Restaurants in Cleveland
IF YOU KNOW | JUL 17, 2021
Angie Rito
WHO
Restaurants
WHAT
Cleveland
WHERE
About
Angie Rito is the chef and owner of Michelin-starred Don Angie in the West Village of New York City, alongside her husband Scott Tacinelli. She grew up in a big Italian-American family in Cleveland, Ohio, where she spent the majority of her youth working in her grandfather’s Italian bakery. In 2007, Angie moved to New York City, working her way through a number of kitchens and eventually meeting her husband Scott, with whom she bonded over their shared Italian-American heritage and passion for food.
Today, Scott and Angie continue to serve up their delicious, comforting takes on modern Italian-American cuisine in the heart of New York City’s West Village. The restaurant received a glowing 2-star critic’s pick review from the New York Times in 2018 and was one of Esquire’s Best New Restaurants in America in 2019. Angie earned a nomination for Best Chef New York City and New York State by the James Beard Foundation in both 2019 and 2020, respectively. She is the co-author of Italian American, her first cookbook, slated to be published in October 2021.
PHOTO COURTESY OF POMME
Pho Thang serves up some of the best Vietnamese in town, specializing in pho, banh mi, and chilled vermicelli noodle dishes. They offer a great selection of beverages including a variety of bubble teas, Vietnamese coffee and milk drinks. The atmosphere is definitely “no frills” but the service from friendly staff makes up for it!
Zhug offers some of the most unique and exciting Middle Eastern mezze around, including unique menu items such as curried lamb and apricot hummus and muhammara with local goat cheese. The best move is to go with a group and sample a bunch of the small and large plates – the problem here is trying not to order every single thing on the menu!
This isn’t quite a restaurant, but it’s a great place to find high quality, local food. Ohio City Provisions is part grocer and part butcher, focusing on all local goods from seasonal produce to dairy products and fermented foods. Their whole-animal butcher shop sells pasture-raised meats, along with a rotation of really creative and unique house-made products like “pepperoni pizza brats” made with ground pepperoni, mozzarella and herbs, and bacon-and-beef burgers. Occasionally they’ll sling super delicious prepared foods on special occasions, like “Polish Boy” sandwiches served on the Opening Day of baseball season, featuring rye-battered kielbasa corn dogs, spicy mustard and slaw.
Again, this isn’t a restaurant, but I couldn’t help myself from adding this place to the list. I’m not usually a big ice cream gal, but the ice cream at this place is absolutely delicious. I usually go for the key lime pie or the classic chocolate chip cookie dough. (They definitely do not skimp on the cookie dough, which is how I judge a quality ice cream shop!)
The Hansa family has owned and operated an Eastern European import store in the Cleveland area for 40 years, recently expanding to a brewery, biergarten and restaurant offering German specialties, including authentic sausages and three different types of schnitzel. The food is delicious and they’re always serving up really fresh, authentic brews.
I love a good old school Italian-American joint, and Mama Santa’s is exactly that. Located in Cleveland’s Little Italy, the specialty here is their pizza: medium-thin pan pies smothered in tomato sauce and a generous blanket of melted provolone. Don’t get me wrong – I love NY-style pizza – but there’s something about a good Cleveland-style pie that’s deeply nostalgic and satisfying to me, and Mama Santa’s has what I think is the quintessential Cleveland-style pie.
Little Polish Diner is located in Parma, a part of town that historically was home to a large Polish population. The homemade pierogies are ridiculously good, and I love the simple, old fashioned setting. Weekly specials always include super soulful, delicious plates like chicken paprikash and stuffed cabbage.
Slyman’s has been a Cleveland institution since the 60’s, and it’s just as beloved by locals now as it was then. Nothing beats a giant (I mean, seriously GIANT) pile of corned beef on toasted rye, and that happens to be Slyman’s specialty. I always go for the Reuben, though I’ve heard that even the tuna sandwich is great.
Cleveland’s West Side Market opened in 1912, during an era when three large public markets served the city’s growing immigrant population in the area, including one in which my great-grandfather owned a vegetable stand. The West Side Market is the only remnant of these old markets, and I love the fact that the city has still held onto this piece of its history. Visiting the market feels like stepping back in time – the building seems like it hasn’t changed in years, and visitors can find everything there from a wide array of fresh meats, dairy and produce to a number of different specialty prepared foods. No visit to the market is complete without a stop at Steve’s Gyros for a classic gyro with extra sauce!
My grandfather emigrated from Sicily in the ‘50’s and opened up the original Rito’s Bakery location in Cleveland in 1960. The bakery has since moved out to a suburb called Brunswick. Rito’s specializes in Sicilian treats like cannoli and cassata, and fresh Italian bread. I can’t visit home without having a few slices (let’s be honest, more like a quarter sheet) of the classic bakery pizza, a square pie that’s served cold and sold by the slice from the case. If you stop by, ask for my dad Jim and tell him I sent you!
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