Elle Restaurant & Lounge — Restaurant in Solon

While the service was WONDERFUL (really, the service was nothing short of great), the atmosphere great, and the decor cute and quirky, with a beautiful patio to boot, I was SO disappointed with my experience.

We started out strong with the elote starter, which was delicious, and made me look forward to my main meal. However, I was confused from the moment my Scampi Risotto was set in front of me.

The whole meal was too hot, nearly burning my mouth, and made me suspicious that it had been microwaved. Furthering that idea, the shrimp inside was tough and fishy, and the supposed clumps of scallops were smaller than a dime around, and so tough they were like beef jerky.

In addition, there was supposedly saffron in the meal, but all I managed to taste was badly thawed fish, and there was a POOL of oil/grease in the corner of my dish.

After taking a few bites, I decided there was no reason to suffer the dish, and had to wait for our server to come back and ask how the meal was. In that time, I realized that while the dish itself tasted like the water from a frost bitten and badly thawed bag of fish, my breath now REEKED of garlic and the taste was thick on my tongue.

My husband, who also sampled the dish, had a carbonara that was passable, but extremely watery from the addition of too much pasta water to the dish (we suspect).

Most upsetting, when we got home, both of us fell ill, with sore stomachs, unspeakable bathroom trips, and for me, a migraine.

After warning my friends/family about not going here, my brother informed me that he had several coworkers who had similar 'miserable' experiences.

Such a bummer. I'd been looking forward to going here for weeks, and would have loved to go back and sample the cocktails and maybe try a different dish/chef, but getting sick is a line I do not cross. I've spent the last decade in hospitality, and while I cannot say for sure what the issue was, I suspect that my risotto contained off scallops or shrimp, given the way the dish reeked and tasted of nothing but a fish market with bad air con.

They did comp us the dish (normally ~$34) and we left having paid nearly $40 for one person for dinner, before tip. The gesture was much appreciated, but our relationship with Elle...

-Jan '25, Updating my review; dinner this evening was a mixed experience. The food was superb, wild mushroom soup and Bolognese with wild mushrooms were both over the top. The Woodford rye Manhattans were excellent, but here lies the rub; $21@ is just to much for these. Brandon our wait person made them, and like I said, they were excellent, BUT he made like everyone's drinks, served other tables, and waited the bar, leaving us like lonesome, not because he wasn't doing anything , but because he was doing everything. I am sure the restaurant is understaffed, but I feel it would be better to take fewer reservations than leave guests feel undeserved.

Here at the former home of Harvest Kitchen, great place, but Elle is a step even higher. Our first time here, Marcus (see photo) our wait person made our visit special. The house cocktails are creations you will not find elsewhere, the two i had were fabulous. The Marsala Manhattan is a very nice twist on an old standby, and the Scoville with muddled Jalapeno is awesome. I had it made with gin instead of Tito's. We had the bread appetizer and the octopus. The octopus was very tasty and a comfortable texture. The roasted peppers along side could have been an appetizer all themselves. I had the red snapper special - seasoned to perfection, sat on a bed of Tabbouleh. the Tabbouleh was the star of the show for me. Ample parking and enter...

My husband and I went to Elle for the first time last night wow! Everything was amazing! We had the calamari as an appetizer hands down the best calamari we’ve had in northeast Ohio. We sat at the bar and Nate the bartender took amazing care of us very knowledgeable and makes killer drinks! We then had the pomodoro pasta that was on the happy hour menu to share and was served with homemade fresh bread with a delicious butter that is made in house. This pasta was delicious fresh the sauce was light and tasted like it was just made! We then moved on to our dinners which honestly at this point we were both full but we had to try their entrees after how delicious everything else was. My husband had the short ribs I had the scallops. The short rib was braised and served with delicious polenta very rich and the flavor was incredible! The scallops were seared beautifully and served with a delicious risotto Gordon Ramsey would have definitely approved and enjoy them just as much as I did! If you haven’t tried Elle I highly recommend you do you won’t be disappointed! If I could give this more than 5 stars I would everything was amazing! Jay you really out did yourself with this restaurant and didn’t miss a thing the restaurant is beautiful the atmosphere ambience service and chef’s are top notch! You will taste the quality and fresh ingredients used in everything!We will...