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I know I’ve written about The Greenhouse Tavern before and tweeted about them PLENTY, but I just can’t help myself. It’s truly one of my top 5 restaurants in Cleveland…and pretty much my foodie obsession the past year.

Months back, I decided that a perfect Christmas gift for my parents would be a gift certificate to my new favorite CLE restaurant. I wanted to share with them the wonderful experience that Jason and myself had already had in the Fall. Well, I don’t know if they were saving it for some particular reason, but this past weekend they finally got around to using it!

The Greenhouse Tavern | Cleveland OH | iCarabout.com

Needless to say, they were VERY happy with even happier bellies. And I was right! Even though they hadn’t used it until March, it was still the perfect gift! What’s even cooler was that they got to see The Greenhouse Tavern featured on “The Best Thing I Ever Ate” (Food Network) for their gravy frites just the night before they visited the restaurant! That really bumped up the excitement level (not that they really needed it) and gave them an idea of what they wanted to try.

The Greenhouse Tavern | Cleveland OH | iCarabout.com

So, instead of going overboard and writing yet ANOTHER post about my opinion of The Greenhouse, I asked my Mom to guest post her own little review! Here’s what she had to say:

Kudo’s to our wonderful and smart daughter Cara for her great taste!

This last Christmas she gave us a gift certificate to The Greenhouse Tavern on East 4th St. Needless to say my husband and I were pretty excited to go, especially when just this last Friday the restaurant was featured on the Food Network channel.

We met up with some friends at The Greenhouse bar on Saturday night. We were brought upstairs through the back of the restaurant to a wonderful table on the balcony overlooking everything. Really cozy. Our waiter was extremely knowledgeable about the menu items and answered all of our questions. My friends Linda, Barb and I ordered the hanger steak which came with the pommes frites. Linda’s husband John and my husband Steve ordered the freshly ground Ohio beef burger which included preserved tomato, raclette cheese, and the famous fries with homemade beer vinegar. John ordered the “famous” gravy frites with the cheese and gravy. Ron ordered the pork chops. He had already made up his mind while waiting at the bar after seeing the guy next to him get them.

Well, I would have to agree with the show on Food Network, those frites were the best thing I have ever ate. Everyone at the table felt the same way. I don’t know if it’s because they are fried twice or because of the duck fat. John let all of us taste the fries with the gravy and cheese. Yum ! My hanger steak was juicy, tender and done to perfection. The other ladies were pretty pleased too. John and my husband loved the burgers and Ron was pretty quiet as he enjoyed his chops!

Now I’m not one to pass on dessert and thank god this crowd doesn’t either. Nothing worse than eating dessert by yourself. Barbara ordered the chocolate tart, while Linda, John and I ordered the chocolate Pot de crème. I reluctantly shared this heavenly concoction with my husband. One was definitely not enough. We joked that we could eat about five of these  and the funny thing was, I wasn’t joking!

We are looking forward to another visit to try another wonderful creation on the menu.

So there you have it! Yet again, The Greenhouse Tavern ceases to impress and makes us all VERY #HappyinCLE. I also think I may have created a couple of Greenhouse monsters! (AKA, my parents!)

While on our pursuit of a perfect spot for a “geekdom” date, Jason and I stumbled across quite a gem. I know I say this a lot, but what could be better than great food, cool atmosphere and FREE WIFI?! Yeah, I don’t know either. Especially when you have nerds, like Jason and I, who post up at bars with our laptops.

In all seriousness, try a geek date. They’re so much fun.

Anyways, back to the Cleveland+ gem…Did I mention it was AMP 150 Bar and Restaurant?

Yep! It’s located off W150th in the Marriott. Now, I have to admit, I’m not one to frequently visit restaurants in hotels. I know it sounds snooty, but I hardly find one I like very much. On top of that, they’re usually way over-priced. BUT, if I was going to let one place change my mind, I’m SO GLAD it was AMP 150. Not only was the menu chock-full of unique and tasty items to choose from, they were very moderately priced! And to think of the money I’ve wasted on reheated, frozen foods at sub-par restaurants when I could have been enjoying a MUCH BETTER (and fresh) experience!

AMP 150 | Cleveland OH | icarabout.com

Did I mention the atmosphere? WOW. Talk about NOT what I expected! You walk into the Marriott, see the typical check in counter to your left, then BAM! Awesome restaurant/bar on your right. It had such a cool, modern look with beaded curtains, reds and golds, and posh-looking booths. The bar was pretty happening on a Thursday night, too!

AMP 150 | Cleveland OH | icarabout.com

To make the experience even better, the service was great! Very animated (in a good way), not scared of jumping into a conversation with us. One of the servers even listened to Jason and I talk about Twitter and went to find Chef Ellis for us. Unfortunately, he had left for the evening, but I thought it was really nice that they checked.

By the way, Chef Ellis is just another perfect example of social media (Twitter) working for your business. I didn’t even know this restaurant existed until I saw the chef on Twitter. Since then, he’s been asking when I was going to check it out, and I can honestly say, I don’t know what took me so long! More CLE restaurants/businesses should be so savvy. Trust me, it helps!

