Harold’s Kitchen opens West Side
Harold’s Kitchen opened a new West Side location — the project comes from owner Lydell Ware, who moved from an ex‑Luchita’s space and is serving catfish and wings inspired by his father. (The social post praising the opening showed strong local engagement this week.) (x.com)
Harold’s Kitchen has opened on Cleveland’s West Side at 3456 West 117th Street, taking over the former Luchita’s restaurant space. (haroldskitchenoh.com) The restaurant’s online ordering site lists the new West 117th Street address and a Cleveland phone number, confirming the move to the west side storefront. Map listings for the address also now show Harold’s Kitchen at the site. (haroldskitchenoh.com) (mapquest.com) The menu centers on fried catfish, whole-wing dinners, polish boys, pork chops, burgers and sides including greens, yams and macaroni and cheese. Third-party menu listings for the new address show catfish and wing combinations among the staples. (checkle.com) (postmates.com) The address carries weight on Cleveland’s West Side because Luchita’s operated there for about 40 years before closing on July 5, 2022. Cleveland Scene reported that Maria de la Luz Galindo opened Luchita’s in 1981, making it one of the city’s early Mexican restaurants on the West Side. (clevescene.com) (shakersquare.com) Luchita’s closure left a recognizable corner vacant while the Galindo family pursued a separate revival in Shaker Square. That opened room for a different local operator to put a new identity into a familiar building. (shakersquare.com) (mapquest.com) Harold’s Kitchen appears to be an expansion or relocation from the city’s East Side. Restaurant directories and review sites previously listed Harold’s Kitchen Soul Food Cafe at 687 East 152nd Street in Cleveland, while current ordering pages now point to West 117th. (restaurantji.com) (haroldskitchenoh.com) Public records tie the business to Harolds Kitchen Soulfood Cafe, Limited Liability Company in Ohio, and family records identify Lydell Ware as a son of Harold Lydell Ware. Those records match the restaurant’s name and the family story behind it. (bizapedia.com) (cleveland.com) The result is a soul food spot built around catfish, wings and family branding now landing in one of the West Side’s better-known former restaurant spaces. On West 117th, the new sign is also a handoff from one Cleveland food memory to another. (haroldskitchenoh.com) (clevescene.com)
