Author: Jill (@bonnjill)

Mary Yoder’s Amish Kitchen in Middlefield

Mary Yoder’s Amish Kitchen opened in 1987 and is owned by the Miller family. Located in Middlefield, which is apparently in the center of the fourth largest Amish community in the world, Mary Yoder’s features a full-service restaurant serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner; a bakery; a private banquet room; and a gift shop. It’s not necessarily Cleveland, but Cleveland-adjacent and close enough to be a fun road trip. In fact, I took a spontaneous road trip out there for the dinner buffet in July. I drove out there a lot when I lived in Solon. It’s about an hour’s drive from Cleveland Heights either down South Woodland or on 422 to 700 (scenic drive over LaDue Reservoir and down some side roads past Amish homes and farms). I also love driving there in the fall to enjoy the changing leaves (I recommend the hot apple cider in the fall – see photo below). It’s definitely a tourist location and a tourist restaurant. That being said, you will see locals dining here as well as the occasional Amish or Mennonites dining here (but to be fair I saw a table of them at Cowboy Food and Drink in Bainbridge last month).

Mary Yoder’s isn’t necessarily “amazing” food (like Der Dutchman or other restaurants near Millersburg and Berlin – and not to be confused with Mrs. Yoder’s), but it is extremely comforting fare. It has its good days and bad days – for example, the dressing that I usually adore was too salty last week. But the food is hearty and hits the spot. It’s made by Amish women in their kitchen, and the buffet ($17.99 for the dinner buffet and $12.99 for the salad bar) is constantly stocked from 11:30 am to close (8 pm) Monday through Saturday (the restaurant is closed on Sundays). There is also a breakfast buffet (for $12.99), but I have only had the breakfast buffet once and there are no photos from that visit. It opens at 6 am and is available until 11 am. If you have a hankerin’ for something not on the buffet, they have an extensive menu to choose from. Some favorites include the ham, pork chops, roast turkey or roast beef or a hot roast beef or turkey sandwich. They even have a trail bologna sandwich, which is just Troyer’s Trail Bologna and Middlefield Swiss on a fresh roll. Easy enough to buy and make at home by buying the Trail Bologna from the cooler in the gift shop and grabbing some Middlefield Swiss from Rothenbuhler Cheese Chalet (formerly Middlefield Cheese), but definitely a unique offering to order there (just be sure to pull off the plastic casing before biting in – true story). There is ample seating available, and it has a banquet room for large groups. When you walk in head to the front of the building to your left.

I adore a good old-fashioned salad bar, and the salad bar contains all my favorites – a nice selection of greens, hardboiled egg, peas, beets, red onion, tomato, cucumber, etc. There is always a decent wet salad or two to choose from. I love cottage cheese, broccoli salad or macaroni salad to pair on my salad, which allows me to use less salad dressing. It is always the highlight of the meal for me, which I then follow with a couple of selections on the lunch/dinner buffet for a couple of bucks more. I got a side of cottage cheese with a to go meal the other day and was amazed by how creamy and delicious their cottage cheese is. So much so that I called to find out who they get it from.

I usually only fill up one dinner plate with my choices, but others take several trips. The buffet offerings do vary by the day, but there is usually always baked or broasted chicken, mashed potatoes, dressing and a nice vegetable on offer. Not to mention a dessert or two like a pudding. Last week one patron was sad that only the “blue jell-o” was left. But you can always order a piece of their excellent pies if you have room (or get a piece to go to enjoy later at home). I always enjoy the broasted chicken and chicken or beef noodles. The mashed potatoes are hearty and tasty. Be sure to not take too much, because there are no to go containers for the buffet (well, technically there are, but they charge $7.99 per pound).

I went home with a butterscotch pie last week and special ordered a peach pie yesterday, which I picked up at the drive through window to the right of the building. I was in Burton for a tea, and it was only a ten-minute drive to Middlefield. I worked at Baker’s Square and am not a fan of pie crust (one summer I ate a piece of French Silk a day but would scoop out the filling and throw out the crust…), but I eat the crust on Mary Yoder’s Pies. That is a huge testament to them and makes me believe the crusts are homemade using lard or butter. The pies are pricy, but worth it. The whole butterscotch pie below was $16.99 and the whole peach pie (slice on the right) was $19.99. They last a while and are worth the quality of the ingredients.

They also serve family style dinners, which are a nice option if you have a group. You can choose one, two or three of their meats, and the dinners include beverages, the salad bar, mashed potatoes, gravy, dressing, a vegetable and homemade rolls (which are fluffy and yeasty). Everything is served in bowls to pass around. The price is per person depending on the meat selection (kids are a much lower per person price), and there is a minimum of 15 guests. Everyone at the table has to order it.

