I’ve been hearing about how good khachapuri is for years. A Georgian bakery opened in the fall of 2025, and I had to check it out. Georgian Bakery Tiflis is located on Pearl Road in Parma Heights. It is small, but there are a few tables to dine in. They have a table with plastic silverware and napkins and bring the food out to you.
I have to say, khachapuri is indeed phenomenal. Probably the most well-known is the Adjaruli Khachapuri, which is shaped like a boat. It’s a wheat flour bread filled with two different Georgian cheeses and some seasonings and topped with a raw egg. Mix the egg into the cheese, rip off bites of bread and dig in. It was a definite highlight for me, and I can’t wait to enjoy it again. I might even order the Adjaruli with Mushrooms.
I also really enjoyed the Pkhlovani Khachapuri (a spinach khachapuri) and my friend’s Khabidzgina Khachapuri (a potato and cheese khachapuri). I am a huge spinach fan, so it was right up my alley. The dough was flaky, and the filling was savory and delicious with cheese, spinach and fresh herbs (parsley, dill and coriander).
Khinkali are soup dumplings on steroids. Note that the beef khinkali do contain 10% pork. The dough wrapping is quite a bit thicker than most dumplings you might get such as soup dumplings or gyoza. The filling is made of the meat mixed with fresh herbs like coriander and parsley. They were quite toothsome and filling.
Very enjoyable meal. Cheesy carb goodness. I will definitely be back (after I finish my leftovers – LOL). I will have to try some of the meat skewers. The staff was extremely welcoming and helpful. It is closed on Mondays, but open Tuesday-Thursday from 10am-8pm and Friday-Sunday from 10am-10pm. Be sure to check out this hidden gem!
I had already planned to go to Chelo’s Kitchen for lunch today to enjoy what I think is the best tuna melt in Cleveland. I was thrilled when a friend reached out yesterday to see if I would join him there, so it felt like fate. We met there at 1:00, and it was surprisingly empty. The breakfast and lunch rush had cleared out, and it was just us and the restaurant staff. I was greeted by everyone as I walked in, and our server came right over. I ordered the tuna melt, while my friend ordered the one piece fried fish special. He asked if they would be willing to make a pierogi appetizer from the dinner menu, and they happily agreed since I am a regular and it was empty. The pierogi app was three homemade potato & cheddar pierogi topped with grilled onions (he didn’t want the side of sour cream). He let me have one, and it was quite tasty. I also ordered a cup of Italian wedding soup (because I am not Catholic and can eat meat if I want). The Italian wedding soup was as delicious as always (no photo because it isn’t relevant here). The tuna melt was as exceptional as always. I love that Chelo heats it on the flat top before adding it to the bread – and that they add grilled onions and American and Swiss cheese, which I really feel elevates it from most tuna melts. My friend really enjoyed his fish lunch and the pierogi, and we shared a slice of their Oreo cake, which is always delicious. We paid our bills and were out of the restaurant by 2 PM, allowing them to prep for dinner, which starts at 3:30 on Wednesdays and Fridays.
After I left Chelo’s I stopped in at Harden Auto Body to get my car repaired, because I didn’t want to have my dragging wheel liner rip off on the highway when I drove to St. Barnabas in Northfield for the fish fry there. Because I was so preoccupied I failed to pre-order the lobster mac & cheese ahead of time, and it sold out online. I decided to venture down there anyway in the hopes that they had set some aside for walk-in dine-in orders, and they had! I was thrilled (but would have been fine with their Icelandic cod and delicious french fries).
They started serving at 4:30 (apparently there were already quite a few people waiting to get in). I got there at 4:45 and was greeted by the Girl Scouts selling cookies in the lobby. I unfortunately had to explain that I still had several boxes left from last year. I got in line to order at the register and handed the woman at one of the two registers my $21 in cash for the lobster mac & cheese and hand-squeezed lemonade. I was then directed to the food line to the right and the drink/lemonade area to the left. The hand-squeezed lemonade is always a treat for me, and this one was great (if you look closely at the photo below on the left the lemon press is to the right and there are rows of fresh lemons on the surface). Luckily the food line was fairly manageable. The Scouts serving the food did a good job keeping it moving. They had steam trays of fried fish, shrimp and french fries ready to go thaat were constantly being replenished. The salmon and lobster mac & cheese dinners were prepped in the kitchen behind them. The salmon looked great, with veggies and mashed potatoes.
