OK my friends, I'm coming home this weekend for the Auto Show, family tradition, and the Cavs game on Saturday. I would like to try and go to Sokolowski's, I've seen it on the Travel Channel and seen it discussed on these boards. A few questions. 1- Is it as good as adverstised? 2- I looked at the menu and I am thinking either corned beef- jonesing for one after that thread or the chicken paprikash, love that dish, what else? 3-We are bringing my 4 year daughter to the game (her first) is Sokolowski's kid friendly as I did not see an online kid's menu? She is pretty adaptable and not a picky eater 4- If I get there by 5 pm, will a table for three have a wait? Thanks.

1. It's pretty good. Don't expect high-end, just good family food.
2. If you go there and don't get pierogies you should turn in your "Clevelander" card
3. It's cafeteria style serving, so you can find something for your rugrat.
4. Unknown, sorry

Sokolowski's is my favorite place to eat in the city and have been going there for the better part of the decade. Great hardy, family style food. The decor is informal and filled with tributes to sports fans and various other famous folks who have graced the restaurant over the years. Doesnt have the look of the high class restaurants in the city but the food is homemade and top notch.

I have never had the corned beef because I stick with the stapes of stuffed cabbage or salisbury steak when visiting. These are usually on the menu daily and along with pierogies, are what the place is famous for. A couple friends have ordered a sandwich and enjoyed them but there is a slight wait as they are made fresh unlike the cafeteria style preparation for the rest of the food. My fiancee tried the chicken paprikash and liked it a lot.

I really dont remember seeing a kids menu. The daily menu is available via the website and is available at the begining of the line before ordering. Here is the traditional saturday menu although there could be some variations as they tend to mix it up.
http://www.sokolowskis.com/saturday.html

As for a table, you should be fine to get a table for 3 at 5. It will probably be busy but I dont recall having a problem at that time of night. The lower dining room has live piano music and the upper dining room has a fire place but both should have space available. Have a good time and let me know what you think!

Thanks to you both for the info. We got to sokolowski's yesterday at 5:30, we entered the door by the cliff down to the river (the door closest to the food) and the line went across the entrre restaraunt and out the other door!! So unfortunately, we ate somewhere else, but you guys were right about the restraunt, great smell of food, we will be back some other day.

Bump. Huge bump. Finally got there today after coming in for the Boat Show. Got there when it opened, food was outstanding. I had the schnitzel, my wife had chicken paprakash, both with a side of perogies. Parents got essentially the same thing. We all split a side of chocolate cake (huge piece). Had OK Beer, just grabbed something that looked foreign. Great experience and will definetly return.

Sweet, glad to hear you liked it. I love the paprakash and perogies.. Believe it or not, they had awesome ribs as well. Try that or the stuffed cabbage.. another favorite of mine..

overrated clap clap clapclapclap.

Fatty, starchy, heavy eastern european ethnic food ain't my to die for trip.

Get my ass to a high end steak house, sea food, pf chang or eyetaleeean.

Thats just like your opinion, man... You want to talk overrated? Look that word up in the dictionary and there is a picture of PF Chang's, I assure you. You can find better Chinese without paying through the nose and dealing with yuppie assbags.

Don't mind JB, he points out clouds on a mostly sunny day... PF Chang's

Stuffed Cabage FTW!

Like anyone was calling for Soko's as their last meal on Death Row...

Been wanting to try this joint since I saw it on No Reservations.

Is it hard to find?

Perhaps a little bit. If you are coming in on 71 north exit at the W.14th exit. Do the roundabout and stay on 14th. As you get to the end of 14th you can either get back on 71/90 or go right staying just along the onramp. That street ends at Abbey and if you look to your right you will see the back of Sokolowski's parking lot. Turn right, then make the first left, then next left will put you in front of the place. Go in, order a beer as you enter from the bar, get in line, get stuffed cabage, corn, and cabage and noodles if available. Find table, find beer, eat and enjoy!

Definately an opinon hating on ethnic kilbassa and cabbbage type shit Jack.

But Chang's if phresh. That's the dif.

I'd take a bath in their won ton soup.

Just bypass it and go to Great lakes. You'll be happier.

Fuckin' old polish-slovenian women's food.

people only eat cabbage if they are poor and dying. paying for it out of choice is retarded. plus cabbage smells like ass. inedible except raw in a good cole slaw.

Guess I am retarded, but ignorance is bliss. At least in the case of Soko's. You taking a bath in Chang's Won Ton would be a sight to see.

If it wasn't for that loser Pekar this segment might have been enjoyable. I'll take Anthony Bourdain's opinion over JB... (1:31 mark...)


