Cooper's Hawk Winery & Restaurant is set to open its doors in Seven Hills on Oct. 12, bringing a 310-seat dining room, a Napa-style tasting room, and a covered 64-seat patio to 3900 Rockside Road near Lombardo Center. The nearly 11,000-square-foot restaurant is already accepting reservations ahead of its debut, marking the chain's third Northeast Ohio location.
According to Cleveland.com, general manager Dominic Kandrach called the Rockside Road spot “an amazing location,” and the restaurant plans to include private dining space for 48 guests alongside its main floor. The address sits within a much bigger real estate story: the restaurant serves as a retail anchor for a $100 million, 52-acre mixed-use development led by LSB Seven Hills, LLC, according to NEOtrans.
A Restaurant Backed by Public Infrastructure Dollars
That broader project didn't happen without help from local government. The Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority approved $10.6 million in tax-increment financing bonds in February to fund public infrastructure at the site, per the same NEOtrans report, with proceeds earmarked for roads, site grading, and utility connections. The city groundwork was laid even earlier: the Seven Hills Planning Commission reviewed final site development approvals in October 2025, and City Council later authorized a lot split along Rockside Road that carved out four commercial outparcels, including the 10,716-square-foot restaurant parcel, according to the city's community newsletter.
The Cooper's Hawk building won't be sitting alone for long. The surrounding development includes the 60-bed Cleveland Rehabilitation Hospital, which broke ground in April and is projected to bring more than 100 healthcare jobs to the city, along with 144 to 150 residential units known as The Bluffs, per NEOhio.news. Between the hospital, the housing, and the restaurant's own foot traffic, the corridor is shaping up as a dense live-work-dine node just off Interstate 77 and Interstate 480.
Menu Built Around Scratch Cooking and Wine Pairings
Inside, the restaurant is leaning on the chain's signature formula: modern American food with globally inspired flavors, prepared from scratch using peak-season ingredients, with lunch, brunch, happy hour, and dinner service plus gluten-free options and a kids' menu. Menu highlights cited by Cleveland.com include crispy Brussels sprouts, braised short rib risotto, Dana's Parmesan chicken, prime churrasco grilled steak, and blackened ahi tuna, each paired with a recommended wine.
The wine list is central to the concept. Master Sommelier Emily Wines, who curates the tasting room portfolio and holds the title of Vice President of Wine Experience at Cooper's Hawk, is one of only 149 Master Sommeliers in the Americas and served as Chair of the Board for the Court of Master Sommeliers from 2021 to 2023, according to Cooper's Hawk. The Seven Hills tasting room will pour more than 60 varietals aimed at both new and experienced wine drinkers, with visitors able to buy bottles for home and browse a retail marketplace of wine-related gifts and merchandise.
Illinois Roots, National Growth
Those bottles trace back to a single production hub. Cooper's Hawk was founded in Orland Park, Illinois, in 2005 by CEO Tim McEnery as the state's first combined winery and restaurant, and its Woodridge, Illinois, winery sources grapes and juice from the United States and select international regions, per Wikipedia. In a press release cited by Cleveland.com, McEnery said, “We built Cooper’s Hawk around a simple idea: the good life is better when it’s shared,” a philosophy that has carried the chain from its Illinois debut into markets across the country, including a wine club with more than 850,000 members nationwide, as Hoodline reported this week in coverage of the brand's first Kentucky location.
Seven Hills becomes the chain's third location in Northeast Ohio, according to Cleveland Scene.
With training underway and reservations already open, Kandrach and his team are preparing to welcome the Seven Hills community through the restaurant's doors on Oct. 12.
