A Little Taste of Cleveland Culture...Yum!!

My husband and I had a night out recently...something all parents need once in a while...amen?!  Any time we have a date night, it will almost always revolve around food.  As I have said before, besides Jesus, food is what keeps my marriage strong!  The truth is, through our 11 years of being married, we have become "foodies" or as I will admit, food snobs!  Dan and I have high expectations and love great food...the cool thing is, great doesn't always mean expensive!

On our date night, we went to two of my favorite Cleveland places.  One of the reasons they are my favorites is not just the phenomenal food, but the fact that they each represent so much culture and history in Cleveland!

Our fist stop (after we ran errands at Kohl's and Southpark Mall...how romantic!!) was Sokolowski's University Inn, located in Tremont.  Sokolowski's has been around since 1923 and is a cafeteria-style restaurant serving Polish and Eastern European food.  By five or six o' clock the line to get your cafeteria style food is long - a GREAT indicator that you are eating somewhere really good!!  The walls are covered with Cleveland memorabilia and they have an insane amount of bobble heads.  So, needless to say, there is a lot to look at and talk about when you are waiting in that sometimes long line.  The menu is taped up on the walls over and over as you wait in line -
you better know what you want before you get to the front of the line!  As you get closer to the front of the line you start to see pictures of all the famous people who have eaten there as well as recognition that they have received.  Food Network's Iron Chef and Cleveland native, Michael Symon, did a feature on Sokolowski's pierogies saying that they were: The Best Thing I Ever Ate: Regional Favorites.   Travel and Leisure Magazine named Sokolowski's one of the Top Best Places to "Eat Like Local."   So, you are probably wondering what is so great about Sokolowski's?  Besides the great atmosphere, the food is unmatched. Their stuffed cabbage is tender, flavorful, smothered in a sweet tomato sauce, and big!!  The potato and cheese pierogies are golden brown smothered in sauteed onions and drenched in melted butter.  The chicken paprikash with dumplings is one of their specials - dumplings cooked perfectly - not mushy!..and chicken that is seasoned well and tender, and the paprikash sauce, creamy with that smokey paprika flavor!  We've had many of the various dishes they serve - you really can't go wrong!  If you are like me, you grow up on pierogies and stuffed cabbage, and you think everyone does too, but don't assume that...there are many people who are not from the Midwest who have never had Polish food! This is a GREAT place to take your friends and family who come in from out of town!!  Give them a taste of the Eastern European culture in Cleveland, Ohio!!

Visit Sokolowski's University Inn at:
1201 University Road
Cleveland, Ohio 44113
www.sokolowskis.com (the website has recipes for some of their most popular dishes!)

Next, we were on our way to Little Italy.  This quaint area is sentimental to my husband, his mother and grandmother both taught at the Holy Rosary school as well as resided in Little Italy.  I am ashamed to say that I had never been there until I married Dan!  Little Italy is located on Mayfield Road and is lined with restaurants, bakeries, pizza places, small shops, art galleries, a school, and church.  One of our very favorite treats from Little Italy are the cannolis at Corbo's Bakery.  I've never had a cannoli that has even comes close to a Corbo's cannoli!  A cannoli, in case you've never had one is a fried pasty dough in a tube shape that is filled with a sweetened ricotta cheese filling.  At Corbo's the ricotta filling has chocolate chips in it AND you get the choice of a chocolate dipped pastry tube or a plain one....go for the chocolate dipped!  One huge perk about Corbo's that most  bakeries do not offer, is 'Filled to Order' cannolis.  If it is not filled to order, you often get a soggy pasty shell - which can ruin your whole cannoli experience.
As you make your way into Corbo's, you begin to see that this isn't just another bakery.  Family owned for over 50 years and a history of famous visitors such as ABC's The Chew's chef, Mario Batali - who said their Cassata Cake was the best he's ever had in the U.S.!  It doesn't take long to realize you are somewhere special! A few small tables are set up so that you have the option of sitting down to enjoy your dessert with a cup of coffee.  The prices are affordable and the staff is warm and welcoming!  Check out Corbo's bakery every day except Mondays or come try it during The Feast of the Assumption which is a 4 day festival every August in Little Italy.  It is a historic part of Cleveland that you need to discover!!

Find Corbo's Bakery at*:
12210 Mayfield Road
Cleveland, Ohio 44106

*Marc's in Brecksville has a Corbo's bakery inside as well!!