Babe’s Baby Grand Lounge at 5522 Euclid Avenue originally opened in 1957 as the Harlem Cafe. It was among the earliest Black-owned businesses on Euclid Avenue. Proprietor Babe Brondfield had previously operated Club Congo on Woodland Avenue until it burned in 1957. He then started operating the Harlem Cafe, located almost in the shadow of the elevated Pennsylvania Railroad trestle near the Pennsylvania Station at East 55th, before remodeling it to his own taste and renaming it Babe’s Baby Grand Lounge in 1959. The nightclub featured jazz, blues, and rock musicians and floor shows, including drag shows. Early in the club’s run, pioneering Cleveland rock ‘n’ roll artist Screamin’ Jay Hawkins played there for several consecutive weeks. The venue closed in 1961.
Additional information coming soon.
