With time running short in Cleveland, I made sure to hit up a few more spots that people had recommended. Here are the last four places I had the chance to try out.
Paladar Latin Kitchen & Rum Bar
Location: 28601 Chagrin Boulevard
Cost: About $25 per person
My aunt kept talking about how this was her favorite restaurant in her area. I guess she goes in pretty often because our waiter was familiar with her favorite dishes. We got started with the Trio of Guacamoles including a spicy, normal, and pumpkin version. They were too smooth but the flavors were right on. For the main course my aunt and uncle got the Caribbean Mango Chicken Salad and the Cilantro Peanut Chicken Salad respectively. The salads were huge, like Cheesecake Factory huge. I went a bit more adventurous and got the Veracruz Seafood Stew. It had this tasty tomato based broth and plenty of mussels, shrimp, and calamari. Of course though, on the last mussel I made a huge mess and ended up with broth all over myself. The food was solid though despite it messing up my jeans.
Barrio
Location: 806 Literary Road
Cost: About $15 per person
On one of my last nights out, I decided to catch up with my buddy Yaw from Northwestern. We walked around his neighborhood for a little while and ended up at Barrio. It was the last nice night out before the rains started, so we sat on their nice back patio. The whole premise is to make your own taco. It was pretty disorganized, and there were way too many options to construct a reasonable taco. I ended up with a little meat and a big mess of toppings (probably my own fault, but I could've used some more guidance). Our waiter was absent for the whole meal. We needed things like napkins, silverware, water, and more drinks the whole time we were there. The margaritas were probably the strongest point of the meal.
Tommy's Restaurant
Location: 1824 Coventry Road
Cost: About $15 per person
One of my friends from back home who grew up in Cleveland told me that I had to check out this place Ferrara's. Too bad they were closed when I went to get a bite with my buddy Matt. We drove around for a while and stumbled upon Tommy's. I guess it's a bit of a Cleveland institution. They have a ton of vegetarian options which we stayed far away from. Matt got the Shawerma while I got the Gordon (a meat pie with corned beef, veggies, and BBQ sauce on top). The Gordon was really good. The dough for the meat pie was my favorite part. The fries were also nice and crispy. If I was hungrier, I would've liked to give one of their milkshakes a try too.
Grumpy's Cafe
Location: 2621 West 14th Street
Cost: About $8 per person
At the end of our rotation, Matt had to head back to the airport, but I had some more days left in town. We agreed that I'd give him a ride in the Suze to the airport in exchange for breakfast. We decided to stop in at Grumpy's since it was on the way. We both ordered the Grumpy's Special which was some combo egg, meat, toast, and pancake platter that came out to around $7. It was a ton of food. We both got our eggs poached, and I'm convinced that they were pre-made and warmed up (unforgivable). The sausage was juicy and the pancakes were light. The potatoes were undercooked and over salted. I dropped Matt off afterwards and then went into a good 3 hour food coma.
Paladar Latin Kitchen & Rum Bar
Location: 28601 Chagrin Boulevard
Cost: About $25 per person
My aunt kept talking about how this was her favorite restaurant in her area. I guess she goes in pretty often because our waiter was familiar with her favorite dishes. We got started with the Trio of Guacamoles including a spicy, normal, and pumpkin version. They were too smooth but the flavors were right on. For the main course my aunt and uncle got the Caribbean Mango Chicken Salad and the Cilantro Peanut Chicken Salad respectively. The salads were huge, like Cheesecake Factory huge. I went a bit more adventurous and got the Veracruz Seafood Stew. It had this tasty tomato based broth and plenty of mussels, shrimp, and calamari. Of course though, on the last mussel I made a huge mess and ended up with broth all over myself. The food was solid though despite it messing up my jeans.
The Guacamole Trio
The Caribbean Mango Chicken Salad
The Cilantro Peanut Chicken Salad
The Veracruz Seafood Stew
The Flan
Location: 806 Literary Road
Cost: About $15 per person
On one of my last nights out, I decided to catch up with my buddy Yaw from Northwestern. We walked around his neighborhood for a little while and ended up at Barrio. It was the last nice night out before the rains started, so we sat on their nice back patio. The whole premise is to make your own taco. It was pretty disorganized, and there were way too many options to construct a reasonable taco. I ended up with a little meat and a big mess of toppings (probably my own fault, but I could've used some more guidance). Our waiter was absent for the whole meal. We needed things like napkins, silverware, water, and more drinks the whole time we were there. The margaritas were probably the strongest point of the meal.
My relatively indistinguishable Tacos
Tommy's Restaurant
Location: 1824 Coventry Road
Cost: About $15 per person
One of my friends from back home who grew up in Cleveland told me that I had to check out this place Ferrara's. Too bad they were closed when I went to get a bite with my buddy Matt. We drove around for a while and stumbled upon Tommy's. I guess it's a bit of a Cleveland institution. They have a ton of vegetarian options which we stayed far away from. Matt got the Shawerma while I got the Gordon (a meat pie with corned beef, veggies, and BBQ sauce on top). The Gordon was really good. The dough for the meat pie was my favorite part. The fries were also nice and crispy. If I was hungrier, I would've liked to give one of their milkshakes a try too.
The Shawerma
The French Fries
The Gordon
Grumpy's Cafe
Location: 2621 West 14th Street
Cost: About $8 per person
At the end of our rotation, Matt had to head back to the airport, but I had some more days left in town. We agreed that I'd give him a ride in the Suze to the airport in exchange for breakfast. We decided to stop in at Grumpy's since it was on the way. We both ordered the Grumpy's Special which was some combo egg, meat, toast, and pancake platter that came out to around $7. It was a ton of food. We both got our eggs poached, and I'm convinced that they were pre-made and warmed up (unforgivable). The sausage was juicy and the pancakes were light. The potatoes were undercooked and over salted. I dropped Matt off afterwards and then went into a good 3 hour food coma.
The Grumpy's Special
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