Winking Lizard Tavern

Providing suitably dark ambiance, a wealth of sports-​blaring televisions (and salacious A Christmas Story leg lamps for that special Cleveland panache) as well as a capacious barroom, and more-​than-​impressive draft selection, the Winking Lizard is a contender for one of the best local taverns in town… at least in theory. On a recent visit, however, your reviewer discovered things are a bit amiss in the land of the Liz. The hostess, while friendly, provided one patron a menu, the laminated pages of which were quite literally fused together with beer. Peeling said pages apart to peruse the menu’s contents sounded a lot like a person unseating themselves from a poolside lounger in summer. The smells of trapped yeast the menu released in due course were unbelievably rich and fetidly textured. The waiter, to his credit, was quick and affable, but the black bean burger he provided was a markedly greasy affair, the bun so saturated that butter could probably have been slurped from its crevices with ease. The same greasy retinue pervaded the onion rings as well, which rings it should be noted, were indeed ample, and accompanied the bean burger free of a pesky upcharge. Sober in the mid-​afternoon, these elements were not as appreciated (or as easily overlooked) as they would likely be on a Friday night after sucking down a few high ABV brews, so the reader would be wise to take my ‘A-​OK’ rating with a sizeable grain of salt.

I’ve been to a few different winking lizard restaurants (Bedford, Coventry, Beachwood) and the service has always been pretty good. However, tonight at the winking lizard on Huron, the service was excellent, thanks to Adam (who I believe is a manager).
I came with some friends prior to a concert and we each had a couple of drinks. We then ordered food. The food took quite a while to come out (much longer than normal). Because it was a very busy night with the CAVS in the finals, we didn’t complain. However, Adam noticed this issue right away and majorly took care of it. He bought our table a round of drinks and apologized for the extra long wait. We all really appreciated this gesture and it was such a professional and kind move. Thanks for checking up on our table and making it a great night! Shoutout to our server Ember as well who was constantly on top of the issue!
We will definitely all be back! GO CAVS

This was our first time here. Just had wings and beer. The wings were good, but needed more sauce. I would have given five stars but I asked for more sauce and they charged me a dollar! Service was ok, not the greatest but it wasn’t bad. We will definitely go back. Just hope the wings have sauce on them next time…

Seated quickly despite a huge crowd (Cavs playoff game!) but then, unfortunately, ignored by all the waiters and managers bustling around. When I finally asked a manager if they could get us a waiter, he did, reasonably quickly.
The waiter was busy but friendly and told us that the manager said the first round was on him, which was a nice surprise. Because we just stopped in for dessert (which was served quickly) while catching the end of the game, when it came time to leave, the waiter told us it was all taken care of; again, a nice surprise.
A minor slip-​up, in retrospect, and handled graciously.

Amazing staff, food and feel! A huge shout out to Tom our amazing bar tender two nights there! Thanks for the great food and time.

Not a great place. 8 of us came over from an Indians game and we were told we wouldn’t be served. This is coming from a guy who is currently driving home. Had two beers at the game. The female manager thought we had too much to drink. Gave the server $ 20 because he literally said «I’m not sure what her problem is, you guys are perfectly fine and the other (male) manager said your guys are fine to drink». He got a tip for doing nothing but being a decent person, the same as we should all be.

Not a bad place for a drink whether it’s happy hour or not! Prices were great and it seemed to be a very popular place. Had the usual bar food menu, which could use a little updating but a solid 3 star spot.

I was here before an event at the arena and had a blast. The Beer Cheese Dip was the BEST I have had in years. The staff was fast and efficient. I will stop here again the next time I am in town. Overall, the section was outstanding. Prices were low.

Interesting place. It occupies the entire bottom floor of a downtown building. It has a large main bar near the entrance, but a really nice small more private bar in the back. I sat at the back bar. My bartender was a nice girl named Bridgette. She got me a drink immediately and a menu. I asked her what was good; so she pointed me to the Baja Tacos. They arrived quick and tasted really good. The drink was fine, nothing special. The only reason I am not giving the place five stars was the ambiance of the place. The lady stocking lamps at the bar were straight out of A Christmas Story, and a little disconcerting. Also, I was close to the servers station and had to listen to a VERY loud server. Bridgette did a great job and even took the time to make me feel welcome. I’d come back if I am in Cleveland again.

Correcting review of wrong location. Not from Cleveland, first time to the city. Assume this one is fine. Will update when I visit THIS location

Friendly staff, great food, free wifi, and sports. The buffalo chicken melt has a great kick but wasn’t too spicy. The holiday beer of the month was delicious, affordable, & purchase included a souvenir glass. Basic burger joint /​sports bar. We had a good time & our waiter was awesome.

Came here for the first time tonight. It was packed before the browns game but we just hung out next door until it started. Service was great. We ordered the buffalo chicken dip and it is amazing. It comes with buffalo waffle fries. Good beer selection and decent prices. Will definitely be back.

