ALEA

High caliber cuisine, polished execution, and friendly service in an intimate space.I emailed the restaurant to see about a reservation for an upcoming trip to Cleveland. Athan, the chef-Owner was quick and welcoming. We arrived for our reservation and were delighted to be seated at the chef's counter. Be aware that the chefs are all working and they are polite and Very focused on the food they are preparing. The servers are attentive and will help guide you so you aren't overwhelmed because all the menu options are delicious. They have a well thought out beverage program, and I loved the Amaro Soda ( NA ) and a large French Press with dessert.The menu is highly seasonal. Our oysters were fresh and delicious. The salads are lightly dressed and flavor driven. The chefs make excellent use of the wood fired grill for the entrees. The kitchen is the heart of the restaurant and you can see the open flame when you enter. I'm excited to come back next time my path takes me to or through Cleveland.

Went to Alea for a friend's birthday and to start off the reservation process was not as straight forward as I would have liked. We got there, the actual location is just across from Transformer Station and if it wasn't for the garage door being open, we might have missed it. The place is such an interesting construction overall. We went after 5pm on a weekday and there was essentially two people working. A single server for the entirety of the place and a chef behind what is a bar/kitchen. I love a seasonal menu, and we did get with a few choices, including a cucumber green mango salad, chicken wings, their duck breast paired with carrots, and for dessert- a thai coffee panna cotta. The cucumber salad was more assembly than anything earth shattering. While the chicken wings, I'd order 3 times over, although an awkward choice for a swanky restaurant of Alea's nature. The carrots stood out more than the duck breast, with my personal disappointment being that the food wasn't past room temperature. Dessert was lovely. All dishes playing incredibly on texture, flavor, color and presentation. I'd be curious to give them another shot and a seasonal menu always helps me keep an open mind to do so. The cost of the experience has short one start with hopes next time to have an easier time making reservations, a more synchronous music choice, and food at temperature.

I was able to get a reservation at Alea and after some confusion (they couldn't find me in their system initially so definitely save your email correspondence with them) they seated us at the bar, which turned out to be the best seats in the restaurant as we were able to watch the chef prepare all the dishes on the grill.We got the endive salad, whipped ricotta toast, oysters and pork chops. The portions were definitely generous. The only dish that was mid was the oysters, would recommend everything else we ordered.Overall 4.5

The kind of place you pick (in advance, with reservations) for a special meal. Seasonal menu ensures that you'll have even more reason to return, and also can't get too attached to any dish. This is intimate, intentional dining and given the small quarters, you'll be best served messaging ahead to get a reservation unless you arrive exactly at opening time or have lots of time to kill. Ambiance is dim but warmly industrial. Lots of stone and greenery. In my opinion, the open kitchen concept makes the bar seating the best in the house since you get to watch the chefs cook and plate most dishes. The menu is short and for two people, we were very satisfied with a cocktail each, two apps, two entrees, and a dessert. If you have a lot of food restrictions, this might not be the place for you, but a good number of vegetarian options are offered with each menu rotation. Cocktails come quickly and go down smoothly. For the rest - think of it as a dining experience. No, food does not come quickly, but you can literally watch each dish being made to order. Also, dishes are much more inventive than what they seem at first glance. "Potato Salad" incorporated smoked fish, roe, and twirls of cucumber - nothing like what you'd find at a picnic. Panna Cotta might seem like a cop out dessert and some variation is routinely on the menu, but I was still dreaming about its silky texture and perfect blend of tart and vanilla weeks later. Long story short - these people care about food, like to have fun with it, and want to feed you tasty, pretty things.

