Cleveland Public Square

Christmas time the square is decked out in lights while music plays. On the half hour there is a light show where the buildings change color and the music speakers play a certain song that changes. Very festive!

Really good mix of old and modern architecture. Great photos options. I liked the video playing in one of the tower building. It is.worth to see during it day and night time . Nice fountain. Seats available around the square. Nice garden Recommend

Absolutely awesome experience during the winter wonderland! The lights were stunning, ice skating looked so fun. The music was on point. The feel of Christmas around the corner was definitely the vibe! Love the lights and Cleveland lights on the buildings.

Enjoyable visit with open and safe spaces to walk and sit. Found a couple of places to eat, but not many street side coffee shops.

Great place to get your adventure started when visiting Cleveland! Centrally located within walking distance to dozens of places to see.

Cool and plaza I was here at the start of January and end of February and it’s cold either way the wind off Lake Erie is very cold.

Nice area to take pictures from the center of downtown.

Public square has changed all you see now is people down there smoking dope right in your face crack pipes here crack pipe there everywhere crack pipe I was so sick by the time I got back home a person who's recovering from a drug addiction has no chance of going downtown so please if you are recovering from a drug addiction stay away from public square

Public Square... more like Public Scare... I mean, It's the kind of place where even pigeons look like they've given up on life. I've seen alleys with more charm and less chaos. Sure, it might look okay from a distance, but you go further in and it's like a crumbling facade with questionable smells. It's like if someone tried to design a gathering place using only disappointment and expired fast food coupons. I mean, it's nuts. You'll definitely find a lot of nuts on the ground. I mean, you may well call this square the Bermuda Triangle--You hope for some city charm and leave wondering if urban decay can be contagious.

I started drafting this review in May 2020 and 4 years later, I'm finally writing it (haha). Given that Public Square is well known, to locals at least, I'll try to keep this review brief. I love Public Square in downtown Cleveland. It is an open space where alot of people gather to eat their lunch during break time from work or simply just to walk by and admire the big water fountain that shoots water out from the ground. ACTIVITIES -- Ice Skating rink in the winter months, speaker series in the summer months, I think festivals too, etc. The Soldiers and Sailor Museum is right on Public Square too - you can look up my review of that museum on Yelp. The tall monument that you see sticking up on that small structure is the museum. It is small from the outside but it has a lot of history including an underground section to tour. ICE-RINK -- Join Downtown Cleveland's email list to get updates on Public Square and downtown activities. The update email from 8 January 2025 stated this: "Open on the weekends through Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Jan 20th) the ice rink and magical lights at Public Square make the perfect destination for a friends and family outing. Tickets are $12 and include skate rentals." FOOD -- There are food options around the vicinity. Rebol, a healthy food spot, is one of them which is located right on Public Square. The owner of Rebol also owns Townhall. I haven't been to both restaurants in a long time but I remember enjoying the food when I previously visited. In the summer months, food trucks and farmers markets park around Public Square plus the surrounding area. Parking is street parking or a nearby garage including the Tower City garage. Street parking is hard to find most of the time so beware. Public Square gets packed especially with children during the summer months. It is a fun and busy destination that brings attractions downtown. **** GOAL of 365 reviews in 2025 - 27/365 total reviews in 2025 - 808 total Yelp reviews - Reviewed on 16 January 2025

Pro Tip: Illuminate CLE downtown lighting exhibition is being presented right now by Destination Cleveland at Public Square. It currently runs every hour, on the hour, from dusk until 11 PM. Public Square is one of my favorite spots in Cleveland. It feels so historic and grandeur. Right in the heart of the city, it felt like a vibrant crossroads where history, culture, and community came together. Surrounded by iconic buildings, this green space allows to take a break and take in the rhythm of CLE. You have to make it your destination if you're visiting Cleveland! If you are a local and haven't been there in a while, it's recently really transformed and is more developed. Either way, visit. Please be mindful of your surroundings at Public Square especially in the nighttime. While the area has significantly developed, it can get dicey. Although I most recently visited for nighttime launch of Illuminate CLE, had a wonderful experience, felt very safe and impressed by our city. Parking is available throughout Cleveland's downtown in nearby parking lots and street parking. Tower City has a parking lot that's an easy walk away if you'd like to visit two landmarks. Similarly, Old Stone Church has a weekend permit by the Public Square (must visit the church and obtain it in person).

More active and more fun in summer, but it is also nice to walk through any time of year. You can see (my favorite) the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, as well as, the Moses Cleveland statue, and Mayor Tom L. Johnson statue. There are food trucks, gardens, miscellaneous vendors, and offer summer festivals and Ice Skating in winter. Public square is surrounds by some of Cleveland's favorite business and buildings including, Tower City Center, Jack's Casino, and the Old Stone Church. You can learn more and see the calendar of events at www.clevelandpublicsquare.com

Public Square is an amazing place to visit. It's in the center of Cleveland with a lot of deep history and nostalgic roots. The Square itself boasts a war memorial, bronze statues, a small park, fountain and has many major buildings around it including a church, hotel, casino and Key Bank Headquarters among other notables.

