Brassica in Shaker Heights — Restaurant in Shaker Heights

I recently had lunch at Brassica on Meade Road in Shaker Heights, Ohio. Brassica is located on the north side Meade Road. Brassica is located in the Van Aken Market Hall in the Van Aken District of Shaker Heights.

Van Aken Market Hall is immediately west of Warrensville Center Road. It is located north of Chagrin Boulevard. There is a free off-street parking lot on the south side of Meade Road. There is a multi-level parking garage immediately north of the Van Aken Market Hall.

Just west of the Van Aken Market Hall is the rapid transit Van Aken/Warrensville station with bus service too.

Brassica is a Mediterrian Restaurant serving pita sandwiches or bowls. It is fast food done very well with quality ingredients. They serve your usual soft drinks plus beer and wine. The staff is young and energetic. There are a lot of smiles and the counter service is very efficient and moves along quickly. Brassica offers both indoor and outdoor seating. The two exterior walls are floor to ceiling glass allowing for plenty natural light.

I enjoyed a vegetable pita and French fries with an unsweetened ice tea to drink. You select which vegetables you want in your pita or bowl and select a sauce of your choice. My pita was very flavorful.

The restaurant is very clean. The decor is industrial minimalist. The restaurant has a unisex bathroom that is clean.

I am looking forward to my next visit to Brassica and sampling their various sauces.

I am fortunate to return to Brassica for another lunch recently. I enjoyed my lunch. The staff is friendly and efficient. The food is very tasty.

This time I enjoyed the Brisket Pita. The brisket is tender and marinated for a great flavor. I selected the vegetables to top off the pita. I, again, ordered the Brassica fries for a side and an ice tea.

This trip to Brassica, I parked in the parking garage immediately north of the restaurant. The parking is free in the four level parking structure. There are stairs and elevators at several locations on the perimeter of the parking structure. You can enter and exit the parking structure on either the west side or the east side. I entered the east side off of Warrenville Center Road. I exited the structure on the west side onto...

The vegetables are fresh and the sauces are delicious. Hummus, baba, and falafel are all excellent. The meat, however, is a bit lacking in some respects, the service is a bit under top-notch, and it's all quite expensive.

My first time dining there about 4 people were stacked up at the beginning of the line and instead of serving them, attendants were chatting idly and tossing utensils from hand to hand. Once things started moving I ordered the brisket and the portion was... stingy, shall we say? It was almost comical how the server painstakingly pinched up tiny morsels using only the tips of the tongs and sprinkled them on my meal. I had to order the chicken too in order to get a decent amount of protein.

When it came time to pay I noticed they charged me for 2x brisket instead of 1 brisket and 1 chicken. I didn't feel like disputing this, but I put in a custom tip of $2 instead of the almost $4 suggested by the register- this caused the server to get visibly huffy and storm off... I dunno maybe don't perform nano-surgery on the brisket next time?

I went back again because despite the meat situation, this place still appears to be my best option for a healthy, filling meal in the area. Service was again a little slow, but no biggie. This time I ordered the chicken and watched as the server's tongs passed through the over-marinaded stuff like water, coming together with an audible click. The small concave part of the tool contained the only morsels that were scattered over my meal. This time I ordered falafel as well, and I highly recommend this if you are looking for protein as the portion is large.

Considering that my meal came to about $24 and was 95% vegetables and rice, the profit margin for this place must be huge. Everything tastes good though and it seems healthy, so if that's what you're looking for, this place might be your best option...

The restaurant is easily one of the best I have tried in recent memory. My fiancé, and I love to try new food. Yesterday while in Columbus for our anniversary we decided to stop in for a quick bite before our tour of the Franklin Park Conservatory. The very moment we entered, we knew we had made a fantastic choice. The smell alone was well worth just the drive. The flavors are complex, and not overbearing. The staff were friendly, health conscious, and delightfully helpful. We did not feel rushed even while in this very busy restaurant. Once we each took a bit of our brisket sandwich, I immediately looked up if their were more locations, it is good enough that a two hour drive is worth coming back. Thankfully we found one less than 40 minutes away from our home. If you enjoy fast casual dining, wonderful interior design, friendly, and health conscious staff, and easily some of the best food in the entire state, I would URGE you, implore you, very nearly BEG YOU. To give Brassica a shot. The prices are a little high, not something I could afford to eat every day by any means, but well worth the price is the atmosphere, and food. We will be back to this location soon, perhaps even once a month because I MUST try the other entree options.

Brassica deserves to be a true national chain. I’m happy that there is more than one location, because there deserves to...