Leave it to one of North Royalton’s most successful longtime eateries, Cleats Club Seat Grille, to help make a global pandemic more bearable.
The “Fauci Pouchy,” named after infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci, has been a hit with customers, reports Cleats leader Tim Higdon. Think of the “Fauci Pouchy” as a juice box-like cocktail for weary, of-age adults. First dreamed up in a D.C. bar soon after COVID struck, restaurants and bars across the nation have since put their own spin on the popular alcoholic pouch drink. Brooke Wolf, of Cleats, creates the cocktails, that have flavors like strawberry basil lemonade and blueberry basil lemonade, and said fall flavors including salted caramel apple cider will soon debut.
“Named after you-know-who, it’s an alcoholic drink in a pouch that’s been a huge hit,” Higdon said. “The recipe changes weekly, but they too are available for carry-out.”
In Coronavirus times, restaurant owners like Higdon are burning the midnight oil and trying tactics to stay viable and relevant to customers, many of whom are too leary to leave their homes and dine in a restaurant mask-free.
At Niko’s Bar & Gyros, Owner Niko Moulagianis and his team are preparing for the fall season – a time typically marked with football fans packed in tight to watch televised games and diners arriving for seasonal favorites like clambakes and beer specials. The Royalton Road spot was declared the world’s No. 1 Browns Backer Bar of 2019 in March and celebrated with a private party thrown by the Cleveland Browns. Just days after the shoulder-to-shoulder celebration, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine shut down the state’s restaurants and bars. With Browns season now underway, Moulagianis plans to designate the left side of his restaurant to the Browns Backers and the right side to his diners. He’s also gearing up for a slightly different vibe of “seated excitement” as Ohio regulations require customers to stay seated – and not mingling and cheering with other rowdy Browns fans – at Ohio restaurants and bars. Moulagianis notes that the restaurant’s stellar take-out business record helped it weather the shut-down and reopen successfully in May. Revenue from take-out orders continues to climb and profits are even higher than they were pre-COVID, he said.
“My take-out business has always been super solid,” Moulagianis said. “My regulars have been amazing and very understanding of all the procedures.”
Changes In Place
If you’ve been to a restaurant since they’ve reopened, you know the drill: limited seating capacities, sanitizing stations, face masked employees and plexiglass dividers are just some of the measures taken by local restaurants to stay compliant.
“At first, we reduced indoor capacity and expanded outdoor seating. People were reluctant to sit inside,” Higdon said of state mandates. “We made a significant investment in screens and plexiglass dividers throughout the restaurant. Now, with our movable dividers and permanent barriers, we’re able to seat our restaurant at full capacity. This includes bar seating too. We’ve also installed hand sanitizer stations throughout, regularly sanitize door handles and hard surfaces, and continually emphasize to our team the criticality of repetitive hand washing.”
The Wallings Road site, which has been in business in North Royalton for 24 years, closed for nearly two months during the height of COVID.
“Most of our staff was afraid to work, so even if we had wanted to open, we wouldn’t have had anyone to staff the place,” Higdon said. “Eventually, we went with a skeleton staff and simply offered carry out food.”
Cleats isn’t planning on any clambakes or large-crowd events this fall, but there are specials like $4.99 half-pound burgers on Sundays and during all Browns games, along with beer specials that coordinate with the NFL schedule, Higdon said.
Niko’s will offer their clambake every Saturday in October, except for Halloween weekend. $25 gets you a half chicken, a dozen clams, corn on the cob and a baked potato. For $35, a Maine lobster is added to the line-up. An extra dozen clams costs $12. There are also $3 taps every Sunday at Niko’s, which has been proclaimed, “Ohio Beer Fest Sunday.”

By SARA MACHO HILL
Contributing Writer