Used to be that if somebody offered to take you out to a nice French meal, you'd feign the Plague just to avoid the whole dreary affair. Midas-touched mega-operator Zack Bruell single-handedly cured the Faux Plague when he unveiled L'Albatros, the antithesis to staid, hackneyed French eateries. His lively bistro doesn't skimp on authenticity; it just repackages it for a modern, adoring audience. The service is swift, the food on-point, and the attitude blissfully free of condescension.

11401 Bellflower Rd., 216-791-7880, albatrosbrasserie.com.

Going out for a great steak is one of life's greatest joys. Or at least it should be. When the price of a meal matches your car payment, you want the entire experience from the seat to the meat to be faultless. Anything short of perfection feels like a Times Square pocket picking. At Red, diners should expect to hand over their wallets. But they also can look forward to being treated like royalty while slicing into the finest prime steer around, all of which is cooked to cowboy-approved precision.

Multiple locations, redthesteakhouse.com.

You'd forgive a frat boy-approved beer hall like Hofbräuhaus for putting the suds way (way) ahead of the grub when it comes to bottom-line priorities. But that's surprisingly not the case here, where the potato pancakes and wienerschnitzel are pan-fried to order, the weisswurst is poached not grilled, and the schweinshaxe bears its signature crackling pigskin exterior. When it does come to the suds as it damn well should at a German beer hall we say ignore the lame-ass shotskis and stick to the house-brewed lagers, served properly in hefty liter-size steins.

1550 Chester Ave., 216-621-BEER, hofbrauhauscleveland.com.

With the splashy opening of this East Fourth Street newcomer, Cleveland finally landed a "Great American Beer Hall." While loud as a freight train some nights, the energy is through the roof, with communal tables packed to the gills and diners loading up on meat-filled platters of rib-sticking, butcher-crafted bistro fare. At the far end of the cavernous old downtown space is the brewhouse, from which flows a steady stream of first-rate brews in flavors and styles beer snobs can support. Carnivorous home cooks are counting down the days until the retail butcher shop opens next door.

2043 East Fourth St., 216-331-0805, butcherandthebrewer.com.

Mexican food is fun food. It's the kind of festive meal where diners dip and dunk and share and pass. Too bad most of it isn't very good, leaving diners to focus more on the margaritas than the masa and mole. Momocho breaks the mold, melding good times with great grub. Chef Eric Williams turns out serious Mexi-fare, food that honors and builds upon a great tradition of South-of-the-Border cuisine. That means making everything from scratch from the very best ingredients, something too many of his competitors can't admit to doing with a straight face.

1835 Fulton Rd., 216-694-2122, momocho.com.

Like most Jamaican joints, this carry-out shop has about as much ambiance as the waiting room at the auto repair shop. But, man, that oxtail stew. Operated by a self-taught Jamaican expat, Ocho Rios dishes up the usual spread of jerk chicken, curry goat, oxtail stew, beef patty and curry chicken. But none of it is "usual." The jerk chicken comes across as tropical, almost sweet, until the slow and steady drumbeat of heat takes over. Pudding-soft oxtails luxuriate in a rich, flavorful gravy. The curried goat might be the best excuse to eat that ornery animal ever. Everything is paired with homey rice, beans and warm cabbage slaw. Most people get their food to go, but dining in at the lone table and chatting up the boss is half the fun.

1007 Ivanhoe Rd., 216-249-6246.

For far too long, Eric Williams has taken a back seat in the press to the Symons, Sawyers and Whalens of the Cleveland culinary world. But like the masked underdog in a grueling lucha libre match, this feisty luchador finally has come out on top. He's passionate, relentless and modest as hell, which is probably why we don't read about him every other day in some splashy mag. Williams has worked his way up through some of our city's best and busiest kitchens, including Johnny Mango, Lopez and Moxie, providing him with a diverse set of skills that he relies upon daily in his growing portfolio of eateries. His unique spin on Latin cuisine is modern, relevant and distinctive from the masses, which is why we continue to beat a path to his door(s).

Since 2008, this mom-and-pop shop has been catering to a select group of in-the-know diners who fully comprehend that there is no better place to go within 100 miles for authentic Korean food. Ignore the exterior hell, ignore the interior and focus solely on those bubbling cauldrons of jungol, spicy beef, seafood or lamb stews for two. What's more fun than tabletop grilling? Here, large platters of thin-sliced pork belly or beef brisket are cooked up on tabletop griddles and packed into lettuce leaves for easy eating. No Korean meal begins without a spread of banchan, small portions of raw, pickled or fermented goodies, and the spread here is the most impressive and extensive anywhere.

5270 Pearl Rd., Parma, 216-661-5990.

As with beer and bourbon, bread is made from just a handful of basic, humble ingredients. But the way those ingredients are manipulated makes all the difference in the world. It's all in the hands, likely. Why else would so many of the area's top chefs get daily deliveries from this small and impossibly productive bakery in Cleveland Heights? Pull apart the epi, snap off a hunk of baguette, carve off a slice of the sourdough, and you'll taste how those few modest building blocks of food can be transformed into bites you'll remember long after they're gone.

3471 Fairmount Blvd., Cleveland Hts., 216-320-9923, ontheriseartisanbreads.com.

Those in the know already can be found spending much of the winter hovering over a warm bowl of pho at this understated Vietnamese fixture. Inconspicuously stowed away in a small shopping plaza, Superior is low key enough to make an incognito escape for a piping hot serving of their perfectly flavored beef-and-noodle soup. Never shying from authenticity, the menu is rounded out with crispy bánh mì and fruity bubble tea, making this place the sweet spot for savoring a quiet night solo or for turning new diners onto the scene.

3030 Superior Ave., 216-781-7462, superiorpho.com.