Chelo’s Kitchen — Restaurant in South Euclid

Chelo’s was a breakfast suggestion from my cousin. I decided to go 7:30 AM on what seemed to be the coldest day of the year. Having just moved to Cleveland from Florida (what kind of idiot does that? Me!). I felt the bone chilling temperatures—in my bones.

After driving around the neighborhood, with the help of my GPS, I was unable to find the establishment. The GPS told me “you have reached your destination“ but I didn’t see the place. So I drove a couple of blocks, turned around, and the GPS repeated the phrase.

I didn’t read the signs in front of the stores along Mayfield. I expected a large parking lot, which is a convention most restaurants follow. So, where to park? I thought I’d take a look in back of the building to see what there was to see. Know what I saw? A parking lot!

And so, I parked. Just a few feet from the back door.

The walk from my car to Chilo‘s back door was torture, according to the Geneva Conventions. No POW would ever be placed in a pyrogenic container. it’s international law.

But the heat that enveloped me as I entered the building was pure pleasure.

To get to the restaurant I walked through the back hall and passed a gentleman, just leaving. I said to him “hello.“

He said “hi. How are ya?“

that was shocking. I’m from Cleveland, but I spent the last 40 years in New York and Florida. I never received such a friendly and automatic response, especially that early in the morning, in either of those states.

I remembered my Cleveland manners all that time!

I walked into the restaurant and it was nearly empty. this cannot be a good sign. but that’s how it is most places for breakfast at 7:30 AM on a weekday.

I walked in, sat down at a booth, and the waitress came over with a pot of coffee and asked “coffee?“

I quickly responded “yes! 1 gallon of coffee, please.“

She giggled (though she probably hears similar quips several times daily) and walked away.

I spent some time perusing the menu. The top. The bottom. The back. The front.

I don’t know why I do that. I ordered the same thing everywhere I go if they have it. And I was gonna do that at Chelo‘s.

The cute little waitress bounced over to my table and asked “are you ready?“

I replied “yup.“

I ordered what I always order, she asked the standard questions waitresses always ask when the customer is ordering a western omelette, she asked if I wanted more coffee, and I did.

I sat for a short while reading the New York Times on my iPhone. I still prefer the size and feel of a full sized printed newspaper in my hands. But now that’s only for special occasions. Because only special places have newspapers to sell.

after reading an article or two about government, corruption and pending cease-fire and settlement talks in the Middle East, my breakfast arrived, and it looked and smelled fantastic!

I put my phone aside and prepared my omelette and coffee. I ate at a reasonable pace as my mother had trained me. (If our mother‘s did good jobs, we follow their orders well into our 90s. I’m not there yet.)

The omelette was delicious. The hashbrowns are cut above. And the coffee? Just perfect. Not every diner gets the coffee right, you know. Sometimes they make it in a rush and pour in too much water. Or not enough grounds. Or they mix the water with a coffee pot that’s 1/4 full.

Whatever. This coffee was good. And over the course of breakfast, I drank four or 5 cups. That’s about a gallon, isn’t it?

after my last cup was served, I was given the check following the standard server question “will there be anything else?“

I thought to myself “I don’t need anything else from the restaurant, but I’m sure there will be something else somewhere else sometime today.“

I’m profound that early in the morning.

After three or five minutes I took the check, walked it over to the waitress who was handling everything in the dining room And we started a little banter as she took the check and my credit card.

Her service was a pleasure. The food was delicious. And I’ll be going back to...

Today we went to Chelo’s for breakfast on our way back to Detroit. At first it was busy, and we waited a minute for the host with the most to tell us it will be a short wait, asked if we had time to wait (which I thought was sweet) and even said well it will be the one big table in the middle if it takes too long.

Shortly there was a long line on people on their way in. Host kept checking on everyone. We noticed the Uraguay poster then I googled the flag at the table so I was excited to see it was a person with that background and they had some South American food on the menu.

Our server was really nice. My bf and I had been to TONS of places to eat over the last few days on our trip and she (Sarah) was by far the nicest and most down to earth and normal server In Ohio. 😎

I got blueberry pancakes and eggs with Turkey sausage and he got the chorizo burrito minus all the things I would consider good (peppers and onions and salsa and sour cream 🤣😋) but he still liked it. The food was really good! We were glad they had French vanilla creamer too.

The inside is a bit hodgepodge (idk what to call it) there is a table by the front door behind the kitchen (but kind of romantic/window seat) and the dishwasher had to carry dishes to and from in front of the line of customers since that area was separate from the kitchen. However I guess that means everyone is working their butts off - and even the dishwasher was friendly to people. We really liked it and we’re glad we could check it out! I almost forgot one of my favorite things - the host wiped our table down then even DRIED it with paper towel! Yeasss.

Thank you for your hospitality in the area to some...

Our family of four absolutely loved Chelo’s kitchen! This is another one of those moments where I almost didn’t want to write a review because the food and service were amazing! I’m leaving atmosphere blank on this review because it is your typical diner that is kind of in need of some TLC in terms of seating. But I DO NOT want that to detract from my overall rating because once again the food and service were great! I love how Chelos does not complicate foods that don’t need to be complicated.

Here is what we had:

Cinnamon roll pancake (this was a special) - my stepson really enjoyed it!

French toast, with two eggs over easy, bacon and white toast = PERFECTION!

The meat omelette- this thing was loaded with meat - off the top of my head it had bacon, sausage, gyro meat, corned beef and then it also had American cheese

My husband got the country fried steak breakfast and it was one of the best I’ve ever had! It was flavorful and tender.

Ham and cheese empanada - I love the empanada shell and the ham but the cheese was a little strange.

We can’t wait to return and try...