So disappointed... I was so excited to try this place. Granted, I saw the mixed reviews. Some people loved it, others hated it. Unfortunately our experience falls with the latter. To be completely direct, the food is subpar and it's so expensive for the taste and the amount you get. We were excited to try the oysters and they were okay. A little too salty. All the other dishes we ordered were okay as well. The best was the pork chop. The other dishes simply felt like a concoction of pretty and aesthetic ingredients randomly put together (except for the pork chop). Visually the dishes were beautiful; there's no denying that but I could not understand what the rave was about. The combination of textures and tastes seemed aloof and I truly felt like we paid a lot for what and how much we got. They are slow with presenting the next dish which some may call fine dining, it was on the boarder of too slow. I felt that they could have timed things better cueing when to start cooking certain dishes. The positive of this was that we were satisfied by the end of our fourth dish, agreeing that this is probably better portions than what we're used to. I do appreciate the portion controlled dishes and while some may call this fine dining... I have been to fine dining and ultimately, this is not what I would consider fine dining. Even with the beautifully curated dishes and medley of different mouth feel foods. I would say give it a try one a day you prepare to have a late lunch. Definitely go with people you are about to talk your mouth off with since there's plenty of time for talking . Also we're not big drinkers but the restaurant screams small tapas while we chat and spend money on drinks kind of a vibe. It wasn't for us, but maybe you might enjoy it. Unfortunately, we'll pass for the next rounds with Alea. Sorry! Really hoped to enjoy it more :(

First time at brunch and this restaurant was its usual stellar self. I reiterate this is a NEO Top Five and is perhaps the region's most unique place. In addition to an "Atelier" / Robuchon style bar it's situated around a wood fired grill. It's fascinating to see how they use it. And today they had the garage window open and a fresh breeze was blowing in. Great experience.

So good! The place became popular from our first visit and the second time we went on a Friday or Saturday night we are turned away because they were done for the night taking walk ins, so from my mistake make a reservation so it doesn't happen to you! The food is seasonal and fresh and I really enjoyed it. The cocktails are fantastic and the open kitchen vibe is nice. Definitely recommend checking the seasonalMenu and trying it! One of my top spots in CLE!

Alea quickly paved its way into one of Cleveland's coolest places and top notch locations for fine dining. Delicious food all along, with a great mix of taste, creativity, and beautiful plating, from the shareable appetizers, to mains, to desserts that are with keeping an extra bit of stomach space left, as your sweet tooth will thank you. Service takes its pace, as everything is cooked to order and fresh, but friendly and welcoming. A place to go to and come back many times.

I absolutely loved this place when it opened. Each dish was more exciting and well-executed than the last. The grilled oysters with thinly sliced lardo melted over them. The pork chop with grilled grapes. Just awesome. And the restaurant is so cool. Cozy little place with a wood grill basically in the middle where all the food is cooked. It's a spectacular winter date destination. And the drinks are SO good. And they have a beautifully curated list of organic and biodynamically grown wine. But the menu was comparatively lackluster last time I went. So much so that I couldn't find anything that looked good and resorted to ordering the steak for my entree (which for me is a sign of true desperation). It arrived tough and below temp. And the other dishes my table shared -- several largely veg-based plates -- were also underwhelming.And be aware that the cocktails are absolutely delicious but also pretty egregiously over-priced. The wine, though, isn't too pricey and, as I said, is a fantastic list. The service is good but not great. Not very attentive and a little disorganized. And they weren't even close to ready to open when I walked in like 10 minutes after their scheduled dinner service started. I would probably go back, but I'll check the menu first and go on a night I expect it won't be busy. And will probably dine at the bar.

First of all the ambiance of this space is absolutely fantastic, it's intimate and cozy. The cocktails they have here are also fantastic. On the other hand the service left a lot to be desired. When I emailed with the staff ahead of time they mentioned they had plenty of vegetarian options to accommodate my guest but upon arrival they had two salads and a butternut squash dish (neither of which contains a protein or is quite filling). In addition, to the options being lackluster in substance every single dish was under seasoned, I mean ridiculously bland. I'm not a vegetarian and I ordered the Clam Bake and it was the blandest most under seasoned dish I have eaten at a restaurant in a while. Save your money and go to Olive Garden it's a better meal. We needed up going to II Venetian after this because we were starving and it was far more worth the price.