Bistro 185

We have been there several (maybe 7 or 8) times over the years, and it used to be better on many levels than it is now. the last 2 times they totally screwed up our reservations – one time after sitting in the bar forever we left and went across the street to Muldoons, which was far less expensive and a great deal more fun.
The drink menu at Bistro 185 is top notch and fairly priced. Food-​wise the two signature dishes are the Duck and the Short Ribs. The Duck is about the finest you can get in Cleveland. Ask for it to be placed under a broiler for a few minutes before serving so the skin is crisp and the fat sort of separates from the meat. The Short Ribs are served in a thick sauce and sometimes the meat is overwhelmed — BUT the meat is always tender and tasty.
Make sure you take advantage of some of the special group dinners they have. We did the beer tasting served with excellent sausages, cheeses, pates, etc. and a great main dish and dessert.
We really like this place – they need to take their reservations more seriously!

One of my absolute favorite places. Amazing drinks and the food is amazing. There isn’t a thing on the menu I wouldn’t eat! Which makes it so hard to decide.

Celebrated a birthday dinner here last night and have been here several other times previously. Their food is always very good and service usually is too. For cocktails I ordered a dark and stormy and I can’t remember what the others ordered, but we all enjoyed them. They also have a very good beer list and my husband says they have a good wine list as well. For appetizers we shared the mussels in a wine sauce which were delicious. I’ve also had them in their spicy marinara which were also fantastic. For entrees, I had a mushroom pasta which was very good. My husband had a couple of appetizers which he loved. My aunt had the shortribs over cornbread which was enormous. She seemed to like it, but my husband said after trying it that the shortribs at Flying Fig are much better. Normally, we don’t get dessert, but here we never skip it. Their desserts are the stars of the show. Their coconut cream pie and key lime pie are among the best I’ve ever had so we ordered both. They were incredible. Overall, a very good experience.

Great place for a birthday dinner. We had the charcuterie board, which was fabulous. The entrees were just ok. I had the lobster mac and cheese but was pretty full from the cheese board, so I could only eat a few bites. They comped dessert and we chose the salted caramel cheesecake. It was perfect texture and super delicious. My new favorite dessert! Next time I might just do the app and the dessert. This would have been plenty of food! It’s fairly expensive, more than I remembered it from the past, but more manageable if you skip the average $ 30 entrees.

My friend, Carole, & myself had some business to discuss, so we chose this quaint low key place to talk. Carole found us a spaceship that we’re interested in both purchasing, so we wanted to go over details while dining. Not sure what’s up with the host. He tried to seat us, at first, at a table that was 10ft long in the middle of the restaurant. I would have to yell or text Carole just to have a conversation. When we said we’d prefer a booth, he then tried to seat us with a Slovenian couple who was already eating. We finally just sat ourselves. Thing is, I never saw the host again the rest of the evening. I don’t know if he even works there. Anyways, our waiter came over and I recognized him immediately. It was Owen Wilson!!! Except his head was shaved. When I called him out, he immediately denied being the famous actor. I would, too, if my life had crumbled to waiting tables on E 185^th in Cleveland, so I winked and said «ya, ok… Owen» I ordered the limoncello chicken & Carole got the chicken schnitzel. It was excellent, but the service sucked. Owen might play a good Hutch in the movie Starsky & Hutch, but he stinks as a waiter. Couldn’t even pretend to «act» like one. Guy was clueless. In short, the food was great, Owen Wilson sucks, and Carole & I will have a spaceship soon. I wonder if you can use Unilocal in space???

I had the Reuben Egg Rolls, Mussels in spicy marinara, and Veal Marsala. The egg rolls rocked however the other two were very unimpressive. The Mussels were kind of cold and the marinara wasn’t even the slightest bit spicy. the Veal Marsala I found to be very bland.
If I were to ever go back I would just get a drink and egg rolls but I don’t know if it is worth the trip.