The gift shop is full of various tchotchkes that make a nice souvenir if you are a kid or a tourist. I always enjoy buying some fresh Amish baked goods like their breads or dinner rolls, cookies or pies. One of my friends swears by their raisin puffs (a kind of cookie). Order ahead if you want to ensure your favorites are available. The only doughnuts left at 4:30 on a Tuesday were their cream sticks.

Mary Yoder’s also caters to the local Amish community and has a hitching pad for the horse and buggies to the back of the parking lot. Watch out for horse and buggies on the roads too and give them a wide berth. The Whoa stop sign as you leave always cracks me up.

Contact info:

Mary Yoder’s Amish Kitchen
14743 N State Avenue
Middlefield, OH 44062
(440) 632-1939

Crepes n Crisps

Crepes n’ Crisps is a tiny little hole in the wall located across the street from the Cleveland Clinic on Chester (it’s right next to the Domino’s Pizza in the small strip on the north side). It is owned by a lovely Arabic family, and the owner proudly told me about his children, who are very educated health care professionals who were working there to help him out in the beginning. In the meantime they have introduced computer kiosks to order your food. I’m less impressed by the AI-generated images on their online menu, because there is no way the Crepito looks that good in person. If you’re looking for crepes or a quick sweet treat this is the place to go. They have so much, from shakes, to coffee, sweet and savory waffles and (my favorite) crepes. The restaurant is clean and sanitary, and the employees are very friendly.

There is not a lot of seating, so it isn’t ideal for large groups. That said, I have eaten there several times now, in addition to getting a crepe or two to go.

The first time I was there I ordered the salmon crepe (Salmon De Lux). I love a good savory crepe, and the salmon crepe did not disappoint. It was chock-full of Norwegian smoked salmon, fresh spinach, red onion, capers, and sour cream and topped with garlic aioli drizzle.. It definitely hit the spot and was exactly what I was hoping it to be.

The Nutella and banana crepe (called the Monkey Business) was also absolutely perfect. It was full of Nutella and fresh banana slices and accompanied by real whipped cream.

I was less impressed by the Croffle (a cross between a croissant and a waffle). Maybe the sweeter versions would be tasty, but the spinach and cheese croffle I got was nowhere near filled with spinach and cheese as I would have liked (and the AI image made it looked full to bursting). It also would have benefited from some kind of drizzle, because it was quite dry.

Several of my friends ordered the crepes on my suggestion and enjoyed them. One had a chicken crepe (served with several cubes of breaded chicken in the picture below) and a chocolate crepe drizzled with white and milk chocolate. The photos below are the Black and Red crepe, featuring strawberries and Nutella, and fries with cheese curds. I don’t know what my vegetarian friend was thinking when she ordered it, because even the vegetarian fries sound (and probably look) better than these. The fries themselves were crisp and tasty, but I’d definitely try one of the loaded ones next time. For example, the Belgian Chocolate & Fries sounds amazing.

The coffee offerings are also great. They use locally roasted coffee beans for their espresso drinks. And this would also be a great place to try one of their Dubai Chocolate offerings. They offer a crepe, a waffle, in a cup, a shake, a sundae, an iced latte (and probably a regular latte), and a chocolate bar – all featuring some variation of phyllo dough, pistachios and/or pistachio sauce, Belgium milk chocolate sauce (and sometimes strawberries). I haven’t tried Dubai Chocolate yet, but it’s only a matter of time. Everyone is raving about Dubai Chocolate.

It’s open Monday to Friday from 9 AM to 10 PM, Saturday from 11 AM to 10 PM and Sunday from 11 AM to 6 PM.

Contact info:

Crepes n’ Crisps
10001 Chester Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44106
(216) 293-5522

Blue Heron Brewpub in Medina

The Blue Heron Brewery and Event Center is an artisanal brewery that makes flavorful beers and serves good food. It is tucked away in a housing development in Medina off River Styx. It is a beautiful setting on what was once a country club. Full disclosure: I have eaten here twice now, because my niece works here. The first time she was a hostess, and my friends and I wanted to go there in the winter and rent an igloo. Alas, the strong winds shut down our dreams. LOL. We did enjoy watching her work, seating people and busing tables. She is now at college and working here as a waitress over the summer. She loves it. My family met here to celebrate birthdays and Father’s Day and spent a lovely Saturday afternoon on the back patio enjoying the sunshine and live music. She worked a shift after our lunch. Several of my family members have a lot of specific dietary needs and were able to confidently order and enjoy their meals.


The Brewpub
If you squint you can see an igloo in the center of the window.

On our first visit I ordered a Giant Bavarian Pretzel for us to all share, and we enjoyed it very much. You know the German translator had to order the giant pretzel, and it did not disappoint. It was fluffy inside with a nice crust. It is served with a green chili white queso and whipped cinnamon butter. Not exactly typical German pretzel dips, but I really enjoyed the cinnamon butter.

