northstar cafe

hard to ignore just how consistentlygoodthis place is. since we came here from california in 2012, northstar in clintonville has been our favorite. every time, be it burger, salad, what have you, it's just been first rate. we've taken all our guests there, as we were taken there before we moved here. not a bad experience in the bunch.

verygoodveg. my wife is vegetarian and whenever we want to go to an american restaurant, this is the place to go!

great food. i'll get the only negative out of the way first, it's noisy. we only visited the beachwold location so i can't speak for the others. that said everything we ordered was great, the northstar burger, beachwold salad and the thai burrito. the ginger ale is fantastic, try it. the service wasgoodand they seem to strive to be sure your happy with your meal.

should stick to decor & leave cooking to others. well, it's a lovely place. they make lovely menus as well. the only problem is that no one there seems to know how to cook. they throw odd trendy ideas together and feel quite proud to charge a lot of money for it. sadly, however, none if it is good. a few items are edible but for the price, i would far rather havegoodfood.

a bit pricey, but good. for deli-style food, it's a bit pricey. i ordered a smoothie that was ~$6. ouch. it was delicious, but not anything outstanding. i feel like most items on the menu aregoodfor what they are, but not for the price.

...it's the perfect place to sit back, relax, catch up on magazines, and enjoy a delicious breakfast that you can actually feelgoodabout eating! this slideshow requires javascript. #gallery-1-slideshow .slideshow-slide img { max-height: 410px; /* emulate max-height in ie 6 */ _height: expression(this.scrollheight >= 410 ? '410px' : 'auto'); } i wish i could say i have a favorite meal, but i don't…i enjoy everything on the menu. the chicken sandwich is delicious. the salads are simple and full of flavor. the veggie burger, not asgoodas their other restaurant (third & hollywood), but its t

great food!. i am officially calling the food at northstar my new definition of "comfort food." we went for a weekend brunch, and the menu was amazing. the husband got the ricotta pancakes and breakfast sandwich, and i opted for the poached eggs with proscuitto, spinach and hollandaise on open-faced english muffins. i wish i would have taken a picture, because words cannot describe howgoodthis was! it looked beautiful, tasted fresh and completely exceeded my expectations!

too many notes?. a very attractive, new, clean setting. it is light and airy, with a nice balance of different seating positions and levels of intimacy. the staff were friendly and even perky. they have a small menu but the intent seems to be to do a few things very well. in many respects it seems to be the chipotle's mexican grill restaurant plan, but for american food. there were fresh ingredients, high quality vegetables and greens with everything being as close to the producer as possible. nice. and here is where i have to say "but". i had the meatloaf sandwich. i am an aficionado of meat loaf. the best meatloaf in town, (maybe ohio) is located just down the street at nancy's home cooking. the meat loaf at northstar just didn't have the gravitas needed to compete. it is rather bland and most telling it is without grease. none, nix, nada. short of boiling the meatloaf then centrifuging it you cannot naturally make meatloaf without grease. next issue, a "sandwich" should be able to be eaten with the hands. the bun at northstar was a verygoodbun but it did not have the structural integrity needed to support a very generous sandwich with meatloaf, bbq sauce, a tomato, and abundant greens in the form of a spring mix. it collapsed within a few bites. i had to eat it with a fork and knife. resorting to a fork and knife is the absolute quintessential sign of failure for a sandwich. the sandwich was accompanied by a generous helping of cole slaw with peanuts in a rather nice vinegary dressing. it was a nice accompaniment to the meat and bread offering. i hate people that criticize without recommendations for improvement. here are mine. if you offer meatloaf let it be meatloaf. it should not be round and dry. it should be loaf like and moist with a hefty load of onion, bread, pork, beef and veal. ditch the bbq sauce. real meatloaf should be eaten bare or with ketchup. if it is served outside of a sandwich you may add gravy. don't try to do too much with a sandwich. usually a few clear harmonious notes are sweeter than the clang of a lot of notes banged together. remember in the movie amadeus when solari was criticizing mozart's symphony, and mozart asked the emperor what was wrong with it? solari answered, "there are too many notes". in this case i agree. (

great salads. their salads are loaded with toppings and delicious. it is overpriced, though. not my favorite place in the world, butgoodnonetheless.