Best Cleveland Italian?

I like the pizza at Dominic Santos. It's a pan style pizza and the best that I've had around here.

I also like the pizza at Bar Cento. I think it's most accurate to say that it's inspired by Neapolitan style pizza, but not really authentic. It's thinner and crisper, almost like a cracker. But it's tasty and they do a good job with the toppings. I think the one's to try are the sunnyside (with an egg and pancetta) or the potato (more pancetta).

stuart in Great Lakes

Good eats around Kent St Univ (OH)?

I had the burger and some chili cheese fries at Ray's. The chili cheese fries were bland and the fries weren't crisp. I tried someone else's fried mushrooms and those weren't good either.

I've never been, but I've read about Taco Tanto's and I would try it if I ever had any reason to go back to Kent.

stuart in Great Lakes

hubby is traveling to Independence Ohio, good dining options please

If he likes Aladdin's, he should try Kabab-G and Assad's Bakery. Kabab-G has great beef kababs. Try the soujouk (sp?) and falafel at Assad's.

stuart in Great Lakes

A first time visitor to Cleveland

In my experience, the best corned beef in Cleveland is from the Vienna Meat store. It's a wholesale meat distributor, but they sell to the public and that includes their corned beef. You can buy it warm by the pound with a quarter loaf of bread and a bottle of mustard and have a perfect sandwich in the comfort of your car. It may be a branch of a Chicago company, but some of the guys have been working there forever. It feels like a part of Cleveland to me. It wouldn't spring to mind as a DDD type spot, but the subject was raised in some of the other responses.

Lion on Lorain is a perfect DDD spot. I had a scallop po' boy special on my last visit and it was delicious. They could have served the sandwich with only the cauliflower condiment and it would have been an excellent vegetarian option. I also really like the soup special. On other visits, I had some delicious chili, a delicious creme brulee special, some good tacos. They cook from scratch, they have lots of interesting specials, and the food tastes good. They serve affordable comfort food in a casual atmosphere. That's what I look for when I'm thinking about good DDD spots.

Assad's is just across the street and another good DDD candidate. It's a Lebanese market and I've never seen anyone eat at the two lonely tables they have in the window, but I've eaten there several times. The felafel has been my favorite, but the soudjouk (soujouk? sujouk?) is also delicious.

Kabab G is another Lebanese spot in the same neighborhood. I've had several good meals there, but the best thing I've had there is the beef kababs. In fact, they're easily the best kababs I've had anywhere. They're cooked over charcoal.

Istanbul Grill is a Turkish restaurant in a different neighborhood. They make their own doner (think gyro/shawarma) and it's delicious.

stuart in Great Lakes

hubby is traveling to Independence Ohio, good dining options please

I also like Istanbul Grill. It's my favorite restaurant in Tremont. Definitely get the doner. It's available in different configurations. It's house made.

I'm the guy that's usually piping up to recommend fire and Bar Cento. I think they're the best restaurants in the city and certainly worth the drive. Please refer to earlier posts of mine for specific recommendations.

stuart in Great Lakes

Thanksgiving Day on I-90 (Indiana or Ohio)

I90 goes right through Cleveland. If you're planning to hit the Cleveland area at a convenient meal time, then there should be some good choices.

Bar Cento is my favorite restaurant in Cleveland. They'll be open at 8pm. There's a rabbit pasta dish that's quite good. The hanger steak is great. French fries. The fingerling potato side dish. Salads are all good. The meat and cheese boards are good. The sunnyside pizza is great.

I just confirmed that Buckeye Beer Engine will be open from 11am until 2:30am. Try the adobo beef roll appetizer.

Otherwise, your options will mostly be Asian food. Siam Cafe is the best Chinese restaurant in that area. I'm sure they'll be open. I've posted about Siam Cafe frequently. You can find more specific recommendations in previous threads.

There are Vietnamese and Korean options if you're interested. I would recommend calling any of these other places to confirm their hours.

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Bar Cento
1948 West 25th Street, Cleveland, OH 44113

Buckeye Beer Engine
15315 Madison Ave, Lakewood, OH 44107

stuart in Great Lakes

Cleveland: Recommendation needed off I-271

Flour is great. It's quickly become one of my favorite restaurants in entire city. I've never been for lunch, but I saw a picture of a pork tenderloin sandwich. It looked terrific.

