Otto Moser Tavern

Hostess and server were kinda rude. We were over looked many times to see if we were doing ok needed refills. The gentleman that brought our food out did however ask is if we needed anything. The food was ok. Nothing spectacular about it. Good if your looking for a quick bite before a show.

I just started working in the area and have already had lunch here several times. The food has been good every time. On my first visit they had sloppy joes as the special. It was awesome! I’ve had their daily wrap specials and each one has been very good. To top it off you get a pickle with every sandwich, and it’s a very good pickle too!

After seeing a comedy show at State Theatre, I was dying to eat anything. After not having eaten since breakfast at around 8:00 am, I’m pretty sure I would’ve been highly tolerant of even the most mediocre dining establishment. In other words, it would’ve taken very little to please me on a night like last night. But, to my surprise, my undiscerning state of mind didn’t stop me from having a mostly disappointing experience at Otto Moser’s Restaurant.
My order was relatively simple and not at all extravagant: a stuffed mushroom appetizer, a turkey ruben sandwich, and two cans of root beer. That’s it. What did I pay for that? A whopping $ 24.75, pre-​tip. While I have no major complaints about the food, I also have no major compliments either. My meal was roughly equivalent to what I would expect from a typical greasy spoon diner just down the street, but at double the cost. Perhaps the only saving grace was that my food was delivered super fast, which was a relief. But that still doesn’t justify the cost.
The service was similarly mediocre. My waitress, a middle aged woman, was nice enough, if a bit clumsy. She had to ask me to repeat my order after leaving to take someone else’s order and coming back to my table to clarify. At the same time, she told me they were out of my desired appetizer, but then was corrected by a fellow co-​worker who advised that the appetizer was indeed still available. While this was a relatively minor setback, it seemed to bespeak an atmosphere of confusion in the kitchen. Additionally, while I appreciated the waitress’ attempts to make conversation by asking about who I saw (she was unfamiliar with Bill Burr), the manner in which she asked was awkward, albeit in an innocent sort of way. The whole interaction made me feel like I was bringing my grandmother up to speed on current events and pop culture. She later tripped and nearly fell on the floor, although she was a good distance away from me. Taken together, this made me wonder if she was just having a bad day.
The minor stumbles in the quality of customer service aside, it was the exorbitant price I paid for what was essentially a turkey sandwich that truly left me feeling robbed of my money. It seems like this restaurant’s business model is built around resting on the laurels of Playhouse Square’s success. Despite a lackluster dining experience, it’s proximity to the second largest performing arts center in the United States virtually guarantees that a steady stream of customers will stop in at least once enroute to or departing from a show. It’s unfortunate to see such a good location achieve such a level of mediocrity.

The only reason this place is still around is because people are lazy on theatre days and go there because it is in the lobby of the theatre center complex. I got stuck here for a Sunday matinée after parking and nothing else was open. How can you screw up a cheeseburger? Over cook the hell out of it and then put it on a hockey puck of a bun. Corned beef was no better. This was a mistake I’ll never make again.

My husband and I stopped in for dinner before a show at the Ohio Theatre on a Friday night. The place was completely full… we had to sit at the bar. No problem, except there was only one bartender. Almost everyone at the bar was eating, so she had to serve everyone while making drinks for the entire restaurant. This, of course, resulted in horrible service. I did not blame her. In fact, despite being in over her head, she remained quite friendly. I know restaurants don’t want to be overstaffed and waste money, but when you don’t have a bar staffed sufficiently, you’re only losing money. When the service is faster, people will drink more. Some people stopped in for a drink and left because they couldn’t even get served once. And you lose return business when first-​timers come in and have a bad experience. C’mon guys, for a restaurant that’s been around so long, one would think you know the basics.
The kitchen was very slow and unorganized. The couple next to us ordered apps, salads and entrees. The appitizer finally came (it was shrimp cocktail!), and was foillowed up about a minute later with their entrees. The eventually got their salads, but who wants salad after your entrée? Our food was mediocre. I ordered the chipotle chicken wrap. There was no trace of chipotle anything on it… it was a chicken wrap. It took forever to close our bill resulting in us barely making the show on time. I don’t think we’ll be back.

