Michael Sokolowski, co-owner of longtime Cleveland staple restaurant Sokolowski鈥檚 University Inn, died Tuesday. He was 65.
If any Cleveland restaurant was considered iconic, it was Sokolowski鈥檚 University Inn, which opened in 1923 and closed in 2020. Famous for its buttery pierogi, Sokolowski鈥檚 served all sorts of Eastern European comfort food 鈥� stuffed cabbage, kielbasa, paprikash 鈥� to cafeteria-style lines of customers that regularly stretched outside the restaurant, around the parking lot and onto the sidewalk.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 realize what a big impact you made on a city, maybe a neighborhood,鈥� brother Bernie Sokolowski said. 鈥淚t makes you feel good. It鈥檚 a tribute to my brother.鈥�
Mike co-owned, cooked and managed the restaurant with his brother Bernie and sister Mary after they took over for their parents, Bernard Sr. and Marion, in the 1980s.
Bernie credits his 鈥渂aby brother鈥� for being the innovator of business 鈥� expanding the menu and hours, creating marketing plans and designing the restaurant鈥檚 scenic bar overlooking the city skyline from south of the Cuyahoga River.
鈥淢ike was the one with vision and he was the one that took us to a different level in a lot of his ideas for the business,鈥� Bernie said. 鈥淲e didn't go to like, business management school or chefing school or anything like that.鈥�
Instead, it was the home cooking and high standards for quality ingredients that Mike learned from his parents that made the restaurant such a success.
Sokolowski's was regularly featured in local magazines, newspapers and TV programs, including on WVIZ-PBS and the Food Network show
Sokolowski鈥檚 won the James Beard 鈥淎merican Classics鈥� Award in 2014, one of the highest honors for a restaurant.
鈥淢ike had a certain touch with cooking. He was a natural for it and he had a very good palate,鈥� Bernie said. 鈥淗e didn't put anything out on that line or sell anything that wasn't to his expectations.鈥�
He also taught culinary arts classes at the Polaris Career Center.
Bernie described Mike as a 鈥渉ugger鈥� who took care of his staff and customers. He said Mike was not shy to cover a tab for someone down on their luck.
鈥淗e liked to embrace people and he did it genuinely. It was not like a phony thing. If he liked you, he likes you, and he liked generally, mostly everybody,鈥� Bernie said.
Mike and his wife, Patricia, have two children, George and Sara, and two grandchildren, Nicole and Emerson. Mike was a graduate of Cleveland Central Catholic and Otterbein University.
He played baseball and football, and was a member of the Suburban Umpire Association of Cleveland, officiating many Cleveland Indians Fantasy Camps.
Rock & roll brothers
Mike was also a member of St. John Cantius Catholic Church and spent his youth as an altar boy. He was a drummer for the church and even started a band with Bernie.
The two enjoyed going to rock shows together, though Bernie remembers sometimes 鈥渓osing鈥� his brother at the end of a concert.
鈥淲e're ready to get going, and where's Mike at? Well, Mike comes out from backstage and he comes back and goes, 鈥楾hose guys are coming over. They're going to stop at the restaurant right now. So, I'm going to open up, we鈥檒l have a few drinks with these guys, we鈥檒l feed them,'鈥� Bernie recalled.
The South Side
Sokolowski鈥檚 University Inn was a pillar in Cleveland鈥檚 Tremont neighborhood, which used to be called the South Side. (The Sokolowskis still call it that.)
鈥淲e prided ourselves that we were from the South Side. It was a tough neighborhood,鈥� Bernie said.
Despite the family closing the restaurant to retire six years ago, Sokolowski鈥檚 remains at the core of the neighborhood鈥檚 identity. Neighbors frequently reminisce about the photo-packed walls, the porkchops and the hospitality that felt like eating at a cousin鈥檚 house.
鈥淢ichael Sokolowski and his family gave Tremont one of its most cherished gathering places. Sokolowski鈥檚 University Inn was not only a restaurant鈥攊t was a home for the community. We extend our heartfelt condolences to the Sokolowski family and give thanks for a legacy that will endure for many years to come,鈥� Tremont West Development Corporation Executive Director Julie Dahlhausen Hunter said in a statement.
Mike鈥檚 restaurant philosophy was, 鈥淵ou come as a stranger and leave as a friend," Bernie said.
鈥淗e always tells me this: 鈥業 missed the restaurant, but what I missed the most is the people,鈥欌�� Bernie said. 鈥淲e didn't exactly know where they lived, but they were friends, like restaurant friends, and people that were there would come every day. And of course, most of those people, a lot of them, you became lifetime friends.鈥�
