The Standard

First things first...a winner of the two admission passes to The Great Big Home & Garden Show. Using random.org, the winner is comment #11- Patty Conlon. Congratulations! You have until Wednesday to claim your tickets, or I will select another winner. Thank you to all that entered the giveaway. It's not too late to purchase tickets. If you purchase them in advance online, you can save $3 per adult ticket. You can also save an additional $1 if you use the code "BITEBUFF" at checkout.

A lunch meeting brought me to the east side this week. One of the suggested restaurant options was the newly opened The Standard on East 185th Street. I jumped at the chance to check it out.

Finding it without my GPS was near impossible. They were literally installing signage on the side of the building as we were dining, but when I pulled up to the brick building, there wasn't a stitch of signage. Now, you can look for a small, white banner on the corner of the building. From the looks of their Facebook page, more signage is coming. Free one-hour street parking was available.

The chef is Tim Bando, who left Deagan's not too long ago. They've crafted a menu of "snacks", and then entrée options broken down into categories like "vegetables" and "meat". They don't have a separate lunch menu, so it can be a pricier lunch option, but I think that the entrée prices are very reasonable ($10 - $15).

I hadn't eaten yet, so I was quite hungry. I went for the Chicken Paprikash with spatzel and shaved Brussels Sprouts ($12).

The chicken was very tender and moist, and pulled right off of the bone. A little more sauce would have gone a long way to give it that classic Chicken Paprikash flavor, but overall I enjoyed the dish. For lunch, it was a good sized portion. A tip left on Foursquare recommended getting a starter or salad to accompany your meal, because the portions are relatively small. I agree, for dinner, you'd want something else with it. I can say the same for the portion of Mac and Cheese that my lunch companion had.

The restaurant has potential, so I hope that it does well in that neighborhood. It could be a great addition to 185th Street.

The Standard
779 East 185th Street
Cleveland, OH 44119
216-531-9643