Two new businesses open in Cudell and Edgewater neighborhoods

A pair of new businesses, Edgewater Sub Shop and Dahlia Coffee Company, recently opened in Cleveland’s Cudell and Edgewater neighborhoods, bringing new energy and life to what were previously culinary dead zones.

Edgewater Sub Shop, located at 8605 Detroit Ave. and open seven days a week, now offers hot and cold subs made fresh at an open counter in a bright, hip storefront. Situated smack dab between Lakewood and the Gordon Square Arts District, the area was a virtual sandwich desert until owner Amin “Vinny” Elkhatib and his brothers, Fathie and Adam, opened Edgewater Sub right next to the Boost Mobile store that is also owned by Elkhatib.

Dahlia Coffee Company, a woman- and Latina-owned business, recently moved to the Cudell neighborhood, as well. The Mexican coffee shop, which is open 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and 9 am to 3 pm on Saturday and Sunday, is located in the former Scoot! Coffee location at 2085 W. 114th St. right off of Berea Road. The new, enlarged space offers the startup the ability to expand their menu and host more events, said owner Natalia Alcazar, thereby exposing more Clevelanders to the magic of Mexican coffee.

“It’s a huge win for our neighborhood that these assets come into place,” said Akshay Kalra, economic development coordinator with the nonprofit Northwest Neighborhoods. “It points to a trend that these neighborhoods are ripe for these sorts of things. These are vibrant neighborhoods and people want to be here.”

A sandwich oasis

Amin “Vinny” Elkhatib and his brothers, Fathie and Adam, opened Edgewater Sub.

Edgewater Sub Shop owner Elkhatib has always loved making sandwiches for his family. The 28-year-old entrepreneur carved out his reputation working at Subway back in the day. Then, after owning cell phone shops since he was 19, Elkhatib decided he’d much rather make sandwiches all day.

He was also inspired by growing up around family members who owned businesses. “They saw the drive in me from a young age,” he said.

Elkhatib has spent the last two years renovating the century-old storefront on Detroit Avenue, which he said had been empty for about 25 years before he took on this project. He renovated the interior down to the studs and brought it back to life. The welcoming interior now includes a smattering of tables for dining in. During a recent visit on a Sunday afternoon, the place was full of people sitting at the tables and savoring the restaurant’s trademark heaping sandwiches.

The owner said some customer favorites on the menu include the Edgewater sub, which has roast beef, turkey, bacon and provolone along with peppers and hot sauce, as well as the corned beef and gyro sandwiches. Other winners include the Mediterranean, which has falafel, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, Arabic pickles, creamy feta, and tahini hot pepper sauce.

The sub shop has both hot and cold offerings, and also offers breakfast sandwiches all day. Elkhatib said the meats are all carved daily so everything is fresh.

He’s excited about the location, too. “The neighborhood is getting a lot better,” he said. “Gordon Square and Lakewood are starting to creep over here. I want to be one of the first businesses that’s a stepping stone to a better area.”

So far, he’s enjoying following his lifelong passion for creating businesses with his new sub shop. “I’m creating a brand,” he said.

Dahlia’s blooming

Dahlia Coffee Company owner Natalia Alcazar moved her shop to a bigger location in Clark-Fulton, giving her business room to grow.

Dahlia Coffee Company owner Natalia Alcazar said she was excited when she learned the former Scoot! Coffee location at Berea Road and W. 114th Street was available. Previously, she was running a coffee shop in a cozy, 170-square-foot space in the Pivot Center on W. 25th Street in the Clark-Fulton neighborhood. The new location, which is much larger and has outdoor space to boot, gives her room to grow.

“I wanted a bigger space to house community events,” she said. “For spring and summer, those are things we really want to focus on.”

Although the location might seem like an odd one, since there’s not much retail around, it’s actually worked out well, she said. “There’s a lot of traffic that goes through here, people cut through Berea Road to go places,” said Alcazar, adding that there’s also a lot of street parking.

Alcazar, who moved to Cleveland during the pandemic and then quit her corporate job to pursue her dream of owning a coffee roasting company, said she’s gotten a lot of support from the community as well as nonprofit economic development organizations like JumpStart.

She started the business to bring Mexican coffee to Cleveland. “It’s very common on the West Coast, and I missed that once I moved here,” she said.

House favorites include the Mexican mocha, which is made from coffee procured from the Seattle Chocolate Company and handmade in Mexico, and the Mazapan Latte, which uses a famous candy from Mexico as part of its flavoring. The Mazapan candy is like what Americans would call marzipan style candy, except it’s made with peanuts instead of almonds, she said.

Other standouts include the Horchata latte and the Cafe de Olla, or coffee from a pot. The latter dates back to the Mexican Revolutionary War, when women created a drink to keep soldiers going by adding spices to the coffee. It’s spiced with star anise, cinnamon, and cloves.

Alcazar expresses surprise and gratitude at her own success just two years after starting her business. “I didn’t imagine having a coffee shop yet,” she said.

Currently, Alcazar offers baked goods from her next door neighbor, Art of Bread, as well as from Jossi’s Bakery in Broadview Heights, which does empanadas and spinach and feta turnovers. Soon, though, she hopes to offer her own baked goods, including a Mexican sweet bread. Also up next: breakfast and lunch items, including bagels and breakfast sandwiches.