Barking Spider Tavern Building Leased, Live Music Returning

CLEVELAND, OH — The Barking Spider Tavern site will once again be home to live music. The former early 1900s carriage house, at the heart of Case Western Reserve University's campus, is being leased by Dave's Cosmic Subs and Music.

“It’s my first store with live music,” said Dave Lombardy, a former songwriter, and the founder of the sandwich chain, which opened its first location in Chagrin Falls in 1997. “So it’s come full circle for me.”

The Barking Spider Tavern was a popular bar spot for nearly three decades before it closed its doors in 2016. Lombardy said the building is a "wonderful location" and will once again be a "really cool spot."

The university owns the Barking Spider Tavern building, located on Juniper Road. North Coast Cosmic Subs, a Dave's Cosmic Subs franchisee signed a long-term lease with Case Western to take control of the building. Demolition has already begun on the interior and remodeling should start within a month. The sub shop, bar and music venue should be open later this year.

“The intention is to completely renovate, restore and refresh the space into a modern Dave’s Cosmic Subs prototype that can house a full-service bar and a venue for music and live entertainment,” said Paul Sidhu, president of North Coast Cosmic Subs, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sidhu Realty Capital, a multifaceted real-estate investment firm in Cleveland. North Coast Cosmic Subs also owns Dave's franchises in Berea, Mentor and Oberlin, and co-owns a shop in Cleveland Heights.

The new Dave's location will offer live music, disc jockeys, trivia nights, sports-themed events, karaoke, open-mics and poetry nights and more. Starting in 2019, the shop wants to start "DAVESFEST" a "major music festival."

Sidhu said he is "very familiar" with the Barking Spider's legacy. “That’s going to be very important to us. We want to complement the history and legacy that it left behind," he noted.

Remembering the Barking Spider

The Barking Spider Tavern opened in 1986. It was the creation of Martin Juredine and Bruce Medorsky. The duo started the bar as a small venue where local folk music acts could perform and attendees could enjoy beer and wine. There was live music every day and artists regularly played for whatever money was collected in a passed-around tip jar.

Reputation preceded the Barking Spider and soon regional and national touring artists would play the tavern. Acts like the Avett Brothers and the Lumineers plied their craft there.

Juredine died in 2011. His daughter, Jenna, then took over operations at the bar. She closed the business in 2016, on the tavern's 30th anniversary, citing family obligations.

Now, music will emanate from the old Barking Spider building once again.

“The operator was selected, in part, because of the quality food operation and reputation they've developed, but also because of their commitment to revive the strong music reputation that the Barking Spider delivered to the community for many years,” said Kevin Slesh, the university’s director of real estate.

Are you excited to hear music coming through the walls of the Barking Spider Tavern building once again? Tell us in the comments.

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Photos from Case Western Reserve University