Chardon, a small suburb south of Cleveland, had their first restaurant week back in April. I wish I would have had more time and nicer weather that week, as it snowed here in Cleveland, to try more of the restaurants on the list. We did make it to check out one of the restaurants on the list, Square Bistro. They are located right in Chardon Square. They have a couple tables outside the restaurant and then a street level dining area and a downstairs dining area. Both levels have their own bar and then tables for dining. We were seated downstairs. To get down there you take a cute spiral staircase down.
For Chardon restaurant week all the restaurants had different specials. The special here was a 3 course a’la carte menu for two for $50. They do run this special on Wednesdays all year long. As for Square Bistros regular menu they have an extensive sushi menu, soups, salads, sandwiches, seafood and steaks.
The three course a’la carte menu came with an appetizer, entree and dessert each. We started off with some bread with red pepper butter. They have a different butter most days and they make the different flavored butter in house. My friend and I picked different items so we could try more options and they split everything in half for us. They were so nice and we appreciated it so much. For our appetizers we tried the French onion soup and the Bistro Salad. The French onion soup had caramelized onions, an herbed baguette crouton, and Middlefield Swiss cheese. I thought it was really flavorful as not too salty like some French onion soup can be. All the ingredients in the Bistro salad was extra fresh, which we know in Cleveland can be hard to come by certain times of the year. The dressing they recommend is a 12 year aged balsamic vinaigrette and the salad had shaved Parmesan, which worked really well with the flavor of the vinaigrette.
For our entrees we tried the chicken ravioli and the steak frites. The chicken for the ravioli is grilled and then the ravioli has four cheeses instead of just ricotta. It has a black truffle Parmesan garlic cream sauce over the chicken and ravioli. This dish was my favorite out of our two entrees. I loved that the ravioli had more than one cheese and the truffle sauce had so much flavor and texture to it. Our other entree the steak and frites was ok. The steak did not really wow me. I found it a little on the salty side for my liking. The steak was cooked to a nice medium, which is always appreciated. It came with fries or frites as their menu states with a garlic aioli drizzled over it. The one item that really stuck out on this dish was the smoked bacon ketchup. The ketchup had a smoke flavor to it that was just amazing. I have never had a ketchup flavored like this and really want to learn how to make it. It just added so much flavor to the dish.
For dessert we had the vanilla bean cheesecake and the key lime tart. The vanilla bean cheesecake was my favorite out of these two. Cheesecake is almost always my pick for dessert and this cheesecake did not disappoint. The texture of the cheesecake was exactly how I like and the fruit was fresh just like all the ingredients In the salad. The strawberry sauce and whipped cream just added to the flavor. The key lime tart looked beautiful and the whipped mixture was tangy and tart like key lime should be. My only complaint was the crust or tart was very hard to cut through. Making the dessert a little difficult to eat. The fruit once again was so fresh and with the whipped cream added to the flavor.
We are hoping to get back here soon to try some sushi and other items off the menu. They really did have something on their menu for everyone. The fruits and veggies were so fresh, even for the middle of April in Cleveland and the employees were so accommodating. If you are in Chardon I would suggest checking out Square Bistro.