Chinato

I started with an appetizer of Buratta with caponata ($ 14). The portion was decent and could be shared comfortably between three people. Toast was served with the dish. On top of the caponata (chopped eggplant) was the Buratta (a unique style of mozzarella cheese). The eggplant was served cool and went great with the thick dollops of cheese. This is a nice light app to start with.
For my main I got the Fettuccini carbonara. As all the pastas do, it came in a small and dinner portion size. I got the dinner size and found it to be a proper portion — not overwhelming. The creamy sauce of a more runny consistency was well flavored. I found the portion to be filling, but was not uncomfortably stuffed.
Our sever was attentive and well informed on the menu. He offered additional descriptions of dishes and his opinion on his favorite drinks and entrees. Overall the meal experience moved really quickly. The kitchen was very fast as well.

I am not happy!
Here is a not so nice update to my review. I want to preface that this review is not about the food, but about the management.
You see I come to this resteraunt quite frequently. Tonight was my last time.
Sadly, a server inadvertently spilled a tray of iced tea all over my husband. Believe me, I used to to be a server so I completely get that this sort of thing happens and that it is an accident. I’m not blaming the server. It was how the entire incident was handled afterwards.
After my husband had several iced teas spilled on him, he was soaked. We were on our way to a Cavs game and now he was completely drenched. He would be destine to remain that way for several hours. Imagine sitting in a wet shirt and pants for an evening. To make matters worse, he had a pretty expensive shirt on. Not just a run of the mill shirt, but one from the fancy French house of Hermes. A gift from me that he is wearing for the first time. This concerned me because tea does stain. I am not sure if it will come clean, as its cashmere. Dry clean only. We are potentially out a VERY expensive shirt that may not be able to be worn again.
The server was apologetic, and then pipes up, «at least it’s not wine,» His opinion was totally not helpful.
While I tried to help my husband clean himself off, an argument between us began. Without getting into details about that… I’ll just say it was about the fact that he was soaked. Dinner was silent. My husband and I are fighting and the kids are on edge. My husband is wet and I’m totally mad. Not my idea of a nice family dinner.
Finally my husband decided to leave the table to buy a Cavs shirt off the street. At least the top of him could be dry. He is missing for 15 – 20 minutes of our meal. He spends $ 27.00 for a new shirt.
Our meal is in silence. We finish our awkward meal and ask for the check.
At this point the check arrives, it is more than $ 200. My husbands mood escalates. To this point, nobody from management had even come to check on the situation. Other than the server, there were no apologies or acknowledgment that our dinner and probably our evening were ruined. We have a damaged expensive shirt, spent $ 27.00 on a new one and now are spending another $ 200 plus tip for a dinner that my husband missed half of because be left to buy a new shirt.
I ask my husband to allow me to talk to management and explain how we feel. All I can say is «wow!» I’m not a pain in the butt customer. I like to give people a chance, so I proceeded to explain how our evening went.
When I mentioned that my husband had a tray of drinks spilled on him, he responds, «oh yeah, I heard about that.» Really? You heard about that and never said a word to us at the table? As I continued to explain more, I defiantly got the idea that this guy could care less.
I told/​showed him the expensive shirt, he says, «I’m not up on my fashion labels. I don’t know what that shirt is.»
I tell him that the tea may stain, he says, «I doubt that!»
I tell him my husband went to buy a shirt, he says, «oh.»
I finally asked, «can you at least take care of this?» I handed him the charge slip for the $ 27.00 shirt, he chuckles, «oh, sure I’ll get this from petty cash.» It was almost chastising, as if I was wrong to ask for the money for the shirt. I thought to myself, this guy outright doesn’t care. He proceeds to run and grab me $ 27.00. At no point does this guy say sorry, or offer me anything else.
Truthfully, considering how bad of a time we had at Chinato, and how bad my evening was about to be, I expected a little more than a $ 27.00 refund.
At no point did this manager ask for my name. I think this might be handy, just in case I call you about this incident.
At no point did this manager give me his card or even offer up his name. During our conversation, he was clearly too busy and uninterested in taking to me.
Did you file an incident report? Will anyone even remember that this occurred?
I’m a middle aged women with a decent amount of life experience. This is customer service 101.
To the management of Chinato, I have no idea if you even read these reviews. I would like you to know that you get your last $ 200 from me tonight.
Yes, I think someone in management should have acknowledged the incident. I do believe I should have been offered something, even desert or a glass of wine… Something for the inconvenience.
Instead you decided you didn’t care, were far too busy, or you lack complete common sense. I even came to you for the opportunity to make it right, you didn’t. Congratulations, your superb management skills lost you a customer.