My friend was very excited about the lamb burger, which must be a winter item. She loved it. The housemade chips are also quite tasty. Folks on Yelp suggest saving the splurge of the Wagyu burger, which sounds tasty but I would probably order the Blue Heron or California burger and save a couple of bucks.

Another friend ordered the Caesar salad and added salmon, and it looked delicious. In fact, I was leaning towards ordering it with my family, but ended up ordering something else (more on that later). My mother enjoyed her strawberry and spinach salad with a balsamic dressing and without the goat cheese because she is dairy-free as well as gluten-free.

My brother-in-law recommended the seafood stuffed mushrooms and jumbo chicken wings as appetizers. Both were quite tasty, but I absolutely loved the seafood stuffed mushrooms. They were fantastic!!! The white mushrooms are hand stuffed with diced shrimp, crabmeat, cream cheese and scallions and topped with Parmesan cheese and light Dijon aioli. I could see myself ordering these for a meal! We ordered two orders of mushrooms to share, but it would have been cheaper to buy the special 3 for a dollar less than 2 orders were (a happy hour special). But my family only wanted two, so we stuck with two.

I ordered the Coconut Curry Salmon Fillet, and it did not disappoint. The pan-roasted salmon was served with a delectable Caribbean curry sauce and cilantro lime rice and fresh seasonal vegetables (in this case Brussels sprouts, which were tender and tasty). Everything was flavorful and perfectly cooked. I would probably order this again.

My dad and sister ordered the Reuben and loved it. Seeing how lean the corned beef was I would have probably enjoyed it. Anyone who has been following this blog knows I’m not the biggest fan of corned beef because I’m not a fan of fatty meats.

If you have room at the end, I highly recommend ordering the Peanut Butter Pie if you have the room. It is made with an Oreo crust with peanut butter mousse and fresh whipped cream. It’s delicious. I ordered it during our first visit, and we got 5 spoons to share.

And if your waitress is Carley tell her you read about the Brewpub on her Aunt Jill’s blog.

Contact info:

Blue Heron Brewpub
3227 Blue Heron Trce
Medina, OH 44256
(330) 870-2583

In Forno

This post is not going to be typical for my blog. I just learned that the owners of In Forno have sold their business and will be transitioning the pizzeria over the next few months to the new owners. They are staying to train the new owners, so hopefully the quality will stay consistent. George worked in New York City as a remodeling contractor and decided to regain his profession as a chef. He and his family moved to Cleveland in 2009.

I have been a fan of In Forno for quite a long time. I first heard about it from a friend who lives in my hometown of Olmsted Falls. They would do pop-ups at farmers’ markets as well as at Ye Olde Wine Cellar at Olmsted Falls when it was in the old Master Cleaners’ storefront. As I said, as a remodeling contractor, George built a wood-fired oven and installed it on a trailer for maximum mobility. They would tow their portable wood-fired pizza oven to the various locations and created delicious Neapolitano pizza. Their pizzas are thin crust and are around 12-13 inches in diameter. Once they earned enough capital they opened a brick and mortar pizzeria in Avon.

Since I live on the east side I did not make it out to them as often as I would have liked. I followed them on Facebook for many years and remember the excitement when I read about their special peach pizza, which featured fresh peaches, their white sauce and fresh basil, several years ago. I met several friends for that pizza, which was just as good as I had hoped. It was a great summer-forward pizza – as was the Celeste (featured below on the right), which features truffle and artichoke paste, grated and fresh mozzarella, mushrooms, arugula and olive oil. The Celeste is my friend’s favorite.

When we heard that In Forno was sold, we knew we had to go there one last time and met last Friday. We got there quite early to make sure we had a table for our group. The other early bird friend and I ordered appetizers for the table – the Burrata Plate and the Caprese. The Burrata Plate featured fresh, creamy burrata on a bed of arugula that is served with grape tomatoes, black olives, coppa and fire-roasted garlic bread. It definitely hit the spot! In fact, I liked the burrata so much that I ended up ordering a burrata pizza instead of my usual margherita. It was great and another friend ordered it with fresh garlic added. She loved it. Another friend ordered the pepperoni pizza, which was also delicious. I took home half to have for lunch the next day and the slices reheated well in the air fryer.

Who knows what the future will hold. I wish George and his wife Bianka well in their future endeavors (I hear George will be opening up something on Broadway in Lorain) and am crossing my fingers that the new owners continue the success of In Forno in the future! Be sure to keep patronizing them and show them some love. Transitions are never easy. George and Bianka, thank you for bringing us delicious pizza for the past 10+ years.

