Tommy's Restaurant
 Cleveland, Ohio     Date of Visit  03/20/11      http://www.tommyscoventry.com/

I am continuously stunned by the number options we have to satisfy our appetites and souls. We try to get out to new places on a regular basis and our friends have often taken on the task of finding us new experiences. That’s the soul satisfying part; when you get to break new bread with fun folks and catch up. I had never heard of Tommy’s but looked it up before we met for lunch and found some interesting things about the place. It’s been around in Coventry since 1972 and was once acclaimed by having the best milkshake this side of the Mississippi by Rolling Stone Magazine. They state they have done everything possible to avoid change. Fitting for Coventry.
 

Clean and Warming Broth and Tons of Veggies
 

When I read about little change I expected the place to be a dive. It’s not. Open, bright and clean it’s really nice inside. And it’s packed. Always a great sign. We spent a while in the twisted toy shop next door and a few more minutes waiting for a table and here we go. The menu is focused on meeting the widely varied needs of modern diets. There are not many places where you can have a table including an omnivore, a vegetarian, a vegan and someone on a microbiotic diet and each will have plenty of choices. So. Is any of it any good?
 

I started with a bowl of the soup du which was a chipotle corn. They don’t use a lot of salt (the fries come unadorned) but the soup had a nice bite of pepper with loads of vegetables and there are shakers on the table. They aren’t annoying about it. I got a taste of a coffee milkshake and they are good here, nice balance of the bitter bean against good ice cream. Around the table we had a couple of salads, a cheeseburger and two meat pies. Oh, and loads of fries. The salads (I’m convinced were the Dave and the Susie) looked spectacular and the dressings are all homemade. The Susie comes with ham and cheese while the Dave includes baba, pickles, egg, olives and cheese. I think the olives in the picture might be special order. The fries are delicious (with a shake of salt) cut thick and fried dark. The burger was fine, nothing to write home about…but the meat pie, oh the meat pie!
 

A couple of us ordered the P.R. I suppose they didn’t want their whole name on the menu. This is a lamb and beef patty wrapped in dough and served with falafel, veggies, sesame sauce and cheese. The bread is crisp and the patty has a nice hint of gaminess which is ameliorated by the beef. The cheese is weird but in a good way. The falafel is special. The fried bean cake has a crisp crust and a great flavor that really set the whole combo off. Add the sesame sauce and you have a delicious combination. There are a lot of different combinations at Tommy’s and we will certainly be investigating more. A nice surprise was the delivery of the mint chocolate chip milkshake to go. I noticed a lot of folks walking out of Tommy’s with shakes but didn’t notice the added touch til we had one sitting on the table. They heat seal the top of the cup so your frosty to go treat stays intact…and off of your seats. Tommy’s turns out to be a tasty and fun experience, definitely worth a try, or several.

Once Known for Their Shakes, Which Are Good