I've had several pizzas. They ranged from good to excellent. I think my favorite may have been the sausage. Some of the pizza specials have been topping-heavy. And I've had pasta, chicken, sausage and meatballs, veal ribs, wedding soup and more. Almost everything has been very good and the rest has been good.

stuart in Great Lakes

Cleveland: Recommendation needed off I-271

Corky uses Vienna brand corned beef, pastrami and salami. (They may have more than one brand of salami. Be careful.) They use a decent local rye bread. They use a decent local bagel. They use Acme brand smoked and pickled fish products. I usually get my corned beef from the Vienna wholesale shop, so it's been years since I've had a corned beef sandwich here, but my vague recollection is that they're appropriately fresh and fatty. If you stick to this stuff, I can't really understand what there is to criticize.

I also vaguely remember enjoying challah french toast, kishke, a salami omelette ( I ask for large cubes) and house roasted turkey. I also had a puzzling stuffed veal breast. It had lots of great flavor, but it was ruined by one strong, off flavor. I think it may have been canned mushrooms and I think it was just the luck of the draw.

I know I've had some clunkers, too. My grandmother would always want me to go there with her and I would always push to go someplace else. But, I think it's a lot better than is being reflected by the general tenor of posts in this thread.

stuart in Great Lakes

Cleveland recs

My recommendation is that you call Bar Cento when you're ready to leave and if they can't accommodate you, go to Siam Cafe. But, if you go to Ohio City and Bar Cento is full, you're in the right neighborhood to find an alternative. Within a block or so, there are a lot of restaurants: Crop, Touch Supper Club, West Side Market Cafe, Flying Fig, Great Lakes Brewing, Bar Cento, Nate's, Ohio City Burrito, Market Garden Brewery, Phnom Penh, Orale, Garage Bar, Around the Corner, Dragonfly, Kan Zaman, Alaturka, Light Bistro and ABC the Tavern.

After Cento, I'd head to ABC. It's a bar with good food. I like the hot dog and the lamb quesadilla. On Sunday's they have good chili during football games. They frequently have interesting specials.

Then, I'd probably move on to some of the places that I haven't been to yet. Orale just opened. I've always been impressed with the stuff that the owner sells at his stand in the West Side Market.

stuart in Great Lakes

Cleveland recs

None of the restaurants recommended in this thread will be reliably able to accommodate your party on such short notice. You might want to consider Siam Cafe. It's a big restaurant and they run a smooth operation. It would require a bus trip, but it's only 1.5mi and the service is door-to-door. You might think that Chinese in Cleveland is a lot like Indian in Seattle, but I think you may need to give a little on something or you'll loose control of the process and you might end up eating Indian food in Cleveland, too. At least Siam Cafe is tasty.

If you end up at Siam, consider these dishes:
Chinese: fried tofu, braised tofu, ham hock (good for a large group), salt baked shrimp, chicken noodle soup, beef noodle soup with shrimp dumplings, fried chicken, boiled chicken, braised beef brisket, steamed bread, potstickers

Also, they have live fish. Pick a fish and match it with a preparation: fried, steamed, black bean sauce, etc...

Vietnamese: char broiled beef, hot and sour soup, banh cuan cha lua

Thai: Hot and sour soup

Honestly, just steer clear of General Tso's chicken and all the other Americanized Chinese classics and you'll be fine. Not that the Tso's is bad. It's just not the reason to go to this restaurant.

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Siam Cafe
3951 Saint Clair Ave NE, Cleveland, OH 44114

stuart in Great Lakes

Cleveland recs

Bar Cento is my favorite restaurant in Cleveland. There's a new brisket dish on the menu. If you have a high tolerance for fatty food, this is great. Their hanger steak is some of the best beef around. Salads are great. The "big board" has house made charcuterie and pickles. I highly recommend it. The fries with the aioli assortment are some of the best fries around here. The pizzas are nice, but two in particular are tremendous: the potato pizza and the "sunnyside" (runny egg) pizza. The chef mentioned that duck will be coming back to the menu in the appetizer section. They have an amazing source for duck. It's the best that I've ever had. With any luck, it will be back in time for your visit.

I can't speak to the overall quality of our public transport, but Bar Cento is easily accessible from downtown. It's across 25th from the West Side Market and across Market St from The Flying Fig. It's one rapid stop from Tower City, which is a short walk from your hotel.

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Bar Cento
1948 West 25th Street, Cleveland, OH 44113

stuart in Great Lakes

Cleveland-Great value meals near the Renaissance hotel

Didn't Greg MacLaren take over at Luxe? I thought Kaplan's been out for a long time.

oh... I like Bar Cento. fries, potato pizza, sunnyside pizza, meat board...