Contact info:

In Forno Pizza
35840 Chester Road
Avon, OH 44011
(216) 394-9784

Sweet Pork Wilson’s

Nothing says summer like good barbecue. I first heard about Sweet Pork Wilson’s on the All Things Food in Cleveland Facebook group and was very impressed by how they handled a complaint in the group. The person complained about their visit, and the owner responded and apologized and urged them to come back. A week later the person posted a glowing review. Every restaurant can have a bad day. This is why I write about restaurants here after two or three visits. But the way a restaurant handles complaints says a lot. My friends and I were impressed and decided to give them a visit.

We met for lunch. It’s located on the corner of Madison and W. 117th. I parked across the street in the RTA parking lot, not realizing that there is a parking lot in the back. But there are also a few parking spots in front on the street. There is a big parking lot in the back where the smokers are, but you have to walk to the front to enter. The first thing we noticed after walking in was the really nice antique wood bar (there is a framed photo of it when it was new when you walk in). It is impressive. There is bar seating as well as tables to the right.

I started my meal with the Back Porch Lemonade (vodka, organic grape, blueberry, and cherry punch, grape liqueur and lemonade), which was really refreshing and delicious. I would definitely get it again.

I need to be honest and admit that I’ve never been a huge fan of barbecue (and especially the sides, which tend to be afterthoughts at BBQ places), but man, everything was really GOOD. I ordered the two meat/two side meal with ribs and brisket and collard greens and smashed potatoes. Those smashed potatoes are probably the best mashed potatoes I’ve ever had, and I’ve had a lot of mashed potatoes in my day. Little pools of butter floating on creamy mashed red skins. Collard greens are usually hit or miss for me. These were delectable. They use smoked turkey necks to make them. They add a nice flavor to the collard greens. The smoked brisket was tender and succulent, and the ribs were great (warning: if you prefer fall-off-the-bone ribs these aren’t for you, but if you love some pull you’ll be pleased). You can sauce it up however much you’d like from the bottle of BBQ sauce that is on the table.

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed their meals. I had a bite of the smoked turkey, and we shared a big bowl of fried pickles. The fried pickles were fun – and were served with ranch and buffalo ranch dipping sauce. I really enjoyed the buffalo ranch.

Several of my friends enjoyed the brisket sandwiches, and one of my friends loved their Grand Slam sandwich (which is smoked chicken, coleslaw, mayo, pickles topped with BBQ sauce). Unfortunately the Grand Slam did not photograph well.

It was just an enjoyable meal from start to finish, and the owner, who came out to thank us for coming, and our server could not have been nicer. The owbner told us about thinking about implementing a Smoked Seafood Saturday – featuring smoked walleye, smoked salmon, smoked shrimp cocktail and smoked lobster tail. One of my friends went back the next day and loved the seafood. The honey glazed corn bread is moist and wonderful and worth the trip alone

I also stopped there on my own when I was craving some good meat and wanted to treat myself to an early dinner. I started with a happy hour $5 cocktail, which did not skimp on the alcohol. I only ordered one because I was driving and then pivoted to iced tea. I ended up ordering the smoked ribeye with a side of mac n cheese and those smashed potatoes. Both sides were excellent. The mac n cheese is creamy and delicious, and the potatoes were just as good as I remembered. The ribeye was perfectly cooked to my medium rare specification. Just a tasty steak.

I also got a pulled pork sandwich with french fries and cole slaw to go because I wanted to try the pulled pork. I heated it up the next day in the air fryer, and it was quite tasty but I’d probably get a brisket sandwich next time. The brisket is phenomenal. I wish I lived closer, because I would frequent this place a lot. One thing is for sure, I will definitely be back. I’d rank this place among the top barbecue places in Cleveland. Great meals, great barbecue, great sides, great people. And as I’ve said, for me it’s all about the sides.

Contact info:

Sweet Pork Wilson’s
11634 Madison Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44102
(216) 938-5673

Crostata’s Pizzeria

Crostata’s is a Quagliata family restaurant. The Quagliatas have 50 years of history in the restaurant business here in Cleveland. Crostata’s is a wonderful spot to enjoy Neopolitan-style pizza. I was most recently here on a Tuesday night, and it was full, which is very telling. The staff always makes you feel welcome. It is tucked in the middle of a semi-residential area and is located at the corner of Bishop Road and Wilson Mills Road.

The wine is served in juice glasses. I have become a fan of Sangiovese wine, so started off by ordering a glass of Sangiovese. The waitress also brought me a glass of water. As Wikipedia explains, “Sangiovese’s high acidity and moderate alcohol makes it a very food-friendly wine when it comes to food and wine pairings. One of the classic pairings in Italian cuisine is tomato-based pasta and pizza sauces with a Sangiovese-based Chianti. Varietal Sangiovese or those with a smaller proportion of the powerful, full-bodied Cabernet blended in, can accentuate the flavours of relatively bland dishes like meatloaf and roast chicken. Herb seasoning such as basil, thyme and sage play off the herbal notes of the grapes.” If you haven’t tried it you might want to give it a try.

