West Side Market, Cleveland

Worth visiting! Very cool location with a fun atmosphere. We loved most everything we got. Especially all the items we got from the various bakery’s! Unfortunately, most of the produce we bought was old. Our garlic was sprouted, once I got home and cut into it, and the ginger molded with in a day. Neat experience, but I wasn’t super impressed.

A former train station turned into a market full of local vendors slinging meats and sweets. After your drive over the Hope Memorial Bridge, you turn right into the parking lot. The first 90 minutes are free and it’s only $1/hour after that. A welcome surprise. You’ll first walk into the produce building with vendors selling their tantalizing fruits and hearty vegetables. Once you make it halfway down the corridor, you will see doors to your left to crossover to the rest of the market. Walking in through the double doors, you are greeted by intoxicating aromas. Look up and you will see the beautiful, high ceiling of the former train station. The place is absolutely packed with local meats and sweets. Many of the vendors sell raw meat and fish for your home cooking needs, while the rest provide ready to order snacks and meals. Stalls that caught our eye: local pasta, crepes, hot sauce, cannolis, gyro stand and an Irish bakery. We split up and grabbed a gyro from Steven’s Gyros (featured on Man versus Food) and a sausage roll and meat pie from the Irish bakery. There aren’t many places to sit, but if you go to the west end, you can head up the stairs and get a great view of the market. We stuffed our faces, got a picture and then headed down to grab snacks for the rest of the weekend. We loaded up on local cheese, flavored beef jerky, hot sauce and baked goods. All of which were sensational.