You could listen to Randy Marsh and go to PF Chang's. The only good piece of advice he has given in this thread is that you should go to GLB. I've had their food, hit it for drinks only... Go to Lola if you want to something special...

Sokolowskis is all about the experience. The fact that places like this only exist in midwest towns like Cleveland.

Clevelands a very underrated restaurant town. So many different types of places. This is a good example.

And cabbage is awesome. Nothing like a big hunk of it (heavily salted) with some corned beef, carrots, and potatoes. Or cabbage rolls paizan style ... wrapped around baseball sized hunks of italian meats and seasonings, baked slowly in a tomato sauce for a couple hours.

JB is a cool cat, I respect his opinions and enjoy his posts.. even if he's dead wrong from time to time like this one..

Hell yeah, stuffed cabbage and pierogies there is great.. Between that, the ribs, the salisbury steak, and the chicken paprakash, I havent tried other things since I could eat those 3 daily..

Christ. Here we go with JB's 'boiled meat' rant 2 months earlier than usual.

The only foods that should be boiled are pasta and bagels.

I will do piroghi, but cabbage is literally garbage.

To me cabbage is like lettuce, water chestnuts, bean sprouts, and those crunchy things you put on chow mein.

Little flavor. Do nothing for me by themselves. But are nice complementary items to cook with.

My wife always busts my balls cause I'll always buy one of the 90 cent packs of bean sprouts that Heinens carries in the produce section when I make stir frys. No flavor really. It's a texture thing.

It's a classic Cleveland haunt in my book. Standing in line reading the old newspaper headlines and seeing a Paul Sorrento-type autographed baseball card on the wall must be appreiciated. So outdated it's stumbled into retro.

As for the food, it's simple ethnic comfort food. You eat warmed fatty foods, sit in the over-heated and dimly lit dining room, and take a comfortable nap. I get tired just thinking of the place. 3 out of 4 stars.

Didn't have the cabbage. At least, I didn't order it.

It took me near a year to get there and would go again, despite JB's thumb's down Swerb's right about the experience/ambiance- never did cafeteria style that wasn't in a cafeteria. Big guy in the corner playing the piano.

Would rec. the schnitzel in addition to all those added above.

CDT- I too became intrigued when it was on No Reseverations, it's not too difficult to get to although the GPS led us astray but I kind of knew where it was and just found it on my own. 77-->innerbelt W--> Abbey Rd exit and then two quick r turns.

I had the schnitzel last time I was there. Thought it was great.

Type 'a place you bring one of your relatives when they're in from one of the coasts. Talk for 20 min about how there's nothing like this out where they live and how cool it is.

Peeps think folks leave Ctown due to weathr n jobs. Wrong. It's the shitty eastern European food.


Italian, Greek , even Barberton hungaian fried chicken rules. But all that nasty ass boiled cabbage? Smells like my feet after not showering for 3 days cept liking my geet tastes better. Plus ethnic sausage is really bad cept Italian, chorizo and andoille.


Yer all a bunch of delusional Slovenians , ruskies and poles, or wannabes like peeker.

There's reasons our grandparents sent our parents to college and reason one was to escape cabbage.

I thought they sent 'em to college to put an end to the narrow mindedness, cultural discrimination and spelling errors.

Dude, I don't graze on cabbage or have it sitting in bowls in the house to nibble on. But yeah, once or twice a year with the traditional corned beef or cabbage rolls, sure, shit's good to go.

Start cracking on Slivovitz and we're meeting in the middle of a downtown street to settle all this eastern european mud slinging.

I learned wordstar in HS and conluded spelling was a dead skill set. I was rite.

What is slobowyicz? More shitty DP camp food?

Ps. We still owe everyone a rumble.

Pls . My now 13 how trip to Iowa is complete. Got to get lost in the Mall of Am last nite where they don't serve cabbage rolls and fatty bad sausage tho, which is nice

Yes. Those North Central US residents are known for the integrity of their low fat diets.

Slivovitz is homemade plum brandy. Big with the croatians and Eastern Euros.

It also serves as drain cleaner, sterilization liquid for rudimentary surgical instruments and it can likely be used as fuel for a '78 Yugo.

I would have thought a man with an advanced degree in Buzz would know what it was.

Good god. I thought I saw someone that looked like you. Wrote it off as "Nah, it couldn't be cause he's not passed out and this isn't a Residence Inn."

Post mortem of Favre was epic , I must add, especially from the cabbie.

Speaking of cabbage, I love me some kimchi. Don't be hatin' on the cabbage!