Ok... I have eaten here twice - and it's not just a fluke. Its good. Like - really good. For bar food...
I've tried the lobster mac & cheese, the lobster quesadilla, and the loaded fries (I told you - I come here for bar food). All were excellent - although certainly imitation crab. Again - keep your expectations at "bar food" (if I haven't mentioned that already). But - they do bar food right... and inexpensively.
Stick to beer or a simple mixed drink. The wine menu consists basically of "white or red" - but you shouldn't expect anything more than that here. It's not that kind of place. Â ..
I love this place. Â The first thing I love about it is that the view of the city while sitting at the bar of this place makes the city actually look like an impressively beautiful city. Â Seriously, I would recommend sitting at the bar for just this reason. Â The second thing I love about it is Glenn Schwartz! Â I've been here several times to see him, and he always puts on a great show (even though he is crazy.) Â I haven't eaten here, so I can't comment on the food, but the drink selection has always been fine, there's almost always close street parking, and the atmosphere and music are worth the trip alone! Â Would definitely recommend this as a cool Cleveland thing to do.
Review Source:Definitely a working class hero bar with the greatest view of the Terminal Tower and the Industrial side of the Flats. The staff goes out of their way to make you feel comfortable and always keep the libations flowing. Supporter of the Blues as well as other local R&B acts.The food is classic bar food with some ethnic dishes thrown in. Good beer and liquor selection. Someplace where you can always be part of a conversation without really knowing anybody.
Review Source:i love hoopples, and if i were more of a bar-goer, i would go every week. really, i give the bar 5-stars because of their AMAZINGGG spinach & artichoke dip!!!! SERIOUSLY, IT'S SO EFFING GOOD with those little pieces of fried pita bread with parmesan cheese. DROOOOOOOOL.
the atmosphere here is a nice, laid-back, with very few bro-sightings in my experience.
but really, the spinach & artichoke dip. #boom
Major Hooples has the best view in the city. Â
Their tacos are pretty good too!
Hooples has a long history of being a Union bar and they still keep that feel. Â They've had a mini-renovation which includes a party room upstairs, a decent kitchen and new siding. Â Their walls are still littered with old memorabilia from it's life in the 70's including my favorite anti-Jane Fonda bumper sticker. Â
I've always been impressed with their service and they'll bend over backwards to make your groups happy both in the party room, down at the bar or on the patio. Â
Now, about the tacos (I've been on a Taco Tuesday kick):
They have chicken, beef or black bean tacos. Â They're bursting with meat and personally, I thought the chicken was a top-tier taco! Â Wash it down with a PBR or one of their drought beers and I call it a good Tuesday. Â I especially like Hooples on rainy nights because for some reason it just seems cozy looking over the bar towards the city and seeing the rain fall down on the various bridges.
Anyway, Hooples is top rated in my book. Â Glenn Schwartz or no...
There is only one reason I really went to Hooples, and that was Thursday night with the Schwartz Brothers. Â The food is ok. Â The beer selection? Â ok. Â The decor? Â ok as well. Â The patio everyone raves about is pretty cool especially with the tribe game projected on the bridge. Â It's cool, it's doesn't look great but none the less cool. Â I've never had stellar service here but never bad either. Â I think people consider this a dive and back in the day it was but honestly they did a lot with the place over the years. Â There are great views of the city, parking is usually a breeze, and the crowd is pretty mixed. Â
When Schwartz plays it is a entirely different world. Â The place is wall to wall packed and the service suffers. Â If you go out to smoke you will lose your chair, stool, or table. Â The crowd is filled with fans of Schwartz and those who are there only to taunt him so he goes off on a tirade of religious craziness. Â I have seen Black Keys here at shows as well as David Byrne. Â The guy is not only a Cleveland legend but a guitar virtuoso known all over the globe. Â Girls are whores, men are drunks and everyone is damned to hell at least a dozen times during the course of his 4 hour set. Â It is a thing of beauty and quite honestly the only reason I go to Hoopples. Â There is something magical about a night with Schwartz at Hoopples that cannot be recreated at any other venue.
From the moment I set foot in this place, I knew I was going to be a fan. This is the quintessential industrial working-class dive bar. Complete with union bumper stickers on the beer cooler. Very cool location. Big windows behind the bar not only let in lots of light even on those gray Cleveland days, but also give great views of the working river and downtown.
