We love eating food from a truck!  We love the places that are all about the food and not about the fluff.  And that is 100% what Chris Hodgson and Jeremy Esterly are about.  FOOD!  Good quality, local food.  Chef Hodgson and Chef Esterly are constantly working hard, at West Side Market buying food, prepping food, etc. and it shows in everything they make.

Since they are a food truck, their location varies from day to day.  They are Feeding Around Town!  We are Eating Around Town!  It goes together like a PBLT!  (I’ll describe that later in the review!)  I recommend following them on Facebook to keep up to date on where they will be as well as what their menu will have that day.  Dim and Den Sum Facebook Link

As you would with the Ice Cream truck, you walk up to the side and order what you want to eat.  Pretty easy concept to grasp, right?

The Menu/Service

The menu varies from day to day as they buy local food and prep it fresh for the next day.  You can get a good idea of some of what they serve here:

As far as service, the food is served to you relatively quickly for being prepared as you order it.  They invited me into the truck to see the operation and it’s really cool to see a full service kitchen in the back of the truck:

What can I say here?  They menu is great because it uses local foods and is exciting, different flavors.  Foods you might not try on your own.  These guys do it all.  Bring gourmet AND excitement to things like sandwiches and tacos.

The FOOD

I started with the Tots.   These are crispy tater tots, fried perfectly and served with Amish cheese curds on them.  At $3.50, makes for a good starter. Very tasty!  No need for ketchup on these tots!  We’ve heard that sometimes you can get gravy and even foie gras on your Tots when they have it available!  Can’t wait to try that!

For my main food, I had the PBLT.  This is a pork lovers dream!  It has Pork shoulder confit, thick cut bacon, tomato jam, sriacha mayo and served on a bun.  Let me tell you now how FREAKING JUICY this pork was.  And the Bacon?!?!  OUT OF THIS WORLD!  These guys know what they’re doing with PORK! This is something that I want to eat again very soon!  I find myself saying that about many of the things I ate at Dim and Den Sum.

Chris had the Jjang Dog.  This is a local hot dog, pulled pork, kimchi slaw, smashed tots and then topped with a Korean bbq sauce.  Chris said he liked everything about this Jjang.  Said the slaw really separates it from most things.  Gives it a very distinct and memorable flavor.  He was a big fan of this.

Chris also had the Shank taco.  This was pulled Beef Shank, corn, spinach and then some sort of house dressing they put on right as they serve it to you.  The secret to this is in the dressing.  It’s fantastic!  Chris ate this stuffed taco in about 45 seconds.  He enjoyed it that much!  AS a matter of fact, he liked it SO much that he convinced me to go and get one for myself.  I couldn’t resist.  This thing was incredible.  They are doing some real fun things with Tacos so you need to call ahead and see what they are serving they day you want to go and find them on the streets of Cleveland. Believe me, you will not be let down.

Departing

We didn’t want to leave.  There’s excitement around this truck.  People want to eat this food.  People were lining up to get the goods getting served up.  It was Foodie heaven.  Being there around other people who were willing to try and experience something different for lunch just made you feel good.  Got you excited for the future of Cleveland food.  We will definitely be going back to Dim and Den Sum.  We highly recommend finding out if they are going to be in your area and trying them out for lunch.  You WILL be impressed.

They are a cash only establishment, so go prepared for that.  We always want our readers to be aware of things like that.

All in all…the only thing they are missing is a jingle that lets you know the Food Truck is coming down your street…but I’ll be the first to volunteer my services to write something for them on my little Casio keyboard if they want!

The Atmosphere

Johnny’s Little Bar, located on Frankfort Avenue, is a dark, tiny pub with exposed brickwork and 10-in.-thick solid wood beams. Sandwiched between Johnny’s Downtown and a “gentlemen’s club,” the lunch-time crowd consists of white-collar cube dwellers, blue-collar construction workers, and even a few of the lovely ladies who happen to have the distinction of working next door, if you’re lucky. The diversity of the crowd is yet another example of how good food can bring the masses together.

The diminutive dive features less than 20 tables and can’t seat more than 10 people comfortably at the bar, but turnover is high—mostly because the two (that’s right, I said TWO) barmaids/waitresses who rule the joint mean business. They hustle. Although the Innocent Bystander and I were able to walk in right before noon on a Friday and have our choice of seats, 20 mins later the place was packed, and Little Bar’s lasses were busting ass to make sure each guest had a cold drink in hand and a hot plate of food on the table.

The Menu

http://www.johnnyscleveland.com/johnnys_littlebar_menu.html

Johnny’s one-page lunch menu is as small as the bar; salads, burgers, and sandwiches were the main events. However, the star of the show appeared to be the fish special: “It’s this packed every Friday,” our server said. “They come in for the fish.”

