Gunselmans Tavern

If the sands of time didn’t interrupt the legacy that Henry J. Gunselman started on December 11, 1936, nothing will. Henry and his wife Meta were German immigrants that came to America in search of a new life. Henry found a job as a whiskey salesman for The Weidemann Co and settled on Cleveland’s westside. He went to The PastTime Cafe in Fairview Village to collect a debt and instead walked out with the keys to the business. Since then, Gunselman’s has been the corner joint at West 215th Street and Lorain. A classic corner bar built in 1920, it is a seven sided, two story building that was built to wrap around the corner when the corner was a dirt road. Henry and his family lived upstairs. Meta worked the day shift, made the daily special in the kitchen and Henry the night shift tending bar and holding court. The Gunselman family owned the bar into the late 50’s, sold it to local businessman Louie Miller who in turn sold it to Red Martin who owned the building until 2014 and ran the bar until the late 90’s. Now under the 7th regime of bar owners, Gunselman’s was transitioned from the shot and beer bar that it existed as for 60 years to a local tavern with award winning burgers and creative comfort food. There is an understanding of the role of the corner tavern here. We host birthdays and funerals because it is a place to be with friends when you need them most. We are active within the community hosting fundraisers and political rallies. We serve a traditional Lenten Fish Fry with a line out the door and our Christmas sing-along is a capacity crowd powered by home-made egg nog and Christmas Ale. Embracing history and preserving tradition.