Came here after the Browns-​Raiders game. They had people in there but not super busy. We had a new waitress and she was lost. We didn’t get our drinks ordered for at least 20 minutes and then another 15 min. until they came. We ordered food after being there almost 40 min. We ordered appetizers and salads along with some burgers and sandwiches. After 30 minutes, they brought out one salad, even though we had ordered 4. really? after complaining they brought out our salads but no appetizers. we were there almost 2 hours and still they forgot one main order. I think the kitchen is in shambles here and it all falls on the waitress staff. ‘The manager did approach us and apologize along with giving us a discount on our bill.
Probably wont be back.

Made reservation for 21 people. Showed up for dinner and had split group and had ½ of group sitting at bartop facing window. Could not accommodate group… never should have accepted reservation. Manager was not helpful at all. Ended up walking out before ordering. Corner Alley down the street was able to fit us in on the spot and provided great customer service.

Overall: It’s a higher priced local chain burger restaurant and bar. Burgers are very good and beer selection is excellent. Solid place, but not very differentiated from other local burger restaurants.
Food & Drinks: 4 stars. They have about a dozen hamburger types, but they are fairly common combinations (BBQ/​cheddar/​bacon, swiss/​mushroom/​onions, etc). I had a classic burger, and it was cooked very well and tender. Beer selection is excellent.
Service: 3 stars. The server did a basic level of service. The food and drinks came out reasonably fast. She was most social and pleasant when she brought the check and it was time for the tip.
Prices: 3 stars. They have decent happy hour specials, but the regular prices are fairly high. Regular burger prices are $ 9-​$ 10, but Thursday prices are $ 7. Happy hour draft beers are $ 1 off.
Atmosphere: 3 stars. I attended prior to an Indians game. They have a live lizard, which is good for kids. Otherwise it’s a basic casual restaurant setup.

Only go when a man named Daryl is there. I repeat. Only go when he is there. Good luck having a server that knows what they are doing.

I am so very disappointed overall with the winking lizard company. I have been going to different locations over ten years now and the food has been getting worse and worse! If I could give negative stars I would.
Service is pretty good. The people try to take care of customers as best they can, especially with large parties in the downtown location. The phone service is horrible, they should probably not have rude employees answer phones anymore.
The bar is split in two and has two entrances, which is nice for parking on both streets. The bar is large and has a good beer selection. However, I think they need to remodel. Every place especially the downtown location looks old and dirty. The bathroom at the time was a disgusting mess, and not one employee did anything about it.
The worst part is the food. The execution of the dishes is horrible. I was with a party of 7 two days ago. Our orders ranged from chicken wings, chicken buffalo wraps, burgers and sandwiches. Overall– bad.
On top of everything the potion size is small and the price is expensive for the amount of food and quality. «Pound» of boneless and a «pound» of regular chicken wings with a water a fries was 18 $!!! That was over 1.00 $ per wing and they were bad! The fries were not hot and soggy.
Besides the bad food, the nickle and dime approach with sauces and dips is quite upsetting. I will never step foot in any winking lizard location.

This is a good place to go to watch a game in the downtown Cleveland area. Menu features classic bar/​American food and drinks menu is pretty extensive. I split an order of the macaroni & cheese bites (macncheese fried… You really can’t go wrong!) and a small pizza for myself. You could tell pizza dough was homemade and very fresh– I enjoyed a small cheese pizza. As for the other menu items, they all seemed good, but nothing out of the ordinary. Atmosphere is good for big groups and before or during games– although I would call or book ahead, as wait times can get long.
I don’t think I’ll come back, only because I’m not a huge fan of bar food. If you’re into this cuisine, I would recommend this place for the atmosphere and location.

So, I have found in general that I’m not a fan of the Winking Lizard «brand» but I am always generally pleasantly surprised by my visits. The food is great and service is generally very good.
During a loud evening during this visit due to an Indians game, my girlfriend and I were shuffled around a bit from podium to podium while waiting for a table, but the wait was shorter than expected and this visit was exceptionally good. Our server Tonya delivered friendly and efficient service and the food was as tasty as usual (we split a delicious black bean burger with fries and a side of veggies) but after leaving I realized that I had left my bag with a fairly spendy tablet inside.
I made a call to the Winking Lizard and was informed that they had my bag and it would be made available for me upon my arrival. I went back an hour or so later to retrieve my bag, and everything inside was present and accounted for.
Although I might try to time my next visit differently, I will be back. I can’t speak highly enough of the black bean burger and the excellent service (especially given the Lizard’s ability to snag my bag and hang onto my bag and my valuables.)

