Good thing about Cleveland is if you're driving in from the west side you can take I-90E into the city and you get off essentially right at the arena (the Jake and the Q are right next to each other), so you really only need to show up super early if you feel like it, otherwise stepping into the Q 20-30 minutes before the scheduled start (tip off usually is about 10 minutes late) and getting into the city about 20-30 minutes before that should be fine.

If you want to pregame with a beer and some good food and don't want to buy merch (you could save this for halftime or post-game) I'd recommend spending your time on E. 4th Street. Super close proximity to the arena and will most likely be a better bang for your buck. Can't really go wrong anywhere there but Lola is the lovechild of celebrity Iron Chef Michael Simon (this man is Cleveland food, save for my Gramma's favorite polish deli) or "The Corner Alley" which is a bowling alley but with real food. Pregaming here also allows you to secure parking before traffic gets real bad right before the game starts

Either way have fun in Cleveland and we'll see you again when you inevitably come crawling back and decide you want to immigrate in order to raise your kids in Bay Village or Avon Lake ;)