The Lancer Steak House opened in the former Hickory Grill at 7701 Carnegie in 1961 and soon expanded, changing its address to 7707 Carnegie. Its original building then became home to the Hanna Lounge after it left its original Playhouse Square location in 1963. The Lancer was the latest in Fleet and Beulah Slaughter’s restaurant ventures. Previously they had operated the Green Bookâlisted Manhattan Restaurant on Cedar Avenue.
The Lancer became one of the most popular restaurants on Cleveland’s East Side and was a regular meeting place for local politicians, businessmen, and civil rights leaders in the 1960s-70s. In 1972 the Slaughters added the four-story 150-room Lancer Motor Inn behind their restaurant, filling a void left five years earlier with the closure of the Majestic Hotel. After Fleet Slaughter died in 1975, Beulah Slaughter ran the Lancer until 1978, when she sold it to John H. Carson Jr. During Carson’s tenure, the motel began to suffer from a growing crime problem. He sold the business to George Dixon III in 1986. The motel burned down in 2009 and the restaurant closed in 2015.
Resources
- Fuster, John. “About the Stars.” Call & Post. December 2, 1961.
- “Lancer Motor Inn Opens Doors To Public Sunday.” Call & Post. March 4, 1972.
- “Slaughters To Open Steak House Monday.” Call & Post. August 5, 1961.
- Souther, Mark. “Slaughter, Fleet.” Encyclopedia of Cleveland History.