Winking Lizard Downtown Cleveland — Restaurant in Cleveland

We visited on a Thursday afternoon in mid-April 2025 for lunch. We had just eaten the previously at the location in Peninsula and had a great experience. However this location was not the best.

Service started out great. We were happy to find out that we could do carry out with the daily specials, which is burgers for Thursdays. We placed our order and instead of waiting in the cramp sitting area with small wooden chairs while other patrons were coming it, we took a seat just outside the restaurant but inside the building it was in. There is a bunch of soft sofas in the lobby area still in perfect view of restaurant. They said it would be about 20 mins.

We sat there for exactly 20 mins and went in and the food was already ready and just sitting behind the counter. We had no idea how long it was sitting there but we were kind of in a hurry to get back to the museum. There were 3 staff working the front and very few patrons in the restaurant. A little upset not one of them walked out to let us know our food was ready but probably watched all of us just sitting there on the couches/benches. They were nice and pleasant but it was just the extra foresight to be like oh, maybe I should let them know it's ready because they are just sitting over there. I could give them the benefit of the doubt and maybe they were all busy doing something else and didn't make that connection.

We took our food to eat outside as there are picnic areas at the nearby park with the big "FREE" stamp. We got all the way there and took the food out and realized that they had never put the ranch in that we asked for and the extra ranch too that was written on the receipt. The hostess who took our order even made multiple comments about it with my wife. It was a couple blocks away and we did not want to walk all the way back just for ranch.

I also opened my large Deluxe Pizza which I also ordered from the other Winking Lizard location in Peninsula and this one was much more under whelming. There was maybe half the amount of toppings as the other restaurant. Disappointing knowing what it could be like and what I ended up getting.

I'm going to conclude this review with a, your mileage may vary and depending on which location you're going to you may have different experiences as well. If this was my first experience with Winking Lizard I probably would try something...

If I could give 0 stars I absolutely would. Skip this place altogether and go to the Thirsty Parrot or any other establishment instead. The second we entered we were greeted by 2 extremely rude hostesses. (No hi how are? Just a flat “how many?”And an attitude when we told them party of 10) We were told we would have an hour wait (which is totally expected on a Saturday before a game with a large party. That was not a problem for us at all) my father asked if we could get drinks at the bar while waiting for a table for our party to be ready and we were told that it would be fine. So our family went to the bar and ordered drinks..each person ordered 1 drink and my sister got an appetizer. We were then told our tables were ready. We were split up at 2 tables on opposite sides of our servers section. Totally fine, no problem.. we were then “greeted” by our server Marcus and he seemed irritated we had all received drinks and had an appetizer. He went to the kitchen and we did not see him again. A manager then came to our table after we waited 20 min and basically scolded us for ordering drinks at the bar (we were told it was OKAY by hostesses who checked with management first) she said to us “Are you guys actually getting anything? Because I would really hate for you to WASTE my servers time by not even ordering food after you have already been taken care of at our bar… you’re taking up 2 of his tables in his section and I would hate for you all to waste his time” she had a terrible attitude and was extremely rude. Our family (at BOTH of Marcus’ tables) had all intended on ordering meals and more drinks and told her so and she was basically shocked that we were offended by what she had said to us. We were hungry and didn’t want to wait anywhere else so we stayed. 40 MINUTES went by without being seen by ANYONE. The same manager then came up to us and feigned shock when we told her we hadn’t been taken care of. She sent another server to our table who was sweet and gave us great service.. but the entire exchange with the manager left a terrible taste in our mouths and we will not be back. It used to be an old favorite spot before a ball game but that’s ruined. Each of my sisters and I have all been in the service industry for a LONG time and could never imagine treating...

We visited on a Thursday night. Upon arriving we were greeted by the hostess. She was friendly, kind, and quickly found us a table. Our waitress was attentive & polite. We were informed of the wide variety of adult beverages & with it being our first time visiting, she offered us a little more time to look over everything. I highly recommend the Fat Heads Strange Magic draft beer - it was delicious, light tasting with a beautiful color to it, and no bitter after taste. The spinach artichoke dip was really good. I like that it was served with a side of salsa. My husband ordered the chicken nacho meal & we thought it looked & sounded delicious, however he felt it was just ... ok & if served with a different style of chips, maybe shredded chicken instead of chunked, or something it would have made a huge difference. I ordered Bo-Man's Bacon Cheeseburger cooked medium rare with a side of onion rings. My burger was amazing!! Cooked to perfection with flavor that was out of this world. :) The onion rings were probley the best onion rings I've ever had .... I'm not even close to joking. I shared there onion rings with my husband because my meal was super filling and he needed to believe me that they were the best - He agreed. The over all atmosphere of the Winking Lizard was cool. There are various framed concert posters on the walls which we loved. Seating consists of tables or the bar area. The tables currently have hung plastic partitions between them to meet covid safety guidelines. Clean restuarant, clean restrooms, great music, wonderful staff. We're hoping to return for a visit so we can put in a higher review...