My husband and I were planning a weekend getaway to Cleveland and looking for interesting places to eat. One of the menus I browsed had chicken paprikash on it, which made me remember a TV program I saw featuring a restaurant in Cleveland with homemade chicken paprikash. A short amount of Googling later, I'd decided we needed to go to Sterle's.
We went there straight off the highway without even checking into our hotel, since we were both really hungry. It was about 6 pm on Friday night. I'd known there was going to be a polka band playing, but I hadn't been prepared for exactly how loud it was going to be in that small space. My husband and I had to yell at each other in order to be heard, and the wait staff must be used to yelling by now as well! We decided to have the family style meal for two so we could try more dishes. This costs only $20 per person. We also decided to add the chicken soup, which is only $1.50 extra. The garden salad was very plain iceberg lettuce. What else can I say? The soup had a very good flavor once you got past the thick layer of schmaltz on top. Then our main meal came. We were a little surprised to see that it wasn't actually served family style in bowls. Rather, each of us got a platter with small servings of everything.
Here's a rundown of what we ordered. The weiner schnitzel was excellent, the best I've ever had. (And that's saying something, because I've been to Germany!) The chicken paprikash came in a bowl and was actually more like a soup. There was also precious little chicken to be had; it was mostly dumplings and vegetables. I thought it had a very good flavor, but my husband didn't care for it at all. The pierogies were really great and were topped with wonderful carmelized onions, but we were a little sad that we each got only two. We also ordered home fries, which were like no other home fries we'd ever had. There actually is a similar dish in North Dakota where I come from, but we call it German potato salad. Unfortunately, I didn't like this dish in North Dakota, and I didn't like it now, either! For dessert, we were expecting strudel, but instead we each got a small coconut brownie on a paper plate.
By the time we left, the place was really hopping with local people. Maybe if we'd gotten there a little bit later, and maybe if we hadn't been road weary, this ambience would have been enough to make Sterle's seem like a magical experience. But judged on food alone, this place is only so-so and seems to be coasting on its reputation.