Nighttown

08/08/07

Was served raw chicken

by clevegirl77 at Citysearch

I booked an evening there for 8 friends to celebrate a birthday. I love their outdoor dining; it created a great environment for the evening. The service was very slow, but they were busy (it was about 8pm). The server took at least a 1/2 hour to take our order. Dinner took 1 1/2 hours for to be served.

My friend ordered the Chevre Chicken. After her first bite she thought it tasted odd and opened it up to look at the chicken. It was totally raw on the inside (looked cooked on the outside). The server saw it and immediately took it away and took her order for a burger instead. I was very surprised a manager or owner did not come to personally apologize.

As far as the other food, it was good. There was a wide variety to pick from. I personally would not recommend dining there, but if you do, don't order the chicken.

• Pros: Music, Ambience
• Cons: Service, Food, Management

06/12/07

Worst dining in Cleveland

by croatiandude at Citysearch

It is always better to wait a couple of days before offering one's overall experience -so I would like to reflect my visit to Nighttown on Sunday, June 3rd 2007. We had made reservations for dinner and concert (Jean Luc Ponty) and invited a client. When we arrived there were masses of people cruched by the entry-bar and non one person gave impression they knew what was going on or how to get seated. The lady in charge of assigning the numbers so that you could get called and taken into the dining room kept saying I don't know, and acted that way -she was completely out of her depth. People were getting seated and people came in front of us and it was not a pretty sight. When I approached the owner (Brendan Ring) and attempted to ask him whether he should give some help to the gal who was struggling - he yelled at me without any reason. I was humiliated. He was obviously not concerned about anyone other than his full house! So we got the number after 30 minutes and 45 minutes after arriving got a table. On to food. Could not get the Pommeroy champagne that was on the menu. Got a cheap substitute. My drink was seriously watered down. The waiter dropped a fork off her plate as she walked by and it almost fell into my lap. The waiter who brought my entree dropped the entire Haloumi kebab off my plate onto the back of a woman's dress seated next to me and actually attempted to justify his clumsiness and only after I alerted him to the fact Haloumi kebab fell onto the woman's dress offerred her to pay for dry cleaning. The food was average at best since the second kebab that was brought to the table was twice as large as the original one left on the plate - so do you only get nice portions if you are not happy? In all this was the most ridiculous, unsatisfying humiliating experience we had dining in 20 years. I have dined at Nighttown previously and the food is not inspiring. The owner made it perfecty clear what was important to him. It is not the customer!

• Pros: Music - which the restaurant has nothing to do with since they use a promoter
• Cons: All else

06/25/06

From the Owner of Nighttown...

by brendanring at Citysearch

Dear Restaurant-goer,

Brendan Ring, here. I am the owner of Nighttown. I want to thank all of the other reviewers on CitySearch for their kind comments about my restaurant.

I write only to correct three errors on the description of Nighttown: 1. We ARE considered by many to be quite romantic. Our 4 dining rooms are filled with art work on the walls, the light is dim, the outdoor dining (with a full-wall waterfall) is sublime and many wedding proposals, engagements and celebrations have occured at Nighttown; 2. Regarding our kid-friendliness, we do not cater to young children but neither do we discourage them from accompanying their parents. While we do not have a "kids menu" nor high-chairs, we often have children at Nighttown whose parents feel comfortable taking them to a more-sophisticated, white table establishment.

Finally, please know that we are definitely handicap-accessible. All four of our rooms plus our restrooms are easily navigable.

Nighttown was opened in 1965. We are primarily a restaurant, but we are also the only place in Ohio on Down Beat's List of The 100 Best Jazz Clubs in the World. We hope you'll give us a try.

Sincerely,

Brendan Ring, Owner

Nighttown

• Pros: Great food, jazz and cabaret music, ambiance
• Cons: Not open for breakfast