La Chateau

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  Great quite martini bar and pixie is the best tender in town

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  Posted on 11.16.12 Bryan P.

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  La Chateau, a cocktail lounge in Strongsville, Ohio, seems to be at a crossroads, a point in time where the 10-year-old business must make a several key decisions if it is to survive among the many restaurant/bar establishments in its crowded backyard of Southpark Mall. Should it remain in the Staples shopping center, or find a more attractive location? Should it list its much-ballyhooed, diverse selection of martinis on a menu for its patrons? Should it also serve food? Which local pizza joint should offer a box of free, cold pizza to its customers? And finally, is it a masculine or feminine word? (Le Chateau is actually grammatically correct, but that's rather nitpicky.)
  
  After a glowing write-up in a community newspaper, it seemed that La Chateau, formerly known as the Wine Bar of Strongsville, had all of the right answers to these burning questions. Intrigued, I set out with some friends to see if the place would live up to the hype ... and quickly reminded myself why I, a journalist, don't write for community newspapers that are seemingly set up to promote the interests of friends of the publisher.
  
  La Chateau is located at 12287 Pearl Rd. in Strongsville in the Staples shopping center. There is plenty of parking for this strip of shops, which don't seem to get a tremendous amount of traffic. On the way in, I noticed that the bar boasts a 2:30 a.m. closing time on most nights.
  
  The modest exterior of La Chateau is not an accurate predictor of its lovely interior. A long bar fronts an intimate, dimly lit lounge area, complete with chess sets and plush purple couches. A large piano graced the lounge area, which sadly did not have a pianist on the night we visited. Instead, the bar pumped a baseball game (obviously, not a local one, as we visited in October) through speakers hanging near the ceiling, and later played some pop music.
  
  Our group was greeted by a friendly server who did not offer specials or recommendations, but simply asked to take our order. Having read about the bar's assortment of martinis, we asked to see a menu. The server, who actually seemed surprised to be asked this question, told us that no menu was available. We ended up ordering basic martinis which were extremely watered down and unremarkable. As it was dinner time, we asked if the bar had any food available. The server said, "we might have a cheese plate ... or some cheese ... I will have to look." She also welcomed us to help ourselves to a lonely pizza box in the bar area which contained some cold pizza from A Slice Above, a pizza joint not far from the bar. The price tag for these disappointing drinks was steep--almost $18 for two martinis.
  
  Unimpressed, our group elected not to sample a second drink as we had planned, and we made our exit to forage for dinner. On our way out, we noticed several menus hanging from a folder on the wall of the bar. We inquired about them and were told that they were very old.
  
  Despite its romantic, relaxing atmosphere, La Chateau seems to be a struggling establishment in need of a customer service makeover. I can't see myself returning unless the bar makes some serious changes to earn my business. Like figuring out whether or not you have cheese, and putting your specials on a table tent on each table. That's a good, minimal place to start.

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  Posted on 10.17.09 Swank S.

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