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Mon-Thu. 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Fri. 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Fri. 5:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Sat. 4:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
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Despite living in Cleveland for most of my life (and in Tremont for at least six months), I have never, until recently, made the trip to Sokolowski's. In addition to the local hype this place gets, it was recently profiled in Anthony Bourdain's No Reservation program, which only augmented my desire to head over and check it out.
So, I walk in and I immediately enjoy the lay out and atmosphere. I liked the interior decor with the old, rustic antique ambiance glittered with Polish paraphernalia. The Polka music playing in the background complemented the whole scene.
Sokolowski's has a cafeteria style set up. Just grab a tray, wait in line, take what your eyes desire, place it on the tray, pay, grab a seat and enjoy.
I ordered a Kielbasi with Perogies and Sauerkraut. The Kielbasi was pretty good, the Perogies were amazing, and the Sauerkraut was really strong! If you really like strong, pungent sauerkraut, then you'd love it. I'm used to the more mild variety offered at hot dog stands. The meal went really well with the Russian pilsner beer from some St. Petersburg Brewery. I'll admit; I couldn't finish my meal. I was stuffed, and there was no way I could handle dessert after eating that meal and drinking the pilsner--although I'll admit that the desert options looked really tempting.
I can feel my arteries clogging and my waistline expanding, right now, as we speak. I'm certain that I will not need to eat again, for at least a week.
This place is a cafeteria style, east European mainstay. If you like pierogies, kielbasa, stuffed peppers, sour cream, and anything that floats in butter, you'll love Sokolowki's. It's best on one of those dreary, snowy, grey wintery Cleveland days, when you can sit in front of the fireplace and want to eat comfort food.
A Cleveland institution! Polka, pierogi, pies and sausage. They'll try to draw you in with huge pieces of pie and cake at the beginning of the cafeteria line. That's because once they load you up with food, you'd never consider taking a piece!
Your first question might be, "what university? I don't see any university around here..." Why, Cleveland University, of course. You know the place has been around for a while if it's named after a school that flopped in 1852 after graduating only 11 people. (The restaurant opened in 1923, so it's probably just named after the street... but still!)
Tony Bourdain, Michael Symon and Bill Clinton haven't gone wrong. The meat, pierogi, cabbage and noodles - all delicious.
The walls are covered in photos from Cleveland's past.
Note the limited hours - they're open only for lunch on weekdays (11-3) and dinner Friday (5-9) and Saturday (4-9).
No one leaves hungry - they'll force two sides and a roll to go alongside your ample main course. Almost everything on the menu is $7.25, including all of the above.
Be sure to bring an extra $15 for the most street-cred-worthy graphic T in 216.
I felt fat just looking at the food.
I went for Sat night dinner and ordered the stuffed cabbage (with veggies, pierogi, and a roll). And I even got the cherry pie for dessert. You gotta love a place that has Vernors ginger ale in their soda fountain machine!
The huge stuffed cabbage had me worried, but it surprisingly light and tasty. I just wish it was slightly hotter (in temperature). The star of the show is definitely the pierogi. Delicious! I would order an entire entree of it but 2 or 3 is just enough for me.
The cherry pie was also good, but next time I'll do without dessert. It's just too tempting since the desserts are the first thing you see in the cafeteria style line.
I'm looking forward to going back to try everything on the menu...but not looking forward to getting fatter.
I went to this place after reading reviews on Yelp, and thank God I did. It is not only an awesomely quaint restaurant with eclectic decor, but it has the BEST Polish food I've ever had in a restaurant. The pierogi melts in your mouth, the stuffed cabbage (golombki) tastes like my Babcia made it, and even the side dish of green beans were amazing.
If you find yourself within 50 miles of Cleveland, go eat at Sokolowski's!
I like it automatically because of my Polish heritage. My Grandma is a pretty bad cook. She would have dirty, weathered hands, sometimes with dirt under her nails from working out in her garden. She would always grab food with those hands and slop some food on your plate and make you eat it. If not, you would be ridiculed, called fussy, and be compared to your good cousins who would eat anything thrown in front of them. Her golumpki (stuffed cabbage) was way better than Sokolowski's. I would eat that golumpki from her gnarled hands any day of the week over here. Also, you can't go here any day of the week because the hours are so limited. The pierogies are also just decent. If you are not from a Polish family, go to Sokolowski's, it will be the closest thing to having an authentic meal. I like the picture of Pope John Paul because there are tons of pictures of him all over my Grandma's place. She has a bunch of little statuettes of him and other saints strategically placed throughout the house. I should Yelp on her house because that is what this review turned into. I love you Grandma!