The food is better than average. Portions are tiny and overpriced. The service late at night was terrible. First, the server told us limited menu, then the general manager told us full menu, then the server came back and wouldn’t let us order from the full menu. THEN the kitchen staff came out & got waited on like kings. Feels like Buenos Aires (Recoleta) inside & trying to be Italian, but no idea of how Italian restaurants really are.

Enjoyed the tomato bread soup, but my gnocchi had very little flavor. The sauce was a bit watery and it needed something. Maybe it was an off day. I’ll try it again, but I would try other things.

Service was excellent and the food was delicious! We started with mushroom polenta which we enjoyed. Our kids also enjoyed it so much we ended up ordering extra. We had gnocchi, pasta, octopus dish and lamb shoulder. The dessert was fantastic as well.

I’ve passed by Chinato many a times down East 4^th during lunch and have never stopped in. I’ve always assumed it was a little too pricy and stuffy for lunch. However I was most pleasantly surprised when I stopped in with some work colleagues recently.
The service was top notch by our waitress Lisa and the rest of the front of house staff. Lisa checked on us multiple times, our drinks never went empty and our plates where never left empty on the table too long.
Our meals came came out promptly and piping hot. My risotto was delicious and the lunchtime portion was shocking large. My colleagues ordered the chicken scaloppini and the braised beef — both were bites I tried were fantastic.
I will be for sure coming back for lunch again. The prices for each of our meals averaged to about $ 20 a piece and frankly that was a steal for the service that we received and the huge portions presented to us.

Great food and unbelievably cheap! I had the halibut and it was amazing. Our waitress was very patient and nice too. We were a large group with lots of requests. Highly, highly recommended!

I have always heard mixed reviews about this place but I had a fantastic experience. I may have a biased opinion though because I went with someone who used to be a waiter there full time. He was able to tell my date and I all about the menu and his best suggestions for the items we were thinking about ordering.
I have to admit I am lacking in knowledge in the Cleveland Italian Food department. I tend to eat all other cuisines far more often.
We started our meal with a Fennel Salad, Octopus Salad and Arancini (called something else on the menu). The arancini were some of the best I have ever had! I was even using the sauce to dip my bread in! They were light and cooked perfectly. The salads were also very good as a 1^st course.
For my main entrée I ordered the Sea Scallops with pisarei, brocolini and lobster sauce. Oh my! The lobster sauce was so good! I couldn’t get enough of it! I was also dipping my bread into that! The scallops were seared beautifully and paired well with the lobster sauce. My date got the special and while he thought it was fantastic it was the priciest thing on the menu (we have learned our lesson to ask about the prices on specials)!
We each tried a dessert and while the lemon dessert has great gelato on top the cake part is so dense and pretty terrible. The Chocolate mousse though was great and I would recommend that to anyone who loves chocolate.
Overall it was a great first time dining experience.

For the area and price point, Chinato was a mediocre restaurant. While the menu sounds great on paper, I feel as if all of the presentations I saw didn’t live up to the hype. I personally ordered the special they had for the night which was a 24 oz bone-​in ribeye. Especially with the Florentine steak they had on the menu, I was expecting this steak to be quite good, but I ended up with an exactly mediocre steak.
Don’t get me wrong, this place isn’t bad. The ambiance is nice and the location is great… but that is the problem. With other great restaurants in the area and the price point, I think you’d be better served going to Lola.

