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Cork N' Cleaver

4.0 (321 reviews)
Closed 4:00 pm - 9:00 PM

Cork N' Cleaver Photos

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CORK N' CLEAVER ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Moderate noise
Intimate
Classy
Outdoor seating

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Recommended Reviews - Cork N' Cleaver

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Lemon Cake
Ross C.

I definitely recommend making reservations in advance to eat here. Cork N' Cleaver is a busy restaurant. They are busy for a reason, because their food is wonderful. The prices were very fair for the quality. Most restaurants of this caliber to charge more. My wife and I both got the filet and they were both cooked perfectly. The sides were also great and flavorful. We both got the salad bar and certainly recommend it. It's a very high quality salad bar. We got the lemon cake for dessert and that was also a wonderful decision. Cork N' Cleaver is a fancy restaurant that is perfect for any date night or celebration. Easy 5 stars.

Almond Crusted Walleye.   Took one bite and tried to find unburnt veggies.
Tavid M.

One of wife's favs, stopped in for dinner during the week. Usually a good experience but a bit rough this time. Had mushrooms for appetizer, wife had prime rib and I had almond crusted walleye. First off, wife's drink sent back with instructions to help. Then, steak came, no steak knife. Had to go and get one. Walleye was not very good. Vegetables overcooked and fish was flavorless. Sent it back. Enjoyed the salad bar. Waitress was disappointing. Two tables in station but hard to find her and fake Barbie smile was insincere. Manager did stop by about the walleye and removed charge from check, which was appreciated. Total check was $89 with walleye removed.

Linh N.

This is my go-to restaurant for a special occasion! The food quality and service are always good! You get what you pay for, literally at this place. The salad bar is the best one I have ever had in my life. Would always return for another fancy dinner!

Stephanie V.

Cork N' Clever is the place in Fort Wayne for a good steak. During my most recent visit, I found parking in the main lot challenging as always, yet the bar at 7 pm on a Summer Saturday was surprisingly not busy. Maybe everyone was away at the lakes or choosing to sit at tables in the restaurant. Both bartenders behind the bar were fun to chat with and so positive while making drinks. Cork N' Clever has an extensive wine list, but I opted for a French 75. If you haven't been here before, you'll probably be surprised when they hand you the menu - it's engraved on a heavy clever. Another unique and fun aspect of this restaurant is the salad bar. There are cold bowl plates for your salad along with items to add like caviar and jelly beans. I'm still not sure where to put the jelly beans on my salad, so I wish there was a separate small bowl you could put your jelly beans in. For dinner I had a 7 oz. filet and Brussel sprouts. They were probably some of the tiniest Brussel sprouts I've seen, but the favor was good. The steak was cooked perfectly, but the presentation of the entree was a little lacking. I took leftovers to go and was given a Styrofoam box. I know this is pretty normal in the Midwest, but it's not the most environmentally friendly.

My salad
Heather L.

Brick walls with arches, open kitchen, fantastic salad bar! Service comes along the level of the pricing. My friend had the walleye he said this about it, it's got all kinds of textures and flavors with potatoes, brussel sprouts, and peppers. It's wonderful! We ordered off menu and got crab cakes dinner. I don't think I've ever had a baked crab cake before. It was a very interesting flavor. Definitely fresh crab and very good. Both dinners came with a salad bar and we added a $20 unlimited salad bar. It was more than we could eat for sure. The salad bar was everything I love about a salad bar. So fresh. We will definitely be back.

Joe K.

Good, not great... First time at Cork n' Clever, which is supposed to be considered a "Fort Wayne Original"... While, it was okay, it certainly wasn't worth $185. The restaurant is dated and had an 80s throwback vibe (80s elevator music literally playing in the background), but was clean and well kept. The service was good and prompt. As for the food, nothing to write home about... The crab cakes were okay, but nowhere close to the crab cakes at Ruth's Chris (and definitely not worth $18 for two puny crab cakes). The best part was the salad bar, which was awesome... It was very fresh and had many options. Our steaks were cooked very good to order (medium rare), but they were not seasoned well, if at all. We've never had to salt a steak at a steakhouse, but our steaks were bland and required it - Pretty disappointed with that. By and large, Cork n' Cleaver was alright... Not as good as Don Hall's Gas House and the food is grossly overpriced.