My favorite restaurant in Cleveland!!! I remember when their peirogies were twice the size they are now, but hey they're hand made and I'm sure making them smaller is less burden.
Whats better than butter, I ask you? when there is actually stuff floating in it! Like pierogi, saurkraut, fish, sausage, stuffed peppers/cabbage, salisbury steak, chicken cordon bleu, dumplings, did I mention pierogies...
This place will always hold a place in my heart, and not just from clogging my arteries, the first time back there while visiting from Denver(I'm from Cleve) i told Bernie that I loved this place and its always the first meal I eat when I'm in town. After eating I asked for some pierogie and saurkraut to go for a friend and he handed me a massive to go box jammed full and didn't even charge me, now thats loyalty my friends.
Cafetreia style service allows you to pick from 3 or 4 main dishes and plenty of starchy sides, seriously if you don't like butter, I would stay very far away from this place. You may think you have too much food on your plate but don't forget the roll(don't worry, they'll remind you) to soak up that velvety yellow goodness.
Oh, not to be too gross but don't plan any fancy events after because it takes an avg of about 30-40mins for your meal to slide through.
The decor is classic with alot of Cleveland history, try and sit where Bill Clinton ate. I almost asked the Sokolowski daughter to marry me on the spot so I could be apart of this great tradition for years to come.
Two words of advice for this place-- CROWD CONTROL.
In addition to the good reviews here, Ive gotten recommendations to come here for lunch and dinner. I checked out their website, and was impressed by their menu. My Mom's side of the family is Polish and German, and in the past we've had homemade Christmas dinners with excellent Polish food. Before I moved to Cleveland, there was a Polish restaurant that had excellent Pierogis!
Recently, I realized how much I missed a good Pierogi. I decided to come here and give this place a try.
When I arrived I noticed the large number of parked cars around the restaurant. Luckily, I found an available space across the street, which faces the river.
As soon as I got to the door, HOLY MOTHER OF MERCY, the line was long! :=O And it got longer with more people behind me as they arrived for Saturday night dinner!
I looked around and noticed most of the tables had 'reserved' signs on top. Oh great, I thought, and where am I going to sit?
The two way line was in the way of the piano, which made me wonder how in the world was somebody going to play the piano during dinner?
After twenty something minutes of waiting in a line slower than morning rush hour traffic in the Chicago area during a rain storm, I decided to leave. The place was packed and it seemed every chair was taken.
I will say that I like the inside of the place. You can tell the place has been around for a good long time, but it seems they keep the place clean and take care of everything. Lots of pictures and stuff on the walls. Lots of woodsy, warm colors. Lots of character. I even got to see the table where former President Bill Clinton ate his meal.
I didn't mind the long line, because that's usually a sign that the food is excellent and the people who work there are great. Which I'm sure is the case.
HOWEVER, this place gets an F for crowd control. Why in the world would a place this popular go on a lunch and dinner only schedule is beyond me. If this place is open from, say, 11:00am until 11:00pm, then the lines and waiting for a table wont be so long. If this place is that good, then people will come here, no matter what time it is. Furthermore, this place should consider expanding, or finding a bigger store, so that to hold the large number of customers and more.
Another possible issue I suspect is that this place seems group friendly, that is, all the tables seat at least 4-6 people. Matter of fact, it seems most everyone there were in groups of at least four people. What about the dating couple who wants to come here, or the one person who wants a good lunch? Its bad enough I get my butt kicked on filing taxes because I'm not married and don't have kids, but to get my butt kicked because I wasn't part of a group at a restaurant? Are you kidding?
The least I can say is that Ive been here and know how to get here. I admit, I should've come here two hours early and wait in line so that I could get in and get out first. Hopefully I can get a group of at least four people to come here for lunch.
