Blue Door goes for more elegant, less brunchy vibe with new bar, 6 beers on tap

Folks can belly up to the big, new bar now for breakfast, lunch, dinner and drinks at Blue Door Cafe & Bakery in Cuyahoga Falls.

In a $70,000 renovation completed last week, owner Michael Bruno had a poured concrete-top bar installed in the space that formerly had a small breakfast counter. The much larger, fully equipped bar is 28 inches wide and 18 feet long, with eight seats.

The restaurant closed Oct. 2 through 6 for the renovations before reopening for breakfast Oct. 7 as well as two eight-course German dinners that weekend.

Blue Door now has six beers on tap behind the new bar, which features a back-paneled front. The restaurant, which previously served only German beers, is now focusing on select beers from local microbreweries.

They include a Belgian strong ale and a coffee stout from Missing Mountain Brewing Co. in the Falls, a honey blonde ale from Hoppin' Frog Brewery in Akron, the Czech 123 Pilsner from Akronym Brewing in Akron and an IPA from UnHitched Brewing in Louisville. Bruno also offers one German beer on tap, from Bitburger Brewery.

Serving cocktails from Blue Door's new drink menu is now easier from the new bar. It sports a new, state-of-the-art ice maker that makes spherical ice cubes for upscale cocktails.

The steel-frame bar has all of the bar equipment hanging from the frame. New equipment includes two bar refrigerators, a beer cooler, glass dishwasher, two ice bins and two cocktail stations for bartenders.

New pendant lighting above the bar is more aesthetically pleasing with recessed bulbs, Bruno said.

In the evening, folks can sit at the bar for a full dinner or for a drink and a small plate, with choices including seared pork belly, wings, scallops, herbed spatzle, spicy beef dumplings and more. Or they can opt for a beer and a burger.

"I wanted to change the vibe in here and make it a little more elegant, a little less brunchy, and I think it's definitely accomplished that. The vibe is completely different when you walk into the front door," Bruno said.

Bakery case moves

In another change, the cafe's bakery case has now moved from the former breakfast bar area to the left of the restaurant entrance, which required two tables to be removed from the dining space. Now, customers coming in for a carryout pastry and espresso no longer have to walk through the dining room to get to the bakery area, which makes the busy restaurant operation more efficient.

All of the restaurant's seating also has been replaced with slightly bigger, more comfortable wood chairs with black padding.

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Phase two coming in February

Installing the new bar was phase one of Blue Door's dining room renovation. In February, the restaurant will close again for a full dining area renovation, with everything but the floor being redone.

The restaurant booths will be removed and tables will be replaced by new, larger wood tables made by Chagrin Valley Custom Furniture of Warrensville Heights. The new seating will include two new wood benches on two walls.

In the back of the dining room, a drop ceiling will be raised to become a tray ceiling in February, which means guests will no longer hit their heads on two chandeliers there. The raised ceiling will be created from shiplap, to match the wood behind the bar that was installed during a COVID-19 renovation.

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Community Development Block Grant funding

Blue Door's latest renovations were aided by a low-interest, $50,000 working capital loan from the Cuyahoga Falls Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) as well as a $50,000 CDBG matching equipment grant for business expansion.

Breakfast runs 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Monday, and Thursday through Sunday. Dinner by new chef David Chin runs 5 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. The restaurant is closed Tuesdays.

Arts and restaurant writer Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Newly built bar beckons customers at Blue Door in Cuyahoga Falls