Two new restaurants, one Asian the other a worldly tapas and wine bar of sorts, will be arriving on Coventry in Cleveland Heights this spring. Here’s the small articles from the city’s newsletter:
Coventry Welcomes New Asian Restaurant
Que Tal? announced its closing after 13 years on Coventry. Replacing it will be a Thai/ Vietnamese/ sushi restaurant, according to Clyde Mart of J.J. Hermann & Associates, the broker representing the newtenant. “The owner is a skilled professional who operates a Thai restaurant in Boston. Her sister and brother own Bangkok restaurant in Lyndhurst. This is a family-owned business. The reason they chose Coventry is because the area is very similar to where they are located in Boston,” he explained. The new 100-seat restaurant is being remodeled and is tentatively scheduled to open in mid-April. Mart said this will be a “casual, mid-scale priced restaurant.” Takeout service will be available.
International Flavor Comes to the Street
Coventry is quickly becoming Cleveland’s most diverse restaurant district, with the upcoming opening of Bodega. A tapas and wine bar, the restaurant is slated to open by the second week of
April. According to owner Said Ouaddaadaa (pronounced Sy-eed Wadada), “There is nothing like this in Cleveland, or in the State of Ohio. This is a new concept that has not yet made it to this area. It’s popular in other major cities and throughout Europe. It’s simple. It’s good and it’s not expensive.” Ouaddaadaa chose Coventry because “it’s a very busy street and it attracts a younger clientele.”
Approximately 25 varieties of tapas ranging in flavor from northern Mediterranean, Spanish to Moroccan French as well as over 200 martinis and 300 different wines from around the world will be the restaurant’s focus. Wine tastings and jazz, seven nights a week, are in the planning stages.
A Moroccan native who is now a resident of Cleveland Heights, Ouaddaadaa received his culinary training at Club Med under the direction of the chef from the prestigious Parisian Maxim’s restaurant. “He wanted to learn how to sail and I wanted to learn how to cook so I taught him sailing and he taught me cooking.” The owner of the Uptown Grille, located near the corner of Euclid Avenue and Mayfield Roads in University Circle, he previously owned Club Isabella.
I went to Bodega while in town over Christmas. We sat at the bar. I agree that the space is absolutely stunning, but as we sat down, and started looking around, it became clear that this place is being mismanaged. There are fish bowls at the bar with dead fish floating in them. We ordered a martini, and a scotch on the rocks, and both glasses were dirty. As someone who has worked in the industry for years, I am way open to overlooking a smudge or two, but both glasses had to be swapped. They were filthy. The food was not bad, but it was clearly an old menu being done by a new chef. There didnt seem to be a concerted effort in anything. Too salty, too oily, and indelicate despite tasty descriptions. The bartender was civil, but distracted, although we were the only ones at the bar for the first hour or so. Overall, it was disappointing. Too bad.
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