I can recommend the soups. First of all, the Italian wedding soup is a great wedding soup, and the New England clam chowder was a special that I enjoyed during my most recent visit. The clam chowder was refreshing and had a lot of clams and potato chunks. The wood-fired bread stick that comes with the soup was a nice touch.

First off, if you like arancini then you have to order the arancini here. They are the best I have had. Arancini are Italian rice balls that are stuffed, coated with breadcrumbs and deep-fried. Crostata’s arancini are delicious. They have meat, mozzarella, and peas in them. Truly delicious with a great tomato/basil sauce. I ate one and saved the other for lunch the next day.

The first time I was here I ordered a pasta dish. They apparently make their pasta in house. It was okay, but if you want a truly outstanding meal order one of their pizzas.  It is prepared in an authentic Italian style wood burning oven, which is a feature in the open kitchen behind the counter. The prices for the pizzas are also quite reasonable.

I’ve been here a couple times now and have tried a few of the pizzas. I love a good wood-fired Napolitano pizza. I love the char and appreciate being able to enjoy it with a knife and fork. The Quattro Stagioni has the four toppings, but they are mixed together on the pizza. The artichoke hearts were a little unwieldy to eat, but they were tender enough. I really enjoy the Margherita con Bufalo D.O.P., and the arugula-topped pizzas were really delicious as well.

Contact info:

Crostata’s Rustic Pizza
558 Bishop Road
Highland Heights, OH 44143
(440) 449-7800

Fish Fryday #7 2025: Eugene Kitchen at the Bottlehouse Brewery & Meadery

It’s Good Friday and officially the last Friday of Lent. This means the blog will be going back to posts every two weeks. To all of you who have recently found me by searching about fish fries in Cleveland: I hope you have enjoyed my posts and maybe will consider sticking around. I had been thinking about shutting the blog down because I wasn’t sure if people were reading it, but the traffic on Fridays have really be heartening for me. So thank you.

I enjoyed a final tuna melt at Chelo’s Kitchen for lunch, but I won’t bother posting a photo or writing about it since I have talked about it frequently in the past. If you want to see a photo just scroll down to last week’s post. I added a cup of New England Clam Chowder and a side salad today, since I knew my dinner would be fried fish and French fries.

I decided to go to a restaurant fish fry since most churches have Good Friday services today. Eugene at The Bottlehouse has been on my radar all season since I heard about it on Ash Wednesday at Voodoo Brewing, so I was looking forward to finally giving it a try. There are two locations (in Lakewood and in Cleveland Heights), and I chose the one five minutes from my house in Cleveland Heights. I got a parking spot on the street right in front and got there shortly after 4 when they open. The weather was in the 70s, and I was tempted to sit outside on their patio on the first official warm day of spring.

The Bottlehouse holds a special place in my heart. I used to come here when it hosted the Bread and Soup Experiment just before the pandemic, and I have met friends here for beverages on occasion. It has a nice floor plan and is a great place to get together with friends (they have games available and large tables that accommodate groups). They have a nice selection of beer, mead, cider and non-alcoholic beverages. Families and kids are welcome. Eugene Kitchen has been a welcome addition to provide food for its guests. Eugene is known for its Tinman Burger, which I enjoyed back when the food hall on W. 25th (Ohio City Gallery) opened. The Tinman Burger is a “drippy double smash burger with American cheese, special sauce, and sweet and spicy pickles on a brioche bun.”

Eugene is a little enclosed kitchen just inside The Bottlehouse. I walked to the order window and ordered the fish fry, which features Lake Erie walleye, fresh cut French fries, hush puppies and cole slaw for $22. I paid cash, so it was several dollars cheaper than the initial price the employee at the window quoted, which reflected the credit card price. She gave me a beeper (see above), and I then walked to the bar to order a beer. After I asked for a lager, the employee recommended I order the Community, which is a Czech / Bohemian Pilsner that tastes more like a lager than a hoppy pilsner. It paired nicely with the fish fry, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I can see myself going back to enjoy one again soon.

The fish fry was fantastic. The slab of walleye was nicely fried, and the fish itself was very moist and flaky. I tore off pieces and dipped it in the nice tartar sauce that came with the fish fry. The French fries were nicely salted and perfectly cooked, and the hush puppies were nice as well. The coleslaw was okay, and if you prefer a less creamy coleslaw you will enjoy it. The sweet, spicy pickles were a nice surprise. I’m not a huge fan of bread and butter pickles, preferring dill, but these were flavorful enough to not be too reminiscent of sweeter pickles. The lemon wedge was also a nice touch to squeeze over the fish. It was a great way to end the Lent season. Thank you for accompanying me on my journey this year.