Reserved through open table.
We happened to make the reservation on game night: Cavs versus Spurs. They totally jacked up the parking. We parked further away and got one for $ 15. Factor in parking.
It was a pretty busy place. A bit too noisy for me, but it was a game night and the place was bustling.
It also happened to be restaurant week.
They start you off with bread and olive oil. The guy just plopped them down on the plate. Hurried would be a way to put it. But, not really a biggie.
I got the Prix Fixe menu for $ 33:
Started with the: «Butternut Squash arancini with brown butter/​sage aioli.» To be honest, one of the best appetizers I’ve had. It’s full of flavor. I never had Risotto in a tasty ball form like that. I’d give the appetizer alone a 5 star rating.
The entrée: «Seared Pork tenderloin with pancetta, roasted sweet potatoes, oyster mushroom, port wine reduction and and almond gremolata.» I thought the pork was pretty tasty. It went well with the sweet potatoes. I wasn’t able to eat much of it because my girlfriend didn’t like her dish, but I’ll get to that later. (Wahhh)
Dessert: «Espresso panna cotta.» I liked how it was on a stone slab. I felt quite like the ancient Roman/​Italian culture by eating it like that. It seemed basic and ancient. But, in a nouveau like ancient times sort of way. I enjoyed the espresso centerpiece gelatin.
My girlfriend got:
Crudo: «Tuna with tomato coulis, speck, micro greens and sea salt.» It was delicious, you have to make sure to get a good amount of everything in one bite. My girlfriend said she tasted the fish, but I didn’t. At best, very mild fishy aftertaste.
Entrée: «Chicken legs „saltimbocca“ style.» She didn’t like it. The chicken was juicy. The soup it was in had a southern feel to it. Collard greens? grits? If I had to say one thing about it, it tasted like it had too much ginger in it. It wasn’t bad. The quality of the food was good. But, it was gingery and bland, if you can taste that visually.
Overall Impression:
I liked the atmosphere, the interior design is great. Parking was an issue. But, the food was good overall for me to try it again. I’d go back, but probably next year’s restaurant week.

Went to a Cavs game with my daughter and thought we would grab dinner near the arena. Unilocaled and found Chinato mentioned. The food was very good I had the fettuccine carbonara while my daughter had the Slake. We both enjoyed our meals, I also had a glass of Chianti Classico which was quite nice.
Not the least expensive of places but I would say it was in the moderate range. With my glass of wine and the tip it ran us about $ 80.
We sat downstairs which was like eating in the cellar. Not dirty or anything bad just not a fancy décor. It was also quite noisy due to the low ceilings.
All in all, a good place for dinner conveniently located near the Quicken Arena.

We have dined here a few times and think this is one of Cleveland’s best. This time we dined during Zack Bruell’s very own Restaurant Week. Everything was wonderful. The extra we purchased were Escargot and calamari. Both in nice butter and Zach’s own olive oil. So tender. The four of us ordered the same meal from the select menu: butternut arancini – lightly fried balls of squash and ricotta. Melted in our mouths! Could have shared. Lots of food. Entrée was Mahi Mahi with eggplant agrodolce in a citrus sauce. Heavenly. Dessert was a light Tiramisu and one slice of Pistachio cheesecake that we shared. Our waiter, Anthony, was professional and knowledgable, also helping us with our wine choice. Went before a Cavs game. Had a relaxed meal and conversation over two hours in the packed dining room, including the lower dining room. The best for fine dining!

It was our second time eating here. The first time was quite tasty, from our pasta dishes to the soup, and the service.
The second time was quite horrible, from the food to the service. So for now, three stars. Inconsistent. Probably won’t be back for awhile however.

Very sophisticated menu. Difficult to find an ordinary dish. If you seek high end food this is the place. Wasn’t for me though.
Nice people though. I’m sure very good Paring restaurant.

You can do better. Leave this place for large groups of conventioneers. The food wasn’t bad, but it certainly wasn’t great. The service was competent and the meals were properly prepared, but they lacked flavor and the service lacked personality.
If you’re in town for a short time, there are a lot better options.

