Hodge's is part of the Driftwood Restaurant Group, which also owns Washington Place (in Cleveland), 87 West at Crocker Park (in Westlake), The Orchard House (in Brunswick), and the Welshfield Inn (in Burton). The Group currently offers a little passport-like book in which you can collect visas (stamps) after dining at a particular restaurant. If you receive enough stamps, you can earn rewards like free appetizers and desserts. It seems like a fun way to encourage dining around. Hodge's is open for lunch and dinner Monday through Friday and serves dinner on Saturday and Sunday. This restaurant occupies the space of the former Zinc Bistro. Chef Chris Hodgson also owns the food trucks called Dim and Dem Sum and Hodge Podge. The restaurant accepts reservations through the Open Table system.
The restaurant space is large, with seating indoors on two levels as well as at the long bar. The kitchen is open, so you can watch the chefs work. The bathrooms are not within the restaurant; you must navigate the office/residential building to reach them. The outdoor space is lovely, with another large bar, table seating, and lounge seating, including a firepit. Unfortunately, it was both rainy and humid on the night that we dined, so we ate indoors, but the patio looked fantastic if the weather is right!
Our food was not impressive. Our snacks (hanky pankies [chorizo and cheese atop a crostini] and deviled eggs) arrived at the same time as our appetizers (salad and corn bisque). The restaurant serves complimentary amuse bouche of potato puffs with aioli, as well as cornbread served in a skillet. Our entrees took well over an hour to arrive, despite the restaurant being rather empty. (The kitchen staff seemed overwhelmed and/or inexperienced.) One entree of johnnycakes was inedible (basically raw pancakes), but the other main dish (pork shank with crispy onions and baked beans) was fantastic! Service was terribly slow, but our server was pleasant and did all she could to give us a good experience there. The bill arrived in a little red envelope entitled "THE DAMAGES", which we thought was cute.
We wish that we had a better experience at this restaurant, but we seem to have visited on an off night, perhaps because of the holiday weekend.
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