Mendel's KC BBQ — Restaurant in Shaker Heights

I have dined with all of the prominent Barbecue restaurants in the Greater Cleveland area and beyond. That being said this was almost as good as the chain City barbecue, difference being City barbecue has larger portions and doesn't charge exuberant prices. I personally ordered the "World Famous" burnt ends, they were more like cubed Angus beef roast pieces with little to no seasoning, the outside wasn't charred or burnt or seared ( hence why they are called burnt ends) they were mushy, fatty and flavorless ( Kansas city sauce is suppose to have a tang , this did not). Did i mention i only received 5 small pieces ( more like a 1/4 pound at best) , a "to go" ramekin of coleslaw, a small bowl of baked beans and 2 pickle chips and a smattering of pickle onions for $34.00? Needless to say arrive without an appetite and you may be satisfied. Others in our party ordered the Brisket and the smoked chicken sandwich. The Brisket entree resembled pot roast more than actual brisket, flavorless and dry with absolutely no smoke flavor at all ( they claim 10 hours of smoking), same small coleslaw and such at $34.00. The chicken sandwich arrived cold along with the frozen style sweet potato fries ( a better sandwich can be had for far less and a way larger portion next door at Midnight Owl. The Chicken sandwich ($22.00),( like all of the entrees) None of them had even a hint of smokey flavor, or any flavor at all. An old fashion cocktail was ordered, needless to say Outback steak house makes a better proper old fashion utilizing bourbon that isn't well grade. As far as wait staff and atmosphere.. We were seated, another party was seated right after us. That being said, the other party received drinks and water before we were even asked what we wanted to drink, we were barely checked in on by our waitress and basically sat waiting forever for any refills on water. I understand now that this restaurant basically caters to a specialized clientele, it would have been nice to have a heads up on this. The entire time we dined we were stared at by the other diners, it was very obvious and uncomfortable. In the end if you want real Barbecue go to Rib Cage, Mount Pleasant or the Proper Pig. The menu contains no pork items at all. I implore those that read this review to this point to look at the prices and judge for yourself. A salad at $30? I never give negative reviews, but in this instance i can't believe how bad the food, service, drinks and atmosphere are at this restaurant. I was hoping for an awesome Birthday dinner, instead i would have been better off going to...

Updating in light of my recent experience. The food tastes good, at least what I had did. However, the portions of brisket on the sandwiches were pretty small and the service was just terrible. My family and I were the only ones in the restaurant for a while, and we sat and stared at our waters for it must have been 15 or 20 minutes before anyone said anything to us or offered to take our orders, while the hostess folded t-shirts and somebody who looked like a manager wandered around the restaurant, looked me straight in the eye, and did nothing- didn't greet us or offer to get our server, or even just tell us that she would be with us in a moment. With a large group at lunch, I didn't expect everything to come out exactly at the same time, but it did take quite a while for everyone to get their food, especially the one person who ordered a salad? Which came to the table in a plastic takeout container lid looking thing??? Also, they really do need a kids menu, and the fact that the hot dog is literally just served on a bun on a plate and no sides seemed very very odd to me. I guess there's also some renovation work next door because close to the end of our meal there was very very loud banging on the other side of the wall! Unfortunately, the experience was not worth the price, even though the flavor of the brisket was authentic Kansas City BBQ; I've had much better service in the airport BBQ restaurants at Kansas City.

(At opening....) All right, Cleveland. I grew up in KC and the food we had here tonight is the real deal. As soon as we got out of the car and I smelled the amazing smoke I knew it was going to be good ! We had a platter with burnt ends, brisket, and beef back ribs. Everything was absolutely excellent. The flavor of the meat was the star of the show and everything was so incredibly tender! The service was prompt and friendly and the food arrived so fast after we ordered. For a soft opening, they really had everything together and our experience was very smooth. At first, the prices on the menu were more than I was expecting, but after having the food I would come back here in a heartbeat. It's definitely worth it. I was also surprised that the atmosphere was upscale, but it really worked. We will definitely be back, doing our part to ensure this place stays open and is a...

While travelling to Detroit recently, I finally had the excuse to stop in Cleveland for supper. Naturally I had to stop by Mendel’s Kansas City BBQ. Mendel is known for his amazingly delicious BBQ and smoker. The place definitely had a vibe, and I was digging it. Very rustic, lots of art on the wall etc. After speaking to the manager, we finally settled on what to order. I went with the Brisket Truffle Poutine, the Smoked Fried Wings, Loaded Knish, World Famous Burnt Ends and the Smoked Lamb Riblets. Now being from Montreal, I have grown up with milchig Poutine, which consists of French fries, parve gravy and cheese. However, I have never had a fleishig Poutine. It was really good. There was a nice amount of mushroom truffle gravy sauce, the fries were nice and crispy, and it paired well with amazingly delicious pulled smoked brisket. When you go, you NEED to try this dish. Moving on to the wings, I didn’t expect them to be smoked, but they actually were. We took the buffalo sauce and the wings had a nice fry on them. We were curious about the Loaded Knish, so naturally we had to try it. The dish consisted of a jumbo potato knish topped with their famous mushroom truffle gravy. If that wasn’t enough, they even added some pastrami. It was a mouthful, but a delicious mouthful, very unique and different. Everyone who knows me said if you ever go to Mendel’s you NEED to try both the Smoked Lamb Riblets and the World Famous Burnt Ends. We started with the burnt ends. They were packed with flavor, smokey, bbq, fall apart yummy goodness. There is a reason that they are world famous. Finally it was time for the Smoke Lamb Riblets. When they were brought to our table I was immediately overcome with the smell of smokey goodness. It looked amazing. The riblets had a dry rub on them and I am a big fan. Each bite was better than the last and I was sold. In closing, Cleveland isn’t that far away and its definitely worth the drive for some...