Panko Crusted Chicken
Dale B.

Still outstanding!! Excellent service! Warm and welcoming facility. Best salad bar in Fort Wayne! Bar service is consistently satisfying!! Any entree you get will be designed, presented and cooked to perfection!

Cream Of Broccoli
Nikki P.

I've heard about this place from my fiancé and others. They're not kidding about the menu being served on a cleaver. That's gnarly. First time here! Enjoyed the bacon wrapped artichoke hearts, coffee pepper crusted ribeye w/ blue cheese butter and teriyaki filet mignon w/ garlic butter. Also...if you have room in yo belly, order the mud pie. It really is a nice treat to share for 2-4 people. Our waitress Amy was so kind and candid. Highly recommend bringing people out of town here or treat yoself. Life is too short, enjoy! Overall, the ambiance is cozy yet romantic. We sat next to the fireplace which was a nice touch. Background music is soothing too.

The menu is printed on a metal/wood meat cleaver.  So unique!

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6 years ago

Food is great and service is excellent. The salad bar is very missed but that isn't anyone's fault there.

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16 years ago

Nice place for a casual, sit-down lunch. All you can eat salad buffet and soup.

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Arena Bar and Grill

Arena Bar and Grill

3.4
(71 reviews)
3.2 mi
$

Great Black and Blue Burger, cold beer and excellent…read moreservice It doesn't get better than that.

Arena Bar & Grill - home for thin crust lovers. And if you need a deal...then order on Sundays…read morewhen a 16" is $14 all day. If love thin crust, then you need to make the trip out to Arena B&G at DuPont & Lima Roads. Arena does have a very good thin crust pizza. The crust is saltine cracker thick. The bottom is cooked so that it is flour white and soft...but stiff enough to pick up an individual square. The edges are cooked with a slight golden brown and crisp. The crust doesn't have any accents like butter, garlic or seasoning. Just plain pizza dough. The sauce the is slightly sweet and has a thicker consistency. Arena apllies a decent amount of sauce covers the pizza well and moistens it up a bit. I like the little bit stronger tomato flavor without a dominating spicy taste. There were enough toppings to create that single layer across the pizza. They aren't piled up such that you toppings on top of toppings on top of toppings. Just the right amount. The veggies were crisp and fresh. I would have liked to had more meat and more of an Italian favoring. Still good stuff! As for the cold pizza test...it was still moist enough to bite into the next day...the crispy crusts were still pleasantly crispy. The toppings tend to lose much of their zippy flavor. Though the veggies are still crisp. We ordered a side of cheese bread. The bread is a slice of Texas toast..so it is thick. They grill it so it has some nice buttery grill marks on the bottom. The edges are still soft. The inside breading has a nice buttery-garlic taste. The mozzarella is piled on nicely. Good cheesy taste overall! Overall, Arena Bar & Grill should be on your destination list if you are a thin crust lover. It's a busy place if you plan to dine in. Service is usually pretty friendly and spot on. They also have really good wings!

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Asian Plum wet wings
Asian Plum wet wings
Beer time!
Beer time!
Mix

