The owner of Comfort CLE flies the flag for Cleveland, eager to help others

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Walk into Jeremy McBryde’s Comfort CLE on the city’s east side and you’ll be greeted by the aroma of delicious food in a cozy restaurant that flies the Cleveland flag.

Although McBride is proud of his unusual culinary journey from Cleveland Heights to Los Angeles and back, he’s the first to say that food is a stepping stone to something bigger.

“Understand, this is more than just a restaurant,” he said. “It’s about building community.”

The building blocks for this community began when McBride opened Comfort CLE in late June 2023, occupying a “vastly underutilized space” at 1400 E. 105th Street near the Cultural Gardens. It shares the space with Squash the Beef and several other businesses.

The Comfort CLE, which is about 1,000 square feet, is a quick rest area with a logo reminiscent of the 1990s Cavaliers logo. It draws crowds from Cleveland’s Louis Stokes Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center and nearby residents. It boasts a courtyard and hosts a range of events such as music, poetry and voter canvassing.

More than three dozen album covers hang on the columns as a tribute to Ohio artists – Tracy Chapman, O’Jays, Kid Cudi, Bobby Womack. The Legends of Glenville mural features Ted Guinn Sr., Troy Smith, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Steve Harvey.

One mural paints a creative twist on The Jetsons, while another shows Martin Lawrence substituting chicken for cookies from the famous “Martin” episode.

The four picnic tables feature Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., Michael Jordan and LeBron James.

“It’s all about the power of local artists, giving them a platform to showcase some of their talents,” said McBride, who comes from the old NBA Jam video game and a number of family-friendly board and card games.

“Art, music, fashion – it doesn’t matter what walk of life you belong to – it connects and resonates with you.”

This creative convergence of food and art began with McBride, a student at Cleveland Heights High School.

“I’ve been cooking practically my whole life,” he said. “My father was the oldest of 11. So he was the cook in the house. It was the time of our communication, we cooked. It never felt like I had my own restaurant.”

McBride assumed he would end up in a factory or some such job. Instead, he went to Los Angeles to “broaden my horizons and just see different ways of life and different cultures. If it’s something you’re passionate about, why not dive in?”

His culinary career went from 0 to 60.

He met a business partner at a networking event and gained access to the kitchen space. A few weeks later, McBride did a pop-up. Ten months later, after the pop-up took off, he was able to cater the ESPYs.

“Very unorthodox. It doesn’t happen like that. That usually doesn’t happen,” he said. “It was the right place, the right time, and I took advantage of the opportunities that were in front of me and went full speed.”

He began catering to LeBron James and Kevin Hart and opened a brick-and-mortar location in the city’s Skid Row neighborhood, an area he says was “extremely run down,” but he saw opportunity.

“I wanted to be ahead. In Los Angeles, I kind of found the blueprint that I wanted to have going forward. I definitely wanted to build in a community that is not yet fully developed, but on the cusp, and be an anchor in that space to provide for the community,” he said.

Representative in Famicos Foundationcommunity development corporation, visited him in Los Angeles, saw what McBride was up to, and told him about the opportunities in Cleveland — particularly the vastly underutilized space.

“The opportunity presented itself,” McBride said. The time was right. He saw a good plan and was offered creative control.

“I always wanted to give something back here. The main thing is that it is more than food,” he said. “The concept I brought back is ‘flava neighbor’, a restaurant development house. I work with other aspiring chefs to empower them to bring their concept to life and serve underserved communities. The long-term goal is to add food to oppressed communities around the world, first across the country. Creating these concepts with chefs from these regions, chefs who have passion but who don’t know how to take the concepts to the next level.”

With his right-hand man, Bernard Shanklin, a friend since the fourth grade who helps run Comfort CLE, he created a menu of less than two dozen dishes, including chicken packages ranging from seven to 149 (!) wings.

The Big Sexy Sandwich is boneless chicken on a black brioche bun with mango slaw and dip, a meal of its own that requires a knife and fork. City Boi is a Polish beef sausage. And JR Bremer’s kids’ meal offers two wings and fresh fries named after the former Cleveland Heights basketball star who played and now coaches.

Side dishes include well-roasted greens, cornbread and mango habanero salad.

“It’s more than the food — obviously, the food is the icing on the cake,” McBride said. “How to present an unforgettable experience that people can take with them? I want everyone to feel like a member of the family every time they walk in the door, no matter what walk of life they belong to. This is very important to me.”

Built like a defensive tackle, the laid-back, gregarious McBryde greets customers like old friends.

“Welcome to GlenVillage,” he’ll say as customers enter the establishment, perusing the menu or glancing at the pops of other Cleveland Heights High graduates Travis and Jason Kelsey on the next shelf.

McBride stays busy with trips to the West Coast as a judge on Food Network shows like “Fight on the Beach” and “Stakeout Supermarket” – and looks to the future. Within 24-36 months, it aims to expand to three to four locations in Cleveland and surrounding communities. And he’s in talks to expand locally with his flava-neighbor incubator concept.

His future goal is to share his career mistakes and successes.

“If I can provide the space and nurture the next wave of up-and-coming chefs, I definitely want to be that person,” McBride said.

“It makes sense in the market; it makes sense in the way it resonates. The first year or so was coming together to really see what it looked like and what the city wanted,” he said.

McBride’s dominance in Cleveland through the lens of a man who wasn’t 15 years old.

“It’s a familiar new place, if that makes sense,” he said.

And what he’s doing makes sense to people like City Councilman Kevin Conwell, who represents the district where Comfort CLE is located.

“It’s good what he’s doing. We had three cases there, but Jeremy is fine,” he said. “His heart and soul is in it.”

Conwell said McBride is on top of things, and if he continues to open on time, keep it clean and stay on top of the profit and loss, business will grow. It also has a solid reputation in the neighborhood, Conwell said.

“He also communicates with his customers. He doesn’t just serve them. He conducts a conversation, talks to them. He creates an atmosphere there. That’s what he’s about.”

As McBride said, “It’s all about creating a community space, engaging the community.”

I cover topics related to restaurants, beer, wine and sports in our Life and Culture team. For my latest stories, here is cleveland.com catalog WTAM-1100’s Bill Wills and I talk about food and drink around 8:20 a.m. on Thursdays. Twitter and IG: @mbona30. My latest book co-authored with Dan Murphy: Joe Thomas: Not Your Ordinary Joe by Gray & Co.

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