A 21-year-old is bringing his family’s tavern back to life in Cleveland’s Little Italy, stepping away from college to reopen a bar that has been part of his family for a century. Jack Sparent left Cleveland State University to revive Lou’s Tavern on Coltman Road, a neighborhood spot first opened by his great-grandfather in the 1920s.
The decision puts a new generation behind a business built by the generation that came long before him. Rather than let the family’s tavern fade, Sparent chose to return to Little Italy and take on the work of restoring a place tied to his own family history and to the streets around it.
Little Italy, on Cleveland’s east side near University Circle, is one of the city’s most recognizable historic neighborhoods. Its narrow streets, longtime restaurants, bakeries, galleries and family-run businesses have drawn residents and visitors for generations, and its identity remains closely tied to the Italian American families who built it…