Whats really sad is that this review has nothing to do with the food....
If you are looking for a good homestyle meal... Sokolowski's is the place to dine at! It's got an amazing value for really delicious food. This is definetly not a place if you are on a diet, so bring your appetite!!
Their salisbury steak, pierogis, mashed potatoes, dumplings... i could go on and on... are just fantastic! Oh and the desserts.... the coconut cream pie is AMAZING!!!
I will admit that this place does get a bit crowded, so get there early! My only other beef with this place is that they are only open during lunch on the weekdays and dinner ONLY on Saturdays. I wish they were open more frequently, but it's probably good that it's not because i'd probably 400 pounds if they were.
Wear your stretchy pants and enjoy one of Cleveland's treasures!!
I went to Sokolowski's because I knew I had to have bratwurst and pierogies before leaving Cleveland. I had a mission.
One of the first things I noticed about Sokolowski's, while standing in the slow-moving line (don't come here absolutely starving, you'll be in pain by the time you get your food) was that it's a sausage-fest both literally and figuratively. The line was about 85% male, 100% of them middle-aged. I can't explain this.
I got to the front of the line and the first thing you get to is dessert. You pick your dessert first. Seriously. But I was on a mission, so I restrained myself from picking up one of the many delicious-looking varieties of cake and proceeded to the real food.
Service, once you get to the point where you're interacting with people, was actually pretty friendly. I expected it to be rushed and gruff, but the guy at the counter took the time to explain what everything was to the guy behind me in line, and the cashier lady offered me water when she saw I wasn't getting a drink. I got a bratwurst, which comes with two sides. For me, 2 pierogies and green beans. Plus a roll. Total: a little over $8. Awesome.
The food was great. It was one of those meals that just made me really, really happy. I can't say I know what an authentic Polish pierogi is supposed to taste like, but these were delicious. I kind of wished I'd just gotten pierogies. Not that the bratwurst wasn't good--I mean it was pretty tasty, but a tiny bit too gristly and didn't come close to the pierogies. The roll was very good. The green beans tasted like green beans. They were really only there to counterbalance the heaviness of the brat and pierogies. My biggest complaint is that nothing was really hot enough. I know it's served cafeteria-style, so keeping things hot is tricky, but I don't like my food lukewarm.
Sokolowski's was my final real meal in Cleveland, and it was definitely a good way to round off my trip. If I ever find myself back in northeast Ohio, there's no doubt that I'll be making another stop.
If you're looking for a break from chain restaurants and all their plastic cheerfulness, try Sokolowski's - which is authentic as it gets.
It serves cafeteria food - but don't let that dissuade you, because if your middle school served what Sokolowski's did, you'd put on a hoodie and try to sneak back even now. Every item of food on the line is handmade (right down to the root beer and the cream pies), served in a place that's comfortingly dark without being dank.
This is THE place for comfort food. Get your tray and wander down the line, folks.
It looks, as others have noted, like your grandparents' basement, complete with an abundance of sports memorabilia on the walls, hand-drawn pictures from relatives, and portraits of the owners. The heavy wooden tables are scarred but infinitely comfortable.
The folks there are unfailingly friendly - I've been twice but they greeted me with a please hello every time, giving me suggestions and handing me free pierogies when they discovered it was my first time.
The food? Well, it's pure starch and meat. The potatoes are hand-made, the corn is great, and every day they have honkin' meaty specials from salisbury steak to a rich, moist Yankee pot roast. They have sausages of all sorts, and damn good sauerkraut. I wouldn't trust the green beans, which looked overcooked to the point of being soggy.... But you're not here to eat healthy, goddammit.
The food is what they call stick-to-your-ribs meals, and you'll like it if you're in the mood. For that, it's five stars. If you're in the mood for lighter fare, or you have a vegetarian in your party, you're out of luck.
But you know, then you shouldn't be eating there.
After seeing Sokolowski's featured on 'No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain', I knew it would be a must-try on my next trip to Cleveland. Tonight, I was on a mission to get Sokolowski's. And my dinner there was amazing, far surpassing all of my expectations! This cafeteria-style restaurant serves up homestyle Polish meals that are so authentically Old Country.
