Courtesy of Lizz Szabo
Many people used their time during the pandemic to learn a new hobby or rediscover an old one. For Lizz Szabo, that hobby is turning into a full-time gig.
Szabo, owner of Sweet CLE-’bus, started a pierogi business in her home kitchen in December 2020 after seeing others selling baked goods from their homes during the pandemic. Not wanting to get lost in the mix of cookies, cakes and cupcakes, Szabo decided to make her childhood favorite: pierogis.
“I’m originally from Cleveland,” she says. “The one thing that I noticed (in Columbus) that always was kind of lacking was not being able to access traditional Eastern Euro goods.”
After more than a decade in Columbus, Szabo is bringing that tradition to the capital city. Her business, currently run with pop-up hours, offers handmade pierogis with varying flavors each month.
Only Online: Try making this pierogi recipe to try at home!
Sweet CLE-’bus isn’t her first foray into business ownership, however. Szabo also owns boutique hair salon My Hairlosophy, located inside of Sola Salon Studios Westerville, and was an instructor at the Salon Institute prior to the pandemic. However, when the world came to a halt, she found herself in need of a new plan.
Spending most days at home, Szabo naturally found herself cooking more and recalled memories of working in the kitchen with her grandmother.
“I kind of focused on those home-cooked memories,” Szabo says. “I nestled into that because who doesn’t love a pierogi?”
In early November 2021, Szabo opened a brick-and-mortar location for Sweet CLE-’bus at 447 Lazelle Rd. Because small-batch, handmade pierogis are labor intensive and Szabo is running the business as a one-person operation, she has had to keep the offerings limited for now.
Pierogis remain the focus, though on Saturdays Szabo now adds kolączki – a Polish cookie made from butter and cream cheese folded over a sweet filling – to the menu.
The community response makes all the work of running a business in the food industry worthwhile, Szabo says.
“Every Saturday morning, I end up with a line kind of halfway around the parking lot and it lasts for the first hour and a half that we’re open, which is really cool,” she says.
Find more information at www.sweetclebus.com.
Courtesy of Lizz Szabo
Chloe McGowan is an editorial assistant. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
