On a gorgeous summer day, there may be no sweeter patch in town than the narrow spit of land known as Whiskey Island. Sporting a hedonistic disposition not unlike Put-in-Bay’s, the county-owned parcel at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River is a popular spot with boaters, birders, babes and the sand-volleyball players who love them. In addition to a 250-slip marina, Whiskey Island boasts the 20-acre Wendy Park, a picturesque retreat hugging the shores of Lake Erie. And serving as social director and sustenance provider of this perfect little ecosystem is the Sunset Grille.
Though it’s just a little more than a mile down the road from
Edgewater Park, the area surrounding the Sunset Grille seems to exist
in a parallel universe. Pull up on a sparkling summer evening, and
you’ll swear you’ve been teleported to South Bass Island. An eclectic
mix of hipsters, young professionals and the working class sip ice-cold
Coronas at wooden picnic tables, while a DJ blasts beachy Buffett
tunes. Boaters load up coolers before boarding their crafts for a
sunset cruise with mates. League volleyball players grab a last-minute
burger in preparation for the first serve of the night. This may be one
of the few places in Cleveland where the sign reads: “No shirt, no
shoes, no problem.”
Given the setting, nobody would expect — or even desire
— four-star cuisine. When the dress code calls for flip-flops and
shades, the menu should follow suit. But unfussy food needn’t be
“cheap” food. Some of the hottest trends in dining right now include
upmarket snack bars dispensing high-quality burgers, dogs, fries and
shakes. If only the loveable Sunset Grille could learn that casual can
coexist with delicious.
The Sunset Grille claims something even NYC’s famed Shake Shack
lacks: a historic timber-frame boat shack just feet from the surf. Tall
ceilings, spinning fans and wide-open windows fill the festive room
with a breezy vacation vibe. At the center of it all is a long wooden
bar, fashioned from the hull of a retired sailboat. You practically
have to “come aboard” to order a brew. Though the beer list trails
trends as well, there are enough choice brands to quench most thirsts
($3/domestic; $3.75/imported).
When you serve 500 to 800 people on any given weekend day, as Sunset
Grille routinely does throughout the summer, it’s obvious you need to
devise a menu that can be executed with all deliberate speed. Salads,
burgers, dogs and fried things are the natural choices, and that is
precisely the route taken here. Unfortunately, most of those items
barely rise to the gastronomic level of satisfactory. Some are just
plain off.
It only takes one nibble of our mozzarella sticks ($6) to detect a
familiar flavor: squid. Obviously prepared in the same deep fryer as
the calamari, and most likely in an old batch of grease at that, the
cheese sticks possess an off-putting fishy flavor that even the
marinara sauce can’t obscure.
Despite their billing on the menu, I’m going to presume that the
cheese fries ($5) are physician-approved for the lactose intolerant.
Smothering the life out of a mound of crispy fries is the sort of
pale-orange goo that is normally found at a ballpark concession stand.
Real cheddar cheese is used in the chicken quesadilla ($7), and it
makes a huge difference. The large flour tortilla is stuffed with
grilled chicken, scallions, tomatoes and cheese. It is grilled, carved
into wedges and served with plastic tubs of sour cream and salsa.
Had my burger ($7.25) remained on the grill long enough to vanquish
that last bit of inner chill, it would have been a highlight of the
meal. Instead, I’m compelled to slather on fake mayo and nibble my way
around the edges where the meat is fully cooked. It is a decent
hamburger, all in all, the kind one can find at pubs throughout
town.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the buffalo chicken
sandwich ($7.25). Clearly another pre-prepared frozen product, the
chicken arrives bearing a preternatural cherry hue that resembles
neither buffalo nor chicken. An odd plastic flavor prevents us from
finishing even half the sandwich.
Management may be starting to get the message. Just recently, a
coal-black barbecue rig rolled onto the scene, and the kitchen has
begun smoking pork shoulders, chickens and various other meats. Whether
the crew can reliably turn out enough quality barbecue to feed the
masses has yet to be seen, but if it can, the Sunset Grille is destined
for Great Lakes greatness. After all, it is one of Cleveland’s only
true lakeside dining spots. That alone makes it special.
This article appears in Jun 10-16, 2009.
