Anatolia Cafe — Restaurant in Cleveland Heights

I recently had a wonderful vegetarian early dinner at Anatolia Cafe - a Turkish/Mediterrian restaurant. They, also, serve meat and fish dishes too. This is my first visit to Anatolia Cafe.

Anatolia Cafe is located on the west side of Lee Road in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. Immediately in front of Anatolia Cafe, the street parking spaces are reserved for curbside pick-up. Other on-street parking on Lee Road is limited and some have 15 minute limits for parking. This is a heavily retail business section of Lee Road. There is a small free off-street parking lot Immediately behind Anatolia Cafe dedicated to customer only parking. They, also, get deliveries in that lot. There are ample free off-street parkings behind the entire block of retail businesses on the east side of Lee Road immediately across from Anatolia Cafe. There are two public lots behind those retail stores. Very few of the parking spaces are dedicated for those retail stores. Before Covid-19, these were public parking metered spaces. Now the meters are covered in hoods marked - FREE PARKING. You will have to walk from these lots on an uncovered sidewalk for a distance of a block or more. There are stop lights on Lee Road where you cross Lee Road.

Anatolia Cafe offers outside dining in front of the restaurant with a decorative wrought iron fence separating the diners from the public sidewalk. Part of the outside dining is covered. When you walk in the entrance, you come upon the hostess station/carryout counter. There is, also, a refrigerated display case with packaged desserts and cans of soda and packages of Pita bread. Behind this display counter is the kitchen. If you turn right from this display counter, you enter the main dining area. There are several separate dining areas in this space of various sizes separated by wrought iron knee walls. The largest dining space here - the farthest north - has a fireplace at the west end and a baby grand piano along the north wall. The wall facing Lee Road has windows the entire length overlooking the outdoor dining space. If you turn left from the hostess station you enter another large open dining room. As you enter this space there is a long bar running east to west to your right. The remainder of the space is for dining. To get to the south end of this dining area there are two steps to climb. The rest of the restaurant and the restrooms are wheelchair accessible. The bar top is above wheelchair height. The restrooms are located in a hallway off the north dining area. The restaurant and the restroom are clean.

The restaurant is well staffed. The staff are friendly and welcoming. They do not stand around. The dining spaces are so large there is something always needing their attention to clean or prep.

I started with an appetizer of Babaganoush served with pita bread. The Babaganoush is freshly prepared and the pita bread is hot off the grill. I, also, ordered a side of carrot and cucumber. The side consists of fresh carrots and cucumbers sliced thinly on a bias. They are fresh with a crunchy bite. Great flavor too. My entree is the vegetarian special for the day - Imam Bayildi. The Imam Bayildi is half an eggplant topped with various vegetables. The Imam Bayildi. Is pre-cooked and served chilled - perfect for a hot July day. They can heat it up upon request. I preferred it chilled. The depth of flavor of all the sautéed vegetables and the cooked eggplant is very special. The Imam Bayildi is served with a chilled white bean salad with raw onion and cilantro. Again, a great flavor profile for the white bean salad. Very refreshing.

See the pictures of this meal to see the awesome presentation of every item - the Babaganoush, the carrot and cucumber side AND the Veggie Imam Bayildi with White Bean salad! The entire meal tasted great and is so very refreshing on a humid July day. I am looking forward to my next meal at...

Based on other reviews, we came to Anatolia Cafe to try the Kunefe. The reason I have given two stars instead of one is because the Kunefe was good, even though slightly burned around the edges. However, the service at this restaurant is so poor, I would not recommend it. We entered the restaurant from the rear entrance and passed several staff as we tried to find our way to the host to be seated. Not one staff member pointed us in the direction of the host. Upon, finding our table, water was poured and we were left without a word. When our server returned, he took the order and delivered it without speaking and never returned to the table. When we were finished, we had to ask another staff member to find our server, who replied he had no idea who it was, nor did he try to find out. We had to leave the table and pay the bill at the front entrance. We also took some Baklava from the front display case as take away. Our server finally printed the bill on which automatic gratuity was tacked on for both the Kunefe and the Baklava which was never even brought to the table. I have never had this experience in restaurant in Ohio before and I will not be inclined to...

Today was our third time dining at Anatolia Cafe and our experience was even better than the previous two times! The food was fantastic, the service amazing, and the staff were just incredible. They did not have what we wanted initially. We didnt even remember the name of the dish. We described what we wanted to our server and she was so helpful in helping us figure out what dish that was. Not only that, but she actually spoke to the chef and they made it special for us!!! Yes, it wasn't on the menu and they made it for us! Incredible. It tasted equally as good as it made us feel. Both on our way in and our way out everybody was very friendly. They greeted us politely, joked with us, warmly welcomed us. All without being too presumptuous. The food tasted fantastic, quite authentic turkish food. I think this might be the best tasting turkish food in Cleveland. The atmosphere is also quite unique. Suitable for any occasion. Unfortunately they were short staffed today, so we had to be seated by the bar area but it was still a good experience. I would highly recommend this restaurant for your next turkish food fix. I know we will...