Cleveland's best restaurants, bars, happy hours, things to eat & drink: A guide

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Cleveland restaurant, bar guides

However you sum up Cleveland's restaurant-and-bar scene for 2015, at least two words apply: growth, and energy. New restaurant openings continue at recently unprecedented levels. Meanwhile, new or reimagined concepts continue to test the waters here. Those have resulted in challenging times for many veteran operations, as consumers find more opportunities to sample from an expanding smorgasbord of styles and tastes.

Over these past 12 months, the food-and-drink team at cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer have sampled, and compared notes on everything from wings and craft brewiers to coffee shops, steakhouses, places to find great vegetarian food and other fine cuisine and drinks. Here's a look back on just a part of what we've discovered in 2015.

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10 best restaurants in Cleveland?

 What happens if you pit a veteran restaurant critic against the crowd-sourced restaurant reviews of Yelp in search of the 10 best restaurants in Cleveland? Here is the answer. READ MORE

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A-List

 Cleveland's top 100 restaurants. Our annual guide to the very best dining experiences in Northeast Ohio. READ MORE

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Cleveland Classics

20 of Northeast Ohio's most enduring and respected restaurants. Each is an A-List restaurant, exemplary for its food, service, atmosphere and other elements of a top-shelf food-service establishment. READ MORE

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50 Things to Eat and Drink

From donuts to cocktails, side dishes to full-blown feasts, the 2015 edition of our popular "50 Things to Eat and Drink in Cleveland" project offers must-try indulgences for just about every budget, taste and whim. Of the hundreds of dishes cleveland.com and Plain Dealer critics sampled over the past year, these 50 are true standouts - the appetizers, entrees, side dishes and desserts that quickly came to mind when each critic was asked to name the best of the best. READ MORE

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Best Happy Hours

10 Cleveland eateries where you can eat large without walking out a pauper? Yes, it is possible, thanks to Happy Hour at these local spots. READ MORE

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Family-friendly dining

From hot dogs to veggie fare to ethnic favorites, the family-friendly Cleveland dining scene is diverse - and inspired. Read on for 10 of our favorite family-friendly restaurants. READ MORE

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Best Chinese, Asian restaurants

Love Asian food? Here are 18 great Cleveland-area restaurants with Asian cuisine as a centerpiece on the menu: Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Asian fusion & more. 9 of the restaurants are from the 2015 A-List guide to to Northeast Ohio's Top 100 restaurants. We also included 11 others that deserve your attention as well. READ MORE

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Best Italian

Love Italian food? Here are 20 great restaurants from the 2015 A-List guide to to Northeast Ohio's Top 100 restaurants with Italian cuisine as a centerpiece on the menu. READ MORE

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Best steakhouses

Here are the 7 Northeast Ohio steakhouses that made it onto this year's A-List guide to Northeast Ohio's Top 100 restaurants. READ MORE

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Downtown restaurant guide

 30 great restaurants worth checking out in downtown Cleveland and the Flats. READ MORE

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Ohio City restaurant and bar guide

 The neighborhood surrounding Cleveland's West Side Market is a foodie paradise booming with great restaurants and bars. You can start, of course, by noshing your way through the various food vendors at the West Side Market. But step outside and explore. The area spreading out from W. 25th Street and Lorain Avenue is dotted with an array of fine, independent restaurants. READ MORE

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Little Italy restaurant guide

It's a little slice of cultural heaven just east of University Circle, spreading out in a blast of shops, restaurants and other fun around Mayfield and Murray Hill roads. Here are 20 restaurants worthy of checking out if you're in the neighborhood. READ MORE

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Suburban Cuyahoga County restaurants

 What are the best restaurants in suburban Cuyahoga County? Check out these selections from the cleveland.com/Plain Dealer 2015 A-List Restaurant Dining Guide. READ MORE

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Akron and Summit County restaurants

What are the best dining options in Akron and Summit County? Check out these 37 restaurant options. READ MORE

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Vegetarian-friendly restaurants

For many years, eateries catered to carnivores or vegetarians – rarely both. But the rise in the culinary scene and vegetarianism has made restaurants expand menus that appeal to all diners and diets. Here are 20 of the best vegetarian-friendly restaurants in Northeast Ohio. READ MORE

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Brunch

Here are 7 Cleveland-area restaurants that do brunch right. READ MORE

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yhO

12 great places in Northeast Ohio to get your hot-drink fix -- morning, noon or night. Coffes. mochas, lattes, espressos, teas, pour-overs & more. READ MORE

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Best Craft Breweries

Who makes the best craft beer in Northeast Ohio? Here's a look at the 21 of the best craft breweries in the area. READ MORE

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NEO's Best: Wings

Who makes the best wings in Northeast Ohio? Here's a look at the 10 finalists in NEO's Best: Wings local competition. Photos, videos, tasting notes & more. READ MORE

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NEO's Best Fries

Who makes the best fries in Northeast Ohio? Here's a look at the 8 finalists in NEO's Best: Fries competition. Photos, videos, tasting notes & more. READ MORE

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Top tiny restaurants, bars

Call them cozy. Little. Petite. Compact. Diminutive. Maybe even a little tight, or cramped. But the only thing small about the joints listed below is size.Read on for our second annual look at some of Cleveland's top, tiny restaurants and bars. READ MORE

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Food truck guide

It's almost lunchtime. Do you know where your favorite food truck will be pulling up? Use this handy list of more than 50 area food trucks to link to their Facebook and Twitter accounts. Just click on the name of the truck, and you're off to lunch. READ MORE

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Cleveland patio guide

The 2015 Cleveland Patio Guide 2015 is here. Your guide to bars and restaurants in Northeast Ohio where you can enjoy summer (while it lasts). Thanks to El Nino, some of these outdoor spots might still occasionally be open for business this winter! READ MORE

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Top Restaurants Reviewed

The food critics at cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer review at least one new restaurant each week. You can see all of the reviews from 2015 by going to the Top Restaurants page at cleveland.com/top-restaurants

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