Ballroom Brunch

If you live in or are ever near the great city of Cleveland (it really is great), then I suggest visiting the North Collinwood neighborhood for a good old fashioned, almost completely vegetarian/vegan brunch. The place where you can find this little treat, you ask? The Beachland Ballroom and Tavern.

The Beachland Ballroom, located at 15711 Waterloo Rd., is actually a music venue in addition to being a small tavern and vintage record and clothing store (found in the basement). The bands that play the Beachland are usually local and aren't commercial big (although they have had bands like The Hold Steady and The Donnas grace their stage, as well as sponsoring bands such as The Decemberists at other venues), but the music and atmosphere is fun and retro. If you want to know a little bit about the venue's history, click the following link: http://www.beachlandballroom.com/about.html It does a much better job at describing its coming about then I ever could.

Before I begin talking about the food (I'll get there, I promise!), I'd like to talk a little bit about the neighborhood because it plays a huge part in why The Beachland is so important and, maybe, why it's done so well. I've lived in Collinwood all my life and during the late 80s to early 90s, the neighborhood experienced white-flight (excuse the terminology). From there, the neighborhood slowly deteriorated, until the early to mid 2000s, when this progressive arts group called Arts Collinwood came around and gave it new life. Now, there's the Annual Waterloo Arts Festival, The Beachland Ballroom, The Waterloo Cafe (with full service bar!), and various art galleries that are definitely worth stopping by. On a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday night, especially in the summer, you can find that the streets around the club are lined with cars (belonging mostly to people who do not live in the neighborhood, but I'm not complaining). The music venue hasn't just done well for itself; it has done well for the neighborhood and the people who live in it, which just makes it all the more awesome.

Now that that's done... back to the food! My mom had been hinting at going to the brunch for a while, and no doubt, I was a little curious myself. So we went yesterday morning and were a little confused by the menu. Our neighborhood was once completely Slovenian. I'm talking polish sausage and kraut, Golabki (stuffed cabbage) and Klopsiki (meatloaf stuffed with eggs). Which is why when we saw that the menu was almost completely vegetarian and vegan, we were a little thrown. We're not used to this kind of diet on our block. But, we're always up for trying new things, so we went ahead and ordered.

For my eats, I had the Fried Scrambled Eggs, which were panko crusted and served with chipolte sauce and your choice of either vegetables, bacon, or sausage. (I went with the vegetables to keep the vegetarian feel.) My mother had the Eggs Beachland, a delicious sandwich-like concoction with poached eggs, capicola, gouda sauce served on a baguette. This also came with a choice of vegetables, bacon, or sausage. The serving sizes were big and I was full about halfway through my meal. (If you'd like to see the rest of the menu, click on the link: http://www.beachlandballroom.com/menu.html)

Both my mother and I have been vegetarians before (me about 2 years and my mom about 5), and we were quite surprised at how good the food really was, not to mention how inexpensive. It's very hard to find decent vegan and vegetarian meals that don't rob your wallet. The service was also incredible. The waiters and waitresses were extremely lively but laid back, staying cheery but still giving you your much needed space at 11 a.m. on a Sunday.

On top of all of this, the brunch had something that you won't commonly see at a restaurant: DJs. There were two guest DJs (the DJs change every week) spinning records (yes, actual records) and dishing out a small dose of their charming dry humor. Dare I say, these guys were so good they deserved a radio show.

So, if you're looking for something to do or are trying to get over a hangover (the tavern has a bar that it more than happy to serve you a Bloody Mary) from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on a Sunday, stop by The Beachland Ballroom for their Beachland Brunch. You'll have a swell swanky time.