Sokolowski's University Inn To Close Permanently

CLEVELAND — The iconic Sokolowski's University Inn is closing permanently.

For nearly a century, Sokolowski's has served Polish comfort food to Northeast Ohioans. The restaurant shut its door in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Sokolowskis promised to return from the shuttering, but the continued punishment of the pandemic altered the family's plans.

Mike Sokolowski told Fox 8 the family was planning on closing the restaurant in the future, but the difficulties of operating during the pandemic sped up the process.

Sokolowski's University Inn opened in 1923 in the Tremont neighborhood. Over nearly a century of operation, the restaurant became part of the backbone of a burgeoning food renaissance in Cleveland.

The James Beard Foundation awarded Sokolowski's the "American Classics" award in 2014.

Bernie Sokolowski said numerous health ailments put his time away from the restaurant into focus. At 65, he wanted time to enjoy his life.

Still, he told ideastreamn, he's going to miss the friendships he built through Sokolowski's University Inn.