LBM, the Viking-spirited cocktail bar that turned a century-old Birdtown storefront into one of Lakewood's most celebrated drinking destinations, will close its doors on October 10. Owner Eric Ho says the shutdown comes down to money, not any dip in business or love from the neighborhood that filled its seats for nearly nine years.
The closure date is no accident. As reported by Cleveland Scene, October 10 marks the ninth anniversary of LBM's earliest days in business, and Ho wanted to give staff and regulars a proper send-off rather than an abrupt goodbye. The bar had come up for lease renewal and was facing raised insurance requirements and increased premiums that made continuing to operate at 12301 Madison Ave. financially untenable, according to the same report. Ho described the closure as driven by financial factors, and he told the outlet that LBM also faced potential risks tied to a reduction in coverage.
Statewide, LBM's predicament reflects a squeeze hitting small hospitality businesses broadly. Commercial insurance premiums for small businesses nationwide saw median increases of around 11% in 2026, and commercial property and liability insurers across Ohio have pushed rates higher because of climbing building replacement costs, inflation, and rising litigation verdicts, according to Ohio Insurance Services. Those market-wide pressures can hit renewal notices even for operators without any claims history, which appears to be part of what LBM ran into as its lease and coverage both came up at once.
A Neighborhood Fixture Built From Scratch
Ho called LBM a neighborhood cocktail bar with a Viking spirit, and said the team is proud of what it accomplished and grateful to everyone who came through its doors, per Cleveland Scene's report. He joked that patrons shouldn't cheer too hard about the closure, noting that most of the staff are in their mid-to-late 30s and 40s — a lighthearted nod to just how long this crew has been building the place together.
That longevity traces back to 2016, when LBM's team signed the lease on the Madison Avenue space and then spent 13 months completing hands-on renovations, working 12-hour days to do most of the rehab themselves before opening on Friday, October 13, 2017, according to Voyage Ohio. Ho had moved to Cleveland in 2006 to study aerospace engineering at Case Western Reserve University before pivoting into bartending, eventually rising from host to general manager over six years at Lakewood's Melt Bar & Grilled — experience he later credited with teaching him how to run his own venture.
From Sycamore Bar Top to National Recognition
The building itself carries its own history. Built in 1915 and once home to The Corner Pub, the property received Lakewood's first Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit — worth $82,402 — in 2016 for a restoration by Scalish Construction, as detailed by FreshWater Cleveland. The developer renamed the rehabbed building “The Veronika” during that process.
Inside, LBM leaned hard into its Viking hall concept, an aesthetic inspired in part by Chicago's Scofflaw lounge. The bar top and dining table were milled from a single felled sycamore tree, and a wooden Viking ship hangs over one of the doorways, according to an earlier Cleveland Scene report. Behind the bar, the rigor matched the room: bartenders measured acids down to the hundredth of a gram, and the team spent two months preparing each of four seasonal cocktail menu rotations a year, per Ohio Magazine.
That precision paid off quickly. Within its first year in 2018, LBM was nominated by the Tales of the Cocktail Foundation for Best New Bar in the Central region and was featured in GQ Magazine as one of America's best hidden bars, Voyage Ohio's profile of Ho notes. The bar also stood out for its labor practices, offering all full-time employees health insurance, paid time off, and other benefits — a rarity among small independent craft bars, according to the same interview.
What Comes Next for Birdtown and LBM's Team
LBM sits along the eastern end of Lakewood's Madison Avenue strip in Birdtown, a corridor that has long supported independent neighborhood drinking spots, including landmark venue Mahall's Twenty Lanes, per the Lakewood Observer's coverage of the area's commercial history. The neighborhood has shifted over the past decade from industrial worker housing toward a dining and nightlife destination, a transformation LBM helped anchor.
LBM has no plans to relocate or rebrand, and Ho has said the future for the bar and its people remains unclear. Still, he hasn't closed the door entirely — Cleveland Scene reports LBM may pursue another concept down the line. In the meantime, present and previous staffers are expected to make guest appearances at the bar as closing day approaches, with Ho framing the run-up as an effort to respectfully send LBM off and give everyone time to say goodbye.
LBM's exit lands amid continued regional appetite for the genre it helped popularize. Hoodline reported on a new Norse-styled lounge called The Witch Doctor, a 75-capacity botanical cocktail bar with cathedral-style Norse hall decor, set to open in nearby Old Brooklyn in September. Even as one Viking hall prepares to shutter, another is preparing to raise its own banner across town.
