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Winking Lizard Tavern
Rating Details »
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good for:
- Lunch, Dinner, Late Night
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
15 reviews for Winking Lizard Tavern
I'm between 3 and 4 stars for this venue. We had a party of 12 eat, and the service was brisk, and the food was reasonably tasty -- fairly standard bar fare, however.
Extensive beer list, and casual decor and ambiance are expected, as well as the TVs and local colour.
Don't expect to be blown away -- but it's solid.
The Winking Lizard is a popular in-state chain, with most locations surrounding the North East section of Ohio.
I've been to some of the various locations including: Bedford Heights, Cleveland Heights, Gateway, Independence, Lakewood, Macedonia and Peninsula a countless number of times. The food, drinks, service and decor at each locale seem consistent.
The menu offers quite a few selections, mostly typical bar fair. Nothing fancy, but that's not what they are, what they do is prepared exceptioanlly well though. My favorites include the Bo-Man's Burger and the Buffalo Chicken Wrap. The pizza's and wings are pretty good too.
The Lizard also offers daily specials for the price conscious diner. A bottle of their signature BBQ sauce is at each table, which I can't get enough of! The beer selection is extensive and probably the best in town. They also feature different beers each month with the souvenir glass you get to keep for a nominal fee.
Overall, The Lizard is a great local bar/restaurant that has better than average food with exceptional beer offerings. The service and price-point is reasonable too. The atmosphere is pretty flexible in that I'd be comfortable in either watching a game with a group of friends, having a few cocktails with the co-workers or dining with the family.
I'm from Seattle, but been in Cleveland for school for the last 9 years and I must say that the Wink is one of two places I miss when I'm not in town (Cave du vin, is #2). It's my automatic go-to place when I want to stuff my face with greasy food and wash it down with beer. For some reason, these places are a dime a dozen in the Midwest, but haven't caught on in Seattle (not trendy? not ethnic enough?).
A. Let's start with their series of 1/2 price specials:
1) Mon & Tue = WING NIGHT! 30 cents for wings (love the Thai and Caribbean). Add a 32 oz Dortmunder and $8 later you're in a very good place. It's also 1/2 price pizza night.
2) Wed = 1/2 price rib night? I'm blanking -- I must have other plans on Wednesdays.
3) Thur = BURGER NIGHT! 1/2 price burgers (there are like 15 to choose from) -- sliders excluded :( Their burgers are pretty average, but there is something inexplicably mesmerizing about the Winking Lizard slider.
B. Atmosphere
It's more restaurant than bar, but still the kind of place you can camp out and order a few rounds without looking like a lush. I like that I can get a table and have a conversation with the people I came with instead of fighting over bad, loud music or giant tvs for someone's attention. There are lots of tvs, yet they're much less intrusive than at your typical sports bar. An added bonus is I guess this makes the Wink less appealing to the douchebags who frequent many of Coventry's other fine establishments. Sure, the pet lizard is kind of strange and for some reason, the popcorn carts kind of freak me out, but it's all part of the charm.
C. Service
The waitstaff is super friendly and efficient. You won't be stuck with an empty glass for long before someone comes by to take your order, and your food generally takes less than 15 minutes to come out. Although, how long does frying ever really take?
Ultimately, the Winking Lizard is just a restaurant/bar with all-around decent, greasy food and a huge beer selection that's walking distance from my apartment. But their specials rock and encourage patrons to eat and drink more than they had anticipated. Genius!
This is a decent stop for a beer and a burger. As others have said, it's a chain, nothing exciting, but dependable. As others have also said, the main minus is the crowd. This place fills up fast and you may have to stand around and wait for a while or take an uncomfortable seat at a too-small bar if you're in a bit of a hurry and want to have a quick bite. The people who go here tend to be loud sports-bar types and unlike other bar areas, such as Lakewood on the West Side, there's not too many places on Coventry for them to go, so they're all going to jam in here. Add in the family/ friends dinner crowd and you've got one loud, overcrowded, uncomfortable little restaurant.
I normally don't mind eating while sitting at a bar, as I'm often eating by myself while waiting for friends, waiting for doors to open for a show nearby, etc., but I do mind when the guy next to me practically has his elbows in my french fries because there's just no space. They really need to expand the size of this joint or maybe offer takeout for the food. Next time I'm just going to ask for a box for my sliders and take them out to the benches on the corner up the street.
The Lakewood Winking Lizard is preferable to this one simply because it's larger and in a slightly less trafficked area, making for less of an overcrowding problem.
Winking Lizard Coventry = Good Times. Period.
Started hanging here in 1999 but had to stop when I moved outta Cleveland Heights in 2003. I've been to a many Winking Lizards, and I'll say this has to be the best. The building is awesome, the multiple rooms are fantastic. Well, I do really like their newer Lakewood restaurant too. Bar is huge. That'll be another review...
Hard to make comparisons on food though as they are all the same, but there is nothing like the Caribbean Spice out there anywhere else. I'll tell you what, San Francisco does not have a single fab wing joint like the Winking Lizard (or BW3 for that matter), and every time I return to Cleveland, I eat here almost daily. Obsessive? Yep. Compulsive? A little bit. But anywhere that has a beer menu like the Winking Lizard deserves a special place in any beer lover's heart. Oh yeah, wings too.
And I believe the WL is the largest chain importer of Labatts Blue. I'll tell you what. Once you move south (Tucson) or west (San Francisco), it becomes almost impossible to find Canadian beers. If that even means anything.
