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A Review of The Forum, in Cambridge, Ohio

Ambiance
The atmosphere of this small town, locally owned Greek restaurant is phenomenal. It successfully provides an atmosphere fancy enough to eat at before prom or for a first date, but also provides a family friendly atmosphere, conducive for infants, toddlers, and small children. Creating an affordable, family oriented restaurant with an open bar can be challenging for some eating establishments to successfully pull off, however The Forum seems to do an exceptional job at combining the drinking and adult atmosphere of the bar, with a relatively friendly and fancy atmosphere appropriate for families with children. Some restaurants attempt the use of dim lighting to enhance or create a fancy ambiance, but do so so incorrectly that you must squint and use the light from your cellphone just to read what’s on the menu. Unlike some restaurants however, the dim lighting at The Forum successfully enhances the fancy ambiance and allows customers to relax with family and friends, temporarily forgetting all their worries over some good, stress-free conversation, while sharing a delicious meal. Overall The Forum creates a friendly, laid back, family oriented atmosphere like no other. So if an escape from life’s everyday demands is what you’re looking for, visit The Forum in Cambridge, Ohio.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.

Cleanliness
The Cleanliness of The Forum was remarkable. When we first sat down, it didn’t even appear that anyone else had ever sat in the booth before us, in fact, the only evidence of previous customers was a curled up straw paper on the ground that the sweeper must have left behind. The Forum recently remodeled, so all the tables, chairs, booths, and carpets are still brand new and spotless, adding to the spectacular cleanliness. It’s a good feeling knowing that you are sitting in a new, clean booth, as compared to sitting at some of the ones at other eating establishments which appear to have been there since 1972. The windowsills were dust free, the tables, booths, and floor were all clean and I didn’t use the bathroom but I can speculate that it was most likely as clean as the rest of the place. To be perfectly honest it was probably the cleanest restaurant I’ve ever dined in.
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Service
The Service of this Cambridge, Ohio locale was mediocre. Our waitress was friendly and attentive, but seemed perhaps a little too friendly. Her friendliness reached the point where she seemed a bit tip hungry and fake, she even referred to me as “sweetie” a few times, but besides that she was overall a good server. She kept our drinks full, and made sure we always had breadsticks so she did receive a good tip after all. One thing about the service that was less than ideal was that it seemed that the food took an hour to cook even though very few people were in there; however the waitress did a great job mending this by making sure we had plenty of appetizers. Overall our service was okay, but could have been better.
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Quality of Food
The quality of food at The Forum is also mediocre; however the complimentary breadsticks that they bring you are soft, moist, and spectacularly delicious. Though their breadsticks are exceptional, their lasagna is subpar, and according to my friend Erica, taste like it is made from wet, creamy, canned, cat food instead of hamburger. Their salads are also of poor quality. Their salads consisted of two different kinds of lettuce, one onion, and two cherry tomatoes, with a few croutons; it was dreadfully bland and looked like a bowl of leaves. They could improve upon their salads by adding a larger variety of vegetables. I ordered a cheese pizza and some fried and breaded ravioli both of which were taste-wise above average. The fried and breaded ravioli was quite a delicious appetizer, it was just as it sounded, fried and breaded ravioli, full of warm, melty, mozzarella cheese and mild jalapeno peppers; you can’t really go wrong by ordering the ravioli. The pizza had a crispy, crunchy, and thin crust, with a unique sauce, and is topped with a special blend of Romano, parmesan, and mozzarella cheeses. The pizza was a nice change from the same old delivery pizzas that I’m used to and I would definitely recommend it.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Presentation:
The overall presentation of The Forum was impressive. Their décor was all brand new, stylish, and modern, but not so modern that it was pretentious like in some restaurants. All of their silverware was clean, but was just stainless steel, nothing fancy. There plates were plain white, which to me is standard in most restaurants. The glasses were also simple plastic cups that said Coca Cola on them, that did deduct a few points from their presentation rating. The biggest thing that I had to deduct points for in the area of presentation was their salad though. Their salad was quite frankly pathetic. No one expects to be presented with a bowl of leaves, with an onion and two cherry tomatoes thrown in there when they order a salad. I would still recommend The Forum to anyone; however I would advise them not to waste their money by ordering a salad.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars


Overall I enjoyed my dining experience at The Forum and would give it a rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars. The ambiance and cleanliness of the place was phenomenal, and the presentation, for the most part, was pretty impressive too. The quality of food and service were both mediocre, but I feel as though both of those things highly depend on what you order and who you get as a waitress, so they didn’t faze my ratings too much. The Forum, in Cambridge, Ohio, is a great place to eat whether you’re looking for an affordable place for a night out with your family, or somewhere to take your first date.