Melt - Lakewood's best

Over the Memorial Day Weekend I decided to take a ride through the Metroparks. Since I was going to Rocky River to start the run I decided to hit Melt on Detroit right in the middle of Lakewood. Now Melt has gotten quite a bit of attention and good reviews, and all of it is deserved. For those who haven't been there or haven't heard Melt is one of the best bar/casual restaurants in the area. The decor is old fashion corner bar with all kinds of funky hip decor. The walls are covered with Cleveland memorabillia, with a heavy dose of Cleveland sports teams. There are plastic figures on top of the bar, Dracula, the Easter Bunny etc. and there are a number of TVs which may be on sports or on cartoons, either way you win. The music is great rock and roll. The atmosphere is fun and friendly with a lot of humor. Once you get in and seated, which may involve a wait as the place is usually humming along, you are faced with the first of many hard choices, what to drink. Melt offers one of the best beer menus around, with everything from the regular suspects to beers I haven't seen before. You'll have about 20 draft choices, and a near endless list of bottled beers sorted by category and with plenty of information in the list. All seem to be reasonably priced and there are usually monthly beer specials, so you will have even more options. Now you will get to the menu. Melt bases it's menu around the grilled cheese sandwich. But not the little old ones we used to get in school, these have been elevated to works of culinary art. With a wide range of choices it is hard to go wrong. I have had the Mushroom Melt, the Lake Erie Monster (walleye), the North Coast Shores (Crab Cakes) and they have been excellent. It starts with thick slices of good bread, which are then stuffed with high quality ingrediants and your choice of cheese and then grilled to perfection. Served with a large mound of home made fries and a good coleslaw, this will fill up even the biggest appetite. Melt has taken the grilled cheese and made it king. In addition the menu has a number of appetizers (try the vegie chili another winner), salads and burgers. There is also a monthly special, this month it was the Big Popper. A heavenly combination of cream cheese, cheddar cheese and jalepeno peppers is sandwiched between two slices of killer french toast and served with a side of blueberry maple sauce. This all combines together in ways that will make your tongue sing. The sweet and hot contrast nicely, as does the gooey cheese with the crisp peppers. Served at a size that made me cry Uncle for $8.00 it was the best meal I have had all month. I do want to mention the servers. In the times I have been to Melt, the service has been excellent. The servers know the menu and can explain it to you. Plus they really seem to enjoy working there. This last visit, the bartender was rocking out to the classic rock tunes as he kept drinks filled, delivered and cleared plates and generally made sure that everybody was having a good time. Kudos. Melt is located at 14718 Detroit Road in Lakewood, next to Geigers. There is a small patio. You can check them out on the web at http://www.meltbarandgrilled.com/home.html

Dibella's Subs

OK I am not one for chains, but I am always looking for a good sub sandwich. Until I find a good local sub shop near by, Dibella's has become my current sub of choice. They are a small regional chain that has opened up 2 stores on the east side of Cleveland. One on Richmond Road across from Tri-C East and the other on Aurora Road in Solon. The shops are a bit bigger then the your average Subway or Quiznos, with a long sub line and plenty of seating. Very good subs here. They bake the bread in the stores and it is good, a bit crusty on the outside, with a nice soft middle and good flavor for both the white and wheat. I especially like the everything bread, topped with onions, poppy seeds and sesame seeds. Now the subs themselves, they are well stuffed with proper layering of quality ingredients. I of course have the Tuna and find it to be good quality with not too much mayo. I love that in addition to the cheese, lettuce, tomato and onions you also have a choice of hot, sweet and banana peppers. A couple of other differences you will notice, the hot subs are made on a real griddle the old fashion way, not run through a conveyor belt oven. Also this is a sub shop, salads are not on the menu. For desert there are chocolate chip cookies which may be expensive, but they are yummy. The cookies are just how you want them, a bit crisp around the edges with the soft, chewy middles. Dibella's has a complete menu of cold and hot subs, so if you need a bite give them a try. You can find there website at http://www.dibellas.com/default.asp

Cowboy Food Drink - Chagrin Falls

When I got off work the other day the weather was too nice to sit around so I got on the motorcycle and cruised out to Chagrin Falls figuring I would check out Cowboy Food Drink. Cowboy is at 8586 E. Washington in Chagrin Falls, right at the intersection of E. Washington and Route 306. Its been about a year since I had been out there and it seemed like a good time to check it out. Cowboy has been through some changes over the past couple of years, there has been a change in ownership, in the kitchen and a 2nd location in Mentor has opened and closed. Still with all that the changes have been minimal. For those who have not been, Cowboy is a restaurant and bar all in one. The decor is a mix of western theme and sports bar, with plenty of TVs tuned to sports, mostly hightop tables and a menu that features Southwestern and BBQ favorites. The overall atmosphere is fun and friendly and there is a stage for bands to play on during the weekend. The concept is to serve high quality food at a reasonable price in a fun manner. This time around I found the food to be generally good, although possible a step below what I remember. I had the fish tacos, 2 soft shell tacos with grilled white fish and the usual salad and sauce. The tacos were ok, with some of the fish, which was cut into small cubes tasting a bit fishy. The sauce and guacamole was good, but lacked distinctive tastes. Definitely needed some hot sauce which zipped them up. I got to pick 2 sides, in a carbo loading mood I got the Sweet Potato Fries and the Mac and Cheese. The fries were wonderful, fresh crisp, tasty and just sweet enough. The mac and cheese was good, although I was disappointed that it was a wet version rather then a baked version, still it was cheesy and thick. Overall a good meal at $10. For those carnivores, I have heard that the Pit Smoked BBQ is very good. With Pork, Ribs, Chicken and Brisket available there is a good variety. Service was friendly and prompt. The menu has seemed to stay basically the same for several years with the prices largely unchanged. I think overall Cowboy food is a great alternative to Chili's, or Ruby Tuesday's with good food, a great atmosphere and enough to keep you busy for a while.