TJ and I wandered in to the dark restaurant, a bit excited but a bit overwhelmed by the many rooms springing off the main entryway. Two servers quickly guided us to the line, through the bar. Since it was a Friday around 5:30pm, the bar was packed and noisy, which was a bit off-putting. But once we got a glimpse at the food, our mouths were watering and we couldn't wait to dig in.
We ended up in front of a friendly older couple in line who struck up a conversation with us. Turns out the woman's late brother is the former owner of the restaurant, so her nieces and nephews now run the place. She told me that they use real butter, not Olio, in all the recipes--she used to cook the food! She wondered what brought an out-of-towner like me to Sokolowski's. When I told her I'd seen it on a TV show, she was so proud of her family's place!
On to our meal... TJ and I both tried the smoked kielbasa, which was phenomenal! For our sides, we tried the pierogies and potato pancakes. Delicious! The pierogies were so buttery with tasty onions over the top--without a doubt the best pierogies I've ever had! And the potato pancakes were out of this world! They were authentic and full of herbs and flavor, not the deep-fried stuff reminiscent of McDonald's hash browns.
Our entrees came with salads, which were also excellent. Try some of the cucumber salad, which is creamy with a fresh hint of dill. I also got a piece of the coconut cake. It was a huge piece of soft, fresh cake!
This stuff adds up, though. For the two entrees, two sodas, and the cake, we paid over $28. Well worth it though!!!
The owner runs the restaurant like it's his own kitchen, taking care that every diner is treated like family and gets every condiment they could possibly need to make their meal as good as it gets. The service was so personal, and the food was excellent!
I'll be back on every visit to Cleveland!!!
We had read about this restaurant before we came to Cleveland and knew we had to make time to eat here. It is not easy to find, but well worth the trip. I'm just sorry I couldn't taste everything, the owners were so friendly. I highly recommend this restaurant and hope anyone travelling through this city will stop by.
Can you say, "Tastes like Cleveland"?
After this wonderfully authentic experience of the eyes, ears and stomach, you will get a taste of Cleveland in all it's starchy - but yummy - glory!
Do not be intimidated by the very nice lady saying stuff to you as you approach your hot meal section of the cafeteria styled restaruant. Grab your dessert, salad and drink and just smile, point and nod.
Smile, point and nod. That's all you need to know.
You will not go wrong with the Pirogies. Yes, it is a fried starch pocket filled with more starch - potato in this case - but combine that with the mashed potatoes, gravy and sour cream and you pretty much have an Atkins dieter nightmare. But oh so good. Oh so good.
Go now.
Wow - you can't help but smile the moment you walk into this place. It's in the middle of an industrial section of Cleveland. You eventually wind your way there and this little cozy pub/inn style building looks very inviting. You get inside and the specials board has a homey feel to it.
I love pierogis, so I went for the pierogi meal. I couldn't stop there though, I had the carrot cake, brat, and root beer. The food didn't quite rock my world but it was all very good. The pierogis were boiled and pan fried. I prefer them just boiled. They had a healthy amount of butter and onion on them which I loved. I had kraut and beans on the sides. They were both well done and everything mixed together very well. I often scooped up portions of everything on my plate at once. The Brat was a little disappointing. It was flavorful, but a little dry. Again, it mixed well with the other food, but it didn't hold up well on its own. The carrot cake was amazing. I love carrot cake and this did not disappoint. Big chunks of nuts and fruit in the cake. Yummy icing. If only I had room in my stomach to eat more than a few bites.
I would definitely recommend this place for the overall warm feeling and full tummy that it leaves you with. I definitely left there feeling like a I had experienced a gem of Cleveland. Here's to many more years of great business for the University Inn. Oh - and bring a friend. Because I guarantee you're going to want to try more than you can possibly eat. I would have been much better off splitting my food with someone else and ordering just 1 more side.
That dude Bruce is right on, this is what taking a bite out of Cleveland would taste like minus the arson and holding the homeless population.
Man, peirogis are awesome and when you cover that shit in sauerkraut it's even better. This is the place to load up on all of that amazing food from immigrant countries. The sausage is a good way to get fat and stay happy while the decor is mix between your grandparent's basement and Drew Carey's den.
