Tucked away in Ohio City’s Hingetown enclave, Sunday afternoon touchdowns are followed by a bellowing “Here we go Brownies, here we go!” A bustling crowd embraced by an early September breeze chows-down fluffy pierogies and kielbasa, the likes of which even a stoic Hungarian grandma would quietly nod to.
The scene is a weekly occurrence at Jukebox, the restaurant and bar with a mission to be the regular evening spot for any type of Clevelander – through a love of music, fresh, locally sourced food and drinks and charitable contributions for community support.
Amidst planning for the Jukebox Official Halloween Party on Nov. 1, 2025, the staff and leadership of the bar can still feel the hum of energy and excitement that filled the establishment during its 11th anniversary party on Aug. 3, 2025. Alex Budin, owner of Jukebox, reminisced on the bar’s creation and the legacy he’s trying to build.
When Jukebox opened its doors on Aug. 2, 2014 at 1404 W 29th St, Budin was determined to create the neighborhood bar he felt Hingetown was craving. That led him to open Jukebox.
“I was working as a bar manager in Chicago, and I decided to move back to Cleveland because I wanted to be a part of Cleveland’s Rust Belt revival,” Budin said. “I moved back here in 2013, and it was at a time where you could feel the energy of new businesses opening. That was really when West 25th Street started to transform.”
“A light bulb went off and felt like this was the right time,” Budin said, noting that Jukebox’s creation was somewhat of an overnight decision.
Jukebox revolves around music, with a vintage jukebox at the heart of the bar interior which gets specially programmed with artists coming to town. Budin said he felt that although there were concert clubs in the area, there weren’t many places that celebrated Cleveland’s rich rock ‘n’ roll tradition when he was beginning to craft Jukebox.
“So we sort of see ourselves as a conduit,” Budin said. “We try and help encourage people to come here, learn about some music, maybe that you’re not totally familiar with, and then go see a show, go to the Agora, go to Beachland, go to Happy Dog.”
“That was sort of the way I felt we could sort of fit into the fabric of an already rich music community,” Budin said.
In addition to the music-central theme of the bar, Jukebox provides a comfortable and safe space that celebrates the LGBTQ community – a major aspect of the location’s history.
“When we opened, my goal was always to be a reflection of the neighborhood,” Budin said. “The best neighborhood bars are a mirror of the community that they’re in. We know the history down in this neighborhood – the original LGBT Center at Cleveland was founded in our building. There’s been a history of advocacy throughout the neighborhood, not just in the LGBTQ+ community, but also with human rights.”
“My hope was to embrace that and provide a safe space for people in that way, in similar ways,” Budin added, “So I’ve been proud that we’ve accomplished that in a lot of different ways.”
Non-profit support
“Going back probably five, six, seven years, I really tried to sit down and think about it,” Budin said. “Instead of scattershot, just saying yes to everybody who asks for something, I wanted to be more focused and try and make a bigger impact in my fundraising goals – so all three of our fundraising partners are in the neighborhood.”
One partner is the May Dugan Center, with 100 types of services to support the Cleveland community in a plethora of ways. From a trauma recovery center to food distribution, the May Dugan Center provides a helping hand to the community.
“We’ve helped throughout the years with a variety of different ways to help support them and all the services that they offer, especially with the political climate,” Budin said. “Those organizations, their funding is very tight right now. So we’re trying to continue to lift them up as much as possible.”
Another partner of Jukebox is Drink Local Drink Tap, a nonprofit water conservation and clean water organization for Cleveland. In addition to Cleveland, the organization supports water infrastructure in Uganda.
Lastly, Jukebox supports the Cleveland International Film Festival, a partnership near and dear to Budin’s interests.
“I’m a huge movie buff and I have been attending the festival throughout my life, I love the work they do,” Budin said. “We’ve done at least three, probably four different onsite events here at Jukebox, showcasing shorts programs and things that help sort of their mission on a more casual level, and then we sponsor a film during the festival.”
