In a recent article by The L Magazine, a New York publication devoted to all things local, Cleveland's Melt Bar & Grilled gets huge props.
In this fun feature titled "Ten Restaurants Brooklyn is Desperately Missing," writer and (I assume) Brooklyn resident Kara Zuaro dreams up a wish list of new establishments for her neighborhood. Plucked from locales near and far, indie hot spots like Cleveland's Melt and Columbus-based Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams make the list.
"I’d like to think that Pok Pok is opening a Brooklyn branch because I wished really hard for it," she begins. "So, as I impatiently await the opening of the restaurant I willed into being, I’m making a list of 10 more restaurants -- with original locations across America -- that could be wildly successful if they opened new branches here in Brooklyn."
Of Cleveland-based Melt, she writes:
"The grilled cheese sandwiches at Cleveland’s Melt don’t even make sense. When I visited, I ate a belly-buster that was piled with pimento cheese, collards, fried chicken and cornbread. There was bread on the outside, but then there was cornbread in the sandwich. It ruled. The current sandwich-of-the-month at Melt, the "Hungry Hungarian Paprikash," involves pulled roasted chicken, huge homemade dumplings, creamy paprikash sauce, and Provolone cheese. There’s also a vegetarian version available. What! Also, they have a crazy beer selection, and it’s kind of a sports bar. We need this in our lives."
The article also includes our good friends down south in Columbus, Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream.
See the rest of the good eats here.