Wheel Lounge was a restaurant in the Lee-Miles neighborhood. Days after closing the Ebony Lounge on Cedar Avenue in October 1956, Jimmy and Catherine Davis opened the Wheel Lounge. Their move reflected departure of more affluent Blacks from the Cedar-Central area and the growing cost of hiring live entertainment. Once the semirural village of Miles Heights, which had a small African American community dating to the 1920s, Lee-Miles was a Black population growth area in the postwar years, so Call & Post‘s description of the Wheel’s “outskirts-of-town” location would soon become outdated. The Wheel Lounge included a lounge bar, a delicatessen, and a dining room that specialized in chicken, steak, shrimp, and barbecue. It became a favored spot for private parties. The Davises opened a new patio dining area in 1957. The patio became the venue for Wednesday “Fiesta” nights with instructors on hand to teach the “latest South American dances.” By 1963, the restaurant was under new management and introduced live music, but no mention was made of what happened to the Davises. It continued in operation at least until 1979.
Resources
- Display Ad 6 — No Title. Call & Post. April 20, 1963.
- Display Ad 6 — No Title. Call & Post. November 28, 1964.
- Display Ad 10 — No Title. Call & Post. October 13, 1979.
- Display Ad 26 — No Title. Call & Post. June 21, 1958.
- “Ebony Folds; ‘Wheel’ Ready on Lee.” Call & Post. October 13, 1956.
- “Howard Meckley Plans To Open ‘Gem’ On Or About December 19.” Call & Post. December 15, 1956.
- Michney, Todd M. Surrogate Suburbs: Black Upward Mobility and Neighborhood Change in Cleveland, 1900–1980. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2017.
- Photo Standalone 19 — No Title. Call & Post. July 20, 1957.
- Photo Standalone 43 — No Title. Call & Post. November 10, 1956.