Club House Pub and Grub
We never would have given this place a second thought, though we’ve driven by it more than a few times. It just didn’t look that interesting or inviting from the outside. However, after reading a write-up (see attached) https://www.cleveland.com/top-restaurants/index.ssf/2015/12/clubhouse_pub_and_grub_restaurant_serves_up_a_classic_cleveland_dining_experience_review.html, on their ‘amazingly wonderful chicken paprikash’, and several other menu items, I figured we’d give it a try. Contrary to the accolades the article gives it, it was truly a ‘once and done’ in our book – sorry! I’ve had paprikash many times in the past and have seriously NEVER seen what the big draw was since it has never had any flavor at all. Every one I’ve tried has been prepared by someone claiming it’s the best ever…..NOT. But, after hearing this raved about, I thought I’d try it one more time! It was good – perhaps the tastiest I’ve had, but it’s one of those dishes that I just can’t get too excited about (for those of you that live for it….please don’t hold this against me). In any case, one of the things mentioned in the article I had read was about all of the “Parma memorabilia” and the ‘ambiance’ of Club House Pub and Grub, and no kidding – it was about as plain and boring inside as it was on the outside. Clean and well-lit, but boring nevertheless.
They had a decent sized crowd for a Tuesday night, but you could tell they were all regulars that probably ate there two or three times a week. Though we weren’t regulars, our ser4ver treated us as though we were and was very friendly and attentive. We started with the appetizer portion of the potato pancakes that, in all honestly, were probably the worst we’ve ever had (and we’ve had our share of them). They were so tough, we needed knives just to cut through them. Two thumbs down there. Mr. Z had a small dinner salad which he said was just okay – good Thousand Island dressing though. I had the onion soup, which SOUNDED wonderful when you read the description. It was just plain, overly-salted onion soup – certainly nothing to rave about. As I planned, I ordered the chicken paprikash, which was good and a nice sized portion. The dumplings (of which there were more of than chicken) were very good and a nice switch from spaetzle, which it is usually served with. Mr. Z had a half rack of ribs which were definitely not baby-back. There was very little meat and what there was, sure didn’t fall of the bones. The BBQ sauce was tasty though.
Overall, I can’t see any reason at all that we would willingly go back to Club House Pub and Grub. As I’ve said many, many times before….there are WAY TOO many really good restaurants to choose from to revisit a mediocre one!
Club House Pub & Grub is located at:
6365 Pearl Road
Parma Heights, OH
440-884-2582
Since they don’t have their own website, see below for their menu.
https://www.zmenu.com/club-house-pub-and-grub-parma-heights-online-menu/