A place to visit if you live in Cleveland or if you're passing through (and if you are, you should probably just consider staying for good).
So filling, so tasty!
Big portions
Tasty dessert- especially the apple spice cake and coconut cream pie
And their in-house pianist playing music while you eat is a nice touch.
Our meal (for 2 people):
pork loin with corn and roasted potatoes
stuffed cabbage with red potatoes and steamed veggies
fresh dinner rolls
salad bar
apple spice cake
coconut cream pie
soda
Total: 30 dollars
We went here entirely based upon the strength of other Yelper's suggestions, which I'm increasingly finding to be what I should listen to in regard to where to eat, where to stay, where to play, etc. when I visit other cities. We weren't disappointed.
The breakdown: cafeteria-style Polish and European food, the kind that leaves you gibbering with delight while promising to equal a gut-punch later on - in short, loads of starch, carbs, and other wonders. All housed in a veritable warren of rooms crammed with photos of the famous who've eaten there and the normal folks, many of whom one could tell made this restaurant a regular experience. Definitely an overall family vibe, as in "Welcome home - sit yourself down and gorge on this delicious meal. Laugh a bit while you're at it, and enjoy a good brew, too."
Rule of thumb: follow the line, and you'll be okay. We skipped the desserts, displayed initially, but each opted for a Sokolowski's bottled fizzy beverage (she got green apple and didn't enjoy it too much, but my root beer was fine) and water. The main specials for the day are listed on the wall, so definitely get a feel for what's coming from that. I ordered the baked meatloaf with mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables, and the salad bar. She ordered perogies (which she obsesses over anyway), mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables, and the salad bar. In addition, we each snagged one of the fresh-baked rolls from a basket on the counter. When it was all said and done, we ended up paying around $27.00 for everything. Not crushing on the wallet, but not particularly ridiculously affordable, either (hence the ol' 4-star rating).
The stuffed cabbage looked dang good, but I was pleased that I chose the baked meatloaf - oh, most humble and unassuming of meals that it can be. This wasn't, featuring bursts of different flavors and rendering the already delicious mashed potatoes near-heavenly when eaten together. She was thrilled about her perogies, and we both raved about the hot, fresh rolls. They were SO good - possibly one of my favorite parts of the meal, as silly as that sounds. While the salad bar was okay, it wasn't anything spectacular, and I ended up feeling as though it had been made available simply to tack a few bucks onto the bill. Honestly, we hardly touched our salads, but we're weird that way - we always eat those last.
Delicious, homey, decidedly ethnic, and, I'm sure, murder on any sort of diet plan you're attempting to implement. Wonderful comfort food, however. We'll definitely be back.
SPECIAL NOTE: DO NOT EAT DINNER, BREAKFAST OR ANY OTHER MEAL BEFORE ENTERING THIS FOOD ESTABLISHMENT. ALSO- DO NOT BOTHER TO BUY FOOD FOR ANY MEAL AFTERWARDS (for atleast a few days).
You will never, in your ENTIRE LIFE, feel as full as when you leave this cafe style Inn. You will feel stomach in places that you didn't even know STOMACH exsited. But its not a bad feeling. Its the feeling of home and GOOD REAL cooking. They don't cut back on anything.
My boss took me here my first week of work to welcome me to a new city and a new job. He is 100% polish and so are all of the family workers that have ever worked here. They have run it for GENERATIONS and use the exact same recipes that the polacks used when they first came to america. They have a good reader on their website about the history/food:
http://www.sokolowskis.../
The best food in the world, but only when you have the capasity to hold it. mashed potatoes, perogies, fried fish, stuffed cabbage, and more. All the exact, traditional food of Poland. Its amazing. I lived in pittsburgh, near polish hill, and they have some amzing perogies here in cleveland, and THIS is the PLACE to get them. And the gravy. AMAZING. AMAZING. the fish- AMAZING. there is NO bad choice.
The only downside: they are only open for lunch on weekdays (no dinners), Only open for dinner on friday and saturday. So either go for lunch (early) or take a date. Just plan ahead because MOST of cleveland knows its here and its busy by 12 noon (LONG WAIT). So go early. I mean that.
