh mozzarella, banana peppers, and basil.
“It’s so exciting to see this space activated even when there isn’t live entertainment,” Kenmore Neighborhood Alliance Marketing & Events Director Corey Jenkins said. “It’s the perfect place to meet friends for dinner and a drink after work and unwind, and it’s great to have another dining option on the boulevard.”
The Rialto Living Room is located inside The Rialto Theatre at 1000 Kenmore Blvd. For more information, and to view the full food and drink menu, visit therialtotheatre.com. Follow Paninoteca on Instagram and Facebook.
This week marks the second anniversary of Just a Dad From Akron’s grand opening at 937 Kenmore Blvd. In two short years, founder Kenny Lambert has seen his business evolve from purposeful clothing store to a safe place for the community to visit and those in recovery or struggling with addiction to find support – and the support side of the business is poised to continue evolving.
Earlier this year, Kenny announced the launch of JADFA House with Kristi Watson – a Kenmore-based photographer and his partner. JADFA House is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that will provide recovery support and services to those struggling with addiction – something Kenny knows about firsthand.
Before getting sober and opening Just a Dad From Akron, Kenny spent years struggling with substance abuse and addiction on Kenmore Blvd. Now he and Kristi will help others aspire to sobriety on the same street where he once struggled.
“Building a safe place for people to recover, find God and come together in the name of faith and recovery was my inspiration to start the JADFA House”, said Kenny.
JADFA (an abbreviation of Just a Dad From Akron) House will serve as a safe place for people who are working towards sobriety and is built on three pillars: Faith, Recovery and Community. The goal is to create a space where everyone can feel safe and welcome to grow stronger in recovery, build healthy friendships, and continue building a mission for positive change.
“We don’t want to limit JADFA House to only people in recovery” explained Kristi. “We want JADFA House to benefit everyone in the community. We are planning to have cookouts, 5ks and other events to help bring good people to Kenmore Boulevard.”
JADFA House will offer sober support meetings where participants are encouraged to share their experiences and strengthen their commitment to recovery along with weekly activities like yoga, bible study, dinner nights, and morning meditation to those who seek out its services and become JADFA House members.
In addition to in-house sober support, JADFA House will help its members receive treatment and detox placement, community outreach education, and training.
JADFA House provides members with a sense of community, belonging, and positivity.
“It is our role to create a space for the community [at JADFA House] where everyone can feel welcome and free to come as they are and be themselves, knowing they can step into a space without any judgment” a JADFA House member said.
Kenny – who credits the birth of his daughter as the inspiration he needed to get clean – also knows how hard it can be for parents to get help and support when they have their children, which is why JADFA House also provides activities and supervision for children while their parents attend sober support meetings.
While JADFA House is already providing sober and mental health support through weekly meetings (every Friday at 8 p.m.) at Just a Dad From Akron, Kristi and Kenny say they hope to host the grand opening of JADFA House and move the support meetings there this summer.
In the meantime, don’t miss Just a Dad From Akron’s second anniversary party this Saturday, March 11, from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. The event will feature prizes and exclusive merchandise.
For additional information or support, contact JADFA House at info@thejadfahhouse.org or visit their website at thejadfahouse.org. Find JADFA House on Facebook at The JADFA House 501c3. JADFA House will open at 916 Kenmore Blvd. in Summer 2023.