In short. I love this place!
I cannot suggest going out of your way to hang here, but if you are nearby and want to throw back a few and eat some salty/fatty treats, you can't really do any better.
The bar area is small, but is covered with TV's, so if you are into sports you will be in good shape (as far as television coverage is concerned, anyway). They have a lot of beer, but if you are in a place like this it is best to stick to the specials. Free popcorn and pretty good BBQ sauce...not a terrible place by any stretch. The burgers ain't half bad, either. Overall its a slightly above-average (in the national sense) sports bar/restaurant. Expect more at your own peril.
perhaps familiarity truly breeds contempt. if so, i have spent waaaaaaaaaay too much time at the lizard. maybe contempt is the wrong word. i don't hate it, but if i never set foot in here again, i will not for a second regret it.
the good: multiple rooms, multiple bars, loads of tables and, saving the best for last, the beer of the month club. for an extra $0.75 to $1.00, you get to keep the glass - which helped me to accumulate quite the collection for my own bar, which may someday exist.
the bad (neutral): just your average bar food - nothing bad, nothing good, nothing special. it really is just meh. depending on what you are looking for, the 400 televisions could be a plus or minus, but i'll throw it here in the middle. the service is usually ok as well.
the ugly: i have to say, it's the crowd. sorry. this place is generally packed and LOUD. i've always gotten the impression it's crowded more because it's one of the only places to go as opposed to being crowded because it's a great place that no one can resist. oh, yeah. the trapped iguana is not cool. i'm sure they take good care of it, but i'm sure it would have a better life without the drunken masses tapping on the glass.
look, if you want to go get a beer, a bite of fried whatever, and catch a game, the lizard is a fine place to go. i go back to plenty of 2-star places. i'd just prefer to go elsewhere. the main problem i always had with coventry, there just aren't that many "elsewheres" to go.
This place is pretty decent, melds family friendly, great beer list, and sports bar all into one.
I had a fun afternoon here, arguing with my friend about who was gonna win the Bulls-Cavs game. (I'm from the Chi, she's a Clevelander.) Sadly, for my ego, the Bulls lost, but King James went insane in the last 1.5 minutes, tearing up the court. That was something worth watching.
Plus the beer was good. And they made the wings the way I like them (i.e., with about half as much sauce as usual).
But it doesn't seem right that a half dozen beers, a plate of nachos, and a couple baskets of wings (all that is for TWO people folks; I'm not in college anymore) should cost me $80+ bucks (that includes tip).
Maybe it should. I don't know. I'd still go back.
The Winking Lizard gets a bad rap on this site. A lot of the complaints are valid but there are a lot of good things about this bar, especially when you compare it to the other bars on Coventry.
First of all, it's really more of a restaurant than a bar--the seating area is much bigger than the two bars combined. I think the bar-style food is good: burgers, wings, ribs, fried food. But pretty much everything on the menu is good, even the salads and pizzas are decent, so you can keep a lot of people happy here. They have monthly food specials so there's always something new to try--I had a very good Bison burger here. MUCH better food than McNinni's down the street.
The beer list is big, and is overrated. But the selection is a an order of magnitude bigger than the other bars on the street (Wine Cave excluded) so you WILL find something you like. Since the bar area is small it's not a great place to watch the big game. But this place has like 10 TVs lined up at the bar, so if you're an out-of-town football or baseball fan you are pretty much guaranteed that they will put your team's game on.
This place is awesome. If I ever leave Cleveland, this will be one of the places that I miss the most!
For one thing, they have free popcorn at all hours of the day. I've been there at noon for a work luncheon and in the evening to enjoy a beer with friends and there is always fresh, hot, salty popcorn for the taking. Call me crazy, but the popcorn tastes especially good with their specialty BBQ sauce slathered on it!
Secondly, their specials are a great deal. Burger and pizza nights are especially good. Seriously, it's cheaper (and better!) than fast food! Not to mention that the food is great, even at regular prices.
Thirdly, the fact that they let you keep the glass that the beer of the month comes in (when it's in stock, that is!) is great. A large portion of my drinking class collection is courtesy of the Lizard. The beer selection is quite extensive too--I've been here many, many times and only ordered the same beer twice when I found a specific beer exceptional, not because there were no other options.
Fourthly, it's a great place to watch a sports game. The staff is really receptive to requests to change a specific TV to a certain game if nobody's watching it.
If you're looking for a great bar, head on out to the Lizard. You won't be disappointed!
It's not exceptional in any way, but they do have some good beers, and like Kevin N said, the beer special is inexpensive.
Actually there is something exceptional about it. The live iguana.
Pretty decent place as far as places on Coventry go. Not a bad beer selection. The key is finding a month in which they have chosen a good beer as the special. Otherwise, it's just another pub or sports bar.
Great American/bar food. This is located in the Valley and it's pretty good. They have a pretty poplar sports bar too, where lots of people watch the Browns or the Indians in the summer. The service is excellenet and the place is kept up nicely!
This is a popular regional chain. OK food. OK beer. It's OK. There are many more pubs in Cleveland where you can find better food, better beer (more selection) and a more authentic experience. For example: Academy Tavern on Larchmere. For example: The Little Bar & Grill downtown. For example: Flannery's downtown. Etc. If you want some wingz with the dudez, go here.
Decent pizza, nachos and beer. Lots of TV's and they have NHL Center ice, what else could you ask for. Could be cleaner.