Mediocre at best. I went there two years ago and have not gone back since. My salad was a sad pile of spinach with some bland fruit. Waitstaff was very lack luster, and the atmosphere was pretty boring.

Walked in on a Saturday — it was empty (automatic red flag when restaurants are empty)
Looked at menu outside and saw decent prices — came in and menu was different so that was lame. They stop lunch at 3pm.
I went to the bar and bartender/​waitress greeted me with «do you need something» in a snarky voice. I was already balls deep into the restaurant so I decided to stay. I wanted a turkey club but it wasn’t on the menu — but a turkey Ruben and a chicken club were — so I asked to substitute the chicken for some turkey and she said no. And I said why not. She said they don’t do that. And then she said she’d check. She talked to 9 people until she got the okay.
Received my sandwich and it was more soggy bread than anything else. Terrible bacon. Maybe 4 slices of turkey. Fries were pretty good, though.
Finished up the meal and she said «do you need anything else sweetheart» which made me feel good. That’s the only reason it got 3 stars. I likely wouldn’t come back.
Go Buckeyes

As promised I gave them another shot, this time I ordered a grilled chicken salad. It was just so so and so mediocre that I more than likely won’t be back. The salad was fine I guess, but I expected them to grill a fresh chicken breast and it wasn’t. It was just some cold chopped up chicken… meh…I was also a little grossed out when I saw one of the cooks in back thawing out a huge chunk of ground beef in the microwave.
Oh well — like I send before this place has great potential with an excellent location, but the effort from the owners just isn’t there… sad.

Otto Moser’s has become a pre-​show tradition when I come to performances at the Playhouse Square theaters. Prices are always reasonable, and the food has always been good; I have never had a poor experience.

Honestly, I don’t know why this place is always packed when I walk by. The one time I ate there, it was cheap and barely edible. Really terrible food.

Excellent deli sandwiches in the theatre district. Very relaxed atmosphere, with many amazing old photos of actors and acctresses — John Phillip Sousa, The Barrymore Family and many others. This is the oldest if not one of the oldest restaurants in downtown! I definitely recommend the Reuben sandwich. When you visit ask the people there about the unique history of the restaurant and you’ll be pleasantly surprised too! Been back quite a few times and will continue to! Opa!

Me and six friends stopped here after a show and the manager was disheveled and totally rude to us! We asked if we could sit outside but the chairs were all locked up, he looked at me and said «do I look like I have time to unlock chairs for you?» We were horrified! It wasn’t even that busy! We walked out and will never go their again! Their were 7 of us who wanted to have dinner and drinks! Sure to have been a hefty bill! Oh well, we went elsewhere and had a ball!

We went to see Wicked last night and popped into here for a quick drink before. It is clean, the décor was nice and the pours on our drinks were more than ample unlike other places in cleveland, plus the price was reasonable. I have to say for a first timer, with the old photos on the wall and how packed the place was it must do well. I really liked it and the vibe inside. We hung at the bar, and it’s all very open.

I don’t know how this place is still in business. Perhaps touting their years in business works for them though I hope not.
I stopped in before the radiolab apocalyptical show and, as others have mentioned, the place was nearly empty but the service was as slow as if the place was packed with a line out the door. Beyond the slow service which I can get past, the food was an abomination. How one can screw up a burger is beyond me. You serve them all day every day. Don’t you think you could figure out how to make one taste good? Also, any place that can’t provide a soda, aka pop, that has the appropriate mix of syrup and soda should not be in business.
DO NOT GO HERE!

