Heck's Cafe

2927 Bridge Avenue

Cleveland, OH 44113-3093

(216) 861-5464

The place/atmosphere:

Heck’s Cafe is a cute and quaint little place in the heart of Ohio City. Situated in a 19th century brick townhouse, Heck’s Cafe has been bringing unique and tasty dishes to Cleveland for over 40 years. I’m always looking for a good burger. I mean, aren’t there days you just want to eat some really good beef between two buns? That’s what today was for the guys at EAT. We said “Screw it, it’s 40 degrees and the rain is blowing sideways. Let’s go be men and eat a good burger somewhere.” When we got to Heck’s and got taken back to their Greenhouse…I thought I was in Seattle or something like that. Heck’s is not the type of place you expect to find in Cleveland…and that makes it extremely unique and a destination like no other we’ve been too so far. To us at EAT…Heck’s is to Burgers what Melt is to Grilled Cheese. The great thing about Heck’s also is that if you didn’t want a burger, that’s fine. They offer a full menu of pasta dishes as well as wraps and sandwiches. I saw some of the salads that were being served and they looked AMAZING as well. Some people we saw were eating HUGE Spinach omelets at noon!

When you walk into Heck’s, you’re greeted by their Ego Wall (which is well-deserving after the experience we had there) that showcases some of the different awards they’ve won.You also walk right into their bar…which any place that has their liquor up front, easy to get to…is A-OK by me! As you walk towards the back of the restaurant, it quickly changes from a tavern feel to this cute little bed and breakfast type of feel. Very light and airy, the main dining room is a breath of fresh air.

What was ordered:

Joel: We started with the Beer Battered Onion Rings as an appetizer. Here’s the thing I’ve noticed a lot about “beer-battered” food…most places over fry the beer taste right out of the food. These onion rings tasted like you were tipping back a tall frosty one while chewing on an onion. They were fantastic! Some of the best onion rings I’ve ever had…EASILY!

For my burger, I went a “not-so-usual” route and ordered the Rogue Burger. Let me take a second here to comment on the service. I thoroughly quizzed our waiter (Shane) on the menu. I asked him suggestions, what they were known for, etc and he was quick with answers and left no rock unturned. He also was just great in general. He was very efficient with our drink refills, made sure everything was good and never made us wait for anything. Extremely pleased with the service here. Some of the best we’ve had since starting EAT.

Anyways…the Rogue Burger is a 1/2 pound or freshly made premium ground beef topped with bacon and Roquefort cheese dressing. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Roquefort Cheese…think of Bleu cheese…now make it more French.

I didn’t know how I’d like this on my burger…but it was incredible. First and foremost…the actual burger itself was cooked to PERFECTION and you could tell it was higher quality than what you normally would receive elsewhere. This is a place that obviously takes pride in their food and it shows in everything they brought out. The burger is served with fries and you get your own little baby bottle of Heinz catchup. Now, in my humble opinion…the fries to me…weren’t AS good as everything else I had to eat. I usually don’t have to put salt on my fries to eat them and I did with these. If there was one thing I would say could be improved on…it was the taste of the fries. They were cooked the way I like them (crisp but not fried too much) but to me, could have used some seasoning.

Chris:

He ordered the Rocky River Burger. The Rocky River Burger is 1/2 pound burger topped with bacon, mushroom and swiss…and then just in case that wasn’t enough of a heart attack between two hand knotted rolls…they then put a dollop of sour cream right on top of it all.

Chris stated that this was the best burger he’s eaten since we started EAT. It even beat out the Boneyard burger. I didn’t even want to ask him what this burger did for him. All I heard from his side of the table at lunch was a lot of “MMM, yumm, groan…moan” and then “I’m done”.

Innocent bystander:

“Burgers, burgers and more burgers!” When we asked the innocent bystander what brought them into Heck’s, this was the response we got. Judging by the mess he made when he ate…I don’t put it past him that he has indeed eaten a few of Heck’s burgers. I literally saw the guy accidentally fling Heinz onto himself and then touch a fry to his shirt to eat it. It was one of the most awesome things I’ve ever seen. Seriously. He had the Ohio City Burger, which is a 1/2 pound burger grilled with herbs of “all nations” and topped with mozzarella cheese.

Hour Later Review:

I just want to take a NAP!!! Wow, what a great lunch.

Would we go back:

An emphatic “Hell Yes!” This is a new favorite of mine. It’s a place that I totally want to go and hang out at. It’s just that type of place. Not only is the food and service good…but it is such a different and unique place for Cleveland. It totally reminded me of my San Francisco days. Quirky, eclectic and totally culturally diverse…Heck’s has won a new fan in the guys at Eating Around Town!

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