As anticipated, the trip to The Blue Fig Bar and Grill was a bust. Not only did Jay tell me he suspected it was closed but several reconnaissance trips down the HealthLine toward home had shown me nothing to indicate that it was open, despite the tantalizing “Restaurant Open” sign in the front window.

The consistently unlit “Open” sign did nothing to deter me either.

And so I had to stop. Here is an establishment that claims to have:

CORNED BEEF
best in town
parking in rear

What’s not to get excited about?

Free time and the weather aligned Thursday this week allowing me to stop at East 36th and Euclid to snap a few pictures of what may have been the best corned beef in Cleveland.

What was there to lose? The sky was clear, the weather warm and it was still early April. By standing on a Euclid Corridor (Healthline) station island (yes, in the middle of Euclid Avenue), I was able to get some really nice shots of this now defunct restaurant.

Not to be confused with the Blue Fig Hookah Cafe, the Blue Fig Bar and Grill appears to have been a “welcome retreat after a long day at Cleveland State or Tri-C”.

If anyone knows the story behind this establishment, please leave us a comment and we’ll look into it further. Given that hand-painted “The Blue Fig Bar and Grill” sign seems to be placed over an older sign, I wouldn’t be surprised if the “Corned Beef” sign around the corner belonged to an earlier restaurant at this location.

I wasn’t able to obtain a sample of their corned beef for rating purposes but the old “Corned Beef” sign has to be one of my favorites so far.