Food took quite some time to get to me even on a less-than-packed Tuesday night, but I'll overlook that since we were drinking and having a good time. When I did finally get my patty melt, it was really good. Fries are very above bar average - thin, crispy, with good peppery seasoning. Â
Hooples also has a bar bowling machine which is awesome and seems to be a CLE dive bar phenomenon. Never saw one before moving here.
My one and only complaint about this bar (and the reason it does not get 5 stars), would be my experience the other night when I thought I'd buy the first round for our group of about 8. I ordered 2 pitchers - Dortmunder and Summer Shandy, nothing too fancy. After I got my food, I went to pay my tab and to my utter shock, Â two pitchers and a sandwich came to 43 bucks! I asked the bartender because this must have been a mistake, and she informed me that, no, pitchers are $18!
Now, I will admit, I did not ask how much they were before ordering them, but SERIOUSLY? 18 dollar pitchers! F&*%K! I have never, in all my Sconnie-beer-drinking life paid that much for a pitcher. EVER. Even for Guinness and the like. Holy shit!
Anyway, the food was really pretty good. Much better menu than I was expecting. Beer selection completely adequate for this type of place. I will definitely be back, but I'll steer clear of the pitchers. Damn!
One of the closest bars to the rowing club, so it sees a fair amount of people after they come off the water. Â Wound up here Tuesday night with a few of our team members for a quick one after practice. Â Didn't eat a lot before so we decided to split some nachos to go along with our Summer Shandys. Â We almost told the waitress after waiting for, oh, about an hour, to forget the nachos...and when they came they were nothing special, definitely not worth the hour long wait. Â The others ordered tacos and chicken wings and they came out a good 30 min before our meal which could have taken me about 4 minutes to put together on a plate.
I'll be back here because the patio looks phenomenal and one of the girls in our group said that they project Indians' games onto the side of the bridge in the summer....and because it has a great view of the river and downtown. Â I just probably won't be ordering any food again.
Definitely a younger crowd (call it mid to late 20-somethings). Â We caught Hoopple's on a night of a beer pong tournament so it was extra loud in there. Â But still fun. Â Great view of downtown from the bar stools. Â A Blue Moon draft and a bottle Michelob Light was a meager $6.75. Â Um, BARGAIN. Â Seems like a great place to stop mid-week after work for a drink and they seem to have a pretty decent live music lineup on Friday nights in the summer.
Review Source:If this doesn't scream Cleveland, I don't know what does. Hoopple's has a small but nice draft beer selection, friendly people, Union workers lined up at the bar, and a bowling machine.
I have only eaten here once, and that was for taco night. Those were solid, as was the beer-battered asparagus (healthy!). If you're looking for gourmet food, Tremont's just around the corner.
I'm giving 5 stars for atmosphere, amiable bartenders, and the excellent view of the Cleveland skyline. It's truly a great place to have a beer and bowl a few frames.
This place is a Cleveland institution. Been around for 5 million years...and I can see why.
They have one on the best views for a local watering hole. Nestled far on the west end of the flats, the bridges and waterways are breathtaking. Catering to everyone from the iron workers to the OC trendsters, Hooples doesn't discriminate. The beer selection leans a bit more on the domestic side, but they had enough craft beer for the snobs ;) Not that I'm a snob... but I can't do Bud Light ;)
The food at Hooples is pretty good too. On my most recent visit, I had the mac n' cheese with added bacon. YUM.
The bartender was really nice and accommodating...especially considering our group may have been a bit obnoxious ;)
I'm not sure I'd actually call this place a dive or a hole in the wall. Â I'd best describe it as just an average bar. Â Something I might find at the end of my street in the suburbs. Â I enjoyed it. Â I'd also call the patrons there average as well. Â Just normal people. Â I can't remember the last time I went out to a bar and didn't run into at least 2 or 3 people that annoyed the heck out of me. Â It was refreshing and enjoyable.
I didn't really enjoy my burger all that much though. Â I think it was too fatty for me. Â Also I thought the prices were (very slightly) too much for "a place with a one page laminated menu" (as my friend said). Â I did love the greasy fries though. Â
I'll definitely add this place to my regulars list. Â
An average rating for an average place, however I'm willing to bet the more I go here the higher my rating with be in the future.
