CLEVELAND — You might not know much about Forward Hospitality, but more than likely, you’ve been to one of its numerous establishments around town.
The prolific restaurant group runs places in Cleveland like 3 Palms Pizzeria, Flipside Burgers, and Porta Rossa, but its largest footprint is in the Flats, where it operates FWD Day + Nightclub, Welcome to the Farm, Good Night John Boy, Glamper and I Hate Cowboys.
Earlier this summer, they added a new name to that roster: Hi 5, a casual sports bar-themed spot on the second floor, sandwiched between Welcome to the Farm and Glamper rooftop bar. The space had been vacant, except for a seasonal Christmas Bar that pops up during the holidays. Forward principal Bobby Rutter says the unoccupied space was just waiting for its true identity.
“As the area evolved we kept debating what else it needed,” he says. “We wanted to create a neighborhood-focused spot – kind of like the Cheers of the Flats.”
To transform the space into an attractive sports bar, the team touched every surface, adding new wood floors, brick veneer, new furniture, fixtures and lighting. A pool table nook overlooks Old River Road and other bar games will be added. Like all of the Flats-based properties, it has exceptional river views and garage doors that open high and wide.
Down below, at Welcome to the Farm, chef-partner Raheem Sealey dishes up killer BBQ under the banner of Drinking Pig BBQ at the Farm. The Virgin Islands native named his barbecue business after the famous beer-drinking pigs of St. Croix. The menu at Welcome to the Farm includes traditional smoked items like brisket, ribs, pulled pork, pork belly, sausage and beef ribs in platters with classic sides or as handhelds.
“We do low and slow, which is what Texas does, but we jazz it up with different flavors – some Caribbean, some Asian – from my background of cooking,” Sealey explains. “I try not put myself in any box. As chefs we don’t get to express our talent the way we want to because we end up doing a specific cuisine.”
Customers at Hi 5 also get to enjoy the chef’s craft, albeit in a different, more pub-focused form. The menu has things like pulled pork nachos, brisket-stuffed egg rolls, smoked chicken wings, smoked turkey clubs and lighter bowls starring smoked chicken or salmon.
The new food items throughout the entire compound have given all the properties a boost, says Rutter. Those improvements happen to coincide with a continued rise in numbers that the Flats and adjoining waterways have been seeing this year.
“We’ve never sold the volume of food that we’ve sold down here over the last 60 days,” Rutter reports. “This is my 10th year down here and we’ve never seen this much boat traffic. It’s not even close.”