Collision Bend Brewing Company -- Cleveland, OH


Another part of our Cleveland adventure last weekend was dinner at Collision Bend Brewing Company in the Flats East Bank neighborhood of Cleveland. We were already planning on being in the Flats for an event (blog coming soon), so a friend recommended that we check out Collision Bend Brewing Company after the event. Since Dave and I are both vegetarian, the small plates concept that they offer was perfect, because everyone was able to try a wide variety of plates and we knew that we could easily order vegetarian meals.

As of the date we were there, Collision Bend Brewing Company had been nominated for a Reader's Choice award for Best Brewpub in the U.S. for USA Today's 10 Best contest, and was ranked in first place. The results will be announce this Friday on the 23rd. Collision Bend Brewing Company touts its artisanal brews and freshly prepared Southern California Street Food as the reason it is unique.

Since there were six of us we made a reservation about a week and a half in advance of our visit. We were seated at a high top table near the back of the restaurant. It we hadn't gone at night, we would have had a view of the back patio/water. On Sundays Collision Bend offers Brunch on the River, which is an excellent time to take advantage of their patio in the summer.

Everyone ordered beer flights, Dave selected:

Lake Erie Sunset -- American Pale Wheat Ale
Sixth City Alt -- German Style Amber Ale
Bollard Pull -- American Porter
East Bank IPA -- American India Pale Ale

You could also choose to order a beer and a shot, wine, or a cocktail.



For our meal we split four items, the House Chips and House 3 Onion Dip.



The Asian Style Arancini Siciliana -- fried risotto balls flavored with pickled ginger, Asian aromatics and served with wasabi mayo.




The Japanese Vegetable Pancake -- topped with red curry vegetables




And the Buffalo Tofu -- tossed with spicy Buffalo wing butter, blue cheese, diced celery and carrots.



Some of the items our friends selected included the Roasted Brussels Sprouts -- with Vietnamese caramel sauce, queso fresco and shishito peppers.



French Fries 420 Syle -- smothered with cheese sauce, jerked chicken, cilantro, cabbage and
crispy onions.



The Lamb Tamales -- ground lamb and masa stuffed in corn husk with salsa verde and yogurt sauce.



The Bistro Steak -- with onion straws, sautéed broccolini and romesco sauce.



The favorites of each couple:

Dave and I loved the arancini, I let him choose what we ordered and I'm glad he warned me it was wasabi mayo before I took a big spoonful of it. The arancini were perfection and the wasabi sauce helped add heat.

Sarah and Andy loved their Fried Brussels Sprouts, they let us try them and they certainly were sweet. The shishito peppers help to cut through some of the sweetness.

Kaley and Jon said the Lamb Tamale was their favorite dish of everything they ordered.

We all ended up with three or four dishes per couple which was the right amount. Dave and I had debated ordering a fifth, but decided to wait and see what the size of the four portions would be and I'm glad that we did. After the meal we were full, but not too full for dessert. Two groups ordered the Tres Leches Cake and one ordered the Amish Apple Walnut Fry Pie (my dad loves fry pies, we need to bring my parents here).




Ohio Wanderlust Rating for Collision Bend Brewing Company:

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