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Bar Cento
1948 West 25th Street, Cleveland, OH 44113

stuart in Great Lakes

Cleveland - DTN/Lakewood recs

Bar Cento is open for lunch on Saturdays.

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Bar Cento
1948 West 25th Street, Cleveland, OH 44113

stuart in Great Lakes

Cleveland - DTN/Lakewood recs

Bar Cento is great. Get French fries, potato pizza, sunnyside pizza, meat board, a salad...

For ethnic, may I recommend Lebanese? Kabab G is great. Get a salad, some hummus and the beef kabobs. Assad's has awesome sandwiches, but it's not really a restaurant. It's a market with one sad little table.

Siam Cafe is a very good option for Chinese. Many of the noodle soups are particularly good: beef noodle with shrimp dumplings or chicken, for instance. If you've got a large group, then the ham hock is great. Salt baked shrimp. Braised tofu or fried tofu.

And if you're determined to go with Vietnamese, then Siam Cafe is still a great option. Char broiled beef, chicken chop, pork chop. The rice is better at other Vietnamese restaurants, but the chicken and pork are better at Siam. It's a shame.

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Bar Cento
1948 West 25th Street, Cleveland, OH 44113

stuart in Great Lakes

Cleveland: xiao long bao (Soup Dumplings)

I've had soup dumplings at Siam Cafe. They were good. It was always as a part of a multi course prix fixe meal. They aren't on the regular menu. Someone else arranged the meals. I don't know what the restaurant's policy is. I'm sure it would at least require a call in advance, but that may be enough. I've never seen them anywhere else.

Siam cafe also has a nice beef soup with shrimp dumplings and I like their potstickers.

stuart in Great Lakes

Cleveland - dog friendly restaurants/bistros/bars?

I've been reluctant to post because I didn't want to get any restaurants in trouble. It's illegal and patios aren't any different. See this article in the Plain Dealer:
http://www.cleveland.com/living/index.ssf/2011/08/clevelands_fido-friendly_bar_p.html

However, the article also says that the Health Department acts only on complaints and the Health director can't remember a single complaint that ever amounted to anything. So, it appears that the law is dead for all practical purposes.

Anyway, the article also mentions a few dog friendly establishments and points towards resources for finding others. It may be worth reading.

The Mutt Hutt has a list of pet friendly local establishments. I attached a photo.

The Flying Fig and Bar Cento are two of the best restaurants in the city. At Bar Cento, try the sunnyside pizza and the meat board. At the Flying Fig, try the duck confit.

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Flying Fig
2523 Market Ave., Cleveland, OH 44113

Bar Cento
1948 West 25th Street, Cleveland, OH 44113

stuart in Great Lakes

nihari? (Cleveland)

I didn't have much luck with a previous thread asking about keema in Cleveland. As it turns out, I had the name wrong. It's actually called nihari.

It's a spicy meat stew. I think it may be found in parts of India but it's more common in Pakistan. I had it at the Indian restaurant that was ultimately replaced by Anatolia.

Are there any Pakistani restaurants in Cleveland? Has anyone seen this on a menu at any Indian restaurants?

stuart in Great Lakes

Near the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame [Cleveland]

Can you be more specific? I can't really think of anything.

Most Cleveland neighborhoods have restaurants that other hounds recommend but that I don't like. The flats? I can't remember anyone ever recommending anything there.

stuart in Great Lakes

Near the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame [Cleveland]

How near does it have to be? Rental car/cab/public transit?

Bar Cento is my favorite restaurant in Cleveland. It's about two miles from the Rock Hall. The flank steak is fantastic. Meat board. All of the salads. Sunnyside pizza (egg/pancetta ). Potato (pancetta) pizza. Best french fries in the city.

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Bar Cento
1948 West 25th Street, Cleveland, OH 44113

stuart in Great Lakes

Wedding Gift - Cleveland

fire food and drink is one of the best restaurants in Cleveland. Another is Bar Cento, but it doesn't really have a "money is no object" vibe in either the food or the atmosphere.

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Bar Cento
1948 West 25th Street, Cleveland, OH 44113

stuart in Great Lakes

Quintessential Cleveland restaurant for Saturday lunch or dinner

Maha's is definitely one of the better falafels in Cleveland. I'd say it's the best, but there are a few Lebanese places where I've had some delicious food lately. And a Turkish place, too. I wouldn't be surprised if their falafel were as good as or better than Maha's. And there've been some Israeli style falafel places that were better and which are now sadly closed. I guess that's not much help for your trip but my point is that Maha's isn't the sort of thing that I'd use as a benchmark for all past and future falafel sandwiches. Maha's is also pretty limited in terms of customization. It's a nice lunch option if you're at the market and you're hungry.