More like 3.5, but I try to look for the good in things.
3 friends and I had dinner here before watching Bill Burr kill it at the State Theater.
The good: Service, cheese board, and cured meats were unimpeachable. I had a Mccallen to go with the apps and the pour was generous. Had the sea scallops as an entrée and they were excellent, as was the broccoli and lobster sauce. However…
The bad: The pisarei was horrific. This starch-​based side is supposed to consist of bread dumplings and typically beans. What was on my plate looked like thick soggy tortilla chips, and it tasted like clay-​infused cardboard. There was not enough lobster sauce to cover up this culinary atrocity.
My companions enjoyed their entrees en toto so I’m hoping that the cook that day was simply not familiar with pisarei preparations. It happens.

The food was great! Went for luch and we got the Salumi board for an appetizer and I got the seafood spaghetti. They weren’t stingy on the seafood and there was a lot of great flavor.
The only complaint that I had was that it ended up being a 1.5 hour lunch. They didn’t start making our entrees until we finished the appetizer. We had to ask for the check as the food came as we had to get back to work.

I was so excited to try this place so when we got in and sat down and saw all the wonderful menu options, I was ecstatic. After that however, things kind of fell flat unfortunately.
They start you with bread and olive oil. Bread, nothing special, not a whole lotta flavor, but the olive oil was good.
For an appetizer, we started with the cheese plate. I thought it odd that I could not pick my cheese, but the waiter just asked «Is there any cheese you do not like?» and I said no. All the cheeses he brought were decent, the best was the bleu. But, the cheese board did not come with ANYTHING besides cheese! I had to ask for some crostini to eat it with! No fruits, nuts, or spreads either! And, later, when I was leaving I realized they have a whole board of about 20 cheeses to choose from and I didn’t get to even hear about my choices for the board! Boo.
Then I ordered the gnocchi. It was very rich and buttery, but that’s kind of where it ended. No real depth of flavor. D ordered the risotto. It was not a great texture and the cheese and peppers were cold with the warm risotto, which was odd. I wouldn’t order that again. The other two in our party also had very average meals — but I didn’t try them myself so I will not comment on them.
Service was also very slow and one person ordered wine with the meal and didn’t get it until the last bite of his meal. What good is that?
For the price and the prestige of this place, I really thought it would be better. A bit disappointed. Sorry.

This is just a review of their happy hour. have not actually had a full dinner yet. However have been to the happy hour twice now and enjoy it. Its 4:30−630 and then they have a reverse one again just before close. Happy hour is just in the bar and the service is still pretty good.
The HH menu is primarily vegetarian, but still with quite a few delicious options. We tried almost everything on the menu… my 2 favorite were probably the margherita pizza and the mushroom polenta (and I usually don’t like eating veg!) The gnocchi was also pretty good. I didn’t try the meatball but was told it was good (made of lamb, veal and pork). The antipasta salumi platter was just so so – too many pickled vegetables not enough of everything else.
Drinks were great… I tried one of the house cocktail and one of the house wine… both well made. For as much food as we got was definitely affordable.
I would definitely recommend the HH and will likely be back for a full dinner!

Chinato is an Italian-​fusion restaurant, not Chinese. The servers seemed to pronounce it «Kee-​nah-​toe», and not with a «Ch», but whatever, don’t let the first 5 letters fool you. This trendy restaurant sits in East 4^th street, lined up alongside Lola and The Greenhouse Tavern, completing the Cleveland culinary dream team.
We called in for reservations at 5, left the car at the valet (all for 8 bucks with validation — the public lots were charging $ 35 that night), and afterwards, crossed the street towards the Q arena for a Cavs game at 730 to watch our basketball dream team. It was a perfect night out just taking in the best of what Cleveland can offer; world-​class fine dining and major league sports!
The group ordered cocktails, escargot (which seems to use the exact same recipe across all Zack Bruell restaurants), lobster crudo, skate wing, chicken legs saltimbocca, scallops with linguine. All were fresh, served hot, tasted pure and delicious. We spotted the owner Zack himself helping with the dish preparations. Considering it was game night, East 4^th and all the restaurants were extremely packed and busy. In Chinato, service was quick, the staff were on their game, and hardly missed a beat.
The Cavs won against the Pacers that night, and so did my digestive system.
I love this town!