The West Side Market

Have you ever had a craving for freshly made apple fritters and authentic perogies? But, what if you also needed to pick up some oxtail for the stew you were making later that night? Well, you’re in luck; the West Side Market is your one-stop shop!

Built-in 1912, located in the neighborhood of Ohio City Cleveland, the West Side Market has been the number one stop for tourists and locals for their fresh food needs. With over one hundred vendors, most of whom have been selling food in the same location since its inception, it’s close to impossible to walk out of there and not find the food or ingredient you were looking for.

The building was built in the neo-classical/Byzantine architecture style by local architects W. Dominick Benes and Benjamin Hubbell and can be seen from miles away. Inside the market, you can find original tiles depicting animals and vegetables within the 44-foot-high vaulted ceilings.

Not only is this market a well-known attraction for visitors of northeast Ohio, but The Travel Channel and Food Network have filmed a few episodes inside showing the sheer number of vendors. If you take a quick walk outside into an adjacent building, more stalls are selling fresh fruit, vegetables, and flowers. All of which is brought in daily in the early hours of the morning. Another perk of shopping at the market is that most of their produce and meat are sold at drastically lower prices compared to grocery stores.

On December 18, 1973, the West Side Market was added to the National Register of Historic Places, along with being voted “Americas Best Food Lovers’ Market” by Food Network Magazine in 2010. Thankfully, restorations during the 1980s, and the early 2000s helped make sure the West Side Market would continue to feed northeast Ohio for years to come.

Erix Infante

Sources:

 http://westsidemarket.org/about/market-history/

https://clevelandhistorical.org/items/show/67