The gyro place is a mystery to me. I saw that it was featured on Food TV and I was really excited to try it. When I actually saw the stand, I changed my mind. The produce looked wilted. The Turkish place I mentioned above has really good doner. They make it themselves instead of using the commodity meat boulder that 99.9% of all gyro places use. Their pita isn't remarkable but the sandwich as a whole is terrific. The pita is definitely better than the Kronos wraps that gyro places use, too. It's not at the market, though.

As far as I know, the pierogi place does not have any ready to eat food, but the Mexican food vendor will warm stuff up for you. He does it in a microwave, so I've always opted to warm it up myself at home. When I do that, it's delicious. I've mostly eaten his enchiladas.

I don't shop there enough to have a good sense of the market's rhythms but I think it's safe to say that it will be very busy at 11am on Saturday.

stuart in Great Lakes

rib cookoffs (Cleveland)

One of the contestants has won The Best in the West Nugget BBQ contest. He was also on Bobby Flay's Throwdown show. Those seem like pretty reasonable bona fides. I'm going to take a chance.

Is The Best in The West a second rate contest? A little googling suggests that it's the real thing.

stuart in Great Lakes

rib cookoffs (Cleveland)

Are either one of this weekend's rib cookoffs worth it? I can't find any information about any of the participants.

I don't like to go from place to place sampling a couple ribs at a time. I'd like to go to one good spot and get a full meal, so I don't need a lot of variety. I'd go to either event if even one of their participants had a well deserved national reputation.

Has anyone ever heard of any of these places from any source other than Cleveland rib cookoff promotions?

stuart in Great Lakes

Quintessential Cleveland restaurant for Saturday lunch or dinner

If you're willing to consider good restaurants whether or not they're quintessentially Cleveland, then I can make more suggestions with more confidence. Cleveland doesn't really have its own cheesesteak/deep dish pizza/whatever...

The best contemporary American restaurants in Cleveland are Bar Cento, the Flying Fig and fire food and drink.

Fire's menu changes four times a year and I have limited experience with the newest menu. The change was recent. I do recommend the mortadella appetizer. I'm sure the pork chop is good even if I haven't tried this particular presentation. I spent years going to fire and just ordering fish. They do fish well. They have the best desserts in the area.

Bar Cento's menu changed recently, too. The food is simple. The quality comes from meticulously sourced ingredients. I wish their duck breast was still on the menu. Best duck I've ever had. Their french fries are great. The truffled potato side is great. Their salads are fantastic. Again, it's the quality of the greens. They have several pizzas. I recommend either the one with egg and pancetta or the one with potato and pancetta. if they have hanger steak or flank steak on the menu, you should get that. They get great beef. I was there last night and had an excellent soft shell crab. The asparagus side was delicious, too.

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Fire Food & Drink
13220 Shaker Square, Cleveland, OH 44120

Flying Fig
2523 Market Ave., Cleveland, OH 44113

Bar Cento
1948 West 25th Street, Cleveland, OH 44113

stuart in Great Lakes

Quintessential Cleveland restaurant for Saturday lunch or dinner

I'm not sure what I'd nominate as truly representative of Cleveland. Besides, when I think of the best local restaurants, I don't think that they're cooking Cleveland food. They're Clevelanders and they're usually cooking locally sourced products, but they're cooking contemporary American cuisine.

That said, there are some things that I associate with Cleveland. Polish boys are sandwiches with hot dogs topped with french fries, cole slaw, bbq sauce and sometimes pulled pork shoulder. Hot Sauce Williams does a great Polish Boy. That's really the only Cleveland-style restaurant experience that I can think of. I wish I knew more about Cleveland's Slovenian restaurants and markets. That's pretty unique to Cleveland. I'm not sure whether any of them are really good or if people just go there for nostalgia and atmosphere, like Sokolowski's. Hopefully someone can help fill in this gap in my knowledge. The only Eastern European restaurant that I can recommend is Hungarian. Maybe it's because I grew up in Cleveland, but I don't know whether Hungarian food is something that outsiders would consider unusual. In any case, Balaton is a really good restaurant.

I like the pierogis at Pierogi Palace in the wonderful West Side Market. I can't think of a place to get good walleye. Russian Tea Biscuits (not Mexican wedding cookies) are tasty and people from the rest of the country seem oblivious. But these are more markets/takeaway than sitting and eating.

