Birdietown’s lighting dims slightly around 7:15 p.m. Forks clink, punctuating hip-hop beats and conversations in the dining area. On the other side of the room, around a swanky chandelier, mini golfers thwack golf balls down tiny green fields — and there’s not a child in sight.
Don’t get me wrong: I’m a huge fan of Sweetie’s Golfland in the summertime, when it’s crowded with families and kiddos. That’s fun and special. Also fun and special? This sophisticated, hip experience in Birdietown.
Actually, kids 8 years and up are welcome here, as long as it’s before 7 p.m. It’s just not a space that’s designed for children first. Cocktails flow from the brass-accented bar to players. Mini-golf is a relatively quick part of the experience, and it’s challenging, especially for a youngster. There’s no kids’ menu here; instead, the seasonally shifting eats are leagues above concession stand fare — and a few price points above it, too.
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Organized in the appetizer-forward “Front 9” and entree-focused “Back 9” sections, the menu isn’t what you’d expect at mini-golf. Cheffy twists upgrade dishes. For instance, instead of frying, Birdietown’s chef consultant Jill Vedaa slowly confits chicken wings ($15) and opts for ground wagyu steak in her burgers ($19). Nothing beats good french fries, which serve as a scrumptious side with the spring menu’s burger.
A vibrant culinary experience seems unexpected in a putt-putt place, but upon sitting in the elegant dining area, it adds up. Vedaa, a James Beard-nominated chef known for her and former business partner Jessica Parkison’s previous restaurant Salt, makes this quirky space even more compelling: She makes it a dining gem.
Tim and Erin Frazee were regulars at Salt and nabbed Vedaa for their burgeoning concept after Salt closed last summer.
“If there is a silver lining in a restaurant closing — and I don’t wish that ever, on anybody — is Jill was able to come on here,” Tim says. “To have your favorite chef then become a main part of your team, and working day-by-day, has been awesome.”
The Frazees, the brains behind Birdietown, planned all the details, forming the team to execute their vision of music, service and elevated amusement that takes over the bottom two floors of The Nest building at 12501 Madison Ave. (They also run the Heyday Collective salon on the third floor.) Since opening in January, business has been booming. It’s so big that the Frazees might someday consider future locations.
Inspired by other mini-golf eateries in Pittsburgh, New York and Charlotte, the Frazees lean heavily into “eatertainment.” The trend is certainly having its moment in Cleveland, with a smattering of arcade, duckpin bowling and shuffleboard bars and eateries. A mini-golf restaurant feels like a natural next big “thing.” In Birdietown, find nine holes on one half of the main floor, with another nine in the moodier, dimly lit basement lounge.
Flavor is embedded into even this experience. As we tee up, servers take our orders and quickly deliver cocktails like the colorful, fruity Azalea ($13) and the almost-too-spicy Kissing in Fresno ($14). We balance them, with our score sheet, on drink holders at each hole. (Cocktails, like the food, change with the seasons. Expect new drinks in late April.)
The courses sport some distinct challenges, starting with a figure-eight swirl in the main floor’s first hole. (Tim says it’s possible to score a hole-in-one, but we were unsuccessful.) Other main-level highlights include a hole with two sweeping paddles interrupting a hilly terrain, and one with a plinko-style drop. In the lounge, seek out No. 3, which spits the ball through a hidden wall opening, and No. 9, which provides a fun skee-ball-style ending. Each hole is its own work of art, custom-made by Cleveland’s Shred and Co.
But let’s get back to the food. Salt fans will love this place.
You’ll find Vedaa’s stamp boldly on the Birdietown menu, particularly in former Salt dishes like the coconut-glazed calamari ($15) and white bean puree ($14). The calamari might be just as you remember it: lightly breaded, delicate rings of squid served atop a sweet sauce. But the puree gets a seasonal treatment. Its winter form had mushrooms for an earthy taste, served with crunchy grilled bread. The new spring menu swaps to a caramelized cauliflower version.
Unlike Salt, this isn’t centered around small plates — but, like Salt, expect a shifting menu. The winter edition treaded into full meal territory with a mushroom strudel ($19) and a warm butternut squash curry ($18) — the only dish that, on one of our visits, fumbled with undercooked squash disrupting tender textures. A blip on an otherwise solid experience — one that stood well above pub grub and managed to match the opulent setting the Frazees have created. Following the debut menu, spring’s new batch of dishes includes a goat cheese dumpling, lump crab cakes, a bourbon brown sugar-glazed bacon BLT and mushroom toast.
Vedaa’s consulting work includes Birdietown and Bett’s in Downtown Cleveland, along with 1776 in Illinois. In each endeavor, she designs scratch-made bites, tuned to the identity of its home. Even if that home is, of all things, a mini-golf spot.
“I just wanted it to be a really consistent and thought-out menu,” Vedaa says. “I didn’t want it to be too focused on the food, or too focused on the putt-putt, even though that’s the biggest draw.”
She’s got a point: Most people will likely go to Birdietown for its entertainment offering, perfectly primed to be an ever-elusive “something to do” on one of Cleveland’s bad weather days. But make a point to stick around. Order a plate or two. Soak in the flavors and atmosphere. Here, it’s the combined vision of food, play and decor that, all together, make Birdietown stand well above par.