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Mix
Four D's Bar & Grill

Four D's Bar & Grill

2.8
(16 reviews)
2.9 mi
$

4D's Bar and Grill - has wings and pizza?…read more Why, yes, yes they do! 4D's has been in the Dupont and Lima Road area for years. I have never stopped in or ordered carry out until recently. I'm glad I did! On Wednesday's they have $0.50 wings. Otherwise you will find wings on their appetizer menu - 6 wings for $9, 12 wings for $15 or 18 wings for $22. My order had a mix of small to large wings. Therefore, I'd say, on average, you are buying a medium sized wings. 4D's has 14 different flavors for their wings. I didn't see a wing menu at 4D's bar. Their web site doesn't list the flavor choices. The nice gentleman on the phone asked me what I prefer and then listed off some choices - listing 14 would take a lot of time. I seem to recall him saying they had hot and mild buffalo sauce. I think he listed BBQ, spicy BBQ and honey BBQ as choices. I went with Teriyaki as usual. The wings were cooked to a solid white center. The inside was moist. It seemed to border on being over cooked...without actually being over cooked. These wings had some lovely grill marks. I believe they were also lightly fried as they had some crispy ends and somewhat crispy skins. Overall I liked the grilled-fried product. There was plenty of thicker teriyaki sauce on these wings without it pooling in the bottom. The sauce stuck nicely to the wing and to my fingers. It had a mild teriyaki ginger licking good flavor. Though I thought is was on the plus side if mild in terms of rich teriyaki flavors. This was more to my preference. 4D's added about six pieces of celery and a cup of blue cheese. The blue cheese sauce was thin with a few small clumps of blue cheese included. I didn't prefer this flavor, consistency or texture of the blue cheese sauce. So...I usually start by telling you if this place should be condidered a destination for wings. I'm not sure if 4D's is a destination or not. The wing prices say it should be a destination. Usually a broad selection of sauces says "I'm a destination". Though, I really don't know about their 14 sauces since I haven't seen the list. So, maybe 4D's should be a destination based on the 14 sauce choices. The wings were good - so it could be a destination. The dining area, from what I saw, in the front bar area, didn't seem like it would be a place where I could sit for an hour an eat wings. So, maybe not a destination. Is 4D a destination for wings? I don't know at this point. Bottom line...4D's needs more evaluation. I will try them again and let you know. Until then...you give them a try and share your opinion. 4D's only has four pizzas listed on their web site - 14" pizza, Meaty Lucious, Super Supreme and The Squealer. I can't tell you much about these pizzas other than what is obvious from the name. I didn't see a menu when I went inside the bar. I assume all pizzas are 14" pizzas. The 14" Pizza, assuming it is a one topping pizza, is listed for $14. The other three pizzas are listed as $20.00+. I'm not sure what the plus means. 4D's makes a thin crust pizza. I assume that is their only choice. The crust was soft and white in the middle. The edges were a little bit more crispy and brown. 4D's cuts the pizza into squares. The crust doesn't have any special seasonings or flavors. The Super Supreme pizza was piled pretty good with the normal supreme type toppings. The onion and peppers tasted fresh. The meats were mild in flavor and spice. The mushrooms were large. The pizza featured plenty of green olives that gave a bit of a salty taste. This pizza also featured a lot of banana peppers that gave it a more tart taste. I really can't tell you how the pizza sauce tastes. It was hard to detect underneath a heavy bed of mozzarella cheese. Even in the picture it is hard to spot the pizza sauce. Overall...it was a good thin crust pizza. Definitely worth a try if you live in the area. Cold Pizza Test - the next day I found the pizza to still be moist. The crust was still soft with the edges starting to get a bit more chewy. The toppings were also still soft to taste. The meats and cheese seemed to get bleached out by the salty green olives and tart banana pepper flavors. I wasn't as fond of those flavors while cold. The leftover pizza would be more enjoyable if it were reheated I'm thinking.

Food was good. Karaoke with Big Country on Mondays, Joe Pro on Wed & Thurs and Doug P on Friday and…read moreSaturdays is TOP notch. NO better sound in Fort Wayne PERIOD!! Fun people and great karaoke bar!!

Photos
Inside - front bar area
Inside - front bar area
Super supreme
Super supreme
Inside - front bar

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Inside - front bar
Union Social

Union Social

3.2
(18 reviews)
4.6 mi

Another good trip to Union Social. Roxy did a great job welcoming us and making us feel at home…read more Ayla worked hard to serve us well. She was very patient with members of the party that struggled with decision making. On this occasion we sat in the middle of the facility. This is the most open...and unfortunately the loudest area. It was so loud on this night that we struggled to have dinner conversation. The fry flight was fun for the party to sample. The tots were nice and crisp and meaty. The sweet potato fries had a bold sweet potato taste but were disappointingly limp - first time they have been this way. The flat fries were uniquely thin and crispy. The cheese sauce was a unique blend of different cheeses that didn't taste like cheese. More of a smooth, mild and somewhat plain sauce. The ketchup had a nice bold tomato taste. The ranch dip was fairly unique with very faint ranch and oil taste. My wife loved the Southwest bowl. Very fresh and with lots of healthy add ins. The marinaded chicken was very moist and seasoned nicely. The guacamole was very tasty. The short rib beef stroganoff had an outstanding beef taste. The meat was moist and tender - easily pulled apart. The sauce was very light so that it let the natural beef juices dominate the taste. No heavy sour creme taste here. The noodle were perfectly cooked to a firm consistency.

