Wilbert’s Food & Music 812 Huron Avenue   Cleveland, Ohio  216.902.4663

People have asked me to Compile a List of people who have played for me-I'll start with the Blues guys first-OK-Everybody!!!!!!!Ha Ha!

Now here you Go-

5 Chinese Brothers

I'll keep adding as I remember more

Cleveland’s premier restaurant-slash-roots music venue. With a huge room and an great sound system, WILBERT’S FOOD & MUSIC is the place to go downtown for a great meal and a top-notch concert.      Open for the quality music showcase features a bistro-style menu with new ideas alongside old Ninth Street favorites, affordable appetizers, and a stellar draft list.      An adult music venue that’s still in the hospitality business; a place where you can get a drink, full-service food, and an intimate concert experience-Wilbert’s promises to deliver some of the finest in live national, regional, and local roots, blues, folk, world, jam, reggae, jazz, acoustic, pop, rock, indie and soul music downtown at a safe and conveniently located club at 812 Huron Rd E. Also accessible on Bolivar, directly across from Progressive Field and next to the The "Q" Arena and the thirsty parrott (the old Pete and Dewys) The Place to go before and after any Gateway event   Now We Have Both Hard To Choose!? Buy Both!

OK-You Asked For It-We now Sell Our Own Salsa-All Fresh Ingredients Get It ToGo!!! Our first salsa sale!

Photo By Craig Paterson

Michael Miller of Wilbert's Food & Music appreciates his role on music scene: Tastemakers

By Chuck Yarborough, The Plain Dealer

December 20, 2009,

Gus Chan,

"Expect nothing. Appreciate everything."

It's a nice little aphorism, and it happens to be Michael Miller's new mantra. It explains why Wilbert's Food & Music is still around, 17 years and two locations after its launch in Cleveland's Warehouse District.

The District and the Flats back then contended for hottest spot for music, with scores of national and regional acts thumping out sounds at several clubs. But few were packed as often as Miller's tiny spot on West Ninth Street. And the names of the acts that he introduced to the city are just about legendary.

A band called the Ranch got $250 to open for local songstress Anne E. DeChant. The lead guitarist and vocalist for that trio was a fellow named Keith Urban. The same Keith Urban who sold out The Q earlier this year and, we suspect, made a bit more than $250.

Want a few more names? How about Jonny Lang? Kenny Wayne Shepherd? Alejandro Escovedo? Buckwheat Zydeco? Nanci Griffith?

The same names aren't playing the club's "new" home at 812 Huron Road in the Caxton Building -- where it's been longer than the seven years he called the West Ninth location home -- but as Miller pointed out, nobody knew a lot of those acts when he booked them.

Also, there was no House of Blues and no Beachland Ballroom, both places likely to bring in blues, indie or alt-country artists today.

Seated in one of the open booths of his club, Miller talked about the changes in the music scene in Cleveland since he opened Wilbert's (named for his grandfather and father) in 1992. The national economy was booming, with a surging Cleveland riding the wave. The Indians were about to start their record run of sellouts at Jacobs, now Progressive, Field. The Browns? Well, let's not talk about the Browns.

Memories are as thick as the atmosphere when it comes to the Warehouse District site, where patrons often shared tables with strangers.

When he finally left, Miller said, "we were outgrowing the space. People walk in here all the time and go, 'I really miss that old place.' I'm like, 'So do I.'

"But I've learned how to survive more here than what I've ever learned throughout my career," he said.

It's not easy, given the downturn in the economy, the paucity of visitors to downtown -- Miller said he never considered any location other than downtown for a new club -- and, honestly, the slide in the Indians' fortunes.

But learning to pinch pennies has been a good thing for the Gilmour Academy grad who got his start as the food and beverage manager at Barney Google's in Richfield after earning a degree at Xavier University.

"I go to the [West Side] Market because know I can get what I need and it's a better deal," Miller said. "I go to the Restaurant Depot and just get what I need. Then I know my prices on everything."

Other things have changed for him as well. Three years ago, after a bout with pancreatitis that left him hospitalized for more than a week, Miller gave up drinking.

And at 51 -- he'll be 52 next month -- he's a family man now. He and girlfriend Rachael Kahl have two sons (6-year-old Evan and 3-year-old Jonah) and an 9-month-old daughter, Maegan. Laughing when advised that he'll be 70 when Magaen graduates from high school, he joked that at least he'd get preferred parking for senior citizens.

"I have the same stress, but I don't even feel it," Miller said.

Of course, it's been replaced by a bit of workaholic's guilt; not long ago, he decided that lunches were just not making enough money for him to justify being open. So he's not. He went from working typical restaurateur hours -- 80 to 90 hours a week -- to 40 or 50.

He admitted to feeling a bit like a slacker, but he's content with the decision. And the club has grown beyond the "just music" bugaboo.

Miller, who created all the dishes on the menu, said he cuts his own steaks, makes his own barbecue sauce (he's recently started bottling and selling it) and jerk seasoning. Plus, he has a homemade veggie burger that he said is a hit with the vegetarian set, who often are surprised to find such an offering in a bar setting.

Call it a non-meat fan's way of adhering to Miller's guide: Expect nothing and appreciate everything. Even a veggie burger.