Contact info:

The BottleHouse Brewery & Meadery
2050 Lee Road
Cleveland Heights, OH 44118
(216) 214-2120

Fish Fryday #6 2025: Chelo’s Kitchen and St. Joseph Parish

Since it is the last official Fryday of the Lent season and after the boondoggle of last week I wanted to focus on my favorite things. It is the official end of church fish fries, because most churches do not serve on Good Friday (but I plan to visit a restaurant next Friday).

I literally started my day by stumbling out the door to be at Chelo’s at 11:30 so that I could have my appetite back later in the day. I parked in the back lot and got a really good spot, ordered a cup of coffee and some flavored coffee creamer from their lovely helper, and was greeted by Chelo’s wife Sarah asking if I needed to look at a menu or if I wanted the tuna melt. Ah, she knows me so well. I eagerly ordered the tuna melt and a cup of their soup of the day, which was Loaded Potato. Chelo’s tuna melt is great, featuring American and Swiss cheese and grilled onions – and the tuna is browned before being added to the griddled bread. It truly is one of my favorite things, and today’s tuna melt did not disappoint. It was perfect.

I knew I had to stop at St. Joseph Parish in Avon Lake this season (Hi Lois and Don!) and met a couple of girlfriends for their fish fry to end the season with a bang. I picked up my one friend who lives nearby, and we met my other friend, who drove up from Fairlawn, at the church. My pre-order was for 4:30, and my friends ended up pre-ordering for 5:00 and 5:15, respectively. It wasn’t a problem to all pick up our pre-orders at around 5. They both were thoroughly impressed by the organization of the fish fry (it is definitely a well-run machine from the parking lot to the check-in tables, seating and food and beverage service) and the quality of the perch. As we were leaving, my friend (who had never been to the fish fry despite her neighbors attending the church) commented that it was a good thing we got there at 4:45 and pre-ordered (I believe her exact quote was “pre-ordering is the way to go”).

We bypassed the walk-in line and quickly got our pre-order tickets. Once our friend joined us, we stepped into the parish gymnasium and were quickly seated at an available table. We dropped off our stuff and glasses of complementary lemonade and iced tea and headed to the food line to pick up our meals. We grabbed a tray and were handed some coleslaw, our pre-ordered fish (in my case salmon and in their case perch) as well as our sides. I ordered a bunch of sides and brought a Tupperware container for my leftovers. I was able to bring the tomato bisque home because the container came with a lid.

The salmon was once again the highlight for me. One of my friends is a caterer and was impressed because she says it is difficult to prepare salmon for that many people. The chardonnay dill sauce was as lovely as ever. I love the pastor’s tomato bisque and very much enjoyed the yeasty dinner roll and creamy coleslaw this time around. The sweet potatoes were small, but perfectly roasted and very tasty. The mac and cheese is homemade and plentiful creamy goodness. The only “okay” item were the pierogi and onions. They are apparently also homemade, but weren’t Parma pierogi. They were okay. Just kind of small. The onions were nice though. We also enjoyed the musician playing at a good decibel level, which was soothing. My toes were tapping to his rendition of Harvest Moon. After leaving the fish fry we spent a couple hours at my friend’s house enjoying tea and good conversation. All in all, it was a perfect day that I very much needed.

Contact info:

Chelo’s Kitchen
4446 Mayfield Road
South Euclid, OH 44121
(216) 382-4490

St. Joseph Parish
32929 Lake Road
Avon Lake OH 44012
(440) 933-3152

Fish Fryday #5 2025: Pokrova Ukrainian Catholic Church and goodbye Old Brooklyn Cheese Company and hello Arthur Treacher’s

This is going to be a weird post, because it was a weird day. Well, a weird week really… I was sick all week with norovirus, and today was the first day in four or five days that I actually felt hunger. After not eating all week I should have known things would not go well.

I started off the day intending to enjoy one last tuna melt at Old Brooklyn Cheese Company before it closes on the 19th. I’ve been a fan of OBCC from the very beginning and fell in love with their tuna melt a year or two ago. Sadly, the tuna melt was not on offer today. I bought some cheese and mustard and then headed out to pick up my taxes, deciding not to have a big meal since I was meeting friends at Pokrova at 5. I may or may not try again before they close. Thanks for the memories, OBCC! I wish you luck on your mustard journey.

I was tempted to get a fish sandwich at Cleveland Heights’ new Arthur Treacher’s Fish and Chips, which is the site of an old-school Arthur Treacher’s from the 1970s-1990s. The new Arthur Treacher’s opened on 4/1 to much excitement (right after they opened Cedar Road back up after starting to demolish the burnt down apartment complex), but the place had some major traffic heading in and out today. I opted for an egg salad sandwich from Swenson’s instead. The small parking lot was packed each time I drove past, and they are serving a very limited menu for now (just fish, chips, hush puppies and coleslaw). The building itself is still behind construction barricades, but it is so nice to have an Arthur Treacher’s only 5 minutes from my house. I will no longer need to drive to Garfield Heights, and the residents here are excited. I was in Garfield Heights a few weeks ago and am looking forward to popping into the Cleveland Heights location in the future.