A nice walk through the park to see the great architecture & statues throughout the area. Very clean and not busy. Perfect for a picnic or a stroll through the area.

Maybe I'll be a bit harsh on my review but this place was entirely under construction at the time of my arrival. It seems to be a big hub for large gatherings and events. I've even been caught in the round about at various times. It's also a central hub for many bus routes as well which is really fitting since you're in the heart of downtown and not far from anything at all. You even have the monument on the property which is absolutely beautiful that I have reviewed as well.

Well maintained. Holds lots of history. Tower City, the Old Stone Church and the Soldiers/Sailors museum are there. In the winter there is a skating rink. In the summer the square is a park-like setting. Sitting there is Rebol restaurant, a casual restaurant with good bowls. Office buildings and apartment/condos surround it.

Basically the center of Cleveland. It has a great location in the middle of downtown close to lots of stuff. Public Square is pretty large and there's lots to do inside this. A large statue is in the middle. There's also a restaurant and an ice rink in winter. A few years ago there was a renovation which made this much better. It seems a lot cleaner. There's also more green space. Most famous about this place is the centerpiece. Soldiers Monument is a large statue. Around it there have been many improvement. Rebol is a restaurant that serves cafe style food and has a patio. It remains a popular place to catch busses. It also is in front of Terminal Tower where you can get a train to and from the suburbs. The city did a good job making this clean and safer.

Pretty park with lots open of space and some of the best views of Lake Erie and Downtown. On a nice day you will see it bustling with activity and is so centrally located that it takes up a couple of blocks to cram in all the statues that are in the park. It is also real close to the Rock Hall and Key Tower providing great views of each.

Great public space that is surprisingly easy to access either by car or on foot. We visited for the city's annual Winterfest celebration, a first for us, and were pleased with how convenient it was to public areas where we could warm up when we had a little too much of winter! Surrounded by beautiful old buildings and architecture, the square is rich in history but the center of lots of modern day fun activities and good food. We met some interesting characters at the Winterfest event and were treated to s'mores at the fire pits and hot chocolate while we watched skaters at the ice rink. Great use of a public space for locals and visitors alike!

Public square in the winter hits different. Crisp air, big buildings, and LIGHTS. If you are in the area please go take a half hour to bundle up and walk around to see the Holiday decorations downtown. They are beautiful. The casino has window displays that bring in the holiday spirit as well! I would park on a side street and walk to the square so you can easily get out of traffic.

Public Square is a Cleveland landmark. Within the last decade it's finally received more of the attention it deserves with the help of the local CDC. There's now seating, fountains and seasonal holiday decorations. They also host events in normal times, ranging from 5Ks to outdoor concerts. It has better security than years past. You'll find a small restaurant on the premises, Rebol, which is an all-day cafe serving up build your own bowls, coffees and cocktails, all with outdoor seating. I've never tried their food, but often see people carry it to other parts of Public Square to sit. You can also walk to the library and many other Cleveland sites from the central location of the Square. The area still teeters on being questionable if you're flying solo at night, so just like any other city environment, exert caution. The city has done a much better job about making Public Square an enticing place to visit during the day as you wait to catch a bus or trolley. The holiday displays are just gorgeous and create the most beautiful atmosphere in Downtown Cleveland!

Central Point of Cleveland downtown with Some green space and events happening all year round. Soldiers Monument is part of the square and this spot is decorated with lights all over during Christmas which makes it even more vibrant. Skating rinks are formed during winters. Good Close view of all the big buildings in downtown. Pros: ------ 5 min walk to fountain of eternal life 8 min walk to Willard park( World largest Rubber stamp) 15 min walk to Rock Of Hall Of Fame. 5 min walk to tower center 10 min to West side market by bus.

Much better and more family friendly and less gross than nearby Pubic Square. One of the most stunning spots in Cleveland, with the towering old building (Tower City) over one side of the square, and the tallest building in the area, shiny and brand new, on the other side. It's a central point, a meeting point. There are always taxis here, always cops here, and always panhandlers and vagrants here. I suppose that is the reality of the United States, even in a bitterly cold lakeside city such as Cleveland. It's one of my fave cities in the country, and this is a great place to start exploring it. It's spectacular here. Especially at night.

Impressive green space in the middle of downtown Cleveland. Even in the warmer weather, I was not troubled by any of the usual homeless or underemployed that would be expected in such a place. I can see how this would be a great spot for an open air concert, but this weekend it was simply open and clean. Awesome. With statues and flags and high rise buildings all around, it's a really great spot.

