Tremont Restaurant Hop

Before I get to the restaurant hop portion of this blog, I have a few random things:

1) I've been working at Key (who does not back, agree/disagree with, or condone anything in this blog) for a year now. The writing was on the wall at Parma when UH took over and I saw it coming. The more I see people who I once worked with let go, the more I know I made the right choice to leave. Being acquired is like losing a war (on a no one actually dies kinda scale)... those who don't lose their jobs right away will soon or will be exiled to Shaker Heights no matter what promises are made or how rosy it may look for you.

2) I've lived in the Tremont neighborhood of Cleveland now for 9 months. Here's an update. I'm still alive. I haven't been mugged. Gina's car was broken into once and she had her GPS stolen. We captured 3 opossums in our basement. I haven't joined a gang. Homeless people don't ruin our walks by bothering us for change every 5 feet. We have however been to countless bars and restaurants, sporting events, farmer's markets and craft fairs, concerts, festivals, and other fun special events all within a 5 min drive or 20 min walk. We've entertained countless friends and family who all (except for the Merwin's Warf fiasco) had a wonderful time and would love to come back. It can be done people. If you're bored doing the same thing over and over in the suburbs or out in the country, please please read this blog and get the courage from our experiences to live in your nearest downtown or urban area... unless it's Columbus... then don't bother and come to Cleveland. Even if for only a year or two, urban areas will give you stories and experiences that you will hold on to for a lifetime. It's "tell your grand kids about" kinda stuff.

3) I've become the Membership Coordinator for our block club! It's step #2 on my way to becoming a city council person. Joining the block club was #1. Basically that means I make sure everyone signs in at the meetings and that if you attend a certain # of meetings in a rolling year, I designate you as a voting member. It's important... I think... I mean it is! Either/or it's momentum and I'm happy about that.

4) My posts will soon (if they don't already) have ads! Ya, I sold out. So click your little heart out people! Make me some $... but more than likely cents!

OK on to the Tremont Restaurant Hop!

The Bourbon Street Barrel Room is the newest restaurant in Tremont and boy did they go all out! Chandeliers, 2nd floor seating, and 2 bars are just some of the unique features of this renovated space. All of the lighting is unique and intriguing. The view from floor to floor is different and adds a fun dimension to the place. It really is the little details that makes BSBR stand out. I can only say that it reminds me of what movies tell me a restaurant in New Orleans is supposed to look like... minus the topless college girls covered in beads... although Marti Gras is only 2 weeks away so that could change.

The drink menu is colorful, tropical, and includes hurricanes which are always fun... or so I've been told since I can never seem to remember the next day. The menu is packed with traditional creole and southern staples but doesn't skimp on the flavor and heat like you may think a place like this would. They also have hush puppies and I haven't had those for years!... so I had about 15 of them. Yum!

The food is good and the atmosphere is out of this world. It's a wonderful addition to the neighborhood and is a wallet friendly meal which is hard to come by in Tremont. Bring a group and get ready to drink and get spicy. It's certainly a place worth showing off.

Ligali's Bistro is a fairly new joint with front window views of Lincoln Park. It's a joining of 2 spaces so make sure when you go, you go to the door on the left. You'll want to walk into the door that goes right into the bar but it's locked. Me and 3 other old people that night know from experience. There weren't a lot of folks there the night Gina and I went so we got some great personalized service from our waiter. I ordered off the happy hour menu... because I'm cheap. I ordered 2 things because usually happy hour servings are much smaller than the regular entree size. Not only is this not the case here, it's downright crazy how much food we got for $5 a plate. They have 3 happy hour food offerings. The fried-green tomatoes were out of season so they were out of them. The Thai Chili Wings were big (twice as big as a normal wings) and full of flavor... oh and there were like 8 of them! I was expecting 3-4 at most for a $5 happy hour plate in Tremont. I was also expecting the Wild Mushroom Flat Bread to be on something the size of a burger bun since again it was happy hour... this thing was huge. Both servings were so big that with a side of fries I looked like I was the host of a Man vs Food challenge. Not to just harp on the size, they were all delicious as well. Pair one with a $5 happy hour cocktail and you could get a pretty filling meal for $10. I recommend this place for happy hour for sure from 5-7 pm on Tuesday - Friday. I'll have to get an honest-to-god meal there too because their menu looks like a food wish list I would have come up with for my imaginary restaurant. I'd call it "Fat Sam's Disco" and serve nothing but healthy food.

Now for the I'm a genius portion of the blog:

1) In my post Planes, Trains, and Automobiles I talk about the need for a Inter-modal transit hub on the North Coast of Cleveland by where the current Amtrak station is. Well the Plain Dealer is now reporting that the RTA, city, Amtrak, and Greyhound listened to me and it's now on their radar. This is a huge deal in transportation for a city that lost it's airport hub status and a bunch of non-stop flights to big business cities along with it. Bravo everyone!...of course it wasn't originally my idea but I'm sure someone important read my post and was finally persuaded. Kind of a straw that broke the camel's back kinda situation.

2) More dead malls coming to the greater Cleveland area as Macy's and a bunch of other stores close their doors at Richmond mall. I not only predicted more of this type of suburban mall decay in this area but I gave you the blueprint on what to do to keep retail here in greater Cleveland. Reread (or for most of you based on the view count read for the 1st time) my post about How to Save a Supernova Mall and see if you agree. Could this be Macy's positioning themselves for a downtown location???Someone from Macy's has been peaking at my blog I think... OK, maybe not but you don't know!

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