Food has always been a passion for Jaret Havanchak and bringing a smile to people’s faces with his quality meals is his mission. The owner of Square Bistro in Chardon and Lure Bistro & Sushi Bar in Willoughby, Jaret gives families the opportunity to have fun over food.
Jaret graduated from high school and went right to culinary school in Pittsburgh before moving to Phoenix, AZ where he worked at a resort for a few years. Ready to move back home to Ohio, Jaret decided to purchase Lure Bistro & Sushi Bar in 2008. Jaret’s entrepreneurial vision to include more options for customers in town by expanding what once was predominantly a seafood restaurant. It became more bistro style and also specialized more specifically in sushi.
Once Jaret became owner of Lure Bistro & Sushi Bar, the restaurant won a few awards in the Cleveland area. Jaret has had such great success with Lure Bistro & Sushi Bar, he wanted to expand and start a new business. Thus, Square Bistro in Chardon, Ohio was born.
“My wife grew up in Chardon and I grew up in Chesterland. We both moved back out to Chardon a few years ago,” Jaret says. “I wanted to start something in our hometown because Chardon really needs something like this. There are very few restaurants in Chardon and Square Bistro has been very successful so far. I wanted to give something to Chardon folks they’ve never had before.”
Square Bistro, open since March 2014, is located directly across from the court house in the old Chardon Brewery formerly know as Chardon Brew Works. Jaret completely rebuilt and remodeled the building before opening up the restaurant. Square Bistro offers great specials including Monday’s half-off wine bottle night and Tuesday is lobster night.
Throughout his career in the restaurant business, Jaret makes it a priority to get to know the local farmers and Ohio food companies to give his customers the highest quality food he can possibly serve and values being part of the local community.
“I reached out to local businesses and went to farmers markets to meet these people in person,” Jaret says. “I deal with Scott from New Creations Farm on a weekly basis. I have a really good relationship with him.”
Jaret’s crew loves what they do at his restaurants. The passion for food that Jaret brought with him to Lure Bistro & Sushi Bar and Square Bistro inspires his chefs, cooks and servers on a daily basis.
“When you have servers that work for you who are proud of the food that is coming out of the kitchen, that really lifts their spirits. They then talk to the customers about the food and get them involved in the whole local push,” Jaret says.
Like with any successful business, marketing is important. At Jaret’s restaurants they do most of their marketing in-house. They’ve built an email database that has been very successful to date. This includes weekly newsletters that share events like wine dinners and scotch tasting.
For Jaret, he is most proud that his restaurants give families something positive to do in the local Willoughby and Chardon communities. Jaret is the father of three young children and he wants his customers to know that he is a family man with a family restaurant.
“Families can come in here, bring their kids and not feel like a burden or something,” Jaret says. “I think that is one thing that has made us very successful. It’s about the community.”
For those interested in starting their own restaurant or small business, Jaret has some words of advice for your success.
“Marry your restaurant. You’re going to need to spend every waking hour of time, dedication and love through the ups and downs with it. Just like marriage.”
If you are looking for great food in Chardon then come out and visit Square Bistro. While you’re there, sign up with your email to receive updates and weekly specials. You can find daily updates on the restaurants’ Facebook page.
