Academy Tavern — Restaurant in Cleveland

My partner and I went to the Academy for our engagement dinner. We didn't want anything super fancy (or super pricey!) and we're not native to this area of Cleveland, so we pulled up some local restaurants and the Academy looked great to us.

We weren't disappointed! After a very brief moment of confusion when we walked in - I thought it might be a UK pub-type setup, where you order at the bar - we sat ourselves and our server, the manager for the night (so sorry I forgot your name!) came right over. The manager was amazing: great service, really kind, and clearly loves the place.

We each had an Ace pineapple cider, which was maybe one of the best ciders I've ever had (and I love hard ciders). On tap, perfect blend of sweet and dry, and the pineapple flavor isn't overpowering. I liked it so much I had a second.

For food, we got six Buffalo wings, a basket of onion rings, and the Academy burger and fries. The wings were literally everything I want from a chicken wing: fresh, hot, tossed but not soaked in sauce. Some people might prefer a crisper wing - as far as I could tell, these weren't battered or floured (although I could be wrong) but for me they were perfect. The onion rings were fresh out of the fryer and not too greasy, so that's an immediate win. We didn't end up eating much of the burger, but that's through no fault of the burger! The portion of it I did have was well cooked, juicy, and thick. Great quality burger, I just wish I was hungry enough for it! And, of course, my fiancé's star of the show: the fries. Fries were the perfect thickness, not too thick and not too tiny, freshly cooked, and the seasoning on them was top notch. I think my partner ate more of the fries than any other part of the meal.

All this and our meal and drinks came out to about $47! I literally did a double take at the bill because I couldn't believe it was so low.

I want to give a special shout out to the manager (again, so sorry I forgot your name) for being so helpful and kind. Without him our experience would still have been great, but he was an...

I haven't been here in quite a while. It changed ownership and is definitely not what it used to be. Taking in consideration the challenges of COVID the service wasn't that great. When we arrived there were maybe three or four other people there. Once we were seated and we made our menu choices it took a while for someone to take our orders. Our orders were placed and we waited close to 25 to 30 minutes for our food. In the meantime people came in and picked up orders, others came in and sat by the bar and got their orders. Two of us had burgers. The hamburger size definitely diminished. The BLT wrap was ordered by two people in our party and they were very disappointed. There was more shredded lettuce in it than tomatoes and bacon. One person sat next to me and the other across from me. All I could see was shredded lettuce!! The other person in our group ordered the wings and he said they were good. I have NO intentions of going back here. And they have a...

We stopped in for lunch as first time visitors. I wish we hadn’t. I ordered a coke that was flat and tasted odd. Didn’t drink it beyond first sip. Drinks were served in small plastic cups. Food was served on styrofoam. Waiter never checked on us and we quickly ran out of water before meal was even served. Burger had no pink and was well done. Wrap consisted of tasty tomatoes but the bacon was old and hard as a rock. I paid extra for the cajun fries and couldn’t eat any beyond trying the first one… all were practically black from being overcooked. All in all spent $50 for bad service and worse food. Left with a stomach ache. Wish I would have just went for fast food instead of taking a chance on this place. Restaurant prices for...