So, take my word for it and check out AMP 150. It’s worth the drive. Oh, and say “Hi” to Chef Ellis for me, you know…since I didn’t get to meet him!

PS…In my excitement about writing this post (and trying to remember everything), I forgot the most important part! WHAT WE ATE! Jason and I shared the Mushroom Soup, the scallops and the chicken paprikash! Let me just say, everything was so awesome, BUT the soup was AMAZING!! You HAVE to try that! We asked the servers to pick our meal for us and they did a fabulous job!

As many of you already know, I turned 25 on Valentine’s Day this year. I know…I had to get a new license and everything. So, Jason planned a very special (surprise) date night for me to celebrate my quarter life crisis.

I won’t go into all the sappy details (that I love!) because I’m sure you don’t really want to hear it. BUT, the evening started off amazingly with a trip over to our destination city in the Cleveland Plus area: Independence/ Valley View, OH.

Jason booked a hotel for us, but didn’t quite tell me what I was walking into. As I entered the room, music was playing and everything was decked out with roses, petals, balloons, candies, etc. There was even a bottle of champagne on ice, just waiting to be enjoyed! (He’s amazing, and if you’d like to see what the room looked like,  here’s a link)  A couple of moments later, room service came up with chocolate covered strawberries, a raspberry and white chocolate mousse and more champagne! I was completely blown away. Just in case you ever stay in the great city of Independence, I really recommend this hotel.

Valentine's Day | Cleveland, OH | iCarabout.com

It was getting closer to our dinner reservation time (which was still a surprise to me), so Jason called down for a ride over to the restaurant. He asked for anything but a flashy checkered cab and they pulled around a classy, town car for us.  We were both extremely impressed with the hotel’s attention to detail.  But I was way more impressed with Jason’s thoughtfulness! On top of the nice ride, the driver gave us a little history lesson about the area and the canal as we headed over to Valley View.

The driver pulled us up to a really cool building and I saw the sign that read “Lockkeepers“. I was so excited! I’ve never been to this restaurant, but I’ve heard amazing things and even commercials on the radio.  As we walked in, the atmosphere oozed romance and swankiness.  The man who greeted us informed us that our table was not ready just yet and that we could take a seat at the bar if we would like to wait.  At this time I didn’t realize this was all part of Jason’s instructions that he had sent to them in advance.  He wanted to be able to relax at the bar and enjoy some great conversation and wine before dinner started.

As we approached the bar, the bartender gave us wine lists.  He walked away for a moment for us to look at them, all the while he was in on the secret that Jason had already arranged for us to be served a bottle of my favorite wine. How cute is that?! He brought it over and as we sipped our Malbec, we chatted and were soon seated at a cozy table by the window with an amazing view.

Our server was went above and beyond for us.  She brought over our crab cake appetizer and recited the most complicated, long, menu of specials I’ve ever heard. (I gave her a fist bump to celebrate how awesome she was).  We had the tomato soup, which was PHENOMENAL, and the chef sent us over the lobster ravioli to try!

Lockkeepers | Cleveland, OH | iCarabout.com

Jason tried the Surf and Turf with lobster tail, Filet Mignon, asparagus and a potato cake.  I had the Seafood Risotto with shrimp, scallops and topped with a lobster tail.  We shared and let me tell you…everything was incredible.  You know that blissful, comforting feeling you have when you eat something simply divine? That’s what this dinning experience was like, but x10.

Lockkeepers | Cleveland, OH | iCarabout.com

By the time we finished that feast of gloriousness, I had no room for dessert (although the options looked fabulous).  Little did I know, Jason had mentioned in his thorough instructions that it was my 25th birthday and that it was very important that I was treating like a princess. (I don’t know if he included the “princess” part, but it seemed like it!) Before I could refuse dessert, our waitress brought out plate with mini torts on it with a little, edible, Happy Birthday sign.

Lockkeepers | Clevleand, OH | iCarabout.com

All I can say is that Lockkeepers was probably the best FULL restaurant experience I’ve ever had. Every part of it was incredible and they treated us like we were celebrities. How many times can you go into a nice restaurant on one of their busiest nights of the year and be treated like you’re the only ones there? That’s pretty tough to accomplish. A lot of time you’ll get the atmosphere or the service, but the food is only so-so. Not at Lockkeepers. You don’t sacrifice a thing.  On top of that, Jason was blown away how closely they followed all of his instructions.

Lockkeepers | Cleveland, OH | iCarabout.com

After dinner, our driver picked us up and took us down to the canal while sharing some more history about Cleveland. It was a fantastic and thoughtful end to our romantic meal.  We spent the rest of the night relaxing and sipping champagne at the hotel room.  We even had breakfast in bed the next morning! Seriously, this was the most perfect birthday/Valentine’s Day in the world.

I hope if you get anything from this, it’s these things:

1) Jason Murphy is the man.  (And he’s my man!)

2) Take the trip to Valley View and try Lockkeepers. You WILL NOT be disappointed.

3) Explore date night ideas in the Cleveland Plus areas! You’ll discover so many cool new things about this great city of ours. Whether it be learning some history, finding a new favorite restaurant, or just seeing what you can get into. You’re bound to have a great adventure.

