| rev:text
| - I have dined here 3 times now, and I am sure I will return again. I have no pictures, however, because this place is DARK in the evening. It's fine for eating, and I could still read the menu... it's just not the best for food photography.
My first time here was late summer/early fall and I sat at one of the high tops in the part of the restaurant opposite the bar. The window/garage-style door was open, which was really nice. My husband and I shared the fried green tomatoes (bistro sauce, cotija cheese, maple balsamic greens) and the buttermilk fried half chicken dinner, which comes with two sides (I had mac & cheese and the seasonal veg (which was brussels sprouts with bacon). My husband had the "The Moorhouse" (chorizo patty, potato hash, poblano queso, sunnyside egg, green tomato, bacon aioli), which comes with fries.
The fried green tomatoes were served side-by-side (vs. in a stack). The bistro sauce was a nice compliment (it kind of reminded me of the blooming onion sauce served at the Outback), the cheese was appropriately portioned (i.e. the tomatoes weren't smothered or short-changed), and balsamic greens made the dish lighter and tangy. We devoured everything..
I don't eat fried chicken often, but I remember being really impressed with my meal. The portion size was large, the chicken was juicy, the breading was in appropriate proportion to the chicken (i.e. I didn't feel like I was served batter for dinner). The mac & cheese was outstanding. It was gooey, cheesy, and just a little smoky. It was not dry or lacking flavor. I am disappointed the brussels sprouts aren't permanently on the menu. The portions for sides were fairly large, and I liked the presentation in little crocks.
I remember my husband finished his entire burger, but I do not remember him raving about it. I do, however, remember him picking off my plate quite often! The fries are the perfect fries for smothering in malt vinegar (we didn't have any of the shoestring or sweet potato variety mentioned in other reviews). The fries weren't overly crispy or crunchy, still tasted of potato, and weren't stripped of their skins. To me, this is a borderline perfect french fry.
For our first visit, I do not recall any issues with service. We were excited to return.
A couple of months later we returned. And sat at one of the high tops on the bar side of the restaurant. It was a Sunday, and we were not aware they had a limited weekend menu. Even after going home and looking at the website, this was not clear to us. So WARNING: unless something has changed, IF YOU VISIT ON A SUNDAY YOU WILL BE ORDERING OFF A LIMITED WEEKEND MENU (NOT THE NORMAL DINNER MENU)!
I ended up ordering the gulf shrimp po'boy (fried gulf shrimp, lettuce, heirloom tomato, bistro sauce) with fries. I wasn't as impressed with this sandwich as I was with my previous meal. Between the breading on the shrimp and the bun it was just too much. The bun was kind of dry, and although the bistro sauce is tasty - IMO it's too strong of a flavor to be the only "sauce" for this dish. To me, this sandwich just seemed like it was missing something. Maybe the bun needs buttered and grilled. I don't know. It just needs something. The fries, however, were consistent with our last visit. They're quickly climbing my ranks as some of the best fries in Cleveland. I don't even remember what my husband ordered on this visit, which says something. It was obviously not memorable.
On this visit I had ordered a beer off their craft menu. They have a very nice selection, and includes the IBU, %, and serving size. I ordered a pint (of what, I do not remember). My beer came out in this TINY glass that I would consider a "sample". I questioned our server about the size, and she launched into a diatribe on how some craft beers are served in smaller portions because of yadda yadda yadda...". She was talking to me like I was a child. I then asked for the beer list back, showed her what I ordered, and informed her "this isn't one of them - this one is a pint". She then quickly apologized. Instead of bringing me a new glass, she said she'd "refill" my baby cup throughout our meal. I thought this was a little odd, but my tiny beer was always cold - and she was true to her promise keeping an eye on my glass and "refilling" it when it would near empty.
Finally, my husband and I visited again last night (on a Thursday night). I ordered the fried green tomatoes with a side of fries. Did not disappoint and was consistent with our first trip. My husband ordered the buttermilk half chicken dinner with mac & cheese and slaw. We shared everything. Between the two of us, this was more than enough food, and we still came home with a little leftover. We ate at a high-top table on the bar side of the restaurant again. We had absolutely no issues with our service.
Overall, this is a nice addition to the Willoughby area. I'm sure we'll return again.
|
![[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)