| rev:text
| - It had been about 5 years since I last visited South Side and I can honestly report that absolutely nothing has changed. It's still the same old trendy Tremont neighborhood bar and grill that I remember and I'm not sure if this is a good thing. Our last visit was out of necessity; It was Labor Day we wanted lunch and pretty much every place in Cleveland that wasn't a chain was closed.
There's nothing really that memorable about South Side. They are essentially a local tavern with better than average bar food. As others have mentioned, I don't think they are sure what they wanna be when they grow up - are you a gastropub or a bar that serves food. On the one hand, they've got some nice decor with a great marble counter and some lovely reclaimed architecture.They've also got one of the best patios in Tremont. On the other hand, they've also got plastic cups (like cheap Solo plastic cups) and painfully slow and somewhat ambivalent service. It sort of reminds me of my college days back at Ohio University in the mid-90's. It was OK then but when I'm in a place that charges $11 for red pepper, artichoke and crab dip I expect a modicum of decorum, please.
Speaking of slow service, on our (probably last) visit we actually waited for nearly 25 minutes before receiving our order. The couple that sat next to us at the bar 10 minutes after we arrived was served first. I wasn't offered a beer/drink menu and the folks behind the bar seemed to be in way over their heads. Breaking glasses anyone?
The beer list is pretty mediocre. I think there were 8 taps or maybe 10. Anyway, it doesn't really matter. I'm used to being spoiled by beer selection and this didn't even come close. Two beers of note during our visit were Columbus IPA and Stone pale ale. If you're in Tremont and you want beer selection head over to the Tremont Tap House. Oh, and what's with serving beer in some kind of water glass? Maybe they reserve the pint glasses for special events. Ugh.
Our food was pretty good. My wife ordered the Caesar salad with salmon. First off, let me start by saying if you're charging $10.50 for a salad the least you could do is jazz it up a bit. This "entree" salad at South Side consisted of chopped romaine lettuce, dressing and a playing card deck sized piece of salmon. Did I mention it cost $10.50?! No croutons? No sliver of Parmesan cheese? The salmon was cooked well and seasoned nicely, but the whole thing was completely devoid of love from the kitchen. Definitely phoned in.
When I saw chicken and waffles on the menu I had to order it. For some reason, this one's listed under small plates, but I took a chance. After being totally wowed by this dish at Deagan's I had high expectations. They were not to be met. The Belgian-style waffle was crispy, and golden brown but rather than allow me to dose the syrup myself it was already soaked in the cinnamon concoction. The chicken breast still had the drumstick bone attached, which I thought was strange, but it was cooked well and the breading was crispy. I also dug the hot sauce. This dish wasn't bad, just OK. Was it worth $9.50? I don't think so.
I doubt we'll be coming back to South Side any time soon. I think they're overpriced and lost somewhere between being an adult restaurant and a 20-something hangout. They probably hold beer pong tournaments on the weekends. Oh well, who knows. Maybe in another five years when I've had time to forget about this experience just enough to want to give them another shot and everything else is closed I just might stop back in.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)