I was there for lunch and loved this place. It had a neighborhood feel and the food was great. It’s small so I can imagine that it may be hard to get get a table on Saturday night.
I had a taco salad that was so flavorful and seasoned traditionally but different. Hard to explain. My companion had a salad as well. I thought the prices were extremely reasonable for the quality.

Started off by calling for a reservation… I was asked if I was heading out to show (yes, orchestra) and they told me great, we’ll have you out of there in time.
When we arrived, the hostesses were lovely — our waitress knew we were going to the orchestra and had us order quickly so we’d make it on time. She was friendly and helpful… one of the best. Her name was Barbara and if you can get her when you dine there, you are lucky! She helped my pick a glass of wine and really knew what she was talking about.
The food: Started off with the Greek salad, which was wonderful. For an entrée,
I had the Asian hot pot and my oh my! It was tasty — just enough spices to make it warm and rich. the scallops were so flavorful. My husband ha the beef stroganoff an it was equally good.
The portions were great sizes (I even had leftovers!), the prices were fair. The service was outstanding.
I will be heading here again on Cleveland Orchestra nights. :)

Great meal. The hot pot special could be reworked, but the stables we ordered were all dead on delicious. Also the pours were full and not too pricy.

Finally made a commitment to have dinner here and I could kick myself for waiting so long. My wife and I decided to head there for dinner. Made reservations on through their Unilocal listing, which tired me into my Open Table app! Nice link!
Arrived few minutes ahead of our time and the hostess, Kia quickly took us to our table, but noticed a corner, more intimate table was opening. She asked if we didn’t mind, she would get it at and we could sit there! Perfect suggestion!
We were told our server was be Stephanie and what a joy to really be served! Steph was quick, attentive, and had every detail covered. Took our drink order and asked if e were going to order an appetizer which we did; the calamari! Having a wife who is an excellent cook and a trained chef son, this was the best calamari I’ve eatened. Thick, moist pieces not overly deep-​fried, were served along two dipping sauces. If I had four thumbs, I would give it for thumbs up!
My wife had the bacon wrapped scampies on a bed of rosito, while I ordered the Veal Marsala. Both dishes were served quick and pleasantly hot, which just enhanced the flavors of both plates. My wife said the scampies were cooked to perfection and the bacon wrapping was juicy and had just the right crispyness to enjoy with each tasty bite. She highly recommends this plate.
It has been a while since I have had veal marsala, but tonight I was thrilled to attack this plate! The veal was tender and easily cut by firm, with out the need of a knife. Two good size pieces, served with three nice sized raviolis and shitake mushrooms. An Outstanding Plate!
Never would have guessed we would have such an outstanding meal right here in Cleveland!!! A MUST TRY SPOT FOR THE NEVER HERE BEFORE.
Finally, not often I say sit in a certain servers area, but at Bistro 185, by all means possible, get Stephanie as yours! She added a professional touch to our night out dining!

I went here for happy hour last week. They have $ 2.50 domestics, $ 3 Dortmunder and $ 5 house wines. I tried the duck and the potstickers. The duck was way overcooked.
Don’t look at their website for any information about happy hour deals because the food items listed on the website are not the food items available. There were only about 5 options available in the restaurant as opposed to the multiple options online. The restaurant is also very confusing because the website states that happy hour is from 4:30 — 6:30 pm but the hours listed on the outside of the restaurant state that they open at 5 pm. So confusing! Maybe it’s an East side thing…

Beer and wine prices are decent. Didn’t have any food so review does not reflect that. Overall it’s the obnoxious bartenders who try to display elevated understandings of alcohol and end up sounding rude and cocky versus educational and helpful. Overall an overated experience not worth the cheaper beer cost.

Always the best. Love it here. Fresh menu with daily specials. We come here often and we love it!

