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Panini's Bar & Grill
- Price Range:
-
$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
3 reviews for Panini's Bar & Grill
I wanted to not like this place. As a general rule of thumb I am not a sports bar kind of guy. I am also not a fan of the chain. Panini's for me is an occasional indulgence before a tribe game downtown. A nice egg and cheese Panini sandwich loaded with fresh cut fries and slaw. It's just a thing I do before going to a nice Sunday at the ballpark. However...I didn't mind this location or the restaurant at all. Mostly when I think of sports bars I think neon lights and jerseys lining the walls like a mini hall of fame of shit from Ebay. Yes, they have the same generic every other sports bar in the world decor but this place is seriously huge. It has a main bar when you walk in the door, dinning area to the left, and another bar off to the right. It has tons of flat screens all over the restaurant to watch the "big game". It also has a giant patio area out back which was closed due to the fact it's negative 80 degrees in Cleveland right now. The parking lot is always packed which scared me away from it since it opened a year or so ago. The size of the entire restaurant is so huge though you hardly notice just how many people are in there.
The service was very good and so were the specials. You could get a bucket of 5 domestics for $12 or upgrade to an import for $15. I like the two bar thing because if one is too crowded you can always hit the other one. They only had 2 servers behind the bar I was at which was a large octagon shape. I never really had to wait to order food or a drink. This is even with the Cavs on and the UFC pay per view. So there were quite a few folks there by the time I left and the service was always spot on. I do also like the fact they have a doorman carding at the door. It kind of keeps the riffraff down to a minimum. Not to say there wasn't a fair amount of the popped collar sideways visor douche bag crowd there because I think you'll have that at most sports bar, but with the bar so large it wasn't annoying.
Compared to other bars in the area like this (Ironwood, Loco Leprechaun, Slam Jams) where douche baggery runs rampant I would definitely choose Panini's over the others. As far as food goes I didn't get the famous Panini sandwich, my wife did though and it looked great. As I said I have that nostalgic thing going with my Sunday Indians game tradition and didn't want to cheapen that. I felt like I would be cheating on tradition so I got the Chicken Finger platter with fries. It was fine, it's chicken fingers not much more to be said about it. The portions were huge, but I hate dipping sauce on the side in those little plastic cups. It's like rationing food back in the great depression. If you use too much ranch you need to move on to the lesser condiment. If you use too little you curse yourself for being so stingy with your sauce options. So I am not going to romanticize chicken fingers, they hit the spot and were good. We had the hot pretzels for an appetizer and they came with a really good honey mustard sauce and a bland cheese sauce.
To sum it up if I want to watch a game with the guys I'd go back here before any of the other local area options. I have a fear though in the spring and summer with the patio open I would take this all back in a heartbeat because patio + sports bars usually turn out badly. I think the key is to get there early and stake claim at a decent table or at the bar so you don't feel all packed into to a giant pool of high fiving frat boys. One bonus for me at the very least is they have my favorite video game Big Buck Hunter where I can shoot fake deer, something I would never think about in real life being such a huge animal advocate. Something about big plastic riffles makes me happy though. I think this place reminds me a lot of the former Brendan O'Neill's so I give it a thumbs up when I need this sort of thing. However if I wasn't interested in watching a sporting event of some sort it is doubtful that this place would hold my attention span long enough to stay more than an hour and I wouldn't just come here for the food.
panini's recently moved into the old panorama location on detroit and clague. i stopped in for lunch; noticing the cute little patio they had set up, we decided to sit outside. there was just one problem. we couldn't find a hostess to seat us. we stood at the hostess podium for 10-15 minutes, being totally ignored by all of the waitstaff and the bartender. finally, the hostess showed up - only to tell us it would be a 15 minute wait (even though there are open tables.) umm.. okay.
so, we sat inside. the table was dirty, and there were families with small children around us. enough said. all hostess issues aside, the food was good (we all got overstuffed sandwiches,) and our server was really sweet to us even though we were clearly disgruntled. that being said, i'd give them another chance.
I don't see what the big fuss is with Panini's. To me, they're just like Winking Lizard, minus the beer selection. The only time I like their sandwiches is after 2 a.m. I went to this location a couple times during the summer. The patio is awesome, but it's leftover from M.Bistro. It was fun to watch the Brown's game and the place had a good vibe, but those sandwiches...oh those sandwiches...ugh. Compared to Primanti Brothers in Pittsburgh or even the Moosehead Tavern version, they just don't compare. Dry bread, dry fries, dry everything. Also, my friend and I were kind of ignored until a guy in our group joined us up at the bar. Then the pretty bar tenders came over.