Swerve Grille

I’m new to the area and pass this place almost every day. I’ve pointed it out to several friends and mentioned I wanted to go. It definitely looks like a nice place, maybe even a little trendy. When a friend came to town to visit over the holidays, I thought this would be a perfect time to stop in. Unfortunately, our entire experience was not good.
When we entered, we were thoroughly patted down by security including a purse check. No problem there, security is doing his job. My friend asked the hostess if the kitchen was open and told it was. We were hoping to grab something small and have a few drinks. We sat at the table (the only people at that point sitting at a table) for more than 20 minutes without anyone coming to us. We eventually figured out who the employees were and got someone’s attention. Because the volume of the music was not real conducive for talking, we decided to order food to go but ordered drinks while we waited. When they came, they were in small plastic cups with a little bit of beverage. We looked around trying to find anyone else with a little plastic cup and didn’t see one. Everyone else, whether in the dining area or at the bar, had rocks glasses, stemware, etc. (Mind you, $ 18 for 2 beverages that combined could have been one.) My friend asked about the cups and was told something about not wanting to wash dishes. What?! This is a bar. When the food came, we paid and left but not without noticing that all the people that came in while we were seated walked right in. One after another and not one person got patted down, no one’s bag opened, nothing.
Sure, on any other day than Saturday it might be a good place to have a drink and talk. Saturdays are loud. Good music but loud. I was hoping to find a good neighborhood spot but the way we were treated was clearly different than the rest of the patrons. Maybe you have to be a regular before you get luxuries… like service, glassware, or a decent pour.

Tried this place because I got a groupon. It was clean and nicely decorated. Our server Jamie was very friendly and efficient. We ordered a beer each and they served them in icy cold glasses. Perfect start! Small but nice beer list! Good micro brews! My bf ordered the chicken tenders with fries and a side of Mac n cheese. His chicken tenders were the best I’ve tried. Crispy and excellent breading. The fries and Mac n cheese were awesome too. I had the pasta Alfredo with chicken and it was flavorful and a generous portion! I think this restaurant caters to a mostly African-​American crowd… and we are white… but we didn’t feel weird and they were friendly. I’d recommend this place!

Great place to frequent for food and entertainment! The only place in Cleveland who’s Happy Hour is until 8pm. Friday nights are the best, thanks to the great live entertainment! I tell everyone I know and those who visit Cleveland, to make sure they put this place on their to do list!
Tonya

Very nice, trendy venue. Second time here was on a Tuesday evening. Nice piped Jazz music, good service, yummy food. Comfortable crowd. Had the chicken rolls, hamburger, fish tacos, Mac/​cheese w pieces of lobster. All very tasty. And it was Happy Hour! First visit was on a Friday evening. The room was full! The bar was hoppin’. Live Jazz music. Great service and food with nice presentation. Loud. Something different with good prices. Make a reservation. We’ll be back for a third time.

I went here for my birthday as a first time customer. TERRIBLE!!! The food was cold, the fish was not only frozen but freezer burnt, ribs were salty. But what may have surpassed the food in awfulness was the music. No edited or clean versions of the music, ALOT of cursing. Not family friendly and just horrendous food. And this was all on a very slow afternoon, just 2 other tables!

Let’s begin by saying the artists that perform are very talented & passionate about their work however I will never visit this establishment again. To make a long story short; after receiving cold food, drinks that took 23 minutes to get to our table what took the cake was when we went to pay for our meal.
My party sat patiently waiting for our credit cards to be returned to our table when the worst thing imaginable happened. In the rear of the restaurant there is a party of 8 or more guests that are passing around a green credit card, back and forth flipping the card over handing the card to the next person shaking their head. Finally the 5^th man that looks at the card says loudly, «who is Amber?» I’m mortified, I have just witnessed 5 different people pass around my debit card! When the server arrives to my table I asked her if she had just allowed my card to be viewed by another party, she got an attitude, as if I had made the mistake. Absolutely inappropriate way to handle the situation. I spoke to the manager & as I explained what transpired he asked if I was drinking in the middle of our conversation. I said that’s funny I’ve had one drink and it took 23 minutes to arrive. So no sir, let’s not accuse a customer of being drunk! Educate & Reprimand your staff accordingly! Unprofessional staff, lackadaisical attitudes, horrible service, I will not be back!