New York and Los Angeles may be more closely associated with corned beef, but Clevelanders certainly eat than their fare share, too. I'd recommend Vienna over Slyman's. It's not a Cleveland institution. In fact, it's a Chicago institution, but their corned beef and pastrami are easily the most consistent in Cleveland. Only the corned beef comes hot and they don't sell sandwiches. But I'd recommend getting a quarter loaf of rye, a half pound of corned beef and eating off the hood of your car.

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Slyman's Restaurant
3106 Saint Clair Ave NE, Cleveland, OH 44114

West Side Market
1979 W 25th St, Cleveland, OH

Hot Sauce Williams
12310 Superior Ave, Cleveland, OH 44106

Pierogi Palace
1979 W 25th St Ste E5, Cleveland, OH 44113

stuart in Great Lakes

Cleveland - lunch near the Rock HOF on a Sunday

"Longer waits" is something of an understatement. I've tried to go a couple times recently and the wait times were ridiculous.

I prefer the new Turkish place that's a couple steps away. I'd been meaning to go and finally went after I went to Lucky's and found that the wait was 3 days.

I would prefer the Turkish place even if the wait weren't a consideration.

I liked Lucky's a long time ago, but I ultimately decided that their dedication to locavore principles just didn't translate to quality on the plate. I remember a bland breakfast casserole dish. Dry and bland ham sandwich. Dry and bland meatloaf sandwich. I've been pretty uniformly disappointed when I tried Vine and Bean (their sister restaurant) on weekdays. I've had good waffles at Lucky's on a Sunday, but the waffles I had at Vine and Bean (don't remember the day of the week) were nothing short of an insult, as was the breakfast sandwich that I had on a weekday.

In all fairness, I wouldn't have endured so much mediocrity if I hadn't also had some good food too, but mostly I kept going because I never had to wonder about the provenance of their ingredients and sometimes that was enough for me. That's just not enough when the wait is crazy long.

Anyway, I don't have nearly as much experience with the Turkish place, but it's all been positive. In fact, two visits consisted of variations on their doner so I haven't made too much progress through their menu. Still, it's excellent doner and the other stuff I've had has also been good. And I've been hearing good things. Based on three total visits its easily one of my favorite Middle Eastern restaurants in the area and also my favorite restaurants in Tremont.

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Lucky's Cafe
777 Starkweather Ave, Cleveland, OH 44113

Istanbul Grill
2505 Professor Ave, Cleveland, OH 44113

stuart in Great Lakes

Keema? (Cleveland)

Do any Indian restaurants in Cleveland serve keema? It may be spelled qeema. Are there any Pakistani restaurants in Cleveland?

Keema is a spiced, ground meat dish. I remember it being very spicy and I'd like to find a rendition that is spicy, too. Wikipedia says that it can be used as a filling for samosas or naan or that it can be formed into kababs. That's not really what I'm after, but I guess that I'll take what I can get.

What was the name of the little Indian restaurant in the Cedar Warrensville shopping center? They introduced me to this dish.

Thank you.

stuart in Great Lakes

Vegetarian dinner in Cleveland

I've been to the new Turkish place in Tremont a couple times and I thought it was great both times. I've heard even more positive things from another person and I'm planning to head back soon. Both of my meals included meat. The doner was my favorite. Comparing it to the doner I had in my last meal at Anatolia is just an insult to Istanbul Grill. I had a nice yogurt based (non vegetarian dish) at Anatolia a while ago and I remember the doner at Anatolia being fantastic years ago but my recent doner experience and a more distant memory of some really bad mushroom soup will keep me away from there for a long time.

Siam Cafe has a couple delicious tofu entrees which can be ordered with or without a meat component. I've also really enjoyed their ong choi.

Bar Cento certainly has those other places beat on wine. The ramp pizza is back on the menu and other vegetarian pizzas are available.

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Bar Cento
1948 West 25th Street, Cleveland, OH 44113

Istanbul Grill
2505 Professor Ave, Cleveland, OH 44113

stuart in Great Lakes

A decent burger on Cleveland West Side...

Buckeye Beer Engine has a great burger. It's actually a pretty solid menu from top to bottom. I like their tomato soup for instance.

The only other memorable burger I've had recently in Cleveland was at ABC the Tavern. They also have a lot of good food besides just the burger. The hot dog, the quesadilla, the pulled chicken sandwich...

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Buckeye Beer Engine
15315 Madison Ave, Lakewood, OH 44107

stuart in Great Lakes