The Winking Lizard
1615 Main Street (state route 303)
(330) 467-1002
Other Locations:
511 East Aurora Road, Macedonia
25380 Miles Road, Cleveland

Who can read that menu? Actually, the overly-informative menus and place mats are part of the fun. That doodle in the corner just may be this week's special. The location, near the Cuyahoga Valley Train Station and Erie Canal Tow Path, makes this a popular spot in the summer. I'd recommend having lunch at the 'Lizard, bike or walk along the tow path, then refresh with a beer afterwards. If you'd prefer, check out the quaint antique stores or even take a train ride!

For such a fun place, they offer a surprising variety of foods. None of them are fancy (think pub fare), but they're enjoyable. Their fries are wide, steak fries. The Winking Lizard has a 15-cent wing night. There's a weekly beer selection. Choose simple foods and you'll be happy. Get fancy, and you're on your own.

The service was okay. Not too attentive, but busy. Not poor, either.

Lunch for two, with drinks, ran about $15. About par for such fare.

Alas - the menus became much more readable. While it loses a bit of that fun quality, patrons are more likely to understand what the items are.

Also, a word of caution: no matter how delicious the chicken fingers look (and they look fabulous), they're dry. I don't recommend them. Here, you want to stick with the burger-and-beer combination.

As a former employee of the Independance location, I can tell people exactly what goes on behind the scenes. The place is well organized, from the way the beer is stacked to the way the kitchen orders are dealt with. Everything is made fresh when the orders are recieved. The lizard lips are breaded and then deep fried. They dry out quickly.

Every plate is checked by a manager or a kitchen employee for correct porportions before it is rushed to a customer. The place is spotless at 3:30 a.m when the bussers finally get to leave. They try to get orders out the specific way that the customers order it. If your order is wrong, nine times out of ten it was the server's goof up. But surely you can understand why the servers mess up (it gets VERY,VERY busy).

The people there are absolutely wonderful to work with. The managers actually care about each individual that's working for them. This is by no means a bad review. And I assure you that no bad activity goes on in the kitchen or elsewhere in the Winking Lizard.

My sole purpose in this reply is to let the readers know just how unique the Lizard really is. Maybe next time when you dine in, or just stop in to drink a beer, you'll understand the Lizard a lot more then before. If you ever stop there please ask to sit in Leah Strumps section. Shes the nicest lady you'll ever meet. By the way, tell her Hoss says "Hi!"