Cordelia — Restaurant in Cleveland

An ever revolving door of Midwest culinary pride. I've frequented Cordelia for brunch, dinner, and their Bellies Up tasting menu and have been progressively awed by the creativity that goes into their dishes.

It's East 4th, so parking is going to be a pain. There is a valet option along the street if you're willing to use that option. Moving on.

The aura in Cordelia is nostalgia. Your grandma's kitchen with some street culture flair, touches of kitsch. Hip hop hits from the 90's and aughts grace your ears. Seating ranges from booths, traditional tables, high tops, and kitchen or bar counter. For the tasting menu, sit at the kitchen counter to get the full experience. The tapas-style menu is meant for sharing, so bring friends. Oh, and it also changes seasonally so don't get too attached.

Reservations are recommended since Cordelia's been buzzy since opening, and the James Beard nominations aren't slowing them down. Brunch will be a little less busy if you're feeling a walk-in, and this was my first and most average of my three experiences. Fortunately it was also my introduction to their Jammy Eggs and Carrot Muhammara, which have been reliable sources of pleasure in subsequent visits. This is your cue to order these. The Jammy Eggs play with your senses, incorporating little cronchy bits of furikake with potent dill and creaminess of soft boiled yolk. The remainder of our orders - their takes on a breakfast sando, grilled cheese, and Dutch baby, were heavy and carby. Though sparks of creativity were present (kimchi tomatoes, hot sauce mayo), overall it felt like overdressed brunch.

I returned for dinner a few years later and felt like the kitchen had finally hit their stride, as had the beverage manager. I very nearly ordered seconds of the seasonal citrus salad because it was just THAT good, and both the alcoholic and non-alcoholic versions of some perfectly blue cocktail with some astronomy-inspired name sent our table into a binge frenzy.

The Bellies Up menu is $90 per person and a fun way for the kitchen to show off the full range of their artistry. You don't know quite what you're gonna get (especially since you'll get some off-menu items), except a boat-load of food within whatever dietary restrictions you give them. We were started off with several of their starters, including an interesting chili cheese dip featuring saltines that were deep fried to give them a particularly satisfying crisp. The dishes did tend to skew cheese and red-meat heavy, and me not being a particular fan of either lamb or cheese, still found joy in the curried cucumbers in their over-dressed salad and the fun lamb hot pocket concept. The Cauliflower is another long-time favorite that the chefs swear will never leave the menu due to it's explosion of flavor and texture and a welcome balance to the heavy palate. We particularly enjoyed the ham hock and the fun chicharron-elephant ear like dessert at the end.

More than just the food though, I do appreciate the eye for details and conservation. They truly try to incorporate every part of their ingredients into cooking. The chefs (especially the smashburger cook) were a treat to watch as they prepped and cajoled each other. Past menus are recycled into grease absorbers for dishes, and what a truly lovely, eclectic assortment of ceramics they have. There is an elevator down to the basement so that the bathroom is ADA accessible, although I do wish they had more than one stall for the women's restroom. It's a rather cute, vintage bathroom though, with unique sink taps.

Can't wait to see what comes next for...

Overall Will 100% return! Food and service were both amazing.

Everyone voted that this was the best company dinner thus-far and the staff at Cordelia's can take credit for that.

Parking Mix of using the valet, uber, parking garage, walking - no one seemed to have a major issue.

Reservation Ease - 5 Stars Our company reserved Cordelia's for our annual dinner (January 2025). Initial discussion took place in October 2024 and they were easily able to fit us in at our requested date and time. Total attendees were 23 - we were reserved a private room with plenty of space for us all at one large table. Event Director Tony handled the planning from start to finish and everything went off without a hitch! He went above and beyond to ensure everyone was accommodated for.

Menu & Dietary Restrictions - 5 Stars We opted for the Bellie Up tasting menu - this included several courses, including desserts! Everyone reported that every dish was fantastic - the lamb was especially popular. I was informed that this menu does change according to season and ingredient availability. They easily accommodated a vegetarian, lactose intolerant, and cocoa allergy. All three attendees were very satisfied with their selections and very full by the night's end! (They even brought special apps for the lactose intolerant since many of the originals contained lactose).

Staff - 5 Stars Event Director Tony; Server Hana, and Chef Jake were our main three staff members...every one of them deserves more than 5 stars. Amazing personalities! Amazing at their jobs! They won over every person attending - we would be proud to have them work for our company! :) Tony took all the stress and guesswork out of planning the event, was so patient as we figured everything out, and was there helping everyone the entire night - right up to helping us retrieve coats and gloves. Hana was there to greet the very first guest and never left anyone unattended or wanting for anything. She easily accommodated all requests and handled the varying personalities around the table with a natural grace. Chef Jake somehow planned the most fantastic menu that pleased the entire group and had something in each course for every dietary restriction. He explained each menu item - being sure to point out anything that may clash with the three restrictions we had - and was happy to answer any...

We came in from out of town to spend a day/night in the city just for something else to do on our anniversary, and since Cordelia isn't open for dinner on Sundays we opted to try brunch. I have heard much about this place even from Pittsburgh and when sifting through restaurants in town, they stood out. While we didn't leave unhappy or anything, its hard to imagine coming away less impressed and confused about the hype. Service started good and timely and friendly, but as more patrons were seated started to unravel. Her section seemed too big and spread out, and it was further confusing because there seemed to be a million front of house employees walking around, many of them right next to our kitchen bar seating, and not a single bit of assistance to our server seemed to be happening. I normally love sitting next to the kitchen but this ended up being a mistake as some of the CDPs couldn't help but make themselves the loud star of the show and I was surprised at the lack of cleanliness that a kitchen of this caliber would be displaying especially in full view of guests. No doubt communication and simply being a normal person are welcome but when you're constantly shouting and MFing my whole meal, its just detracting from the experience not adding to it. Don't think I saw a single instance of getting out a sani towel and wiping a surface or any periodic hand cleanings. Carrot muhummara was delicious, pimento was decent and fried chicken confit was just a little bland and lacked a good texture. Too sweet. My Dutch baby was just flat and lifeless and there was barely anything to it. Tasted fine but a Dutch baby should have some fluff and texture to it this was like a big flat over cooked egg crisp with some grainy cheese sauce and sporadic bits of bacon. Cocktails were decent - we were going to order a bottle of wine but the gaps in service became so long we opted not to. Strange interaction with a FOH employee (manager?) in the bathroom where I went to get a paper towel and dude kinda just grunted at me indicating he was refilling an empty dispenser. Instead of using words and saying "One moment, I will get that reloaded for you" or offering me a piece from his hands, I stood there for a moment watching before saying screw it and just left. Hospitality lacking, food...