Across from MetroHealth’s main campus, at West 25th Street and Marvin Avenue, a pink sign once introduced Cleveland to a bakery built around the shape of an empanada.
A dream that took years
The Half Moon Bakery was colorful, modest and unmistakably personal. Inside its turquoise-and-orange dining room were empanadas inspired by Puerto Rico, Argentina and Colombia, Cuban sandwiches, pastries and the determination of two Cleveland restaurant workers who spent years trying to open a place of their own.
Lyz Otero, born in Puerto Rico, moved to Cleveland with her family when she was about 13. Gerson Velasquez came from Guatemala to the United States at 17. They met while working at a Cleveland Chipotle in 2006 and built careers in restaurants associated with chefs including Michael Symon, Zack Bruell and Dante Boccuzzi.
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Otero carried memories of helping her mother operate a restaurant in Puerto Rico. She began serving empanadas at her children’s school events, where demand helped convince the couple that the food could become a business.
A $50,000 Economic and Community Development Institute loan helped with equipment and construction. Landlord trouble, financing delays and a contractor the couple said disappeared after taking thousands of dollars repeatedly pushed the opening back. Support also came from the City of Cleveland, Hebrew Free Loan Association, Metro West, the Hispanic Business Center and then-Councilwoman Jasmin Santana.
A family tested before opening day
The struggle was personal as well as financial. In 2018, Velasquez was detained over his immigration status. The Land reported that he spent about a month in detention in Akron and later traveled to Guatemala while completing the legal process that allowed him to return with a green card.
After years of repairs, paperwork and uncertainty, Half Moon Bakery opened January 3, 2020. More than a dozen empanadas formed the heart of the menu. Cleveland Magazine reported that the shop sold between 300 and 400 a day during its first year.
The Chicken Argentina became a favorite, but its flavor also carried Otero’s Puerto Rican upbringing. That blending of memories and traditions defined the bakery: Cleveland food made by immigrants, shaped by professional kitchens and rooted in family.
Then the pandemic arrived
Only about three months after the long-awaited opening, COVID-19 forced the bakery to close temporarily. Otero and Velasquez reopened, but the pressure continued. In 2022, Velasquez told News 5 that a case of chicken had risen from roughly $40 to approximately $120.
The owners initially avoided raising prices because customers were struggling too. Velasquez said that when someone did not have enough money for food, he felt a responsibility to help. But absorbing higher costs left the business barely earning enough to pay employees.
Half Moon was not simply selling empanadas. It was trying to remain useful to a neighborhood while surviving the same crisis affecting its customers.
The name changed, but the story continued
The original West 25th Street storefront eventually became Bella Luna, another bakery and empanada shop associated in published coverage with Otero. Meanwhile, Velasquez carried the Half Moon Bakery name to Tower City, where a new location opened in 2023.
Public reporting does not provide a complete account of the ownership transition. It would therefore be inaccurate to say the original bakery simply failed—or to invent a private reason for the change. What can be documented is that Bella Luna replaced Half Moon at 3460 West 25th Street while Half Moon reappeared downtown.
Did Half Moon Bakery close?
Yes—the Tower City location closed in September 2025. Cleveland Scene confirmed the closure, but neither that report nor another dependable source reviewed by Cleveland Boricua gave a specific reason. We will not turn an unanswered question into a rumor.
The closure coincided with plans for another move. Velasquez announced a larger Half Moon café in the former Arby’s space on Chester Avenue at East 22nd Street. Cleveland State University trustees had authorized a related retail sublease in March 2025. Scene reported plans for more seating and the return of empanadas, Cuban sandwiches and Latin pastries.
As of this article’s publication, Cleveland Boricua has not found a sufficiently reliable announcement confirming that the Chester Avenue café opened on schedule. It remains a reported plan rather than a verified operating location.
What these photographs preserve
These photographs are dated August 13, 2026, for this Cleveland Boricua article. They preserve the original West 25th Street bakery and form part of Cleveland’s neighborhood record.
Half Moon’s journey shows how incomplete the words opened and closed can be. Between them were years of restaurant work, community loans, immigration proceedings, a damaged building, a pandemic, rising food costs, a new name and repeated attempts to begin again.
That perseverance is the heart of this Cleveland Boricua story.
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