More Upside: The environment of the rest. is amazing. lots of old photos, the LARGEST BOBBLE HEAD collection i have EVER seen, and so much to look at. And they have a live piano player there all the time.
THIS PLACE IS AN INDULGENCE ALL in itself. Its one of my absolute favorites here in cleveland.
Cafeteria style ethnic food. A great place to get some authentic eastern European "stick-to-your-ribs" meals. They put the dessert at the front of the line and salad bar after while all the good stuff is in-between. They also have a full bar if you'd like a beer to wash it all down. They clean the table, you bring your appetite.
It's a fun place to bring an out-of-town guest for part of the "Cleveland experience."
Um... wow. Just go. What else do you need to know.
I came upon this place in an unusual way, as well - I was taking a Diversity in America class a couple of years ago and in addition to visiting Cleveland's Ukrainian Museum and heading to lovely Little Italy, we came as a class to Sokowlowski's University Inn in Tremont.
The cafeteria-style buffet line is a happy trap, because you see everything and want to eat pretty much everything. From the pierogis, stuffed cabbage, kielbasa & brats to the lengthy lineup of delicious desserts (I had a piece of creamy cheesecake, YUM), the selection is overwhelming, and the mouthwatering smells mingling in the air are enough to inflate even the tiniest appetite. The seating setup is fun, with some smaller tables and some large multi-seaters. There are photos all around the room of famous people who have come to dine on their famous Polish cuisine, and rightfully so - they do a great job here of providing an incredible dining experience. I mean, I was technically in class, but it didn't feel like it at all - who cares about an upcoming final when you're stuffing stuffed cabbage in your mouth? Delish.
As a side note, Sokolowski's was recently featured on the Travel Channel's No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain; though I feel Bourdain could have chosen some better Cleveland companions than Skyline Chili (WTF?) Sokolowski's definitely deserved their moment in the sun.
i don't eat carrot cake. i think it's gross.
i ate their carrot cake.
and now i crave it like an addict jonesin' for her drug.
that's some powerful polish you got there.
The food at Sokolowski's was amazing! The portions were huge and all of the food is all comfort food and makes you feel like you are enjoying a good old fashioned home cooked meal like grandmother used to make!
My new boss took me here for lunch when I first started working in Cleveland. I'm really mad at myself for not having returned yet. The food is awesome, the cafeteria style approach is endearing, and it is just a great place to get a great, no-frills, stick to your ribs European/Midwestern meal. Yum!
The ambience reminds me of a friendly neighborhood basement, in a good way.
The food.....very yummy. The fried fish batter was just the right level of crispyness. The meatloaf was filling without being heavy. And the peirogis, very excellent.
Of course this place is a Cleveland institution, and yes, it's good, and yes, it's fun, and yes, I hope it's always here, and yes, it's in Tremont, and yes, it's right next to the cold storage facility, and yes, it's cool in that white socks with dress pants kinda way...BUT...I can't give it five stars because it's just not that great a value for your money. I'm not saying it's expensive--it's not. But every time I leave this place (usually so full I can't walk or think straight), I feel like I spent too much for what I got.
Can't believe there are not more reviews. As others have said this is a Cleveland institution. Excellent and abundant dishes that you don't find everywhere, certainly not in SF.
Sokolowski's is one of the fantastic Cleveland places I wax poetic about now that I live in San Francisco.
This family-owned, old world Polish cafeteria wrote the book on comfort food: huge, buttery portions of pierogies, kielbasy, sauerkraut, and the like in a cozy atmosphere that feels like a cross between your babka's basement and your favorite neighborhood tavern.
The restrooms are tucked into odd corners, and the walls are covered in newspaper clippings and photos of famous diners. There is good, live piano/accordian music some nights.
While the heavy food may make you want to skip dessert, don't! Take one of the rich, European chocolate tortes or perfect apple streudel to go.
Sokolowski's is a real slice of Cleveland, making it a great place to take adventurous out of town guests. Go on a snowy night, and you'll leave warmed through and through.
Cleveland, OH
Category: Coffee & Tea
Cleveland, OH
Category: American (Traditional)
Cleveland, OH
Category: Restaurants
Cleveland, OH
Category: American (Traditional)
Cleveland, OH
Category: Delis
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