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| - This is hands down my new favorite place in Cleveland.
This place has it all. Aside from some initial confusion of which door to use to enter the restaurant, Collision Bend is flawless. First, the space itself is striking. The interior is beautiful and roomy. It is a fairly casual place, but can be intimate at the same time. The real gem is the patio. It sits right on the river, with breathtaking views. While not a huge space, it is comfortable even when it gets crowded. With a full service bar indoors and outdoors, you're never lacking for a drink. This is among the best patios in the Flats and in Cleveland, rivaling that of Coastal Taco. You can get the best of both worlds by sitting in just adjacent to the patio in the interior, with uninterrupted windows overlooking the patio and the river with full climate control.
Collision Bend's beers ought to be good as a brewery, and I've been happy with all the brewskis I've sampled. My go-to is the C-Town Pale Ale, but my friends' Iron Wind Pilsner and East Bank IPA were tasty and refreshing. The beers are slightly pricey for Cleveland at $6.50, but well worth a pour or two.
The food offerings are creative, well-executed, delicious, and very reasonable. We decided to get a taste of the small plates, electing to pass on the pizza. My friend and I shared the lamb gyro style taco, giant molten meatball, Collision Bend popcorn, lamb tamales (we were really craving lamb), and Asian-style arancini Siciliana.
The popcorn came out first, and one of the servers announced, "This is the best popcorn in all of Cleveland." I love my popcorn and was cynical of his proclamation--he was probably overcompensating. But, WOW! This is the best popcorn in all of Cleveland. Seriously I was grabbing handfuls of this stuff with both fists, fighting off my friend. It's made with schmaltz, which reminds me of the Jewish food at home, but makes it delicious. It's not overly greasy at all, and the texture of the popcorn remained crunchy, not even the least bit soggy. Seriously, get the popcorn. It's only $4, and if you don't like it, give it to me.
The lamb taco was really good too--better than anything you'd get at Coastal Taco down the street. An order of "tacos" comes with only one taco, and it was $9. Don't think it's the best value at Collision Bend (did I mention the popcorn?), but worth a try. The giant molten meatball, filled with cheese, was done really well and their red sauce was surprisingly authentic. I had tried the meatballs at Saucy Brew Works just two days earlier, and Collision Bend's were way better. The lamb tamale was done well; the masa maybe just a tad too dense. I had been skeptical of the Asian-style arancini (those two things don't go together, it's WRONG), but my friend insisted we try them, and the combination actually worked. The filing was definitely "Asian-style" and the arancini were perfectly fried, not too greasy. The wasabi mayo was controversial at our table--I enjoyed it, while my friend did not. If you're intrigued, I'd say go for it. There were several other items on the menu that caught my eye and were quite innovative, so an updated review may be in store--stay tuned!
tl;dr: This place is the bee's knees. If I ever go missing and it's patio weather in Cleveland, you'll probably find me here.
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