No doubt about it. When it comes to dining in Northeast Ohio, these are the best of times.

Today, Cleveland is home to one of the most dynamic restaurant scenes in America. We have bragging rights to a virtual explosion of independent eateries -- a variety and quality almost unheard of in other parts of the nation.

Outsiders -- including travelers and tastemakers from magazines, television and newspapers around the nation -- tell us all the time: "What an exciting place to eat!"

Aiming a well-deserved spotlight at a mere 100 restaurants means scores of others don't get their share of attention. While we hope you'll find many of your favorites in this guide, please tell us which places YOU think we've overlooked.

This year's installment includes more than 15 restaurants new to the list -- a reflection of the dynamic nature of this region's dining scene. Restaurants were chosen based on at least two visits by critics, and they reflect a broad range of cuisines, geographical regions and price points.

Use the comments section here or with each review online, or email your comments to friday@plaind.com. (Please put "A-List" in the email subject line.) Or write to us at A-List, Friday magazine, The Plain Dealer, 1801 Superior Ave., Cleveland, OH 44114. Please be sure to include your name and city. We'll include reader comments on cleveland.com and in an upcoming issue of Friday magazine -- and we'll consider your favorites for future coverage, too.



The Google map below will show you Cleveland's restaurant locations are as diverse as their menus. You can navigate to some part of town by clicking and dragging and zooming, rest your mouse cursor on a marker and see the name of that restaurant, then click the marker to pull up the address and a link to our A-List review.

You can also select restaurants individually from the left menu (column A) or in groups by the cuisine you fancy today (column B) in the drop-down lists below.

Locations in the map below are approximate. "Reset" restores all the markers and un-zooms the map.

Select a single restaurant



Select restaurants by menu New American American Asian Australian Barbecue Chinese Contemporary Eastern European French German Greek Hungarian Indian Italian Japanese Mediterranean Mexican Modern European Moroccan Pizza Russian Seafood Southwestern Spanish Steakhouses Sushi Tapas Thai Turkish Vegetarian Vietnamese



Lists by Michael Norman and Felesia M. Jackson, web development by Peter Zicari



Below are all the links in the restaurant list, as a mobile-friendly shortcut to the reviews.

CLEVELAND'S A-LIST RESTAURANTS FOR 2012

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