Went for the clam bake & was a little disappointed. The lobster was good, but the broth they cooked the clams in was kind of gross. Also, they said that I had to prepay for the meal, which I did over the phone, but when I got the check they said that it was just to hold the reservation and blamed it on a new person answering the phone. Also, the service was terrible. Totally disorganized — no utensils then we had to ask for many things others that were participating in the dinner already had, like a bowl to place our shells. With ok food, poor service and the fee mishap like that I won’t be traveling back to see their regular menu.

Great place for cocktails and small plates. I love the quaint jazz club ambiance. It’s perfect for casual fine dinning and good conversation. They have their own rooftop garden. I usually go for Martina’s here.

I was in the Euclid area a week back for a licensing exam and a visit with a dear friend. She recommended that we visit Bistro 185, a place she thought might appeal to my generally eclectic sensibilities. It certainly is true that there aren’t many places in my present residence of Buffalo, NY that can assemble a menu like that of Bistro 185. But it’s one thing to assemble a promising menu and another thing to deliver on those promises.
We started out with their latest flatbread, the description of which I cannot now find on their online menu. (My fellow diner mentioned that she ordered a delicious goat cheese-​centered one on her last visit, but this had apparently changed.) I can, however, remember three key attributes of the offering. First, for a flatbread, the weight of the toppings and cheese was surprisingly heavy, and the crust was accordingly unable to support this burden despite its relative thickness. A fork was required, but the fork didn’t make much headway against the plywood-​like texture of the flatbread. I attribute this failure both to the undercooking (and also underseasoning) of the crust and to the sheer volume of everything above. Secondly, the cheese employed was of a surprisingly low quality, a tasteless gob of dairy fat. Third, the caramelized onions were impeccable, juicy in each bite. I’m not quite sure what it says about a restaurant staff when one item within a dish is perfect and the rest are either mediocre or terrible. My takeaway is that the requisite attention to detail needed to support the ambition of the menu simply isn’t there. This supposition was thoroughly reinforced by both of our entrees.
My companion ordered a «sesame crusted, pan seared, wild caught ahi tuna» dish with «wasabi aioli and ginger marinade drizzle, chilled spicy organic whole wheat peanut noodles, and house tempura vegetables.» Yeah, a mouthful. I do have to give them credit for deploying this concept dish, which was essentially, «Let’s make sushi a platter.» But honestly, this was a wild fuckup. The ahi tuna was seared just enough to get rid of the delicious tuna flavor it sports in the raw and crusted with black and white sesame that both my companion and I found simply distracting. The wasabi aioli was slight, so slight that only I was able to in fact discern it on the tuna. (This is almost commendable. If properly executed, this would have been a huge boost to the layering of flavors in this concept dish.)
The risk of serving lukewarm noodles is that they might clump. These clumped. Adding a sauce compounded the problem. Unable to mix the tempura vegetables (mostly edamame and snap peas) thoroughly with the vegetables, they stood out like a sore thumb. I could go further with what-if’s on this concept dish, but the ultimate result was a clusterfuck that we both found incredibly disappointing. I get that this is a concept dish. I get that concept dishes don’t always work out. But if you are to add a concept dish to your menu, especially if it’s rather expensive, you owe it to your patrons to ensure that it is high quality.
Before advancing to my dish, a note about the menu. I appreciate the fact that so many different dishes are offered, but they seem to run into a problem here in that they do prep work for fewer portions of each, allowing them to run out quite easily. Each of the first four items I wanted to order at 8:00 PM on a Friday (not that late) were sold out, and each of the next three I wanted were served with butternut squash. Note 1: Reduce the number of dishes you offer so that you can concentrate more on each! Note 2: Think about how often you are using sides like butternut squash. If we’re talking about multiple entrees, that’s a problem.
So as eclectic my tastes are, I wound up ordering veal scaloppini. Short review: don’t order the veal scaloppini. The casings of the wild mushroom ravioli were slimy. The fillings of the wild mushroom ravioli were unforgivably bland. The veal itself was overcooked to the level of the dog chew, exuding none of its natural virtues. On the scale of ambition, this menu item ranks about a four. Any Italian restaurant worth its salt will offer some variation. Yet this ranks as THE worst offering I have ever had.
We didn’t order drinks. We didn’t order dessert. I will offer two other thoughts. 1) Our waiter, though attentive, demonstrated a poor knowledge of the items on the menu and the composition of each and could not answer our questions. Also, in attitude and appearance, he could have stood in for the «O face» guy in Office Space. Ugh. 2) The atmosphere of the place says, «bar,» not «$ 30 entrees and ambitious fare.» Take what you will from that.
I don’t live in the area. But my companion does. And after this meal, I doubt she’ll be back either.
3 stars for atmosphere
2 stars for service
2 stars for food
2 stars overall

