The Cerino family, best known for their Italian restaurants around the Cleveland-area, has gone an entirely different route with Eddie ‘n Eddie. A collaboration between father and son, Eddie Cerino and Ed, Jr, together they have created a restaurant that prides itself of fresh ingredients, choice cuts of meat, an extensive bourbon list, and freshly baked goods to honor their family’s baking heritage. Their goal with Eddie ‘n Eddie is to “offer a taste of Americana, featuring three of our country’s most cherished culinary traditions.” And with Burgers, bourbon, and apple pie–it’s hard to get more Americana than that.
Service & Atmosphere
Eddie ‘n Eddie successfully creates a relaxing ambiance–warm lighting; large, open windows; and subtle decor all add to its charm. It’s a good place for a night out with the family or a casual date night dinner; nothing too fancy, but definitely classier than your average burger joint.
We ventured into Eddie ‘n Eddie around 7:00 p.m. on a Friday evening and waited about 25-30 minutes before we were seated. The hostess guided us to a comfortable booth next to a window, and we were greeted by our server, Dan. Dan was probably the highlight of our experience at Eddie ‘n Eddie: he was friendly, upbeat, knowledgeable, and passionate about the restaurant. He offered up dinner suggestions, beer recommendations, and easily convinced us to order dessert–it was like fine dining service at a burger restaurant.
The Drinks
Eddie ‘n Eddie prides itself on an extensive selection of hand-chosen bourbon, which encompasses a full page menu of choices. Their beer list, on the other hand, is about average, offering up brews from Dogfish Head, Breckenridge, Original Sin, Sixpoint, among others. Eddie ‘n Eddie also serves a variety of tasty-sounding cocktails, but at $10 a pop, it was pretty easy to forgo sampling any of them.
The Food
The menu at Eddie ‘n Eddie is not surprising: they offer a variety of appetizers, salads, wings, and burgers. But the difference is that each menu item is well thought out–it’s obvious that close attention is paid to flavor combinations, as seen through their unique topping selections for each plate on the menu. Another unique aspect of Eddie ‘n Eddie is that they are truly a from-scratch kitchen–everything, all the way down to the homemade bun their burgers are served on, is made in-house.
Per our server’s recommendation, I selected the small-batch shrimp burger with a side of sweet potato croquettes ($13). The shrimp burger was a tasty concoction of well-seasoned ground shrimp cooked to a crispy perfection. Topped with a creamy avocado aioli and served on a house-baked soft white bun, every component of this sandwich complimented one another nicely. The sweet potato croquettes, mashed sweet potatoes stuffed inside a crispy battered shell, were an interesting (and much better) alternative to the usual sweet potato fries. Overall, I was satisfied.
Other menu options sampled included the e ‘n e burger ($13), a 10 oz. patty topped with onions, mushrooms, gruyere, and an herb aioli, and the say cheese burger ($10.50), a plain patty with your choice of cheese and bun. Made from high quality cuts of local beef, everyone was in agreement that the burgers were fresh and juicy. A common trend around the table, however, was that the meat temperatures were a little off–a bit disappointing for a place that prides itself on burgers.
Among the appetite-inducing options on the menu include a balsamic bleu burger ($13), topped with bleu cheese crumbles, onion straws, and a balsamic drizzle, and a roasted beet salad ($11), crisp greens paired with goat cheese, candied pecans, and a citrus vinaigrette.
At a place that advertises apple pie on its exterior, not ordering dessert was obviously out of the question. I’m fairly certain we sampled their entire dessert menu for the evening, which included an apple crisp with apricots, an apple cranberry pie topped with oatmeal crumbs, pumpkin cheesecake, and a chocolate cupcake. Both apple desserts were nothing short of delicious, but the cupcake and cheesecake were both a little lackluster. The cupcake tasted something like a store-bought box mix, and the pumpkin cheesecake was a little too overwhelmed with spices.
Overall
Overall, Eddie ‘n Eddie is a welcomed Lakewood addition serving up fresh ingredients, homemade desserts, and outstanding service. It’s definitely worth taking a detour from your usual night out to experience something from their tasty menu.
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