The Lockview will finish its nearly 20-year run serving gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches in downtown Akron in late September, according to owner Danny Basone.
Over the next month, Basone and his team will be liquidating everything on the restaurant’s three floors. There will not be an auction like there was for downtown’s Spaghetti Warehouse that closed May 17; and yes, that Bilbo Baggins photo at the end of the bar has already been claimed.
“I hope somebody takes over this beautiful building and does something proper with it,” Basone said Aug. 21.
Why is The Lockview closing?
The decision to close has come after years of financial strife, which hit an all-time high this year as overdue taxes threatened the Lockview’s liquor license and repairs to the nearly 100-year-old building were needed.
Two significant fixes were the hot water tank leaking in March and the backflow preventer failing in August, causing water to flow into the kitchen.
At its peak in 2018, The Lockview employed 54 people. The following year was the first of a thousand cuts: the Main Street Corridor Project. That was one of many events over the last seven years that reduced foot traffic and income to the business. Others Basone mentioned were the COVID-19 pandemic, concerns about safety in downtown Akron and the Lock 3 renovation, which moved summer programing for 2023 to the Lock 3 Backyard off West Bowery Street.
Through it all, Basone said he continued to pay his employees while falling behind on his taxes and hoping business would pick back up. It never did. In fact, many of his current employees have been job hunting for the past two months because The Lockview’s summer sales never took off.
Today, Basone owes the IRS $178,000, owes the city of Akron around $150,000 and has $30,000 to $40,000 in personal and business credit card debit. And he has a lien on his home.
“I didn’t want to shut this place down,” Basone said. “I could have let somebody that’s been with me forever continue on, but I’m up against the wall with the IRS. Once again, why? Because I paid my employees, I did the right thing. Then I got penalized times two, times four. It just kept adding up.”
While Basone said he doesn’t blame the city, he does feel as though he is “trying to fix the city’s problems.” He also cited the rising costs of gas prices and changes in society, such as social media and the emergence of marijuana dispensaries, as reasons for people staying home more.
“When the city has put so much effort into things and then the community is saying, ‘I heard a gunshot, don’t go downtown,’” Basone said. “It’s like, I don’t even know what to say about that.”
Up next for Danny Basone: The Electric Frankenstein
During the winter of 2025, Basone opened The Electric Frankenstein, a small room for live music in the back of what was most recently Basone’s United States Pierogi Service until that closed in March. Prior to that, it was Funny Noodle and El Gato Taqueria, which were also run by Basone.
Named after a band that played at The Lime Spider, The Electric Frankenstein will continue to be a music venue that will eventually, with the help of current The Lockview chef Katie Martin, offer bar food. Basone confirmed that grilled cheese will be on the menu.
He hopes the space will become “a cool little hangout with some good food offerings and music and art, but on a smaller scale,” he said. “It’s still going to have my vibe – it already does.”
History of The Lockview
The Lockview has a long history in downtown Akron. But in the early 1930s it was Stone’s Grill, then became Mr. Bilbo’s (yes, as in Bilbo Baggins of J.R.R. Tolkien’s 1937 novel “The Hobbit,”) in the early ’80s, and eventually landed in the hands of its Basone in 2001. Upon acquisition, he revamped the space into a bar and music venue named the Lime Spider (named after an obscure ’80s rock band).
During its time as a music club, they would cook grilled cheese sandwiches on stage between acts and use a slide to deliver them to patrons. Ricky Rhoads, a Basone family friend who was a chef, came up with the idea.
In 2007, Basone turned the Lime Spider into the Lockview. At the time, he said attendance at shows was falling and small national bands were going directly to Cleveland to play. So, they pivoted to a concept they were already familiar with – grilled cheese.
Memories at The Lockview, Lime Spider
Over nearly 20 years operating as The Lockview, Basone said it’s been a progression of being recognized as the best bar in Akron every year. Other highlights he mentioned are meeting new people dining at the restaurant who understand its vibe and hiring employees.
His favorite memory in the space goes back to the Lime Spider days, when he booked Dayton rock band Guided by Voices.
“This place sold out in a minute,” Basone said. “Shows like that, it’s just like, you’ve got two floors of everybody having a great time.”
Basone did more reminiscing and shared photos on his most recent Facebook post.
Beacon Journal reporter Tawney Beans can be reached at tbeans@usatodayco.com or on Instagram @TawneyBeans. Don’t forget to follow her adventures on TikTok @akronbeaconjournal.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: The Lockview to close in September, unable to surmount financial hole
Reporting by Tawney Beans, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Tawney Beans, Akron Beacon Journal | USA TODAY Network
