DeJuan's is the place to be in downtown Akron for restaurant's soft opening weekend

DeJuan's, Akron's newest downtown restaurant, rolled out the red carpet Thursday for friends and family for its first soft opening night.

It was all hands on deck as a large staff of servers and bartenders and a kitchen staff of 15, working under executive chef Richard Orr, introduced invited guests to the new restaurant's menu and friendly service.

DeJuan's, which owner De'Juan Kelker II created to offer casual dining with a fine dining feel, is located at 1 W. Exchange St., which was formerly occupied by Bricco. The space, which hadn't functioned as a restaurant since November 2020, is now open for business, with a three-day invitation-only soft opening last weekend and a grand opening set for Sept. 1.

The new restaurant features eye-popping black and white brick accent walls; the color scheme is repeated with black and white table cloths.

The other walls are painted in earth tones and feature large abstract paintings. The restaurant also sports newly upholstered gray booths with a swirling pattern, columns and a bar front featuring stainless steel accents with a hazy swirling design, as well as new wood flooring.

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Opening night at DeJaun's

About an hour into the soft opening Thursday night, manager Erica Morris said a number of orders had been placed for DeJuan's signature wings, pastas and jumbo lump crab cakes.

"Our crab cakes are incredible," she said.

Kelker said he was relying on friends and family for honest feedback on soft-opening night.

"It's invitation only tonight just to give me a feel for what we need to fix. What can we do better?" he asked. "We're not successful if the food's not good."

So far, guests had especially enjoyed the lobster and prawn bisque as well as the turkey burger, Kelker said.

Gloria Dozier, Renetta Mull Otis, Charles Smoot and Ebony Porter of Akron said they were enjoying excellent food and friendly service at DeJuan's.

"The service was excellent. The waiter was kind and thoughtful," Dozier said. "Beautiful place. We'll come back again; that's for sure."

Dozier, Smoot and Porter enjoyed turkey burgers while Otis said she liked the bisque so much, she wished she'd ordered a larger serving. The group also ordered chicken wings for the table.

"It started off a little sweet and ended with some heat," Porter said of the wing sauce.

The restaurant offers a variety of seafood from twin lobster tails to a whole red snapper entree. The menu also includes six steak entrees ranging from $29 to $72, as well as lamb loin, pork chop and half chicken entrees. On the more casual end are pizzas, turkey burgers, soups and salads.

Bar menu at DeJuan's

At the bar, manager Jennifer Marsh and staff were introducing customers to signature drinks including DeJuan's Old Fashion made with local Akron Honey, the West Exchange with passion fruit and blueberry lemonade and a spicy margarita with muddled jalapeno. The restaurant also offers three champagnes, including Dom Perignon.

Marsh said she'll be keeping the same cocktail recipes, but coming up with new names for a number of them. The bar will also offer wine and mimosa flights in the near future.

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Chef Orr's kitchen was busy Thursday night with his full staff.

"It's great to have our team here," he said. "They came in as pros."

"I'm surprisingly nervous because it's such a groundbreaking event. I'm excited to be a part of it," sous chef Tasha Scott Lee said of the opening.

Kelker said demolition will begin upstairs to transform the former Aurora Ultra Lounge into Gallery II Events, an event center that will include a performance space as well as a separate cigar lounge with pool tables for members only. He expects the upstairs space to open by the end of the year.

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

Grand opening details

Restaurant: DeJuan's

Address: 1 W. Exchange St., Akron

Ribbon cutting: 3 p.m., Sept. 1

Dinner: 5 to 10 p.m. opening night Sept. 1; no reservations required

Regular hours: 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. lunch Monday-Saturday, 5 to 10 p.m. dinner Tuesday-Saturday, 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday

Information: dejuansdining.com, 234-334-0281

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: DeJuan's Akron: When will the restaurant open after soft opening?