EDWINS Leadership & Restaurant Institute — Restaurant in Cleveland

06/27/2025:

I can't count how many times I have been to this place but needless to say we are probably becoming regulars. But this is a first time we were at their new location since they moved into old Nighttown spot.

They are doing 3 concepts, the brasserie (not fancy), fine dining (like old-Edwins used to be) and cigar-lounge/bar. Considering we came here on a whim, my family wanted to sit outside on the new (large) patio.

This visit was a hits and misses (more hits than misses). We tried few things. My daughter ordered Strawberry Club drink - she loved it. For appetizers, we went with Brasserie Goat Cheese salad (miss, the fine dining is head and shoulders above this one), Gazpacho (miss, it was overwhelmed with peppers), Burger (hit) and Roasted Trout (a definate hit).

For dessert, we orderd their Grand Marnier Souffle and Isle Flotant. Both tasted amazing, but the miss was the timing. For Souffle, you have to order it 25 min ahead, which we did right at the beginning of our meal but somekind misscommunication between service and the kitchen, it took close to 45 minutes. Kudos to management, they noticed how long we waited and took both desserts off the bill, so great touch.

You can see stark differences between the brasserie and fine dining, with the service, food and the set up.

As my family enjoys more of fine dining concept at old Edwins, we will go for that next time 06/24/2024:

We are becoming regulars here, and we absolutely love it. Came here for the birthday, and our experience was outstanding, as usual. Anything we tried was 5 stars, from the cheese selection (6 cheeses), 2 salads, entree, 4 main courses, and 3 desserts. Everything was outstanding. Service is top-notch as usual. We sat outside, and they have a very nice patio. They even brought out the platter with 'happy birthday' on it for the birthday person. Loved it

03/12/2022: And we are back here, slightly a year from our prior visit. Really great experience this time around. This restaurant truly deserves a place among the city's best, from the service to the food. We were out with another couple and they enjoyed it as well.

From what we had: Fromage de Chevre (warm goat cheese) salad - excellent, Foie gras - absolutely spectacular, Portobello Napoleon - I would say this is one of the misses, not to crazy about it.

From the desserts, we all shared 4 desserts: Pear bread pudding - it was ok, not our favorite here; Grand Marnier Souffle - absolutely excellent, Pyramide du Chocolat - if you are into chocolate, this is a dessert for you, very good and very rich; Beignets - excellent (the chocolate sauce that comes with it, it is an absolute standout).

Great service, great food, great experience. Brandon, keep it up. Can't wait to try Edwins Too as well as...

Where to start…there’s so much to say about EDWINS Restaurant, from its mission statement to it’s amazing food to it’s CEO and founder, Brandon.

Let’s start with the food. It’s a French menu that will please anyone and everyone, and everything will exceed your expectation. Yes you’ve ordered a cheese plate as an appetizer before, but not like this; the Fromage selection comes to your tableside on a cart with perhaps 25 selections…soft to hard, goat to cow, each with a complete history of where it comes from (country, region and sometimes even the farm) and what tastes to expect, and accompanied by not just honey but rather honeycomb which was some of the best honey I may have ever tasted.

The grouper – oh the grouper! It is carefully wrapped in potatoes slices that are so thin that they are transparent…pure magic! The sea scallops rest on a bed of spring pea and parm risotto, were large and cooked perfectly. Halfway through the meal we were asked if a souffle was in order for dessert due to the fact it takes 25 minutes to prepare, to which we eagerly said yes.

The wine list is extensive, with the majority coming from overseas and many from France. We made a mistake with the first bottle going with a familiar California label, which was perfectly fine but a missed opportunity to ask the staff for a pairing suggestion. However as we prepared for our second bottle I recalled that the CEO Brandon, who was regularly circulating and visiting each table, is also a sommelier (amongst other things) so who better to ask? And OMG it did not disappoint, a fantastically crisp, lightly oaked white from Burgundy that perfectly complemented our food.

Lastly is the man himself, Brandon Edwin Chrostowski who started this restaurant (and subsequently others) to teach those who need a second chance in life fine cooking skills as well as life skills so they can be successful, re-enter and contribute back to society. He is a chef, a sommelier, an entrepreneur. His work has earned him countless accolades from making the Crain’s 40 under 40 list to being nominated as a 2016 CNN Hero. I strongly encourage you to check out the “About Us” section of the web site to get a grasp of not only his personal success, but how he has dedicated his time, effort and fortune to helping others.

Bottom line: a fine dining experience that will leave you speechless thoughtfully paired with the fact that your patronage is making a difference and the world a...

It just wasn't as elegant as I had hoped for an anniversary dinner. The initial hostess dropped an f bomb during our interaction with her. While I do swear like a sailor it seems like a bad idea to talk like that around customers. The server was polite and fairly attentive but didn't seem ready to be on the floor. He was very unfamiliar with the menu. The ambiance was pretty nice but they do put a lot of folks into one room. On that note, it felt uncomfortable sitting close to others, especially for an intimate meal such as an anniversary. There was a piano player and it was awesome! Once the band started playing it got a tad too loud for a place like this. I think sticking with just a pianist would be the best option or at least getting the drummer on some brushes instead of sticks. I had the GRENADNIE DE VEAU AVEC CRÈME DE CIBROULETTE. It reminded me of a small pork chop if you ask me, not very tender, the sauce that came with it was pretty good. The side of the carrots was ok. My wife had the salmon dish and it was excellent. By far the star of the night. Anyway on the way home, I got an alert from my bank that there were 3 charges from your establishment. They thought it was fraud. Not sure what happened but 2 of the charges were canceled/reversed by the restaurant by the time I called the bank moments later. My last comments are about your online presence, it's a mess. Too many websites that are poorly built and hard to navigate. We had no real idea which menu we would see and the people that sat next to us were also blindsided with a menu they had not seen. Again I know it's a learning establishment and I think what Edwins is doing is fantastic, just wasn't what I was exactly...