Sol - Willoughby — Restaurant in Willoughby

I recently stopped on a weekday for lunch at Sol located north of Glenn Avenue just east of Erie Street in Willoughby, Ohio. Erie Street is the historic main retail district in Willoughby. There is plenty of free off-street parking for Sol and other businesses behind the stores along Erie Street. Even with all the parking spaces, the lot apparently gets crowded at certain times. Several of the businesses, including Sol, have reserved some spaces for their customers. On a weekday afternoon, there were plenty of open parking spaces.

This was my first visit to Sol. My meal was very tasty, but not exceptional. Many diners were getting the taco meals. When I return again, I will order one of their Taco meal selections.Since it was a weekday afternoon, I had an unsweetened ice tea to drink. They have an extensive drink list, including various tasting flights.

I started with the calamari appetizer. The lightly breaded calamari was tasty. The grilled half of lime to squeeze over the calamari was a nice touch. The warm tomato sauce for dipping was not impressive. In my opinion, it needed more gusto - a touch of spicy heat would have been appreciated. Next, I enjoyed the Sol burger with a side of Mexican street corn. The corn was great! The Sol burger is a good size burger. The toppings are good. A decent burger but, again, not exceptional. The presentation of both the calamari and the burger is thoughtful and pleasing to the eye. I did notice the diners who ordered the Taco meals were onto a good thing. No paper napkins or plastic utensils here at Sol. Cloth napkins and nice place settings are the standard here.

The dining area is clean and the Men's room is clean and tidy.

I recently revisted Sol and had a great late lunch. I started with the Malanga Chips and Tomatillo Salsa. A very, very tasty appetizer. Malinga is a root vegetable that Sol prepares nice and crunchy with just the right amount of salt. The Tomatillo Salsa has a great depth of flavor to accompany the Malinga Chips. The chips are not oily nor greasy. Could they have been prepared in an air fryer?

Next, I enjoyed the Vegan Chorizo Tacos. Two tacos come per order with your choice of three sides. Sol offers six types of tacos. I asked if I could choose two different tacos per order. The answer is no. I will need to return again to try a different taco pair.

The Vegan Chorizo Tacos start with a smear of guacamole on a crispy corn taco shell. The crispy corn taco shell is nested into a toasted flour tortilla taco shell. Makes for a great bite without the crispy corn taco shell crumbling away. Charred cabbage is layered on the guacamole. That is topped with corn salsa and a zesty vegan aioli. The presentation is very nice and clean. The tacos have a great flavor and texture. Each bite has a consistent and delicious flavor. YUMMY! The two tacos and a side are just the right amount of food for a lunch. I chose the Mexican Street Corn for my side. The street corn is great tasting with a nice presentation. I enjoyed an unsweetened ice tea for my beverage.

The servers and service is top notch. The servers care about their customers and are always moving. The restaurant has a great decor and is very clean. A great place to relax and enjoy good food and drink.

The outdoor dining area is open now. There are tables, with umbrellas for shade, and a covered area with a fire pit and ceiling mounted televisions. One suggestion for management is to install a door sensor on the exterior of the door going to the outdoor dining area or a install an ADA type touch pad on the railing going up to the door to assist their servers. That door opens to the outside. Bringing food out to the dining area is easy for the servers. Bringing back empty plates and glasses is awkward having to grab the door handle and pull with arms full of dirty dishes. If not a sensor, the server could hip check the ADA type touch pad to open the door hands free. Your servers are good and really...

. I recommended this place to 7 of my cousins after seeing it last year when eating at WBC. We called the week before to make a reservation and called this morning to confirm and about the availability outdoors. We all drove 40-60 minutes and arrived ~15 minutes early as suggested. When my sister arrived she was told there was no reservation under her name or number and that we would need to wait as only a 4 top was open on the patio. When I arrived I spoke with the manager at the bar who stated she was the one who had spoken with my sister and confirmed her reservation. Very poor interactions with the hostess and manager there after. They went to put us on the patio at 2 separate tables of 6 and said we couldnt sit together outside due to current regulations (also not experience anywhere else) but could inside?!. Again no mention from the manager when my sister spoke to her that morning or we likely would have tried somewhere else as there appears lots of great options right there since we wanted to be together as a family. Decided to sit at a large table inside so our group could actually interact. Ww were sat at a dirty table that the hostess “didn’t realize wasn’t cleaned last night” and had dried up salsa all over it. Luckily our server Mitchell pretty much was the only thing that saved the experience. He was so kind and helpful explaining different dishes. Definitely not the best margaritas as they put salt on our grapefruit margaritas even though the description says pixie stick sugar. But the presentation and option of flavors were different. We tried 8 different entrees (some to share) and maybe it was just ours but the eggs on the Huevos rancheros and the hash were overcooked and hard in the middle making the huevos rancheros dry and the hash just a big ball of liquid cheese. As I told the owner as they send out a feedback email, I would not make the drive out to go here again or recommend since overall the first impression was not what I’ve experienced In quite awhile even with current...

Had a terrible experience last night with the female bartender. She came off tired and highly unprofessional which can be understandable considering the circumstances and I am sure she had a long evening already with the traffic. However, as business owner myself it is never acceptable to treat your clients that have chosen to come out to your establishment for some relaxed social time to only experience the complete opposite.

I came in to have a drink at the bar and I specifically requested the same drink that I drink every where and when she brought the drink back I was very clear that I did not want the drink chilled, nor did I want any ice in it. Has this happened anywhere else (mistakes)?? Yes absolutely it has the difference though is that the server/bartender usually accepts the mistake and makes the remedy by remaking the drink right away. Not the case with this bartender in fact she told that I was not going to get a drink at all and that I can leave now? Literally treated very poorly and to say the least it’s offensive considering I strive daily to teach my own employees to do the right thing and treat our clients with full respect as they are paying for our services. No different for any business.

Before departing after she blew up on me I requested to speak to the manager and she told me she can call him and get him on the phone to tell me to f** off? I was in shock that this woman even had a position at your restaurant and highly doubt that you turn dissatisfied customers away to refrain from reviews like this. I can’t even tell you what the food is like or anything else about this restaurant because the bartender made that impossible and zero interest to want to find out.

I am requesting that the manager reach out to me to discuss this employees behavior and what remedy will be put in place to never allowing this to happen to another client...