Omg, Omg, Omg. Will definitely be back. Everything I ordered was absolutely delicious.
CHICKEN N’ WAFFLES: The waffle was perfect. It tasted like a damn funnel cake!!! It wasnt like the flimsy soft Belgian waffles Im used to getting. It was as if it were placed in a toaster. It came crisp on the outside and the edges, but soft and chewy on the inside. They put powdered sugar on top! The cinnamon sugar butter spread could be patented it was so good. That, with the syrup, made it almost orgasmic! The chicken was seasoned to perfection and was crisp and juicy… OMG, I cleaned those bones! Reminded me of my dad’s wings, when I was a child.
THE FISH TACOS: Delicious! It was kind of Asian inspired, with soy sauce to hydrate it. The fish was crisp, yet juicy. Cooked correctly! The only downpart, is that they sent me a lime wedge, which looked like it had been exposed to the cold air of the refrigerator for two weeks. It was dry as a desert bone, and when I went to squeeze it over my tacos, not one drip came out. A major turn off for me.
TURKEY RIBS: Up there with beef ribs for me! Very tender and moist. Suprisingly meaty! The sauce should be bottled and sold in stores worldwide. Seasoned extremely well too! A new fav for me this summer. I will definitely be grilling these!
MAC: The MAC was fine. I’m spoiled by my own 6 cheese MAC. I like mine with rich sharp cheeses, like New York White Cheddar, Jalapeño Pepper Jack, Parmesan, Asiago, Mozzarella, and Swiss, baked til’ the cheese starts bubbling and the scent fills the entire house. Yum! But, it is fine if you like a more mild MAC. I fancy they made theirs with Colby Jack, and/​or a very, very mild cheddar. It also tasted very buttery.
FRIES: Soooooooo… good. Seasoned well! I got them for my turkey ribs. I smothered those babies in BBQ sauce as well.
ICE CREAM: Very rich thick vanilla, with the chocolate syrup. You could taste that it wasn’t some cheap value ice cream, which is why I suppose it cost $ 2 for one small scoop. It was good, until my son drizzled soy sauce on it.
Overall, the prices were exceptionally good, for such great delicious food. I spent $ 35 on dinner for myself and my son; a beer and coke included. Go on GROUPON like I did, and purchase a $ 40 coupon to Swerve for only $ 20. My goodness gracious! This food is ridiculously delicious. Totally killing ANY other soul food spot in Cleveland. Period. My first experience went extremely well. My waitress was amazing, and the music and atmosphere was nice. I was glad there were only four other parties there on a Tuesday around 7pm. It made for a more intimate experience. This time I will be coming back again with my hubbie next week on Tuesday, to get my fix of Swerve Grille. I may just be addicted…

First of all, in terms of the food itself, I’d give this place a 5 stars. The appetizer fish taco was absolutely delicious. The fish was cooked just right– crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. I usually don’t like sweet dipping sauce, but this sauce went really well with the taco. Plus, it is half priced on Friday night, how awesome is that! My entrée was jumbo shrimp, it’s basically grilled shrimp on top of a grits cake. I loved the spicy kick of the shrimp!!– that’s probably my favorite of the night. I also tried the special of the day: chicken n waffle. I could tell that the waffle was made from scratch and it was baked to the perfection. Fried chicken was a little bit dry if I had to be picky, but the seasoning was tasty.
One of the reason why I gave it a four stars instead of 5 was that the live jazz music was kinda loud, my friends and I could barely hear each other even though we were basically yelling. Don’t get me wrong, the music was fine but just a little too loud. Another thing was that I waited 30 mins for my appetizer and another 40 mins for my entrée. But I went to this place on a Friday night and it was literally a full house, some people had to wait by the bar. It could be because the groupon deal is on and actually the waitress told me almost everybody came in with the groupon.
Anyways, I like the food a lot but next time I would prbly pick a weekday to go there. And if u are still debating if u should buy the groupon or not, I hope my review could help u（＾＾）(*^o^*)