I have to admit, I am no “foodie”.

Although I DO adore going out to eat around Cleveland’s amazing restaurants and trying new things. But, I’m not sure if my opinion of what is tasty and what’s not is really worth all that much.

Just in case it is, I’d like to shout from the top of the Terminal Tower (only in the pretend world…I’m scared of heights!) , “LE PETIT TRIANGLE CAFE IS AMAZING!!”.

Seriously.

If you love brunch, breakfast…heck, if you just love exquisite French food made from scratch..YOU MUST TRY “THE TRIANGLE“!!

Now, lucky for me, I have a lovely blonde friend who has tried just about every restaurant in Cleveland. Honestly. If I’m ever out in a suburb of CLE and I want to know a great place to eat, I call her. She always knows something good, what’s new, etc. Lauren (my brilliant friend) was the one who introduced me to this brunch phenomenon for my taste buds. Thanks to her, I will never be the same.

Here’s how it went. Lauren, Katie (another favorite blondie/ best friend of mine) and I drove around Ohio City one afternoon in search of a yummy place to grab some brunch. Lauren had already known about The Triangle, but she couldn’t remember where it was. After driving around Ohio City for a while (which can be a little scary if you get into the dicey parts), we finally found it! It was a cute little cafe, tucked into a small, intimate space. Although I’ve never been to France…or anywhere in Europe for that matter…I decided that this was what a cute French cafe must look like. Even the patrons inside, enjoying their coffee and homemade(!!!) croissants, looked über sophisticated and European-ish.

Once we sat down, we quickly ordered coffee and mimosas. Essential for any brunch, I know. As we checked out the menu, the waitress came up to ask us if we had any questions. She explained that everything on the menu was made from scratch, including the croissants and crepes (YUM). I’m normally indecisive so, OF COURSE I had a hard time deciding. Eventually, I settled on the spinach, tomato and goat cheese omelet and a croissant. Lauren had a stuffed crepe and Katie had a croissant, egg and brie sandwich.

Le Petit Triangle Cafe | Cleveland, OH | iCarabout.com

I can honestly say that I was blown away by how delicious (and I mean SO DARN GOOD) everything was. We all tried each other’s dishes and I seriously could not pick a favorite. The mimosas were made with fresh-squeezed orange juice, and if you’ve never had a homemade croissant, god help you. It’s worth all the butter and calories. Trust me.

Everything was so good I can’t even remember if it was all that expensive. I don’t think the prices were unreasonable, but even if if it was a little more expensive than the typical IHOP breakfast run, IT WAS WORTH IT.  (PS..don’t smack talk IHOP. It’s good stuff too!)

I’ve also recently discovered that Le Petit Triangle Cafe not only has an awesome dinner and lunch menu, but also happy hour specials! This place is just a HUGE Cleveland “WIN”.

Le Petit Triangle Cafe | Cleveland, OH | iCarabout.com

So, if you can find this gem, tucked away in the streets of Ohio City, please do give it a shot. Maybe even wear that beret that everyone makes fun of you for. It would definitely be appropriate here.

Do you ever make plans for a date night with no idea exactly you’re going to do, just have a general idea?  Well, that seems to happen to Jason and I, A LOT.

But you know what? I LOVE IT!

We always end up doing the most random, FUN things because we don’t really set out with a plan. This is just one example of one of those glorious dates:

Jason Matthew Murphy | Cleveland | iCarabout

Recently, Jason and I decided that we wanted to see a movie after work. Typical to our “go with the flow” nature, neither of us looked up show times, we just knew that a movie was the “goal”.  Once we actually looked, the movie we wanted to see wasn’t showing anymore and the times of the other shows were a little later. This left us trying to figure out what to do with all this time we had.

Jason suddenly had the idea to stop at this local aquarium/pet store in the Brook Park area, RMS Aquaculture, since we were driving right past it. He used to go there when he was younger, and although I work right up the street, I’ve never been inside.  Wow. Maybe it’s just because we’re both weird/perfect for each other and therefore could do just about anything together while still having so much fun. Who knows. All I DO know is that it ended up being so cute. We go to pet and hold puppies, bunnies, etc.  There were tropical fish everywhere, frogs, reptiles, pretty much everything.  It was just a blast!

While that little trip killed some time, we still had to figure out something to do for a couple of hours.

Jason Murphy | Cleveland | iCarabout

Well, Hello! It was still happy hour! We picked Roadhouse to park our tushies, have some “civilizers” (as Jason calls them), snack a little, and chat.  I wasn’t expecting much, but I was surprised, that’s for sure. The happy hour menu was small, but typical. The beers were cheap…AND HUGE! I literally got an arm workout trying to lift this enormous beverage. We were laughing so hard that I had to take a picture of Jason with them.

After all this time-killing we’d done, it was finally time to go see the flick. I’d like to keep the movie we saw a secret…only because I’m a little embarrassed that we BOTH (secretly) wanted to see it.

Although we can be pretty great at planning a weekend date away, it’s just as much fun to us to just “wing-it” and figure it out as we go. It always brings a unique adventure for us. We like it that way.