I had attended the Pokrova fish fry in 2021 shortly after the pandemic restrictions were lifted. It is located on Broadview Road past Snow/Rockville Road close to the North Royalton border (just past St. Columbkille). The church is set back quite far from the road. Look for the signs. Everyone there was really nice, but I won’t be going back. We got in line to order our meal from two ladies sitting behind a table with a cashbox between them. We were given a number on a stand, and someone eventually brought out our food to the table. In the meantime we bought beverages and desserts from the table in the back of the somewhat crowded room (they had a much larger space and much better distancing in 2021).

Pokrova is known for the pierogi (spelled “pyrony” (пироги) on the menu (my friend was not aware of that) – they sell it all year), and since I am trying to get some pierogi after several pierogi-less meals I was really excited for this one. Unfortunately it was pretty terrible. There was no fried fish – just pan-fried or baked. The pan-fried fish looked good, but it did not taste good. We tried to figure out what the taste was – and it was omelette. It was very eggy. The breading was like a thin omelette coating the fish. It didn’t stick to the fish very well. The fish itself was moist and well-cooked. The pierogi were boiled but lacking in buttery goodness and a good sear. I took them home to sear them off tomorrow. I enjoyed the pouch of applesauce, but I can buy those at Aldi. I had ordered applesauce instead of coleslaw to get some vitamins, and it is the only item I actually finished. I had a couple bites of fish and ate one pierogi and half of the roll and boxed the rest up to take home.

Pokrova is one of the few churches that serve borscht. For those who are not aware of what it is, borscht is usually a hearty beet soup with cabbage, potatoes, and garlic that’s popular in Eastern Europe. The borscht, which, again, I was looking forward to, was terrible. It was basically pink chicken broth. In the past there have been chunks of beet or cabbage in it, but after fishing the bottom for some heft we were sad. My friends made fun of me for taking mine home. I am on the fence whether I am going to fry up some cabbage to add to it or just dump it down the sink. The gastro stuff from the norovirus kicked in once I got home, so we’ll see how I feel tomorrow. I had been so excited to share Pokrova with my friends, but I was horrified. At least we could laugh about it.

The core meal was $15, which came with one side, choice of applesauce or coleslaw and bread and butter. Beverages and desserts were extra. The desserts were obviously made by the parishioners. I bought a weird little peach dessert, which was okay but gave more orange than peach flavor. Some of the cakes looked amazing. I also bought my dad a Ukrainian pashka ($10), which he enjoyed in 2021 and said transported him to his childhood. It’ll be a nice treat for him for Easter.

The fish fry runs from 4-7. They had run out of cabbage and noodles by the time we got there at 5, and they explained to my friend that they had made too much last week and cut back. If you run out of a side by 5 that’s a problem. I had the cabbage and noodles in 2021 and it was quite good, so it surprises me that they had a week in which it didn’t sell like crazy. The photo below is from 2021. Hopefully next week will be better and I will be feeling better and up to more substantial food. I hope you all enjoyed your fish fries.

Contact info:

Arthur Treacher’s Fish and Chips
13216 Cedar Road
Cleveland Heights, Ohio 44118
TBD

Pokrova Ukrainian Catholic Church (Покров Пресвятоі Богородиці)
6812 Broadview Road
Parma, Ohio 44134
(216) 524-0918

Fish Fryday #4: Larder and The Berea Elks Lodge

Forgive me for posting this on Saturday, but a long chat with my best friend in Baltimore took precedence over writing about the absolutely perfect Fryday I enjoyed that day. As I noted last week, I had not enjoyed any pierogi with my fish fries yet this year, and I value a good pierogi just as much as a good fried fish. I set out to rectify this.

I had a delectable fried fish lunch at Larder Delicatessen & Bakery. Chef and owener Jeremy Umansky is a multi-year James Beard Award nominee, so I knew I was in for a good fish fry. Larder also has a vegan fish fry on offer, featuring fried tofu. The community table had some fun activities for kids (including a fun community cookbook from the kids who attend activities at Lake Erie Ink and some flash cards).

I’d like to start off by saying that I absolutely hate the parking situation in Hingetown. And this was at around 12:30 and closer to 1. I had to drive around the block before I found an available spot near Larder – and that was because I was lucky enough that someone pulled out of their spot just as I was nearby. I lived in Germany, so I am a parallel parking pro but I know a lot of people who aren’t. The street parking situation is hit or miss. However, Larder posted that there is a parking garage at @livechurchandstate that is just 20 steps from the building and is easy to access. I missed it. Consider that info filed for next time.

