Saravanan “Babu” Chandrababu oversees renovations to the former Tick Tock Tavern that will convert it into Safar and open at the end of this month. With a Cleveland-Lakewood map mural in the background, the Legacy bar shown here will offer traditional American foods while two other rooms will offer a fusion of Indian foods in a fine-dining and speakeasy lounge setting (NEOtrans). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.
Indian-American restaurant-bar opening Jan. 28
Two journeys are represented at the site of the former Tick Tock Tavern that saw its nearly eight-decade-long run end in December 2024. One is that of the tavern and the other is of its new owner Saravanan “Babu” Chandrababu.
The tavern is due to reopen Jan. 28 as Safar, which in Indian means “journey.” It is located at 11526 Clifton Blvd. in Cleveland’s Edgewater neighborhood, a block east of the Lakewood city limits.
The 4,400-square-foot former bar, restaurant and party room space is located on the ground floor of an aging, century-old, mixed-use building. This building has seen other changes lately.
Papa Nicks Pizza closed but will replaced by Epanada Errthang which is emerging from its food truck origins. Two other closings followed — Mashiso Asian Grille and Remixx ice cream + cereal bar. Longtime tenant Flower Child moved to 1360 W. 117th St., Lakewood.
Safar may pump new life into this block. Chandrababu, who also owns Sausalito on Ninth in Downtown Cleveland, Sausalito Kirtland in Lake County, plus catering services, said the renovated Tick Tock space will also offer three distinct venues.
Safar’s dining room is spacious and bright and will soon gain its finishing touches prior to opening at the end of this month (NEOtrans).
First is the bar, to be called Legacy — a nod to the old Tick Tock that was owned by John Tripodis since 1993 and his cousin Gus Katsaros before that to 1972. Tripodis occasionally visits the restaurant to check on the progress of renovations.
In addition to drinks, Legacy will offer a standard American menu similar to what the Tick Tock had. It and the other two attached venues will be open from 11 a.m. to midnight, seven days a week. Legacy is touted as an upscale neighborhood bar.
The old Tick Tock Tavern’s decor was like a step back in time to at least the 1980s and its furnishings were overdue for replacement. For example, the old bar fell apart when workers tried to move it.
“Everything I tried to touch was barely standing,” Chandrababu said. But the original flooring was still in good shape and was restored for Legacy. Also, a huge city map mural of Downtown Cleveland to Lakewood was added to the bar’s western wall — suggestive of the journeys associated here.
The speakeasy has a darker, more moody, lounge-type setting for up to 25 patrons. It can also be reserved for private parties (NEOtrans).
“It’s going to be fun,” Safar’s General Manager Charlotte Sigel said of the map mural. “It will be a talking point for people when they come in.” Having lived nearby on Lake Avenue for five years, she was a customer of the Tick Tock.
On the other side of the bar’s east wall will be the second venue — Safar, a fine-dining, modern Indian fusion restaurant that will have a non-spicy menu.
“When you go to an Indian restaurant, 90 to 95 percent of the menus are the same,” Chandrababu said. “My menu is not the same. It’s fusion. It’s more upscale, small plates, shareables, lamb shank, chicken, short bread, halibut. That’s the difference.”
Chandrababu also has experienced quite a journey to get here. He left India to get his master’s degree in Switzerland and then moved to Malaysia before arriving in America in 2005.
Everything in the kitchen is new, representing a sizable investment in the reinvigoration of this historic restaurant space (NEOtrans).
“Once we realized this is the route we’re going, we wanted to go full-fledged,” he said. “We want to give the community something that they’re going to love and that they’re going feel safe coming to and enjoy. And it’s going to hold the same meaning in their hearts that Tick Tock had but in a different capacity.”
Safar will likely offer a brunch on Saturdays and Sundays. But it not may not offer it right after the restaurant opens at the end of this month, prefaced by a soft opening Jan. 25 for friends and family.
“We may do the brunch pretty soon because once I hit it, I hit it all at once,” Chandrababu said. “People like brunch. They want to come Sunday and see a brunch menu and see a football game.”
The third venue repurposed Tick Tock’s old party room as a speakeasy lounge. It offers a darker, more moody decor with lounge-style seating. While it will be open to the public, it can also be reserved for parties with seating for up to 25 people, Sigel said.
This arched doorway was hidden within the wall of the old Tick Tock, behind where the hanging-rib rotisserie was. It and a new, carved wooden door provides an entrance to the speakeasy from the dining room (NEOtrans).
Hiring has started with a goal of having 20-25 people employed among the three venues in total. Each of those venues has their own outside entrances for the public, their own access to the kitchen and their own restrooms.
But much of Chandrababu’s nearly $1 million investment in renovating the space can be found in the kitchen. Commercial-grade stoves, coolers, broilers and other features are all new.
“We really had to gut it down to its studs and get it back up to where it needs to be,” said Sigel who is also manager of Sausalito on Ninth. “Once we started touching things, we realized how much work was going into it. A few more finishing touches and we’ll be ready.”
“We’re very excited,” Chandrababu said. “It really has been a journey.”
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