They paid around 50 million dollars for the new square. It is nice. I will never forget one of my first winter's as a child in Public Square during the Christmas holiday time. We just moved here from New Jersey. My father, mother, brother and I walked out of Tower City onto the sidewalk. A crazed man yelled "I don't care if I land my ass in jail!" My dad called him Stickman since he was wielding a big stick from a tree. My dad would quote Stickman throughout his life. As a 34 year old man I can finally say that I don't care if I land my ass in jail either. I have been through enough in life where it does not scare me. I miss the times in Public Square when it was more like American Gladiators gauntlet and to make it out from one side to the other, you needed to be asked for change from an army of bums. That is the Cleveland that I love.

This is a wonderful central location in front of the Casino and Tower City. It was a nice place to take a break from both and grab a chai at Rebol. It's also great for people watching!

Absolutely love the new public square! The entire design is fun and lends itself perfectly to a variety of outdoor events. I'd recommend checking out the calendar to see what they have going on there event-wise (included below.) http://www.cleveland.com/architecture/index.ssf/2016/07/public_square_announces_upcomi.html#incart_river_home

I really like the recent renovation to public square. They kept the soldiers and sailors memorial intact while adding new amenities to the other three quadrants. Actually, the quadrants were changed to halves by removing the street that ran north and south through public square. The one thing that is baffling me is the fight that is going on between the city and RTA to reopen Superior Avenue, which bisects the new public square. I don't think it will be any less safe when buses and people are both passing through public square. Opening Superior to allow buses to pass would make sense because this will speed up many bus routes and save RTA and its passengers time and money. The ice rink is great in the winter. The water fountain is great in the summer with all the children playing in it during the day. The greenery is wonderful and the fact that Cleveland is maintaining this space, keeping it clean and green, is terrific. Rebol serves some tasty, healthy food, if not pricey. But the signs on the doors about GMO's making visiting fun. It was expensive, but I think it was worth it. And I think it was well timed. It was finished just in time for Cleveland to be in the global spotlight in 2016 with the filming of the Fast 8, the Republican National Convention, the Indians in the World Series, and the Cavs NBA championship, to mention a few events. This is Cleveland!

Well I am a big fan of urban green spaces, and Public Square is no exception. I am pleased to know the newly designed Public Square used the same architecture firm that designed the High Line in NYC, one of the most lovely re-purposed green spaces I've ever visited. I had not really walked through Public Square for quite some time, so this was the first time visiting the renovated site. I appreciate the beautiful landscaping, the emphasis on the memorial, and the proximity to Terminal Tower. Way to capture everything spectacular about downtown Cleveland!

I am so impressed with what the city did to finally revitalize this park. All 4 squares have become one square, with all four roads blocked and pedestrianized. Once run down and a place in need of TLC, it is now bright, airy, safer, and best of all functional. I took my family there on a Saturday morning to see folks having picnics at the grass, kids playing in the fountain, and visitors from out of state entering the newly refurbished ships and sailors monument -- a historic treasure. I saw three Lolly the Trolley tour buses zip buy and packed with passengers. In Europe, they do it right with revitalizing medieval areas and effectively utilizing town squares as spaces where people can gather and interact with the city and other people. Cleveland is on the rise by doing things right towards this same trend --- and continuing on at the nearby start of the Euclid corridor with an explosion of restaurants, vintage malls like the Arcade and 5th finding new life. I moved to Cleveland in 2004. Downtown was dead on the weekends then. On this sunny Saturday, there were tons of people, some palpable joy in the air, and a festive atmosphere. It's finally happening. Reach for the stars Cleveland!

Definitely feels like the heart of downtown. It brings everything together, offers lovely views of Tower City, has a great monument in the center. The ice rink and restaurants in the center make it that much more of a cultural icon for Cleveland.

Cute little park in the heart of Cleveland. I really like the water features with life size colorful snails and birds (sculptures). It's nice to sit and watch live bands while sipping a refreshing lemonade or iced tea in the summer.

Beautiful job with the redesign. I've been to this park several times over the summer and am very impressed. Glad there is a park like this in Cleveland, it was definitely needed. Good choice on Rebol, love the cafe and open seating outside, great place to grab a drink or meal.