Larder is open from 11am-6pm Tuesday thru Saturday. They stop serving hot food at 5:45 p.m. The place was packed when I got there shortly before 1, but it was manageable. I was able to place an order for the fish fry, gave the cashier my cash (and stumped him when I gave him enough to give me a $10 bill and change), was given my number and took a seat at a larger table that seems like a community table. At least we turned it into one. The group that sat down with me after I ordered had planned a trip to the Rock Hall, but had to pivot when the power went out and it closed for the day. We talked a bit about Minneapolis and chatted about the Rock Hall and Cleveland.

Of course I ordered the Lake Erie Fish Fry, which changes every week and this week featured fresh Lake Erie fish, fresh cut French fries, a biscuit, coleslaw made from red cabbage and the most delectable sauces. Larder gets its fresh fish out of Lake Erie from Kate’s Fish Market in the West Side Market. It seems that lunch is different from the dinner fish fry. I read somewhere that one of the fish are smelts, and the size and shape of the fish tend to lead me to believe that my lunch was fried smelt. Whatever it was it was delicious. I particularly enjoyed the sauces, and the fries were tasty as well. It was the perfect size for lunch. I was tempted to try the bread pudding or one of the tasty-looking desserts, but decided against it to save room for the evening.

As I said above, I knew I needed pierogi with my dinner. My friend who is an Elk suggested the Berea Elks Lodge, because they serve pierogi as well as a wide variety of changing offers. I knew where the Lodge was, because I used to drive past it all the time growing up. The fish fry is served from 6-8 p.m. I ended up heading there later in the evening to avoid the post-work traffic from the Cleveland Clinic. I got there at about 6:15 p.m. The Lodge has a smaller parking lot, but there were several parking lots nearby to handle to overflow. I initially tried to enter through the front doors, but they were locked. Apparently we had to enter through the back door and head down a stairwell to the basement. I think I was one of the last diners to show up. They were able to make room for me at the bar. They can only serve alcohol to Elks members, but that didn’t bother me. I ordered a lemonade and then later a Shirley Temple, which I haven’t had since childhood. They had just run out of the lobster ravioli, but the nice gentleman sitting next to me gave me a couple of suggestions, specifically the scallops, the salmon (Salmon Citron Chou-Fleur) and the ahi tuna nachos.

I ended up ordering the Scallop Symphony, which featured pan-seared scallops on a bed of crispy fried creamy polenta with southwestern corn and a roasted red pepper sauce as well as a side of pierogi (available as 2, 4 or 6 pierogi) and the Walleye Bites. The scallops won’t be available next week, so I thought it sounded fun. The fish and chips are always available. The scallops were delicious. The red pepper sauce had a bit of heat to it, but I did not find it that spicy at all compared to the Indian or Thai food I usually enjoy.

The pierogi and the Walleye Bites were definitely the stars through. They were both phenomenal. The pierogi were perfect and stuffed with the requisite potato and cheese filling and served with sauteed onions and sour cream. The pierogi were absolutely bursting with filling and with flavor. The Walleye Bites were also amazing. I could have eaten both of them as a meal and been happy very happy. The scent of the onions tormented me the whole drive home. There is no better smell than sauteed onions (well, maybe sauteed onions and mushrooms…)

The gentleman next to me had ordered the scallops and his wife ordered the salmon and they shared the cabbage and noodles, which they proclaimed was also delicious. When I saw her salmon I ordered one to go to eat later this weekend. I of course tried a bite of the salmon and asparagus with the lemon pepper sauce, and it was fantastic.

I was almost afraid to share this fantastic fish fry find, but the Exalted Ruler and my server/bartender assured me it was ok (I outed myself so that I could get their permission after I had received my food). The fish fry is staffed by volunteers (the kitchen team as well as servers, bussers, dish washers, and runners), and it isn’t like a church fish fry. I didn’t want to overwhelm them, but I also don’t think I have so much clout that there will be long lines. If you are a group of eight like the one last night you might have to wait, but they definitely can handle it. So if you want a fantastic fish fry with different choices than the usual fried fish, be sure to check it out! They will be offering it every Friday until April 18th. I’d rank this up there with St. Joseph’s Parish in Avon Lake and St. Gabriel in Concord for the variety of choices. And the pierogi is right up there with St. Josaphat, Pokrova, St. Vladimir and St. Andrew. I felt very welcome there and had a wonderful time. And I can’t wait to tuck into my leftovers tonight! This was two wonderful fish fries in one day! Best one this season so far.

Contact info:

Larder Delicatessen and Bakery
1455 W 29th Street
Cleveland, OH 44113
(216) 912-8203

Berea Elks Lodge #1815
<626 N. Rocky River Drive
Berea, OH 44017
(440) 234-1604