City OK's operator's plan to open So So's Lounge

YOUNGSTOWN

A former employee is spending about $100,000 to reopen So So’s Lounge at its longtime location on the city’s North Side.

Ray Rue, who also operates Ray’s Fish Market on Belmont Avenue in Liberty, received permission today from the Youngstown Design Review Committee for exterior improvements to So So’s at 232 North Ave., between West Rayen Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

The bar has been vacant for the past few months, and will reopen under Rue’s ownership in December, said Matthew L. DeVicchio, his attorney who was with him at today’s meeting.

“It’s for an older crowd, 35 [years old] and up,” Rue said.