See What’s Brewing in Willoughby!

Awhile back, I was invited to a birthday dinner that I couldn’t attend. My husband went to represent us, and came back raving that we had to go back because I would love this place. I asked where it was, and he said Willoughby. My immediate response was OMG that’s too far, how long did it take you to get there.

Completely absurd right? Willoughby, in actuality isn’t that far. It’s just not a side of town I’m familiar with or a place that I’ve spent any time in my 30 years of living in Cleveland. I’ll be honest, my biggest challenge in exploring Cleveland is getting past what’s far. I grew up on the east side, still live on the east side and I like a 20/25 minute commute at most. As an adult, I’m realizing (after traveling to places like Atlanta and D.C.) 20/25 minutes really isn’t that far from home and I’ll find more places if I venture a little more out of my comfort zone. In the 25 minutes it takes me to get downtown each day, (which I never complain about), it literally took me the same amount of time, just a different direction to drive to Willoughby and enjoy this amazing place. 

Our friends Sue and Danny invited us here to celebrate my birthday. Funny I know, considering my birthday was in March but it was the first time we could schedule all of us getting together after basketball season which pretty much consumes all of our lives. Danny coaches AAU basketball with my husband, and also coached my oldest son Bryon’s middle school basketball team. Over the past 2 years we have become one big happy family. His mother Sue, is literally our biggest basketball fan. She has been wanting me to visit this place for awhile so we were so excited to finally make this happen.

We exited the highway and drove through what looked like downtown Willoughby. It made me feel like I was in a place where everyone knows your name, and while that might not be the case, its the feel you get when you drive by all the small boutiques and mom and pop shops. We passed some really cute restaurants that I’m excited about going back to visit.

We pulled up to a big white building with large glass windows, and I’m thinking well this is a cute office looking restaurant. After parking in the back, I immediately notice the hanging lights and umbrellas on the rooftop. We enter the restaurant and there’s ample seating to the left with a large bar and a plethora of high top tables. There’s also a stairwell leading to more tables and the rooftop. To the right, there’s more seating, I called it the family section with the lower tables. Which as a parent, is great for kids because they won’t fall from the hightop chairs and a kid with a high chair can be eye level with everyone else.

There are two menu’s at the table, there’s one with the daily specials which include food and drinks and then the regular signature menu. My husband, Danny and I all order the burger and fries. Not only was I advised by the waitress that this was a favorite, but Danny said he gets it every time. Sue ordered the bolognese. Scottie (Sue’s other son), who joined us later had the infamous pretzel which my son told me to order before leaving the house because it’s his favorite. If you’ve learned anything about me from reading my posts, I hate salt so I didn’t bother.

While we waited for the food, I decided to do the beer tasting. I tried the Hibiscus Mist (out of curiosity), Fuzzy Peach (because it sounded fruity), Todeswunsch Weizen (because I like wheat beers and this one had coffee) and the Gouden Donder (because it was the strongest of the beers at 11.5%). I ended up loving the Fuzzy Peach and ordered that separately two more times.

While I don’t know the price of our final bill (because Danny took care of it without letting us know) I do think the food was very good and reasonably priced.

My husband was right, I did love this place. It was a change of scenery, cute, clean and modern. Although we didn’t eat on the rooftop the fact that they have one was a bonus. I would definitely sit there next time around. I also found out from a sign in the bathroom that on Sunday mornings at 10am, for $22 you can enjoy a yoga session and mimosa, beer or mocktail.

All and all this place is great for almost any occasion. It’s kid friendly, family appropriate but also good for a lax date night, or a gathering of friends.You can also book the space for events, so if you’re looking for a great outdoor patio space I would make this an option. Did I mention they also have live music from time to time? Yep.. if you are ever looking to try something new, on a different side of town, I encourage you to visit Brim Kitchen and Brewery and tell them you read about them on #CourtneyCoversCleveland

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2 Comments

  • Teri Wright

    This was a very good description ,made me want to go real soon.. can’t wait to try..

  • Brunching in Willoughby! – Courtney Covers Cleveland

    […] funny because I mentioned in a previous article See What’s Brewing in Willoughby, that after going to Brim (which I loved) that there were so many places I wanted to go back to […]

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