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| - Overall this is a really good restaurant and location, but appears to still be working out some kinks.
Food/ menu/ bar - The menu is pretty simple but is more than sufficient for the setting on the river in the flats, and frankly anything more complex would likely exceed their current capabilities. We had a regular burger, a fiesta burger, a black bean (veggie) burger and the Lake Erie (walleye) tacos. Each of us really liked the quality of food (fresh vegetables, gourmet breads for the buns, everything cooked precisely as ordered). Chips as the side were homemade, fresh and crispy - not the best or most flavorful homemade chips you will find but a very solid effort. Two of our plates came out missing a few of the appropriate toppings, but our waitress identified the issue before we did and promptly fixed it. Minor infraction, happens everywhere, and I attribute this more to the management / startup issues (see below) than the food quality. The bar was well stocked, had a decent (not great, but pretty respectable) selection of micro brews and draughts. Overall, the food was a solid four stars, maybe four and a half. Prices were reasonable and very fair for the food quality and restaurant location. Beer prices seemed a touch on the high side for the type of restaurant, but not significantly so. Whoever is running the kitchen (and to some extent the bar) understands this restaurant's identity and is executing the plan very nicely.
Venue/ location - If you're looking for a rustic, authentic Cleveland venue, with a nice view and close proximity to downtown, ohio city and tremont, this is it. The riverside patio with small boardwalk is awesome, and the general location is very convenient to the rest of the city. I can't in good conscience give the location five stars (it sits a stone's throw from at least three strip clubs and is surrounded by heavy, partially abandoned, industry). Given that it sits on a scenic bend in the river and all of the windows and the patio face the river rather than the badlands that lie behind it, the location is a solid four stars. But if you attempt to walk there from Ohio City, just be prepared to really immerse yourself in a true flats experience.
Management / service/ startup issues -
The hostess was probably the worst part of our night at Merwin's Wharf. She was looking down at her phone as we walked up and until we prompted her while standing right in front of her. Not a good start. Without looking at anything (no list check, no glance around the restaurant), she informed us it would be a 1/2 hour to 45 minute wait. We did not mind grabbing a beer at the bar and taking in the sunset, so we opted to wait. When we got to the bar we quickly noticed that no one else appeared to be waiting for tables, and at least three prime tables were open on the patio and had already been cleaned by the bus staff. We inquired with the bar tender whether we could take one of the open tables. He seemed confused why we were still waiting but told us the hostess would have to make that call. The bar was nice enough that we decided to just order food there, and as we did our buzzer went off (about 10 minutes after we got there, not 30-45). The hostess sat us at an inside table, told us none of the patio tables were available. We the watched her walk outside to notice how many tables were still open, but she just shrugged off the error and did not offer us a patio table (those patio tables remained open for the next 30 mins or so). As we went to cash out our bar tab to transfer to our table, the manager swooped onto the bar tender's computer and decided he needed to do a bunch of things at that moment (several other stations were open), so we stood waiting for our tiny bar tab for another ten minutes while the manager finished up his tasks. After we wrapped up at the and bar finally got to our table, the confusion continued. We had two waitresses that night. The first seemed very new and lost, but pleasant. She was quickly replaced by another waitress who seemed to have a good amount of restaurant experience and was very helpful and efficient. No less than 6 plates were smashed on the floor during the hour we were there. This appeared to be the result of a poor plate stacking location choice - placing tall stacks of plates on an exposed shelf between the kitchen window and the busy pathway that connects the bar, kitchen and server stations. I get that accidents happen and the plate smashing did not bother us much. But this seems like something a restaurant manager would only need to see once before relocating the plate stacks. Overall it appeared that the restaurant manager & hostess situations were generating the biggest issues we had with this restaurant. This category gets a one star, but could be improved very easily and quickly.
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