Let me provide the setting:
Saturday evening a couple hours before a play…
Now the cast of characters:
The manager at the door taking names and numbers in party has no business a) talking to patrons b) managing a floor in general. He came across rude to us and to others walking in. He said there was a 15-​minute wait for a half-​empty restaurant that stayed half empty the entire wait and time we were there.
The staff, including the manager, we in their Sunday’s best… and by «Sunday’s best» I mean mom jeans and disheveled wrinkled clothing. It’s not that jeans offend me, or even a polo or something like that… heck, even a t-​shirt. It’s just like people were taken to the local GoodWill, given 55 cents, and 2 minutes to not only choose and purchase their uniform for the evening, but also put it on.
Seriously, I’m not a dick, but the guy even managing had that 80’s I’m at the bar wearing my British Knights and have a pink comb in my way-​too-​tight back pocket thing going on.
Just weird.
Anyhow, the waitress was friendly enough… but they are slow… very slow. We weren’t the only ones complaining. It wasn’t a matter, seemingly, of her not caring but just no one knew what was going on… very very very bad management and training. Food was just OK and the price should be a little smidge lower for the quality of food… let alone lack of good service.

My sister was swimming at CSU, and I was in from out of state. About 20 of us showed up at random on a rainy afternoon. Service was good, food was good, atmosphere was amazing. uh-​fukin amazing. I loved 100+ years of pictures of the actors that have passed through and dined here. Eat here. Old world charm.

The food wasn’t too bad, and the prices were pretty good for being downtown, but they need to plan ahead for when there’s a show. We went here before a show, and the service was the worst. I won’t blame the waitress though, because she ended up having about 10 tables by the time we left. For those not familiar with foodservice, that’s about twice as many as she should have had.
The menu is mostly sandwiches and salads, which is ok, because we knew that before going in. I got a Reuben, fries, and cole slaw for $ 9.99, which is a pretty good deal. We were thinking of going somewhere else, but prices at other close restaurants were $ 15 to $ 25, so we figured we’d give this place a try.
I’d never make a special trip here, especially since you’d have to pay to park, but if I was going to a show again, I’d definitely come back.

This establishment was your ordinary breakfast/​lunch restaurant. The waitress was able to sit and serve our group of 8 in decent time. Unfortunately, I can’t even remember what I ate :(I’m a fan of mom and pop places, especially those that leave a lasting impression in my mind. This place did not. I’m sure, next time I’m up in Cleveland, I’ll look for another place for lunch.

I was recently in Cleveland on business and stopped by Otto’s for a drink after work and I was pleasantly surprised. Although they have full bar the wine selection was limited but the bartender who also happened to be one of the owners found the ‘perfect’ wine for me. I didn’t eat at Otto’s during my first visit the ambiance was inviting and the service was excellent which is why I returned the following evening.
Otto’s managed to impress me on day two as well. Not only did he remember my drink of choice they also remembered my name. We ordered appetizers and ate the bar the food was excellent and did not disappoint.
We ordered hummus and spinach cheese dip both came with chips which were obviously home made warm, fresh and crispy. The hummus was perfect not over powered by garlic like some places often do. The Spinach dip was creamy and contained tons of flavor.
I’ll be returning to Otto’s during my next visit and would recommend this place to family and friends (if I had any).

While i don’t think Otto’ s is strictly a tavern or a deli, i’ m not going to make a separate entry for restaurant. It is the storied Theater eatery where many famous people have dined over its 300 years in existence (okay, slightly less than 300). The showbiz ephemera makes for an interesting dining experience, but overall the décor was dated and suited more for a Moose lodge (plenty of taxidermied heads, so heads up sensitive vegetarians). Also, the menu is kind of stuck in the year 1958.
I had the crab cakes. They were excellent. The other appetizers were also tasty. Now, here’s the rub. It was 2 in the afternoon, and my friend and i were only there for a light lunch. The waitress completely lost interest in us and got a shitty attitude when she saw we weren’t going to go all out for dinner and drop a huge tip. Sorry, we’re not steak-​wolfing Vaudvillians out painting the town red. I guess when you’re used to W. C. Fields leaving you a hundred after his liver and onions, two twenty-​somethings wearing fleece warm-​ups isn’t quite as glamorous.