Redhawk Grille = Awesome

So I tried a new place this past Thursday and I'm happy to report I actually liked it (even though I was a tad sad I wasn't able to use a deck card). Loved the outside patio with the mulit-colored umbrellas, the sound of the waterfall in the background, and even the man-made fish pond.

 I started out with an American mule. While I loved the idea of a rock candy stirrer I'm learning that I am more obsessed with the copper cups these drinks are served in more so than the actual drink (no fault of the restaurant's - just my own personal preference).

However, my amazing Irish burger more than made up for selecting a slightly too sugary drink. The burger was topped with corn beef and melted swiss. Fries were fantastic. Prices were right!

An added bonus was how close the restaurant was to my friend Shanon's house - made calling for a ride after a few more drink orders super convenient.

Well done Redhawk! Well done!

Best Birthday Ever!

My sister +Ashley Keene orchestrated a surprise birthday celebration with some of my best girlfriends +Gina Speelman, Kate, Shannon, and new friend Lisa. And yes, I know some of you are confused thinking I have already celebrated my birthday - but I like to really honor the whole month of my birth :) Narcissistic - probably. Fun - hell yeah.

The night began when my brother-in-law Scott drove Ash and I to an undisclosed location in the white out blizzard that we had Saturday night. Destination revealed: East 4th.

http://www.ballanwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Lola.jpg

Love love love this area. We were able to walk to all three of our special spots which became especially appreciated since I had on open toed high heels and was trudging through 3 inches of snow.

First Stop: Lola.

Hooray! I love fancy new restaurants to try! Here our some of the dishes we tried:

Bread and butter: crusty and perfect! I like that they kept it straight up simple - crusty white bread and no flavored butters. I hate when places mess with the bread and butter - I don't like my bread and butter to taste like a dessert!
Scallops: leek, sweet potato, bacon, mustard, lemon $29
Lamb Shank: fennel, turnip, fingerling potato, vadouvan $30
Agnolotti: chestnuts, winter squash, brussels sprouts, parmesan $26

Everything was good - I didn't really have a basis of comparison for the scallops - are scallops supposed to taste a little bland? The lamb was tender enough to fall right off the bone, but a bit salty. My favorite dish by far was Katie's Agnolotti - it was delic!

I also have nothing but good things to say about the staff. Friendly, attentive, and willing to put up with a table of obnoxiously loud girls :)


Second Stop: Hilarities at Pickwick & Frolic

1st comic was pretty funny and I was happy to hear Game of Thrones quoted!
2nd comic was hilarious! I love how he fed off of the audience so material seemed fresh, natural, and not scripted. (I have a phone call in to Hilarities to find out the name of the first two comics we watched)
Headliner: Andy Kindler - so not funny it was awkward and I actually felt sorry for him. I found myself asking 'huh?' throughout most of his set.


Third Stop: Society

I am seriously obsessed with this place. I want it to be my new watering hole, although I am too lazy to drive downtown to frequent it as much as I would like. The establishment has a speakeasy feel. Here's a little history on the word pulled from Wikipedia: "According to an 1889 newspaper, 'Unlicensed saloons in Pennsylvania are known as 'speak-easies'. They were 'so called because of the practice of speaking quietly about such a place in public, or when inside it, so as not to alert the police or neighbors.'The term is reported to have originated with saloon owner Kate Hester, who ran an unlicensed bar in the 1880s in the Pittsburgh area town of McKeesport, Pennsylvania.^"

After we entered the frosted doors (albeit a more conspicuous entrance than most bars of this type) a capped gentleman took our names and directed us to the basement.

We welcomed ourselves to a private room, took some pics, and then joined the crowd to order some hand crafted cocktails including Death in New York and Moscow Mules. I loved our equally cute and edgy waitress and the eclectic crowd.

The band Rick and Sharona had us dancing the night away to favorites such as "Downtown," "You're So Vain," "Sweet Caroline," and "Brown-Eyed Girl." 

Attaboy East 4th! Attaboy!

Flour Restaurant

So I'm happy to say I already can't wait to plan my next visit to Flour in spite of the shared booth style seating of which I am not a fan!

See how the booths are one long seating bench you have to share with other parties

Four of us dined and here is what we ordered:

Apps
PEI Mussels $12 - My only complaint regarding the food concerned the 'fishiness' of the mussels. I got a bite of the slimy mucus part and it ruined me for the rest. I am really picky about where I eat mussels and any hint of 'ocean' in my mouth is an immediate turnoff.
Calamari $12.50 - Good. Very lightly breaded. Would have liked a larger portion.