“Typically it’s music or music adjacent,” Budin added, “And they’ve just been very, very great to work with. On a personal level, it’s somewhat of a dream of mine to have any even tangential relationship to that organization.”
During the football season, Jukebox acts as a Browns Backers club called the Hingetown Browns Backers.
“Also we use that platform exclusively to raise money for those three nonprofit partners,” Budin said. “We sell merchandise and things of that nature, and we donate 100 percent of those proceeds at the end of the year to that group.”
Although the three non-profit partners are the sole-annual recipients of Jukebox donations, the bar supports other organizations throughout the year.
“We do a lot of stuff for the LGBT Center of Greater Cleveland during Pride Month this year,” Budin said. “We raised, I think we raised close to $1,700 for them just in the month of June. So there’s still other organizations that we definitely prioritize, but those three are part of our core.”
Food and drink sourced locally
Under a rainbow-stringed roof on Jukebox’s enclosed and open-air patios, guests sip and snack on locally-sourced menu items and drinks, another key aspect to the bar’s commitment to the community.
When the bar was just getting its stride, the main menu item featured was homemade pierogies. The staff worked out of the Cleveland Culinary Launch Kitchen, now known as Cleveland Central Kitchen, which is a shared commercial kitchen for entrepreneurs and chefs.
At the kitchen, Budin worked side-by-side with Cleveland Kraut (Cleveland Kitchen), The Cleveland Bagel Company, Mason’s Creamery, Saucy Sows and Randy’s Artisanal. Friendships developed, and Budin has tried to keep those relationships alive throughout Jukebox’s existence. Now, Cleveland Bagel, Cleveland Kraut and Philomena Bake Shop all can be spotted on Jukebox’s food menu. Additionally, ice cream from Mitchell’s, sausages from K&K Portage and Humphrey’s popcorn all can be enjoyed at the bar. Sip on a beer from Market Garden Brewery or an iced coffee from Lekko Coffee to pair perfectly with a hand-crafted pierogi.
“As things have flowed with our business, we’ve always prioritized local,” Budin said. “(We) try and keep things tied directly to the community, things that are important to us, other companies whose values we share.”
Jukebox’s community support doesn’t stop at food, as charitable contributions from the bar are scattered across Cleveland, too.
Atmosphere
Inside the music-infused interior, Jukebox staff greets patrons of all backgrounds and ages with a warm smile – a key piece of creating a safe space according to Budin.
“All I do is lay the foundation of what we want to be, and my staff helps bring it to life and create those memories,” Budin said. “ I wanted (Jukebox) to be some place that I feel good bringing my friends, bringing my family, bringing a date or something along those lines.”
“What I love about Jukebox is that, because my staff does such a good job of creating and enhancing a welcoming environment and making people feel safe here,” Budin continued. “We have a lot of people that are comfortable coming by themselves. That’s what that tells me is that they’re comfortable here – they trust that they’re going to see someone and have a good conversation.”
Weekly, Jukebox hosts Vinyl Night on Tuesdays, where the bar only plays vinyls that guests brought themselves, or chose from the house collection. Every Wednesday, Music Trivia with DJ Tone Def features friendly competition, Tequila Halftime and prizes.
“As for our Music Trivia on Wednesday night, we’ve won Best of Cleveland for that for a couple of years, two consecutive years now,” Budin said. “As I tell people often, you don’t have to be a music trivia aficionado to come to that event and really have a good time.”
Next on the books for Jukebox’s events is Story Wars on Oct. 16, which is a free, creative writing “throw down.” Not everyone has to write, Budin says, it’s just as fun to watch.
“You have five minutes to write on each prompt and then those who are comfortable or interested are asked to read them and in some cases perform what they’ve written,” Budin said. “It’s a really fun, unique event.”
To keep up with upcoming events, or to learn more about Jukebox, visit jukeboxcle.com.
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