Cibo - Chagrin Falls Pasta

For the most part I have had a lot of success trying restaurants from Groupon (check Groupon out here), Cibo Homemade Pasta certainly ends up on the winner side of the list.  Located at 8564 East Washington Street in Chagrin Falls (the space that used to house Fat Taco) (map is here), at the intersection of Route 306 and Washington Street, Cibo is a friendly little place to get some very good pasta at an affordable price.  Tucked into a corner of the strip mall, it might be easy to miss Cibo, but it is worth finding.  Outside is a couple of tables overlooking a little fountain.  Inside you will find an attractive space that has a feeling of a little trattoria crossed with a fast food place.

Behind a long counter you will see the kitchen and the pasta machine pressing out fresh pasta.  The menu is straight forward and easy to understand, you pick either Cavetelli or whole wheat Rotini and then add sauce and any toppings.  There are also salads and a couple of sandwiches.  When I was there Cibo also had Eggplant Parmigiana, Cheese Lasagne, and some pizza available.  Everything looked very good, fresh made with high quality ingredients.  Since I had a $10 Groupon, I got 2 orders of pasta, one to eat there the other for the next day.

I had the whole wheat rotini with the Alfredo sauce at Cibo.  For $5 you get a very generous serving.  The whole wheat pasta were nice with a little more bite and character then regular pasta.  The Alfredo sauce was nicely balanced between the cheese and cream, with a subtle lighter flavor then many of the heavy Alfredo sauces you encounter; maybe a little bit on the subtle side, but good.

The serving of Cavatelli with the Arrabbita sauce and Romano cheese was one of the better plates of pasta I have had in a while.  The Cavatelli was perfectly cooked, just enough firmness to compliment the sauce and  give a nice chew.  The sauce was excellent, with nice tomato flavor, with spicy heat that balanced well with the grated cheese.  The portion was very good sized but I went through it quickly and would have kept going if there was more.  

Cibo's is a wonderful find, a place that is producing excellent food at affordable prices.  They are using high quality ingredients and obviously take pride in their products.  With a limited menu and the selected specials, they can focus on making the food taste good.  I recomend you head out East and give them a try.

Glenwillow Grille - Just Good

When I get a Groupon offer (check it out here), a number of things go into whether or not I buy it; how good is the deal, where the place is, what the menu is like, and just a general feeling.  When Glenwillow Grille came up I was intrigued since I had passed it on Pettibone Road (29765 Pettibone Road
Glenwillow, map is here) a number of times and always thought that it look like it was worth checking out.  Glenwillow is a cool little town just south of Solon, with a number of old small company town buildings, with the Grille being the highlight.  Looking at the menu I saw some interesting items so I figured I would give it a chance.

From the outside, the Grille is neat and trim, with a small porch and a patio seating area out front.  Once inside you see that there is a cozy dining room and a welcoming bar.  Both have a nice mix of natural materials set up in a way that is warm, welcoming and just a bit clubby, but with an overall casual feel.  I settled in at the bar and perused the menu (you can download it here).  I had originally planned on getting the calamari and the Shrimp De Johng, but since they were out of squid, I switched my plans around.

First up was the Lobster Bisque, which was an additional $1.50 with the entree and it was well worth it.  The bisque was thick and creamy without going too far with a nice portion of real lobster meat shredded in.  The taste was wonderful with the  sweet lobster balanced with the lightest touch of sherry.  A wonderful start to the meal.

Next up was the Firecracker Shrimp, and while there were some nice things here I think this just was a conceptual failure.  Six good sized shrimp were nicely deep fried, however they were drenched in creamy sauce that actually dulled the shrimps flavors.  The greens were also overdressed in an indistinct dressing, with only the sirancha squiggles adding any real flavor.

The main course was the Eggplant Parmigiana, which ended up being a nice sized portion of pasta topped with three thick slices of fried eggplant with marinara and cheese.  While not a bad rendition, nothing on this plate had any snap or distinctive flavor.  What was needed was some garlic and herbs to really make this plate sing.   Especially at a price of $15, I expect more.

Service was excellent and very friendly.   As someone who has eaten at bars quite often, I did want to commend the Grille for having a smart and unique idea, a wooden board with feet designed to fit over the bar so that the food is closer to you and easier to eat.  This is something that should be copied by more places.

My overall impression of Glenwillow Grille is that this is a nice upscale, but casual place.  While the Lobster Bisque was superb, the rest of the food was just OK.  They are clearly using good, quality ingredients and the presentations are nice, what is lacking is a real culinary viewpoint and a chef who brings some flavor fireworks.  Prices are a bit higher then I prefer, but if the food delivered what the menu promises, it would be worth it.  If you are looking for a nice place by Solon and aren't that worried about flavors, this might be for you.

Pizzazz On the Circle

The end of Passover always means one thing, we can eat bread and pasta again after a week of avoiding them, so a group of us headed over to Pizzazz on the Circle to celebrate.  Pizzazz has been around for quite a while, located in Shaker Heights, nestled into Fairmount Circle, right across from the entrance to john Carrol University, Pizzazz is a good solid Italian restaurant.  (The location is mapped here).

The decor of the dining room is a nice simple combination of comfort and modern; simple wood is set off against warm colors with clean fixtures and modern art prints.  Once seated, service is friendly and efficient even with a larger group.

The menu (which you can see here) is fairly standard modern Italian cooking, with an emphasis on Pizzas, Calzones, Pastas and other Italian favorites.  I ended up ordering the Eggplant Parmigiana dinner, which is a nice portion of fried eggplant topped with some Marinara Sauce and melted cheese and sided with Penne Pasta in more of the same sauce.  The dinner was good, but not great.  The eggplant was sliced pretty thin, which meant that much of the meatiness was lost and the flavor was a bit subdued.  The sauce and cheese were added at the end, so that while they contributed, this never came together into a harmonious whole that is usually better then the sum of its parts.  The penne was fine, and the sauce was ok, a bit light on spices for my taste, but bright and slightly sweet.

The big seller at my table were the Calzones, which were well received and nicely sized, both the small sized.  Probably a good idea to go for the pizza or calzones as they seem to the specialty at Pizzazz.

Overall, Pizzazz is a very nice Italian pizzeria, with pretty good food at decent prices, a very nice location and decor and good service.  What I think it lacks is the actual pizzazz that its name implies, I don't think you will be blown away by Pizzazz, but you will get a nice meal.