Beach Club Bistro

Well, I did it. I finished up the last two restaurants that were haunting me from the 2012 To Dine challenge last week. I had to give myself four extra days to complete it this year, but I'm okay with bending the rules slightly. All in the name of good eats!

"R" and I traveled home from NY on Tuesday, so that meant that our refrigerator was still very bare on Wednesday. Luckily, Frank and Michelle were up for meeting us at Beach Club Bistro to tackle one of the last two restaurants left to visit on the list.

Now, I have to be honest. I've been to Beach Club Bistro before, several times. But I allowed it to make the list last year because I've only really dined there for lunch (it was close to the Foodbank), and I've seriously only ordered one dish from them ever -- the Circleshore Club on the appetizers menu. It's essentially a personal pizza with garlic mashed potatoes, cheddar, bacon, and scallions ($12.50). My friends and I liked to have them add fresh tomato as well. So, when a reader suggested Beach Club for 2012, I was interested in checking out the rest of their dinner menu.

A couple of menu items made my short list when I started perusing, but Michelle's favorite was one of the dishes-- so that helped make the decision easier. Breaded Eggplant Roulettes ($13.95). They are crumb-breaded and filled with herb ricotta cheese, and then baked in marinara sauce with smoked provolone cheese with a fresh basil and cracked peppercorn finish.

It was a plate full of baked, cheesy goodness. It was a little too crispy and dry on the outer edges, and the flavor needed a punch of red pepper flakes for my personal taste, but overall I liked the dish.

However, it did not stack up to my memories of the Circleshore Club. I think they just really know how to do a great pizza there.

I also wanted to try something else on this visit, and I settled on an appetizer of the Tempura Green Beans.

They were prepared to-order, and I loved that they offered three different dipping sauces with them. The most unique was the thicker dipping sauce with chunks of crispy bacon in it. It was more of a spread than a dipping sauce, but tasty nonetheless. I shared, and we all enjoyed them.

It's a family-friendly restaurant, with a small lot for free parking next door. Service was a little slow, but we were busy chatting and catching up after the holidays. "R" ordered the BBQ Burger, and wasn't thrilled with it. The meat itself was flavorful, but overcooked after he had ordered it medium-rare, and some of the listed toppings were simply missing in flavor and texture.

So, overall I was happy with my return visit to Beach Club Bistro. However, my heart still lies with the mashed potato pizza. Remember, don't look for it in the Pizza section of the menu-- it's hidden with the Appetizers!

Beach Club Bistro
21939 Lake Shore Blvd.
Euclid, OH
216-731-7499

Beach Club Grill
9853 Johnnycake Ridge
Concord, OH
440-350-0088