Cork and Cleaver
I have to admit that Cork and Cleaver was a wonderful surprise; particularly because of it’s location. Formerly Benvenuti (which we really enjoyed several years ago when we first visited), and being predominantly Italian, we were really pleased to see that the same owner, Brian Okin, has gone in a somewhat different direction. Though still offering some Italian dishes, the menu offers a much broader selection of eclectic fare, both small plates as well as regular-sized entrees.
After our first glance at the menu, we were little concerned about a restaurant of this caliber being situated in a very non-descript strip center out in the burbs; but after mentioning this concern to Brian, he assured us that he’d had nothing but positive comments from many people; all of whom were thrilled to have access to a restaurant like this without having to go downtown or to the East side.
If you can get past the culinary-speak when reading the menu, you’ll be in for a real treat. Not having really hearty appetites on this visit, we chose the Chicken and Waffle ‘taster’ and the Chicken Fried Chicken, mac and cheese (ok, so a little ‘chicken overload’ but it’s what we were in the mood for) and shared both! OMG, both were awesome! I’m not sure what more can be said – they were both seriously amazing and the “Bigger Things” (their category for entrees) were definitely ‘bigger’. These two were almost too much for us to share! Additionally, I had the Caesar salad (no sharing here) and though I hate to say it, I wasn’t crazy about it. There was nothing about it that was “bad”; it was just missing the ingredients that one would expect of a typical Caesar salad (no romaine, no shaved parmesan, unusual dressing and the addition of green olives. It did have some very interesting ‘chicken’ croutons though). Again – not a bad salad, just not what I was expecting.
We are really excited about our next visit to Cork and Cleaver – I’ve already scoped out what I want to try next time!!!
Cork and Cleaver is located at:
8130 Broadview Road
Broadview Heights, OH
(440) 627-6449
http://www.ccsocialkitchen.com/