We just went to Hoopples because I kept hearing about their tacos being good. I didn't care for them. I think the tacos as Park View on W. 58 (Hooples sister bar) are MUCH better.
Regardless of the tacos, Hoopples was having a "major" issues tonight with drain flies. As I sat at the bar, I was nearly swarmed by small flies. It was gross.
PS-the view is amazing!
This place feels like it has withstood the test of time; buried in the bowels of the city. Â The views of our fair city from the picture windows behind the bar are outstanding, especially when there is traffic on the Cuyahoga. Â Recently, the owners installed 5 new taps, including 2 great IPA's (Bells & DogFish). Â The food has been taken up a notch as well with a larger kitchen providing some of the best spicy Garlic wings - juicy, crispy, meaty, finger-lickin-bone-suckin goodness + great fresh cut fries! Â They've got burgers and sandwiches, but I was content eating wings.
On game nights, the patio provides the best seats as a large image is  projected  onto the pillars of the bridge overhead.  They have a bowling machine inside and the whole place has that nicely worn, warm feeling.
So my first time attending a place based on a yelp review ! I agree with my fellow yelpers.
Inside, the fake wood paneling, large windows overlooking the river and the decaying industry along it with downtown in the distance. This and the union bumper stickers on the walls gave me the sense that I had stepped into Delores' bar from 2nd Season of the Wire.....
The view of downtown is one that I had not seen before of Cleveland: looking up at the downtown buildings with the river just in front of you.
Our bartenders were friendly and attentive.
The French Fries were above 'bar' average: Slightly crispy, thinly cut, without being drenched in oil with very light pepper seasoning. My compadre got a chicken sandwich and their beer selection was what I expected - domestics plus Blue Moon, Sierra Nevada, and Great Lakes. I was disappointed that there were no happy hour specials. I was a bit suprised at charging $2.50 for a 16oz PBR (are bars raising prices for PBR to milk money from the hipsters ?)(I must be spoiled with $1 for 12oz at my regular dive bar).
For a Friday happy hour, the crowd was pretty mixed: some old-timers, some professionals just off work, and some regular Clevelanders.
I was looking for an unpretentious [guess I'll say dive] bar for a few drinks - found it. Unfortunately, the bowling game is up to 50 cents a game.
The best dive bar in the city, hey might just be the best bar in the city. Definitely the best blue collar bar. Hooples has the best view of the city and it only costs a bottle of beer. Â Just grab a seat at the bar and look out the big windows at the view then you'll know what I'm talking about. The bar is down in the flats but across the river not in the "party" flats. It's at the bottom of the hill from the West Side Market. Could be hard to find but worth it and its relatively safe down there, just don't go off-roading along the tracks at least not after you've been drinking.
The owners keep trying to "upgrade" it they put on a patio and they have football on TV trying to be a sports bar or something. But the real entertainment is the windows, the jukebox, the bowling machine and on Thursday night  you can see the Schwartz brothers. Don't know who the Schwartz's are then you don't know Cleveland rock & blues!
This bar *is* a hole in the wall, and while that carries a certain charm, it's not enough to earn our beloved 5 star distinction. Â Every Thursday night, around 9:30, this dingy joint undergoes a transfiguration when Glenn Schwartz warms up his guitar with a few electrified hymns. Â His energy runs high and his chops are unparalleled--a prodigious, bluesy Johnny Cash with a penchant for the pulpit. Â
You'll know it's time for the band's break when Glenn lights the room with some verbal brimstone. Â "Our military is filled with gays and women--shameful!" Â "A bible that's falling apart, is for a soul that's not." Â The stuffy business men in the room chuckle, "I think he's talking to you, Jim." Â Then the room falls silent as Glenn commands the floor.
If you can't handle extreme personalities and viewpoints, stay away. Â If brilliant, impassioned, creepy blues guitar doesn't stir your soul, stay at home. Â You could drop hundreds of dollars on a night out in downtown Cleveland, but you will not experience the guttural, 5-star thrill that Glenn Schwartz brings to Major Hoopples on Thursday nights.
If you love to hang out at a hole in the wall bar, this is your place. The drinks are cheap and if you're craving a late night snack, order up their grilled cheese sandwich for $2.50. It comes with chips and a pickle...and if you're nice they'll even throw a tomato on it. With the best view of the city, cheap eats and quarter bowling, you just can't beat it.
Review Source:
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