If you are looking for a place to spend an enjoyable evening, give the Stone Mad Pub a try. The restaurant is just off Detroit Avenue on W. 65th Street. They have put a lot of work into the place and have two photo albums depicting all the work that went into transforming the typical Cleveland row house into the impressive stonework and cobblestone masterpiece it is today. The owners tore the house down to the raw frame, and everything is new but purposely has an aged look.
The first thing you notice when you park the car is all the stonework. This is not a place to wear stiletto heels, and I am glad I warned my dining out group about it. The driveway / parking lot to the right of the building is nothing but stone. The stonework patio (as seen in the photo) seems like a great place to while away an evening. Unfortunately when we were there a summer storm was looming, so we ended up seated inside.
The inside of the restaurant is also quite impressive. It features shiny dark wood, stained glass, and a cozy fireplace. The back of the house is bright and airy, with light wood, lots of windows and a bocce ball court.
The food was pretty decent. Most of us ordered the hamburgers. I ordered the Stone Mad Burger with Swiss cheese and mushrooms. It was nice and juicy and was piled high with mushrooms. I 
wasn’t as impressed with the hash browns, which I had to order separately. They were bland and not very well seasoned. I ate them with a lot of ketchup.
Other choices include various burger variations, pasta, an Iceberg wedge, and an Italian salad (Iceberg lettuce, cheese and Italian cold cuts – see below). I found the menu to be rather limited, particularly if you have vegetarians in your group. If the cook were to be a little more adventurous and upscale to 
match the decor, this could definitely be a place to frequent regularly. If you want a good burger, this is the place to get one.
One thing I highly recommend is saving room for dessert and ordering the bocce ball. It was absolutely delicious and was the hit of the night. Dark chocolate cake nestled in a pillow of whipped cream and garnished with fresh blueberries. This photo is of it after it was cut up to be passed around and shared by everyone, and unfortunately does not do it justice. You have to taste it to believe it.
Contact info:
Stone Mad Pub, Restaurant and Bocce Court
1306 W 65th St
Cleveland, OH 44102
(216) 281-6500
Posted by jillsommer 
If you’ve read my About page, you know that my mother is a huge fan of Julia Child. As a young wife, she taught herself to cook with her book Mastering the Art of French Cooking and by watching her series The French Chef. I had no idea that she had her cookbooks autographed by Julia and Paul Child. We were sitting around talking about the new movie, Julie & Julia, the other weekend, and she told us a really cool story. Apparently Julia Child was autographing her newest cookbook release back in 1971, and Mom had brought her well-loved cookbooks with her as well. Julia’s husband, Paul, was so impressed at how well-used they were that he pointed them out to Julia. The result is that Mom has all three of her Julia Child cookbooks autographed by Julia and Paul Child. How cool is that?
When the weather is nice I love dining outside and especially on the water, so I thought it would be an interesting place for my Dining Out group to meet. Unfortunately seating on the water is first come, first served and because we were a big group we were seated inside the restaurant. The service was pretty attentive, all things considered, and despite putting everything on one check they were willing to break it down and allow us to pay for our meals separately. We just had to tell them how much our share was.
My friend Lenore and I could not decide what to order, so we ordered two entrees and split them. We chose the chopped salad (crisp greens, vine-ripe tomatoes, diced turkey breast, chopped egg, cucumbers, red onion, applewood smoked bacon, shredded provolone cheese and choice of dressing on the side) and the Philly Steak and Cheese 
(shaved prime rib, caramelized onions and mushrooms, stuffed in a toasted hoagie roll with melted mozzarella and a side of au jus). We both really enjoyed the salad, but Lenore was not impressed with the sandwich. She found it too dry. I figure you can’t expect too much from a Philly cheese steak in Cleveland. Plus, she’s from New York and is used to good bread, which this hoagie bun was not. One of our other friends ordered the Philly Steak sandwich with onion rings, which were quite delicious. Next time I’m going to order some seafood though.
My friends were seated at the bar, enjoying a stemless glass of wine, when I arrived. Since the evening was so beautiful we chose to sit on the outside patio. The patio overlooks a body of water, and there were kayakers cruising back and forth on the water that night. It was very peaceful.
was delicious. I only wish there were several more pieces of it. The tempura was batter-dipped vegetable slices of eggplant, carrot, and zucchini and a shrimp, which we divided in two to try each one.
I had chosen Romanini’s for the spaghetti and meatballs, but once I saw trout on the menu I had to order it. This trout was rainbow trout stuffed with crab and wrapped with pancetta. It was served with sauteed yellow and green zucchini. It was delicious – and just as good the next day.
Gretchen wanted the halibut, but they were out. She ordered another fish (I think it was haddock?) with a sweet mushroom sauce. She was surprised by the sweetness of the sauce, but said it complemented the fish very nicely.
over quantity. I love that they serve their coffee in cafe au lait mugs (what one of my friends lovingly calls a “bowl of coffee”). I miss my cafe au lait and love when I find a place that offers a good one!
They are best known for their waffles and something called a Shipwreck. It was a tough choice, but I decided to opt for the vanilla bean waffles with roasted peaches and honey whipped cream. They were absolutely divine!
looks amazing. Lucky’s also serves a vegetarian version of the Shipwreck called the Canoewreck. The Canoewreck features curried tofu, hash browns, seasonal veggies, and brewers yeast, served with Como toast and fresh fruit. I got to try my friend’s, and it was delicious.
I had a craving for a root beer float this afternoon after taking my dog to Bow Wow Beach in Stow. I haven’t had a root beer float in about twenty years and really enjoyed it. I was hoping it would be served in the big glass mug the root beer is served in, but unfortunately it came in a “to go” cup.
Feeling a little peckish, I decided to try something different and tried their Mozza Burger, which features mozzarella cheese, bacon and a Thousand Island dressing. The patties were a little overcooked, but the mozzarella cheese and bacon really went well together. I’m going to have to try to recreate this burger at home. The crinkle fries were perfectly done, and my dog enjoyed her plain beef hotdog. It was a pleasant afternoon, and I was sad that I had finished my root beer float so quickly.
Probably the thing I was most looking forward to when I moved back to Cleveland after living in Germany for six years was spending the evening at Blossom Music Center listening to the world famous Cleveland Orchestra or the Blossom Festival Orchestra.
those who are not familiar with Austro-Hungarian cuisine, Wiener Schnitzel is a veal cutlet pounded flat and battered and fried to a golden brown. It is traditionally served with spaetzel (delicate dumplings made of flour, eggs and water) and applesauce.
night. We were a fairly large group and the restaurant was full, but we had no problems with the service. They seated us at an L-shaped table by the window.