So, last night I experienced some exceptionally bad service here. We sat at a high top by the bar and were hardly served from the moment we walked in. We were only given one drink menu and some flyer for father’s day advertising specials.
When the waiter finally took our orders, he managed to get the appetizer and salad out for us, but somehow didn’t get our entrée orders in… and dinner took forever just for this reason. It felt like an hour of waiting between apps and entrees. beers were nearly gone before this point.
We ordered a field greens salad, which had candied walnuts, cranberries, goat cheese– this was delightful and just what I wanted.
Ordered the Gravlax appetizer, which very well could be a meal on its own. It was very heavy. I think they could really downsize the portions on this. Presentation was sloppy too. The flavor and the idea of it, I liked a lot. So if you’ve never had gravlax and are asking yourself what on earth is gravlax right about now, it’s house cured salmon (using salt and sugar mix). Love this stuff. It was served over a very large potato pancake, which also made the whole thing a very heavy dish, and served with a side of sour cream and scant amount of capers. I think because it was so heavy, the potato pancake should have been downsized into smaller rounds, and more capers should have been on the platter? Just my opinion.
Then came my entrée… not what I was expecting at all. I wanted something light, so I ordered halibut with mint pesto and orzo pasta risotto. Sounds impeccably light, no? So wrong. I swear that they used heavy cream to make this as it was quite heavy and not what my belly wanted at all. Also, I swear the fish on my plate was not truly halibut and actually some other fish… but how would they have proved me wrong? I didn’t say anything. It tasted more like walleye or something or other, a lot less expensive. I know halibut is pricey and I know its texture… and it was not what I had on my dinner plate last night.
So, dinner was disappointing. I think I’m going to downgrade to 2.5 stars overall because of our poor experience last night.

I live within 10 minutes of Bistro 185, and drive back and forth past it all the time. I stopped in a week or so ago for Happy Hour and am I glad that I did. The Happy Hour menu didn’t disappoint. I ordered the cold Asian Peanut Noodles and the Panko breaded shrimp, at $ 5 each. The noodles arrived just a little bit pasty, but as they warmed to room temperature, they became more saucy and even more tasty. The noodles are full of fresh veggies and the portion is fairly generous. The shrimp arrive, hot, crunchy and very tasty. I also ordered that day’s special drink ($ 5), which was a pear margarita. It was very good, except I prefer a sugar rim and it arrived with a salted rim (my fault). I will definitely return for Happy Hour and also can’t wait to try the lunch and dinner menu

Quaint restaurant on the east side. Perfect for lunch.
Cozy, not a huge place. Had the crab cake burger, really good
.
Service was okay. Parking was a little tight but close. I think it is def worth a try if you’re in the area. Not hard to find at all.

Delicious. I went for NYE for the first time with a party of 14 and I didn’t hear a single complaint. Portion size was huge and the menu selection pretty diverse with something for everyone. The Pork Chop and the Mac-​n-​Cheese were the two with the top rave reviews! They were out of a few different entrees but I’ll give it to them… it was NYE.
Up next on my list of things to do… happy hour…