Coventry

If you're a child of the 80s and 90s Alternative scene here in Cleveland you're probably familiar with Coventry.  Coventry is a street in the heart of the near East side of Cleveland that would be Greenwich Village in New York; it was very much a "college" street at the time.

Tommy's eatery was a common hangout.  Back then it was a vegetarian restaraunt.  Tommy's is still there, but now serves a more egalitarian fare.  I used to love the Dagmar Salads followed by a chocolate shake there on the weekends.

At the other end of the block was Arabica, a local coffee shop.  This was before the migration of the chic to coffee, before there was a Starbucks on every corner.  Arabica was poorly lit and well worn, but it had a definate ambiance. 

That end of the block burned down in a huge fire a ways back, the original Arabica and the Chinese restaraunt called Hunan at Coventry were lost (I used to love Hunan's as a date destination).  Both have been rebuilt, but they lost their appeal along with their patina.

Big Fun closed this year.