Different every week depending on what type of fish is freshest, the bar has been known to serve up walleye, perch, catfish, and even something called the “Big Fish Sandwich,” which the man next to me was very disappointed to see was not on the menu that particular Friday.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the beer selection: Clevelanders will be pleased to see Great Lakes Dortmunder on draft and the full Great Lakes line available in bottles. Besides the typical domestics, I also spied some Thirsty Dog brews, Stone Ruination IPA, and Arrogant Bastard Ale; imports included Blue Moon, Hoegarden, and Red Stripe.

The Food

Owned by the group that presides over Johnny’s Downtown, Johnny’s Little Bar also shares a kitchen with the upscale eatery. Diners get the same quality fare at a reasonable price. (Make sure you check out Johnny’s Website [www.johnnyscleveland.com/johnnys_littlebar.html]: Signing up online for the bar’s e-newletter will get you a $10 voucher.)

I started with an order of buffalo wings (half dozen for $4.25 with your choice of ranch or blue-cheese dressing), which came out steaming hot. Although the sauce alone would have had me licking the bottom of the bowl had I been in the privacy of my own home, the wings themselves were fatty and a tad underdone. I would recommend ordering another icy cold beer instead (a bottle of Sam Adams Light was $4.50).  Check out Johnny's beer list.

For the main course, I ordered a burger. But this was not just any burger, my friends. No, no, THIS was a juice-dripping-down-your-hands half-pound slab of ground meat that very obviously was grilled, not sliding around a flattop. Topped with not-too-sweet caramelized onions and two slices of cheddar, and I was experiencing Utopian perfection.

“This is how a burger should taste,” the Innocent Bystander commented.

The burger was priced at $8.95, and I was dismayed to hear that fries cost extra…until I tasted them. Most of the time, pub fries are simply frozen potatoes thrown in hot oil and splashed with sodium. But at Johnny’s Little Bar, the french fry has been elevated to an art form. Crispy on the outside and soft in the middle with just a dash of salt, these potatoes seemed to get better with each taste. Next time (and there WILL be a next time) I gladly will hold out my $1.75 and feel blessed that I have the opportunity.

The Innocent Bystander took the slightly more healthy route and chose the turkey on stone-ground wheat with cojack, tomato, cucumber, and a sweet balsamic mustard that definitely made the sandwich ($7.25). Although tasty, the sandwich was outdone by the rather addicting housemade chips that were included on the side. The Little Bar cooks must have a way with the lowly tuber, because once again these potatoes were fried and lightly seasoned to perfection. I typically pick fries over chips given the chance, but these crunchy munchies would give me pause.

Departing

True to form, our barmaid/waitress processed our check and cleared our dishes in one swift motion. The wait for anything—a seat, food, refills, the check, even the answer to a question—was minimal. With decent prices and food that could give a girl goosebumps, Johnny’s Little Bar could become my new go-to dive. I almost wish I had kept it a secret.

We sat at the bar for lunch to talk with the server and enjoy the view from the bar.

When we got there, we parked on the street at a meter.  I didn’t spot a parking lot but Lakewood has plenty of street parking available.  Route 6 is a very clean place with a kitchen that is open to the dining room.  I like this at it gives you a view of what’s going on back there and brings the food action right to your face.  The place makes a great first impression on you and leaves you excited to try the food.

We got there around 11:45 but there seemed to be a slow lunch crowd.  We were hoping that this wasn’t a sign and that it had more to do with the relative newness of the joint.  This is a great place to take a business lunch or meet a friend out to reconnect and talk.  It has a great vibe to it and could easily become a favorite hang out of this EATer.

The Menu/Service

Route 6 Café’s menu is brought to you folded up.  You get to unfold it like a map…goes along with their Route 6 theme.  Pretty fun, quirky and I appreciated the tie-in. They have a variety of things to choose from, appetizers, sandwiches, entrees, etc.

The pricing seemed right on for the place and the style of food.  Our server was great and she kept us talking with her about the place, etc.  She was quick to recommend some of her favorite dishes. Unfortunately, when we were there…we were the only patrons of the place at the time.  It gets busier there later on but we were there before noon.  We weren’t able to see the service of other tables on this visit but I have a feeling that their service would be just as good as ours was.  We had a great server.   She took care of us and was very down to earth cool. We didn’t have to wait long for our food but we were the only ones eating at the time so that should be expected.

The FOOD

We started with the Long Beach Quesa, which is a Monterrey Jack cheese quesadilla stuffed with crab, shrimp and peppers.  It’s served with both salsa and sour cream.  I liked this appetizer as it was a different twist on a pretty common dish.  It’s something that foodies can appreciate.