Our waiter let us order as much white bread as we wanted...which was a lot! This always gains points in my book.

Entrees 
I ordered the ricotta agnolotti ($15 for the half order). I had to google image  what exactl that was, but I am so glad I did because after seeing the picture, I was sold! Well, due to that and the deal my sister struck with me: she would share her lobster strozzapreti with me if I chose the agnolotti and went halfsies. Here is a picture of my actual dish:

I have to say that very rarely has it happened that I can actually feel a mix of distinct flavors in my mouth. With this dish I did and I loved what I tasted! My sister and I thought the addition of some thin slivers of prosciutto would be a nice addition, but over all I would highly recommend this delectable dish!

As I mentioned my sister +Ashley Keene went with the lobster strozzapreti ($19 for the half order). Her's tasted equally as delicious. I hate when a pasta is swimming in sauce. This dish had what I would consider the perfect amount. I loved the generous amount of what we call 'shakey cheese' in my family on top! Even with the half portion she still needed a take home box.

My husband ordered the miso glazed salmon ($24) and for someone who doesn't normally order fish (I think he was feeling guilty due to the 4 loaves of bread we consumed and trying to be weight watcher conscious lol), he was more than pleased with the entree. The salmon was cooked perfectly and the glaze complimented the fish perfectly. I thought the risotto was a bit watery, but he disagreed.

My brother-in-law ordered the porchetta alla romana ($25). I only had a bite and while good, it tasted salty to me but from what I gathered this is how it is supposed to taste? In any case, my brother-in-law had nothing but praise for his food as well.

Our service was excellent and a super friendly gent (who I am assuming was a manager) came over to make sure we were happy with everything. I LOVE when places send someone over to make sure customers are pleased, but can I ask why this NEVER happens when I am fuming mad over service or food?!

To top off our visit our waiter brought out a birthday dessert free of charge (yes, I do celebrate my birthday the whole month through...lol)and we were able to use the cards from our Cleveland Independent Restaurant Deck. I have no idea what the dessert was - if I had to guess from the menu I just found on google perhaps a chocolate budino.

I'm already looking forward to my next visit back. I will be trying the gulf shrimp!

Maggiano's Little Italy

So even though I'm not a fan of chain restaurants Maggiano's has managed to sneak its way into the category of one of my 'go to' restaurants. One thing I love about it is its consistency: consistently good food and consistently good service. However, every time I go I always order the same thing - I like it so much that I am afraid to abandon it to try something new. My go to meal is the chicken and spinach manicotti topped with cheesy bubbly (like broiled bubbly) alfredo sauce on top. The sauce is generally right on - not too watery and not too thick. My husband is always as equally happy with the lasagna and we love that with his order he gets another classic pasta to take home free. This past weekend I took my sister +Ashley Keene  there for the first time. Since she was considering the baked ziti which also allowed her to take another pasta home which she planned on graciously giving to her husband I started to feel guilty since my 'go to' pasta isn't part of the take one home free plan.

I had already been feeling conflicted about my order, even before learning of my sister's planned pastas as when we checked in at the hostess stand there was a sign advertising Maggiano's new stuffed pastas which are only available until 3/26. I always want something more when I feel like my chances to obtain it our limited and when the picture of it is just plain pretty. Suffice it to say the chicken and mushroom stuffed shells fit the bill. When my sister asked the waitress what she recommended and she said the stuffed mushroom shells the decision was becoming clearer and when she mentioned it did include a free take home pasta the decision was practically made for me. Plus, Joe (my husband) hates mushrooms so I knew that the next time we visited the restaurant I wouldn't be able to weasel  him into getting something I really wanted (aka this) and then playing the "let's split our meals" card.

So what was the verdict?

Well, good, but not as good as my usual manicotti. However, getting two meals for approx. $25 and leftovers to boot not to mention fantastic crunchy bread and stellar service (she kept the bread coming without having to be asked and was super friendly and attentive) still deserves to be commended in my book :) Although, truth be told I am a little peeved that I didn't see the $5.00 off coupon for the stuffed pasta on their website until just now! What would have been even cooler is if our server could have let us know to pull that up on our smart phones :) All in all, a great afternoon lunch though.

Next time I'll go back to my tried and true but spoil myself with their mussels too.