Pier W in Lakewood

Pier W has always been the pinnacle of fine dining to a young girl from Olmsted Falls whose family rarely went out to eat and when we did it was the local Vietnamese place in Berea to celebrate our good grades. Everyone always talked about Pier W in lofty tones. Pier W has one of the best views in the city. As the Pier W website explains, “This landmark Cleveland restaurant has been serving a critically acclaimed seafood menu since 1965. The unique building architecture is designed to resemble the hull of a luxury liner cruising along Lake Erie. This full service, white table cloth, contemporary seafood restaurant and bar serves lunch, dinner, Sunday brunch, and private functions in a unique waterfront location in Lakewood, Ohio. Its minimalist dining room design frames the spectacular views of Lake Erie and the Cleveland skyline.”

This is a great place to celebrate a special occasion, but you also can’t beat their amazing happy hour, featuring wine for $5.25 a glass, food at half the price, and martinis for $5.75 instead of $8 or $9 (Red Delicious pictured here). Happy hour takes place every night but Saturday from 4:00-7:00 pm. The menu features various sandwiches, their clam chowder and lobster bisque and several smaller plate entrees like calamari. If you want to check Pier W out but don’t have the cash for a full-out meal, happy hour in their bar is the way to go.

However, this particular post is going to highlight my birthday meal. I love seafood, so I knew I wanted some good seafood. Some girlfriends and I met at the bar for a couple drinks and then we moved to the dining room for a delicious meal. I enjoyed several Red Delicious martinis (Laird’s Apple Jack Brandy, apple cider, Chateau Pommari, creme de cassis in a glass with a cinnamon sugar rim) before dinner. I loved the cinnamon sugar rim. It added a really nice touch.

We started by sharing the Iced Seafood Tower. It costs $42 and feeds 3-4 people. It contained all kinds of delicious seafood favorites. It features jumbo Gulf shrimp, poached lobster, oysters on the half shell, chilled mussels and crab salad. The tower was accompanied by four different dipping sauces, which we thoroughly enjoyed. I loved everything about this, but the chilled mussels were my favorite. I left the oysters to my friend C., who loved them. I also thoroughly enjoyed the crab salad, which was a nice surprise. It goes without saying that the shrimp and lobster were outstanding.

The bread was fresh baked, and we had two kinds to choose from. The butter was soft and luscious (one of my biggest pet peeves is when the bread is served with rock hard butter). I ordered the Wood Roasted Heirloom Beet Salad featuring blue goat cheese, marinated watermelon, aged balsamic vinegar, dill oil and red shiso (whatever that is). Beets and watermelon together in one dish? Yes please! All the different flavors really melded well together. It was light and refreshing, and I loved every bite.

Being a huge lobster fan, I ordered the Fresh Lobster Pappardelle for my entree and (since I had thoroughly enjoyed the seafood tower and salad) took most of it home to enjoy the next day. It featured fresh Maine lobster, fresh pappardelle noodles, roasted red peppers, and haricot verts in a light cognac cream sauce. Wow, it was amazing. I would definitely order this again.

Everyone was really pleased with their meals, and the service was just as attentive as you would expect at this five-star restaurant. The staff at Pier W surprised me with this delicious birthday sundae with extra spoons for my friends. It was a great touch to cap a perfect meal.

Contact info:

Pier W
12700 Lake Avenue (Winton Place)
Lakewood, Ohio
Phone (216) 228-2250