The Public Square. Doesn't that just get you all misty, picturing a Norman Rockwell Saturday Evening Post cover, perhaps an earnest man delivering a speech on a real soap box to a crowd of adoring fellow Midwesterners, perhaps from a gazebo, hat in hand, church spire in the background? Yeah, it's not like that. At all. (Except perhaps the Old Stone Church spire part.) What it is like is a grittier version of that. Just yesterday I passed by the north-west quadrant (the "square" is actually four, distinct city blocks) and saw, and I'm not fabricating any of this, a bunch of executives playing bean-bag toss. Okay, around these parts people, with absolutely no irony, call this game "cornhole." When I was growing up, if someone asked, "Hey, feel like some cornhole, downtown, after lunch?" that feller would end up with a bloody nose. Or a dozen roses, depending. Now, the curiouser part of this whole tableaux was that, while the executives and executrix were cornholing the afternoon away on the raised, center greensward of the park under the adoring gaze of the Tom L. Johnson statue, the regular denizens of that park were still holding their positions on the outer edges, perhaps engaged in amateur pharmaceutical sales, perhaps just waiting for their luck to change. I pointed this out to a few of my colleagues, and was met with shrugs, as if to say, "Forget it Jake... it's Public Square." The block on the south-east corner is home to the marvelous and wonderful Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument. (I'll try to post a separate review. I love it. Honestly.) Now that there's a casino just south of the Square both security and cleanliness have become a priority, and you can't walk a half block without seeing some type of cop, constable, gendarme, janitor, welcoming committee, cuspidor attendant, all of them smiling. Get that? Smiling. I'm not sure I'd really want to hang around after hours; it ain't THAT great, yet, but it sure is improved, cleaner, safer and cornholier than thou. "The Greek agora, however, was different in one crucial respect, a difference that highlights a momentous development in modern life. It was surrounded by civic buildings and temples; it served as the daily centre not only of commerce, but also of religious, political, judicial, and indeed general social life. To be in public in ancient Athens meant to be a citizen, and likely enough to be tossing a bean-laden bag." -- John Carroll

Had a nice time at the Carlos Jones free concert.Dont really come down theer for anything else.

The new public square renovations have been amazing! The whole area is kept in very good condition and is a great addition to the central downtown location. There is a restaurant that is located right in the middle which is very good and there have been many additions such as small fountains and small cosmetic details added that make it look particularly appealing! Around the holidays they decorate everything very nicely and sometimes even have activities in the area such as ice skating and it is a good place for food trucks, rallies, various events in the warmer months.

Rating one of the best public parks in America. Throughout the year the city has different events at the park here along with ice-skating in the winter time and food trucks during the summer months.

A very under appreciated park located right in the heart of downtown CLE. I think that most of us think of it as that place where you wait for the RTA, but its a whole lot more. I wouldn't exactly use it as a spot to have a pic-nic, but it's a nice bit of green space amongst all the concrete surrounding it. The soldiers and sailors monument is quite nice, too.

Used to skate here 20 years ago almost every night. The northwest corner was our spot for sure! I miss the wafting smell of bum piss and junkies shooting up in the bushes. They used to have a fun ice rink at Christmas time...dont know what happened to that. Still a good place to people watch but now its mostly cabbies and freaks going to the casino.

it's not the best tourist attraction, but also live in the city of cleveland. Most of the year it's kind of dull. Then again it reflects the state of the city. Night time watch out for the craziness of the drunks and weirdos.

This little place is one of the best things I've seen in downtown Cleveland lately. I moved back here from Chicago about a year ago and wished the Public Square area could be a little more lively. It's sad how easy it is to jaywalk through any of the major streets in downtown Cleveland at rush hour. Where's the hustle and bustle? Anyway, this restaurant has delicious food, I loved the breakfast sandwich called Yolk Caliente, the kale, sauce, and brioche bun were scrumptious! The smoothies, teas and coffees were excellent too.

Beautiful area in the center of Cleveland. Yes, there are bums, drunks, and other urban unsavories, but it's a part of living in the city and it adds character. My first time in the square, the cops were busting up a drug deal in one quandrant while I observed someone carrying their friend who was ODing in another. That said, there is an imposing statue and monument, as well as live music, food trucks, and a farmers market in the summer. Go enjoy it now, because it won't be the same after they tear it up and remodel it for the RNC.

Public Square is rather...public. It's a bustle of cars and buses mostly. It's a central location (central by force, western by geography) where you can get buses, trains and the Healthline - all of which terminate here. I'm not really sure what aspects or rubric this review/rating should be based on. The mayor of Cleveland has indicated his low rating of the space with his comments on desiring change for the area (perhaps closing it to traffic). Occasionally the square is closed to traffic - for the holiday tree lighting or the 4th July orchestra concert to name a couple examples. The area, more rectangular in shape actually, has improved with the opening of the casino - if you count improvement as having more occupied doors along the square. I wouldn't really call it a park and it is far from a peaceful place to relax, but it is a busy and 'central' and overall safe area of town. It is the space over which the streets change in number from E to W. It is home to several good restaurants and is the space that must be crossed to walk from the increasingly popular E4th Street to the decreasingly popular Warehouse District. If you are looking for a park to eat your lunch in or some similiar activity I suppose you could sit on the edge of a cement planter - or you might try the newly created area in the NineTwelve District (formerly the Financial District) called Perk Plaza at Chester and E 12th Street.