Front room was nice but we sat in the back room. Exposed wires in the south wall and a detached…read morebar indicated they weren't quite done with construction. Waitress was pleasant. Wife had steak and pasta and I had jambalaya. Hers was nice but mine tasted ok. Sausage ok but the sliced chicken which was strange. Like deli style. Appetizers were ricotta cheese and a steak egg roll. Both ok. Dessert was a toll house cookie topped with ice cream. Disappointed there. $120 for two was a bit much. Left $20 tip.

Photos
Southwest bowl
Southwest bowl
Side of sweet potato fries
Side of sweet potato fries
Fry Flight

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Fry Flight
Laycoff's Tavern

Laycoff's Tavern

4.4
(44 reviews)
1.6 mi
$$

Laycoff's Tavern (near Granite City/Target, North Clinton St) - iconic place with good pizza…read more Laycoff's is a fun little place to frequent. It doesn't seat a lot of people. So...you might have to wait for a table. Unfortunately there isn't space for a nice waiting area. So you might stand up in the small bar area while you wait. It's okay. Things move fast. Enjoy the people watching opportunity. The team here is very friendly and welcoming in an odd way. They really are glad to serve you. Lots of smiles and friendly smiles. They are efficiently-friendly. They all move and talk fast. They are hustling to serve - not avoid. They will take a moment to get to relate...but not much more than a moment. The service is very good! The Sullivan family is very nice as well. Laycoff's is known for sausage rolls and a community bar environment. My wife loves her sausage roll. Full of tasty cheese surrounded by a light, fluffy and soft dough. The American sausage blended in with the cheese nicely. The menu has a small number of specialty pizzas (only six) along with build-your-own option. The prices are pretty comparable to other bars. On this occasion I got a 16" Everything pizza for $20. A 16 inch pizza was a LOT of delicious pizza. The pizza crust is thin. It is thin enough that almost every bit has a slight crunch. However, it was also soft enough to satisfy the less than crunchy crowd. The crust doesn't have much distinct flavor or seasoning. Just a nice thin crust. The pizza sauce was also hard to distinguish. The pizza is so full of toppings and cheese that you really don't see the sauce. The sauce that was they are blended well with the American sausage base. Now the best part - the fresh toppings! Laycoff's uses the Pizza King approach by using finely chopped toppings. The base of the Everything pizza is a finely ground American sausage. The base of the pizza so completely covered with sausage on the Everything choice. The sausage doesn't have much spice or flair as it is American style instead of Italian. The pepperoni is very thin. The fresh and slightly crunchy onions and peppers are chopped into small pieces. Even the green and black olives seemed to be smaller. The whole pizza was coated in delicious tasting mozzarella cheese. As I mentioned the 16 inch pizza is a large pizza. Laycoff's cuts the pizza into large pieces as well. This pizza could easily feed 3-4 people. Cold Pizza Test - I always want to try the pizza the next morning, cold, and for breakfast. This pizza was outstanding cold and as a left over. The coldness causes the mozzarella cheese taste to really come forward. The saltiness of the olives gets bolder. The bed of sausage and cover of cheese really help keep the pizza moist. The crust stayed a bit soft with a slight crunch. Overall, I really liked the pizza. It wasn't outstanding. However, it was really good at a good value. Dinning at Laycoff's has a sense of memorabilia and nostalgia. Be patient and enjoy the environment.

Don't go here if you arent a regular. It felt very much like you had to belong in order to receive…read moregood service. I felt disgusting eating there because everything was very dusty. All of the signage and decor had thick layers of dust. We also had an extremely long weight. I almost wish we would've just left.

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Bar
Bar
Say
Say
Manhattan & sex on the beach

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Manhattan & sex on the beach

Cork N' Cleaver - steak - Updated July 2026

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