I took our servers suggestion and got the BLTM…which is a Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato and Mozzarella.  It’s served with a basil-infused mayo and is an AWESOME sandwich.  Fresh, light and extremely satisfying.  The fresh mozzarella chunks really take this BLT over the top.  You get your choice of potato salad or fries with your sandwich so I went with the fries as Chris did the potato salad.  The fries were OK, nothing too great but still good.

Chris got the Havana Ham sandwich, which is a Cuban style sandwich served with Brie, pickle and Dijon on focaccia bread.  He had the potato salad with his.  Chris stated that the Dijon was a bit too strong on the sandwich and it almost overpowers the taste of the sandwich.  With it being Cuban style, this has to be somewhat expected but unfortunately for Chris it was a bit too much for his taste.  He said beyond that, the Ham was fantastic as was the Brie.  The potato salad was good and fresh, definitely not too much mayonnaise or mustard in this which some can do from time to time.

Departing

Route 6 Café is a great little spot. We really recommend and giving it a shot. It’s newer to the Lakewood scene but it’s worth your time.  I can see myself going there again for dinner and trying some of their other dishes.  We left very satisfied overall and not feeling too full.  We got our kicks….at Route 6….

There is a full dining room at Shooters if you didn’t want to sit on the patio but on a day like the day we were there, you’d be silly to.  It’s really what makes Shooters what it is.  Sitting out on their patio is part of the dining experience.  Something all Clevelanders should do at least once on a nice sunny day.

Shooters had a decent amount of people there for lunch and was fully staffed with servers.  One thing that I found peculiar was that each table seemed to have 2 servers per table.  I don’t know if they were training or what not but it made me wonder about the tipping situation.  Everything seemed pretty clean at Shooters and are table was comfortable as well as the chairs we were sitting. There is plenty of parking either in their lot or in the Nautica lot across the street.

The Menu

Shooters has a little bit of everything on their menu.  From LARGE salads to Steaks, you can get a taste of just about anything there.  They have a great variety of soups, sandwiches and lunch sized entrée’s for those who don’t want quite as big of a meal.  The menu is pretty  large but the servers were quick to point out some of the patrons favorites.  http://www.shootersflats.com/menu.php

The pricing is a bit high, in my opinion for lunch but you are paying for the ambience.

The FOOD

I had the Chopped Salad (full size).  This salad is not for the faint of heart.  It’s HUGE! When you get the bowl…you can’t even see the lettuce…it’s covered with diced turkey breast, chopped egg, Julienne cucumbers, red onion, Applewood smoked bacon, shredded provolone cheese and choice of dressing on the side.  It also has two crunchy breadsticks that you can use to break up as croutons or eat separately.

It’s a good salad, though I wasn’t the biggest fan of the Ranch dressing that it was served with.  They have a variety of dressings you can choose from and I think I would go with something different next time.  The Ranch dressing seemed a little bland to me.  The innocent bystanders that I spoke to had the Buffalo Chicken Wrap with Onion Rings, the Asian Chicken Salad and the Greek Wrap.

The Buffalo Chicken Wrap is a spicy Buffalo sauce tossed with chicken tenders, tomatoes, shredded lettuce, cheddar-jack cheese on a tomato wrap.  The EATer said it was very good and really enjoyed the Beer Battered Onion Rings as well. 

The Asian Chicken Salad is Mixed greens, grilled chicken, edamame, sesame seeds, mandarin oranges, red peppers, water chestnuts, with a side of Thai peanut dressing.   This bystander really liked the mandarin oranges mixed with the peanut dressing as it gave it a very light taste that was enjoyed. 

The Greek wrap is Kalamata olives, feta cheese, tomatoes, red onion, cucumbers, shredded romaine, Mediterranean vinaigrette on a fresh spinach wrap. The bystander liked the wrap, noting that the feta cheese tasted very good with the Vinaigrette.

Departing

While looking around the patio, it seemed everyone was enjoying themselves.  It probably had to do with the sun coming down on us and the beers that were flowing.  My one thing I’d like to see Shooters improve on was the speed in which it took to get our food out.  I don’t know if it’s a kitchen thing or a server issue…but it took way too long for us to get our food.  This will make an hour long lunch break hard to happen.  Thankfully, my boss was with me on my lunch break so she knew I wasn’t kidding about the time of service!  We waited around half an hour from the time we ordered to the time we got our food.  Nobody at our table had anything that should’ve taken that long to get either.  It was rather confusing.

The food is good at Shooters but this EATer isn’t sure it’s quite good enough to get me there on a cold wintery day in December.  It’s definitely a spot to go to in the Spring and Summer when it’s warm out and you want to enjoy the patio.    Otherwise, you can get most of these foods at other places throughout the City.  There was nothing that grabbed me about the food.  It wasn’t worth “writing home about” but it wasn’t bad either.  Just middle of the road as far as taste is concerned.  When going to Shooters, you’re going for the atmosphere…unfortunately the food plays second fiddle…