Pierogi Palace

First off, here is my disclaimer. This review is for THE WILLOUGHBY LOCATION, which is the sister store to the West Side Market. There was no page to review for this location specifically, so I will proceed to put this review here… because, frankly, people need to be aware of this spectacle or go witness it themselves if they are bored.
Situation goes as such: 7:00 p.m. on a chilly, dewy, Tuesday night, December 22^nd. In town visiting relatives, doing some Christmas shopping. Stopped by another store in the same shopping strip and decided to drop in Pierogi Palace for some grab n’ go dinner. I’ve been there many times before, had a pleasant experience with a helpful counter staff and have enjoyed many of their yummy pierogi. Not on this visit, however.
My husband and I walk into the store, as the door beeper goes off. Two seconds later, a grimey dish-​water blonde young lad comes running (quite literally) out of the back room, all out of breath. He proceeds to immediately explain to us about how much the holiday customers suck and how much of a horrible day he was having. And… that he would appreciate if we didn’t order anything that had to be fried, because he didn’t want to turn on the fryers because he was «too slammed.» OKAY. I figured we’d give him the benefit of the doubt, everyone has crappy days. But, oh no, it gets better.
Our greasy lad proceeds to tell us that he would also appreciate it if we only bought the pierogi by the dozen. (Excuse me? I thought I could buy them individually if I wanted to?) Then he says okay, we can do a mixed dozen, but it will cost $ 12.00. Okay. I picked out mushroom mozzarella. There was 8 in the bag. I said I wanted 6 of them. He offered to throw in the other 2 for $ 1.00. Okay, fine. (That would bring us up to $ 13.00, at that point) He asked us if we liked blueberry cheescake flavor. Sure, why not? So, he offered to give it to us for free since he only had one left. Okay, at this point we were still at $ 13.00.
After that, we attempted to get 6 Horseradish bacon flavor pierogi, to complete our «$ 12.00 mixed dozen». He had a total melt down because he couldn’t find the bag of that flavor in the case. From that moment in time, things just got down right weird. We «believe» the kid was more than high on life. He began rambling incessantly, even more than he already was… rambling off flavors and numbers, repeating «Oh, cool, bro, (to my husband) I got you!» Just acting like a complete numbskull, not making any sense. I told him never mind about the horseradish flavor, just give me 6 of another flavor, and a bag of cabbage and noodles ($ 5.00) and then that was all. We just wanted to get the hell out of there, at that point.
So, our grand total should have been $ 17.00. He attempted to ring us out at the register, seemingly very confused. He pushed buttons, mumbled something, then told us our total was $ 20.00. I immediately questioned that amount and he continued to rattle off a whole bunch of nonsense jibber jabber. At that point, with the red flags flying high like our said lad, I decided to pass on the whole transaction completely. I told our lad to have a Merry Christmas and we promptly left the scene. But, not before letting another customer who walked in as we left, know that he was their problem now.
We are still trying to wrap our minds around what happened that evening. The whole experience was like a scene out of Terry Gilliam’s Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas movie. We couldn’t make this crap up if we tried! It’s just really a damn shame that someone of that nature is the face of a small, family owned business. Especially during the holidays… he gives pierogi a bad name! Obviously, my family and I will never be giving Pierogi Palace our business again and we will not hesitate to let others know.

I LOVE pierogies from Pierogi Palace — they make an AMAZING assortment of vegan flavors that are super delicious. You never know what you’re gonna get if you just wing it and head to the West Side Market (things sell out!), so plan ahead and call to have an order ready for you to pick up. These are the best in Cleveland.

Let me just say, I never had a pierogi until I moved to Cleveland. It is one of my most favorite things because well, I love anything that resembles a dumpling.
My bf’s mom purchased these for a holiday dinner and served them to us. I was afraid she made them herself, but thank goodness they came from elsewhere.
I really can’t understand why anyone would give these 5 stars. Any good dumpling will be plump and stuffed with a delicious filling. It will be freshly made and most importantly, the dough on the outside will not be as thick as my carpet.
These pierogis– the dough is as thick as my carpet, so if you’re not a fan of that, avoid. There’s a big fat ring of dough around the whole dumpling, so guess what– they can charge you more by weight and it’s not the most costly thing they’re made of. Pretty big rip off if you ask me.
I know of another stand at the West Side market that has way better pierogis but I can’t remember the name because it’s been a while.
P. S. I know they also have a location in Eastlake, and I guess that’s their own full-​on shop. In case you’re on the east side and are hankering for some pierogi dough. :D

I grew up with my little old Ukranian grandmother making me homemade pierogies, mostly of the traditional potato variety. I have warm memories of flavorful, fresh pierogies and expected nothing less from Pierogi Palace given that Parma is a hive of Ukranians. I purchased pounds and pounds of all types of different flavors that I didn’t realize existed in this type of cuisine and crossed my fingers that I wouldn’t be disappointed. I was. Terribly. Like others have said, the dough is WAY too thick and the fillings just tasted odd. Maybe I’m just a traditionalist but these just didn’t do it for me. I also felt ripped off. Pierogies are a poor man’s food yet I almost went broke forking out for these.
I recommend saving your money and visiting one of the local stores in Parma where you can get something more authentic.

I was an Irish kid working at Parma Pierogies many years back so I know my stuff. Pierogi Palace are OK. A tad thick on the dough for me. Fillings are good and different. They seemed to be like most of the other stands in the Market and jacked up the prices of stuff due to the fact that everyone is bombaring the place now. Never thought I would see the day they would have frickin valet parking on w. 25^th. Kill me. If ya want a better pierogi and a cheaper priced pierogi go to Krusinski’s in Slavic Village or Rudys Strudel in Parma.
«Nie dla wszystkich skrzypce grają»

As a native Clevelander and my Ukrainian ancestors blood running through my veins, I can only ask «Dear God — Pepperoni Pierogi? WHYYYYYY!!!» (camera panning back to focus in on my open, screaming mouth)
For the uninitiated and the uninformed, these pierogis are *not good*.
They are, in fact, terrible.
The dough is too thick and fills your mouth with the most unappealing flour-​y taste. The «crimp» along the side is way too huge — thereby accenting the «I ate too much peanut butter» mealy-​, clumping feeling. The various «flavors» provided — like pizza — are not generous and fresh-​tasting.
If you want very good, authentic pierogi in the West Side Market — visit Irene Dever’s Dairy. They have the traditional varieties (potato, cheese — not cheddar cheese but sweet’ish, dry cottage cheese, sauekraut, and the barely authentic potato/​cheese mix. If you call ahead, you can order prune (very good — try it) or apricot. If you are very motivated — drive to St. Josephat’s Ukrainian Church on State Road and buy pierogi from the little old ladies in the back building. There are over a dozen of them seated at long tables, hand-​making these treasures. Call ahead as they are not open every day.
Pizza pierogi? Never. ‘Nuff said.