I’m a big fan of the Honey Pecan chicken. I get it almost every time. A herb breaded chicken breast with sweet honey pecan sauce served with roasted garlic mashed potatoes and fresh vegetables. Mmmmm. . . I’m also enjoyed the Tuscan chicken grill sandwich. Broiled chicken breast, roasted red peppers, grilled balsamic onions and provolone cheese served on toasted focaccia bread (I steal these descriptions from the website).  For some reason I can’t remember what Josh usually gets, but he always eats my leftovers.

I love this place because they have a great atmosphere, great food and moderate prices. Try to get there before it gets too cold.

Honey Pecan Chicken $15.95, Tuscan Chicken Grill Sandwich $9.25.

Overall rating:

4/5 Stilettos

8803 Brecksville Rd Brecksville, Oh 44141

440-546-0555

Annoyance number 1: For such a romantic atmosphere, the tables were way too close. The people next to us were all up in our shit. And us in theirs. If it wasn’t so long ago, I could probably tell you what they ordered.  But we were determined not to let that ruin our time and super expensive meal.

For an appetizer we got this meat and cheese and cracker thing. It sounds really boring when I describe it, but it was good. I’m not going into too much detail about this because  They have a seasonal menu and it’s no longer available.

Then for our tiny, tiny entree. I’m sure most of you have seen that credit card commercial where they get all dressed up and go to this really nice restaurant and when they get their food the portion sizes are super small? Well that was kind of my experience at Lola. I ordered the Smoked Berkshire Pork Chop with chiles, cheesy polenta, bbq onions. Cheesey polenta? It’s like a cornmeal mush with cheese. Sounds gross. IT WAS AMAZING! Besides the too small portion for a $27 entree. It was pretty damn good. Joshy got the Beef Hanger Steak with pickle sauce, chiles, lola fries. I remember stealing some of his lola fries. Again, AMAZING.

We did get dessert. It was some strawberry cake thing. Again, not going into too much detail because it’s no longer on the menu.

Overall I would have to say Lola was just okay. The food was good, but I’ve had better. The atmosphere was great, but I didn’t like how close the tables were to each other. And to leave the restaurant at least a little full, you have to order 3 courses. I would definitely go back if I had $100 just laying around, but I think I would like to try Lolita first, another Michael Symon restaurant.

Overall rating: 3/5 Stilettos

http://www.lolabistro.com/

2058 E. 4th Street

Cleveland, OH

Gotta bring that dough in.

Anyway, I’m always into trying new and fun places around the Cleveland area. A few weeks ago I was totally having a craving for a burger. Of course I did what I always do. Google. I googled the best burger in Cleveland and was directed to Cleveland Magazine’s website.

Heck’s Cafe. It’s a cozy little place in Ohio City.

BIG fan of that neighborhood to start with.

When you first walk in the door, it feels a little cramped, but don’t let that turn you off. Keep on moving all the way to the back of the restaurant where there’s a larger greenhouse style room. It was awesome. Live plants throughout the space and an iron, spiral staircase in the center. So cute.

Now on to the service.

Our waiter was kind of a weirdo. I don’t even think he told us his name. He had a button down that was open until like the 3rd button. Gross. He wasn’t very friendly and kind of ignored us the whole time we were there. I narrowed it down to 2 theories. 1) Because I’m black (Booooooo!) or 2) Because I was so smoking hot and he was jealous because I was there with Josh (I like this one better)

The foooooooood.

Josh got a Dortmunder and I an iced tea. An iced tea I was sadly disappointed with. How do you mess up tea, right? I don’t think it was freshly brewed. I didn’t wanna ask because I didn’t wanna seem like a cunt to our jerk waiter. Not that big of a deal though. For an appetizer we decided to go with the crab cakes. DELICIOUS! They were huge and had a wonderful lemon-herb remoulade sauce that Josh ate most of For our entree we had to try some of their famous burgers. Josh had the Rogue Burger with bacon and Roquefort cheese dressing (totally jacked the description from the website) He enjoyed it. I wasn’t too found of the cheese dressing. Maybe because I didn’t know what the hell roquefort cheese is. It’s similar to bleu. . . FYI. And because I like everything hot, I opted to try the Cajun Burger with grilled onions and Monterrey jack cheese. Mmmmmm. . . yummy! Both burgers were served on a hand knotted roll with lettuce, tomatoes and onions and pickle on the side. Even the fries were to die for. Sadly I’m a little piggy and my burger fell apart. Ooooo. Another nice thing about Heck’s is with your burger they give you a mini bottle of ketchup. And I love everything mini.

I peeked at the dessert menu. They had some of the usuals. Cheesecake, apple pie, creme brulee. I was a little bit annoyed that they didn’t have any descriptions of the desserts or prices. It didn’t matter anyhow because I was stuffed to no end from my burger.

An iced tea, a beer, crab cakes and 2 burgers. . . $41. Not too shabby.

Overall rating:

3/5 Stilettos

http://www.heckscafe.com/

2927 Bridge Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44113-3015