The very name is a mouthful at McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurant, the newly opened seafood & steakhouse in Beachwood. (Part of a Portland, Oregon-based chain with 50 or so spots nationwide, it joins other Ohio locations in Columbus, Dayton, and Cincinnati.) But the menu is a big ’un, too, filled with scores of lunch and dinner possibilities – everything from oysters on the half shell, fried calamari, and grilled swordfish to spicy shrimp linguini, beer-battered fish ’n’ chips, and filet mignon.
Still not enough? The Fresh List – featuring 30 types of fresh, not frozen, fishes — changes twice daily as new shipments arrive!
So how to chose from all this bounty? We asked the restaurant’s Brecksville-born chef Doug Fulton for some guidance. After spending nearly a decade in Seattle, including a stint as chef de cuisine at the award-winning Salish Lodge & Spa, Fulton knows his fish. Among his favorite picks on the M & S menu: seared jumbo sea scallops with jasmine rice and stirfried veggies; the Northwest Sauté, with salmon, asparagus, and a light cream sauce; and for purists, cedar-planked salmon with a sauce of Pacific Northwest berries. (Entree prices, incidentally, fall anywhere from the low teens to the upper 30s.)
Then there’s the famous bar menu, featuring made-from-scratch cocktails and such noshes as burgers, wings, salmon cakes, and bruschetta, all pegged at $1.95 during Happy Hours, 3:30 to 6 p.m. and 9:30 to 11 p.m. daily. (A two-drink minimum applies.)
Decisions, decisions. Luckily, you can discover new faves for yourself. Find M & S at 26300 Cedar Rd., at the main entrance to Beachwood Place shopping mall. For reservations and more information, click here or call 216-595-2886. — Elaine T. Cicora
This article appears in Sep 19-25, 2007.
horrible.. can you say “butter?”
Having enjoyed this restaurant on a visit to Seattle, my husband and I went here for his birthday in December. Our server was so busy being solicitous to the adjoining table that he left our food sitting under the heat lamps. When it finally arrived, it was cold and dried out. We ordered wine and it never arrived. When I wrote a letter to the corporate web site, I heard from the manager immediately. I was told that I should have called the restaurant ahead so they would be alerted to our special occasion. Well, shouldn’t they be giving “wow” service and food to everyone, regardless of a special occasion? Furthermore, I was assured that an apology letter was in the mail. It’s been four months and it still hasn’t arrived. Save your money and go to Blue Pointe Grill where the food and service are consistently excellent.