I’ve been dying to go to visit Hodge’s Cleveland since it opened. Between seeing all of the pictures and tweets, I knew I was going to love it.

First things first – Hodge’s was recently opened up by Chris Hodgeson. You may remember Chris from The Great Food Truck Race where he, his sister and his girlfriend competed against other food trucks in a race across America. While Chris came in second, he was first in our hearts here in Cleveland.

As part of my extended birthday celebration, Mo, Emily and I went to Hodge’s for a fantastic dinner. And we were SPOILED. I mean honestly, spoiled. Chris was there and was bringing out app after app, sitting and chatting with us and suggesting entrees. From a fantastic cheese tart (thank you Scott!) to gnudi to Hodge’s pork & beans, our first course(s) were amazing. We each decided on a different entree and I went with the one that I hadn’t stopped hearing about via Twitter – french onion ravioli. Yes. As amazing as it sounds. And the Hodge’s mojito – made my night. I love a good mojito and that one is one of the best I’ve had (so much so that I had it again a week later).

The service was great, the atmosphere is one of the best in the city and the ownership is top notch.

And I’m not just saying this because Chris is such a nice person, but Hodge’s is one of the best Cleveland restaurants around right now. Yes, it’s only been open a few weeks and usually it takes awhile to get around the kinks, but I really could go there every week…oh wait, I have been there the last two…