Harmony Hi‑Fi, a new vinyl listening bar, is gearing up to drop the needle on its Ohio City debut in late April, taking over the main floor of a Fulton Road building. The partners describe the spot as a small, kissa-style lounge that will match craft cocktails and snackable small plates with intentional, sit-and-listen music sessions on high-end gear. The concept fills the space left by the short-lived Kyuu-juu and is designed to make the block a calmer, music-first retreat for neighbors.
According to Cleveland Scene, partners Christine Somrak and Danny Chedid are heading the project, with Brian Gresham assisting and chef Terrell Locklear crafting a tight small-plates menu. The outlet reports that Harmony’s turntables will move from Led Zeppelin to Coltrane, with planned genre-theme nights and possible BYOV, or bring your own vinyl, sessions. Harmony will occupy the building’s main floor, while Sushi Kuwahata is slated to reopen upstairs on a similar timeline.
“I visited Parachute vinyl bar in Chicago and I just fell in love with the concept,” Somrak told Cleveland Scene. She explained that the team is stocking a broad library of LPs and fitting the room with McIntosh components to create a warm, focused sound instead of the sheer volume that defines a typical DJ-heavy bar. Gresham, formerly of downtown’s Take 5 Rhythm and Jazz, is consulting on both the audio buildout and the record lineup.
Menu and sound
Somrak said the food program will favor shareable plates that play nicely with the music experience rather than pull attention away from it. On deck are items like grilled wings, chargrilled oysters, flatbreads, smash burgers and grilled lamb lollipops, backed by a slate of craft cocktails. The sound system, the team notes, is deliberately “not loud,” taking a cue from classic listening rooms where the music is meant to be heard clearly, not shouted over.
A small but growing local trend
Harmony Hi-Fi is arriving as Cleveland quietly builds a mini scene around hi-fi listening bars. Spots such as Bad Medicine in West Park have already embraced the format and helped make record-centric nights feel less niche. Cleveland Magazine has flagged the trend as part of a broader wave that fuses cocktails, food and careful audio curation. Harmony’s owners say they want to keep things closer to a neighborhood living room than a packed-out concert.
Where it will be
Harmony Hi-Fi is moving into the former Kyuu-juu storefront at 2054 Fulton Road. Crain's Cleveland Business and other outlets reported that Kyuu-juu closed at the end of December after operating for roughly six months. Management at Harmony is currently fine-tuning the floor plan and patio setup and still targets a late April opening to the public.
