CLEVELAND — Cleveland Vegan owner Laura Ross said the New Year’s resolution crowds give them new business at the start of the new year. 

What You Need To Know

  • January and February are usually slower months of the year. 

  • Cleveland Independents like Cleveland Vegan are creating a raffle for gift cards to bring people in. 

  • Hatfield's Goode Grub is hosting Blues bands. 
​“Thankfully, a lot of people are sort of eager to eat a little healthier at the start of the year," Ross said. "So we get a definite bump.” 

But overall, she said January and February are slower months. So to speed them up, her restaurant and the rest of the Cleveland Independents have created gift cards for a raffle. A winner can get up to $1,000 in gift cards for participating restaurants. You have to go to a Cleveland Independent in order to enter the raffle. Ross hopes this will bring people in. 

“The intention is to give a lot of restaurants some traffic, and they get 25, 50 dollar gift card and the hope is they can spend a little bit more," Ross said. 

Ken Hatfield owns Hatfield’s Goode Grub. He isn’t a member of the independents, but he wants to use all the space he has. He’s bringing in comedy upstairs and live blues downstairs during the slower months. 

“It’s such a big space as you can see," Hatfield said. "Trying to get people in here when it’s a little bit slower, it’s kinda tough. So we’re doing all kinds of stuff.” 

Ross’ restaurant also has some specials for Super Bowl Sunday. She makes football-themed vegan foods as a way to hook some of the takeout crowds that are looking for healthier options. 

“They’re vegan and they love all those specials, but they can’t eat them anymore," Ross said. "Or they don’t eat them anymore. So this gives them sort of an entrance back into eating some of their favorite items.” 

Valentine’s Day is just a few days after Super Bowl Sunday, so she will have a reservations-only four-course meal for Valentine’s Day, as a way to get some extra traffic on a weeknight. 

“We just kind of focus on what we can do to encourage people to dine here and support small huskinesses during this time," Ross said.

Ross hopes that these next couple of weeks can get her through the quieter months for the Cleveland restaurant scene.