Seems to have a regular 5: bar crowd mixed with out of Towners sent for a quick local bite from various hotels.
Big menu, pretty standard choices you’d expect from a place called Winking Lizard… wings, quesadillas, wraps etc. nothing stood out yet nothing was bad.
I really wanted a whacked out Hunter S. Thompson experience considering the name of the place but all I got was the John Taffert sports bar special.

The food is disgusting. What a pathetic excuse for a restaurant. I’ve been there twice and each time was a disaster. Both times I arrived in town late and there was nothing else open that was within walking distance of the Westin. I think I would have been better off going to bed hungry. Now I’m sitting here wondering if I’m going to wake up in the middle of the night with food poisoning.
Tonight I sat at the bar and ordered a lamb burger, medium rare. It came out cold and raw. I asked the bartender to send it back and he stared at me for a second and the look on his face was; really, the kitchen closes in five minutes and you want us to make you a new one? The second burger came out exactly the same way; raw. Sent that one back and asked for an order of chicken nachos instead. Worst nachos I’ve ever had covered in fountain cheese rather than real cheese.
Bartender was more worried about washing glasses and stocking the cooler than taking care of his customers. The entire place was filthy in spite of the fact that everywhere I looked the wait staff seemed as if the customers were a distraction taking them away from their busywork filling salt and pepper shakers and wiping the crust off the ketchup bottles. I could go on and on but I’m tired and I want to go to bed. Stay away.

Decent place to eat prior to a Cavs basketball game. Complimentary popcorn while you wait. Recommend going early if going prior to a game. We had a party of 3 and arrived at 5:30 pm and did not get sat until 6:15 pm. Expect to wait a little longer for larger parties. They have no reservations or quote wait times. The service was prompt and food came quickly.
Food was surprisingly yummy. I ordered the Mesa salad, a savory dressing with tortillas on top for a nice crunch. Corn, black beans and chicken made the salad pretty filing. Will go again.

Food gets 3.5 stars, but overall atmosphere and enjoyment bumps it up to a 4. The beer selection is probably the best in town. A number of things on tap that are constantly rotating and a huge bottle list. Chances are that if you’re looking for a certain brew, they’ll have it. Fun place, always different promotions — they gave out giant mugs one month when you ordered the Oktoberfest beer of the month, they participate in a beer run every year, some locations do a clam bake, they have a 100 beers club (try 100 different in a year and get a jacket and invite to a great party)
The wing sauces are great, definitely what makes the wings stand out compared to other places in town. I do prefer my wings a little crispier on the outside, but they are always juicy and cooked to perfection on the inside. The white bread pizza is also addicting. Everything else on the menu is fairly standard bar food and sandwiches, nothing special but good versions of the classics. They also do a rotating specials menu based on the season (Oktoberfest, mardi gras, etc) that are fun to try.
Service is a little hit or miss. My last visit, I had a really great, friendly server who offered beer suggestions based on our taste and was happy to sign my friend up for the 100 beers club despite it being a busy Cavs game night. But I’ve also had the complete opposite end of the spectrum when the wait staff has been unhelpful, inattentive, and even rude.
Overall, a fun place for happy hour, game watching, wing night.

Had a blast good food and cheap drinks while in town to check out a yankee vs indians ballgame.

Went there for lunch yesterday. We ordered our food to-​go beforehand. We were told it would take 15 – 20 minutes. No problem. We left about 15 minutes after the order was placed. Once we got there, we waited another 45 minutes! So much for our lunch hour! it wasn’t like the restaurant was busy (we looked in the restaurant & bar area as we went to & from work). It is a good thing we just work across the street. Would we do carry-​on from them again? I doubt it. I think this happened to me once before, a few years ago…
Food review — my friend’s salad was lacking some of the ingredients listed in the description. And, my steak wrap was very dry. And, they screwed up my order.

First of all they have a great beer list. Secondly, a great variety of wings to choose from. I felt like some portions of the wings were a bit hard cooked. But, they were still good. What makes the wings are there fantastic sauces.

Excellent service we loved our waitress Erica Dewitt. Had to cheeseburger special and a delicious cocktail Lucy sexy lizard for two excellent.

Great lunch with the guys. The Gateway WL now has potato pancakes instead of fries. I thought they would be full size but nope; bite size and quite tasty.
Service is always quick during the lunch hour.

As far as bar food goes, Winking Lizard has one of the better menus. There is a great variety and the quality of the food is better than you’d expect for a sports bar at a reasonable price. My favorite is the white pizza – I think it’s better than some of the pizza joints around. The beer list is extensive – enjoy trying new drinks every time you go! And if you are an avid beer drinker, you should sign up for the world tour of beers so you can win lizard swag and go to the tour party at the end of the year.
Be forewarned, the service can be a little slow at times and tables a little packed, especially on game days. Monday and Tuesday are wing nights, a pretty good deal for pretty good wings (but no doggy bags). Overall, a pretty solid choice for a pre-​game dinner, small group dinner, or just catching up for drinks.