Bad Medicine — Restaurant in Cleveland

A place for lovers of drink and music to worship. Cleveland's first listening bar is a treat for your ears, with some tasty drinks to help pass the time and beats.

There's a few street parking spots in front of Bad Medicine, and you'll have to trust your GPS app since there's not much by the way of signage in front of the bar. A small decal on one-way garage-door style windows is the only indicator you're in the right spot. The wall is also surprisingly soundproof. But walk in and it'll take you a few seconds (at least it did for me) to decide if you're listening to a live band or the hi-fi speakers behind the bar. The sound is pure, crisp, and LOUD. Bring your outdoor voice if you're with friends.

Inside, everything else seems muted in comparison to the music, which spans all sorts of genres. The decor and seating is pretty barebones, while the lighting and shelves funnel your attention to the sound shrine. Listen long enough and you'll skip from punk rock to R&B to indie. I wish they spent a little longer on each genre since it can be a bit of a jarring transition from one B side to another once you start vibing, but you gotta respect the variety in the staff's collective vinyl collection.

By way of drinks, their custom menu is pretty short but has a little something for everyone. Three mocktails are also available (but can be made alcoholic). Any of the drinks can be "remixed" to your taste, if you're not a fan of whatever alcohol is listed in the recipe. Most of our drinks were a treat to drink, particularly the Corpse Reviver No. 2 and a tequila-ed up Facemelter; others left a little to be desired - their Moscow Mule seemed watered down with barely there ginger flavor, and the Apple Oolong Highball was overly sweet.

The environment is very casual, and all are welcome be it in jeans, heels, muscle tanks, or bodycon dresses. Our server was so fun and bubbly, hyping us up for each order. Hoping to try out some of the fun snacks and handhelds from the kitchen...

My husband and I went here for the first time right at their opening time on a Monday during their "unofficial" opening week and were VERY impressed! The listening bar is a great concept and is well executed, the bartenders play records behind the bar as they're making drinks. The place is decorated nicely and has big open spaces that can seat a lot, and it looked like there was also lots of standing room too when it's busy.

We have been fans of Bryan (one of the co-owners) since he was mixing our cocktails at the defunct Spotted Owl and have been keeping tabs on him from afar so that we could see where he landed and follow him there, haha. During our visit we had Tim as our mixologist and the drinks here were so tasty! The menu has a lot of classics and we tried the Old Fashioned, Sazerac, Manhattan, and the Tuxedo No 2. The Manhattan was our favorite - it had a hint of chai in it that took it to another level, but seriously all of them were really well done.

My husband and I are also vegan and like to frequent cocktail bars and restaurants that can feed us, but we weren't sure if there were any options for us here since the menu wasn't posted at the time of our visit, but we were happy to learn that we could order a few things on the menu with some adjustments (the Falafel sandwich and the Roasted Carrots), and then the Potatoes as-is. The food was DELICIOUS and very flavorful.

Great place, great music, and very welcoming! With a friendly staff, tasty food and fantastic drinks, we'll be adding it to our list of...

Bad Medicine is doing fantastic things in a neighborhood you would never expect. The aesthetics are killer, the red black vibes with vinyl, no TV's, cant wait for their patio.

Let's get into it:

The cocktails are something that you would expect downtown or even in Chicago or NYC. Edgy and new mixed with classics that are executed professionally and perfectly. If you can you use Cynar in a cocktail successfully, you have the right team.

The service is friendly, knowledgeable and on point. All of them can answer your questions about either the food or the drinks.

The food, the food is something else, coming from a kitchen that is that size. You're going to get a wide variety of things even on a small menu. The sauces are delicious, the proteins are cooked perfectly, and you can tell that there is a Chef who cares about what he's putting out in a "bar", and I use that term lightly.

This is by no means a "bar" it's an experience. However, it's nestled in a neighborhood where it can offer you a ranging price point and you can make it your corner bar, or a nice date night.

Whatever you fancy, cold beers and a sandwich, or high end cocktails and a steak, Bad Medicine nails it. Flawless execution from...