Frank Sterle's Slovenian Country House, Cleveland, Ohio, Californian Restaurant Details

Food:

Great food, love all the home made beer. Had a bad bartender but pretty certain he was new.

Great place for large groups!

Food:

Either you will love or hate this place, is it like it was once was? No. But that's not necessarily a bad thing, the menu is the simple classics you remember the food is fresh and cooked to order, I had the feast. Schnitzel and pierogies and paprikash. It was excellent

Food:

We took our folks here for my dad's birthday a couple weeks ago. His mom used to make this sort of food frequently up until her passing, so I thought he would enjoy it.

He got the family feast and seemed to like it, as well as the live polka band. Wife and I got the pierogies, which at $15, is WAY overpriced. 5-6 pierogies, a scoop of green beans, and an iceberg salad isn't worth $15. The rest of the menu, as others have mentioned, is pretty limited.

We were here on a Friday night, and the place was at best half full. It was difficult to tell who was working and who was dining here since the staff don't wear anything to identify them. Overall, this place had the air of somewhere that had really been the cat's pajamas at one point, but is now in decline. We had driven an hour to come here, and although somewhat unique, we probably won't be back.

Food:

My family and I went there for the first and last time last night. I have been to other ethnic Cleveland classic restaurants over the years (the long gone Kiefer's, the old Hofbrau Haus and similar places) and expected classic ethnic food along with the promised "updates" that the Plain Dealer and Scene magazine reviewers had talked about. One review even painted it as vegetarian friendly, which applies to us.

The menu was in no way "updated"- the usual perogies, fish fry (big deal- made from frozen tilapia just like I make at home), and saurkraut that was not fresh but weirdly like a cooked cabbage in vinegar. We did not get the famous schnitzle or chicken paprikash- we do not eat most meat (beef, pork, chicken) so the reported vegetarian options interested us. Vegetarians- do not bother unless it is just the beer you are going for.

Also, for no good reason we waited over and HOUR to be seated! We got there a little before 7pm with several folks ahead of us. They, plus at least 3 parties after us (who also had no reservations) were seated while we warmed the bench right in front of the hostess's desk where they could plainly see us. We sat by ourselves patiently until it was clear we were not going to be seated. We asked twice about it before being seated around 8pm (with some apologies, to be fair).

Why an hour long wait when half the tables were open? Maybe not enough staff, but some words of reassurance that we would be seated at some point would have mitigated some of my ire. And, you ask, why would vegetarians (even ones like us who will eat most seafood and dairy products) go to a mainly meat restaurant? Again, it has been misrepresented as an updated ethnic dining experience that even vegetarians would enjoy. We usually find wonderful non-meat ethnic eats wherever we go. Yes we did get an OK dinner (just OK). We just expected a little more based on the reviews.

Food:

Food is excellent quality, straddling a line between the traditional and a move towards a younger clientele. Beer selection is excellent as is the live music. Some of the critics here are obviously lamenting an earlier time when quantity equaled quality. Sterle's is headed in the right direction.