Pastimes Cafe, the food-truck-turned-breakfast-and-lunch operation run by Evan Laisure, has settled into a permanent home on Madison Avenue in Lakewood. The new brick-and-mortar spot fills the former El Tango Latin Grill space at 14224 Madison Ave and sticks to a counter-service, early-morning game plan with build-your-own bagel and focaccia sandwiches, breakfast burritos, pancakes and a full coffee lineup in a mural-lined room.
Laisure first launched Pastimes as a farmers-market tent in 2021, then upgraded to a trailer before finally getting the keys to the El Tango space last April, he told Cleveland Scene. “The goal was always to get into a brick and mortar,” he said. The outlet reports that the buildout meant taking the room down to the studs and rebuilding it with custom woodwork, new lighting and original murals, all with an eye toward an efficient, grab-and-go setup for early risers.
What they’re serving
The menu leans hard into build-your-own bagel and focaccia sandwiches, backed up by specialty breakfast sandwiches, oat-and-buttermilk pancakes and rotating brunch specials. According to the Pastimes website, options include the “Truth Burrito,” packed with scrambled eggs, housemade sausage, bacon, rice and sauce, alongside a full slate of coffee and tea drinks.
Truck roots and neighborhood hours
Pastimes started as a tent and then a trailer that popped up at local markets and at the Lakewood Truck Park, and that mobile setup has not gone away. The park’s schedule still lists the Pastimes trailer at weekend events, with the truck continuing to support the cafe and keep the brand visible around town, as shown on the Lakewood Truck Park.
A muralist’s neighborhood cafe
Laisure is also a working artist, with a studio portfolio that includes public murals and design projects across the region, and he brought that side of his work into the cafe’s interior with original artwork. Turning the former El Tango corner into a morning-focused cafe adds another early-morning stop along Madison Avenue during a stretch of turnover and reinvention on Lakewood’s dining strip, resulting in an art-forward neighborhood counter rather than a splashy destination restaurant…