A new restaurant in Cleveland offering ancestral European-inspired dishes cooked over an open fire, with communal seating and locally sourced ingredients.
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Definitely a favorite in the Cleveland area.
If you like fusion food, a rotating menu (rotates very often based on seasonal availability of ingredients and freshness), and appreciate a cozy dimly lit environment, I highly highly recommend this place.
Perfect for a small group, best for 2 people. Try as much as you can! It’s all small plates and everything is meant to be shared.
Make a reservation in advance. The place gets full understandably.
Everything is so well made and fresh and unique in flavor, and the menu is so creative. Definitely a place to go to multiple times to try as much as possible.
Great option for vegetarians/pescatarians, there is no shortage of items on the menu available.
As someone who is not a big soft-serve fan, the vanilla and fig leaf soft serve with raspberry coulis was INCREDIBLE.
The star was the grilled melon - grilled in a fish sauce and served with pickled onions and nuts, the flavor and texture was incredible.
I’m still thinking about the food. Cannot recommend specific dishes because by the time you go the menu will be different. Just trust whatever you get WILL be good.
Walking into Rosy feels like stepping into a carefully curated moment — warm, alive, and effortlessly cool. The first thing that hits you is the atmosphere: a golden hum of conversation under cozy lighting. It’s vibey in the best way; stylish without being pretentious, full of personality but never forced.
The open fire adds a primal, magnetic energy to the space. You can feel it in the air — that subtle smokiness that makes every dish feel like it was created with care and heat. It sets the perfect backdrop for the food, which is nothing short of amazing. Each plate feels both familiar and surprising; like the chef has rummaged through his fondest food memories and then elevated them into something new.
What really stood out was how both the bar and food menus played this clever game with nostalgia and curiosity. There are names and flavors that make you pause; that make you think; but when they arrive, there’s always that comforting thread of something you’ve loved before. It’s a rare balance between innovation and sentiment.
In short, Rosy isn’t just a restaurant; it’s an experience. It’s the kind of place you linger a little longer than planned, just to soak up more of the energy — the crackling fire, the music wrapping around you, and the sense that every detail, from cocktails to shareable plates, has been created with a touch of heart and history.
The food was pretty good. Portions are a bit on the small side. Fairly unique, and definitely well-prepared. Good for vegetarian, not great for vegan in my opinion. There are NA beers available.
Service was OK as far as speed. Not pacing. The advice given on the menu choices came out scripted in a bad way and we felt misguided when it was all said and done. It felt like the server was about 75% present in the whole process, from explaining to ordering to followup. We felt slightly rushed.
The atmosphere wasn't great. High-top seating was a bit cramped, but workable. Seeing the fire cooking was interesting. The menu on the wall is how you look at what you can order. And a lot of the writing is simply illegible. Poor color choices combined with faded aged writing. Resigning yourself to hearing what's available turned out to be a problem (see above). The volume of the place due to your close proximity to other diners didn't help. Very frustrating.
We arrived 10 minutes after open and it was over half full. Plan accordingly.
I don't feel the food is worth the negative experience. Especially given the prices.
We were impressed during our visit on Friday night! Our favorite dishes were the variety of salads - the panzanella (tomato) and grilled cucumber had wonderful, complex flavor. We also got the cevapi (sausage) and shrimp. The soft serve ice cream for dessert was a great touch: vanilla with blackberry sauce, olive oil, and salt. I got pictures of MOST of our dishes, but there were a few that looked so good, we couldn't wait.
I believe their menu rotates often according to the season. Our waiter was very kind and explained the menu carefully, functioning as a tapas / small plates menu. We don't have a ton of small plates restaurants in Cleveland, so I'm glad we have another one in Rosy. We had a couple nice glasses of white and orange wines (I think they were natural). One of my personal favorite parts of our experience was the smell of the open-fire stove, which hung around on our clothes once we left. The smell brought back (very recent) nostalgic memories of a tasty meal!
The creativity of the Rosy menu and the dedication, kindness of the staff is a thing to behold. The food is top-notch and you really can’t go wrong. It’s no wonder that the creative force behind Rosy, Chef Vinnie Cimino, was nominated for a James Beard award.
I recommend eating at the grill bar and watching the food being grilled and prepared. Don’t miss the bread and the beet-cherry salad!
