Who is Bobby George? Cleveland TownHall restaurant owner charged

• Bobby George, 43, of Lakewood, near Cleveland, was charged on Friday with attempted murder, four counts of kidnapping, two counts of strangulation and one count each of rape and felony assault.
• George owns TownHall, REBoL and Barley House in Cleveland, as well as TownHall and Mandrake Rooftop in the Short North and REBoL in Dublin.
• George is the founder of Ethos Hospitality Group, a hospitality and marketing company headquartered in Cleveland.

A successful entrepreneur who owns at least six restaurants in Cleveland and Columbus (with plans for more), is the founder of his own firm and is the majority shareholder in over 40 companies is now facing charges of rape and attempted murder.

So, who is Bobby George? Here’s what you need to know.

Bobby George charged with attempted murder, rape, kidnapping

Robert “Bobby” T. George, 43, of Lakewood, near Cleveland, was charged on Friday with attempted murder, four counts of kidnapping, two counts of strangulation and one count each of rape and felony assault in Cleveland Municipal Court, according to court records.

The records say that the offenses took place between November 2023 and July of this year, and were reported to police Aug. 9.

The Akron Beacon Journal, citing its partner News 5 Cleveland, reports that George has turned himself in after a warrant was issued for his arrest on Friday.

Citing the arrest warrant, Cleveland television stations WOIO Channel 19 and WEWS News 5 reported that George is accused of strangling a woman he pinned to the ground and slamming her head on the ground on Nov. 14, 2023. Another time, George is accused of using a gun to force the woman out of a car, and holding it to her stomach as he led her back inside. In another incident, the woman alleges that George raped her when she came out of the shower.

Bobby George restaurants include TownHall, REBoL in Cleveland and Columbus, with plans for more

George owns TownHall, REBoL and Barley House in Cleveland, according to WEWS News 5, as well as TownHall and Mandrake Rooftop in the Short North and REBoL in Dublin.

He also has plans to expand his restaurant empire.

In January, George and his architects unveiled details for a three-building restaurant and entertainment complex in the Flats East Bank neighborhood of Cleveland, according to Cleveland Scene. The complex would break ground this year.

Bobby George is the founder of Ethos Hospitality Group, has stakes in over 40 businesses

George is the founder of Ethos Hospitality Group, a hospitality and marketing company headquartered in Cleveland, according to Cleveland Business Journal. According to its LinkedIn page, “Ethos Hospitality Brands are independently owned businesses with the belief that a culture of love is [what] makes us better.”

He also owns majority stakes in more than 40 businesses, according to his biography for the Small Business Dealmakers Conference in Cleveland. George was a guest speaker at the conference in June. He holds a degree in finance and economics from Ohio University.

That same bio claims George is the founder and CEO of Ethos Capital Partners, but that could not be verified. The website for Ethos Capital says it was founded in 2019 by Erik Brooks and Fadi Chehadé. Ethos Partners is a London firm established in 2017, according to its website.

Father Tony George named in HB 6, FirstEnergy controversy

Bobby George’s father, Tony George, was part of the House Bill 6 controversy, acting as a go-between for FirstEnergy and former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, who was convicted for his role in the bribery scandal.

According to lawsuits, FirstEnergy pumped $61 million in bribes through dark money political groups to help Householder gain political power and in turn pass House Bill 6—a bailout bill worth $1.3 billion to FirstEnergy and its former subsidiary FirstEnergy Solutions.

According to a 2023 Columbus Dispatch story, Tony George, a Cleveland-area businessman, arranged for the FirstEnergy Corp. jet to fly Householder and his son off to Washington, D.C., for Donald Trump’s inauguration in January 2017. The elder George also booked and paid the $1,557 hotel bill for Householder’s stay in D.C., records show.

Tony George acted as a go-between for FirstEnergy CEO Chuck Jones and Householder in the fall of 2016, as Householder planned his political comeback in the Ohio House of Representatives. George was marked as Individual B in the deferred prosecution agreement signed by FirstEnergy in July 2021.

George family supports Republican candidates

The George family publicly supports Republican candidates for office, according to a 2023 Dispatch article.

In November 2022, Republicans on the Ohio Supreme Court held a fundraiser at a George restaurant in Columbus. And in October 2022, Bobby George hosted a fundraiser in Cleveland for state Rep. Jay Edwards.

In August 2022, Tony George and his wife co-sponsored a fundraiser for Lee Weingart, the Republican who ran unsuccessfully for Cuyahoga County executive.

In April 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic, Tony George advocated for a full re-opening of Ohio businesses, particularly restaurants.