My lobster mac & cheese was in a large gratinee plate and came with a nice salad of mixed spring greens and a slice of garlic bread. I grabbed my lemonade and got a seat. I enjoyed chatting with everyone around me. One woman came up from Akron to dog/cat/chicken sit for her daughter. She raved about the Heath Bar Cheesecake, saying it was the best thing there. I kind of regretted not ordering one, but didn’t need the calories. We were also greeted by the priest, who looked like he was twelve, but he was very personable and thanked us for coming. I grabbed two small to-go containers to bring half of my salad and lobster mac & cheese home. I drove home and admired the sunset on Cedar.
I hope you all enjoyed your fryday as well. I think I’m going to hit the Donauschwaben next week. Maybe I’ll see you there!
P.S. Unlike most church fish fries, since the St. Barnabas Fish Fry is run by the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts and hosted by the church in the parish center it will also be offered on Good Friday.
One of my friends was asking about panko-breaded fish the other day, and someone responded that Muldoon’s has great panko-breaded grouper. So I knew my first Fryday lunch had to be at Muldoon’s Saloon & Eatery today. I haven’t been to Muldoon’s in years, but the parking lot is always packed when I drive past it (especially on Fridays). Being an Irish eatery, I knew their Lent specials would be great. I was seriously tempted to order the seafood pizza (pizza brushed with garlic butter topped with crab, shrimp and mozzarella cheese or the tuna melt, but since I had driven there focused on the grouper I stuck to my plan. But I have a feeling I may be stopping there again this season for that pizza.
I was also faced with the choice of clam chowder or lobster bisque. This was actually a pretty hard decision, but I was in the mood for chowder. I ordered a cup since I was getting a sandwich. Soup and sandwich is always a nice lunch pairing. It came out very quickly (I hadn’t even taken a sip of my iced tea after adding my sweetener) and definitely hit the spot. It was creamy and had nice chunks of potato and clams.
Onto the sandwich… this is a huge sandwich. It filled the plate with just enough room for some fries. It was served with a lemon wedge and container of tartar sauce and topped with shredded lettuce and thin slices of tomato. I ended up cutting it in half. Honestly it was pretty bland even with the addition of the lemon and tartar sauce, but the fish itself was super light and not as filling as some denser fish are. Grouper is always a treat, since not many restaurants serve it. They do offer a fish and chips dinner that features beer battered white fish, but the grouper dinner can be panko breaded, beer battered or pan fried with Cajun or lemon seasoning. They also offer a panko breaded shrimp dinner.
I parked in the large parking lot, was greeted by servers telling me to choose where I want to sit, and served very quickly. I was there shortly before the lunch rush, so they were getting ready to be very busy. I was told to pay at the bar, where they use the honor system: tell the cashier what you had and she rings it up. I left wondering why I don’t eat there more often.
Now onto the evening event…
I met a friend at St. Dominic just off Van Aken Boulevard for dinner. I had been planning on heading to St. Mary’s Romanian Orthodox, but a friend asked if I would join her and she loves St. Dom’s. She is allergic to potatoes, so most fish fries really aren’t good for her because they serve fries or baked potatoes or potato and cheese pierogi or some other variation on potatoes. St. Dom’s offers a sweet potato, so she can enjoy her meal without worrying about stomach pain later. This is definitely one of the cheaper fish fries out there. My dinner was $12 not including the sides, which were $5 each, while my friend’s dinner was $15 (dessert included). It is credit card only, probably for speed as well as security. I remember St. Adalbert getting their proceeds stolen from their safe a few years ago.
The fish fry is held in the school. I got there at 5:45 and managed to get a spot in the parking lot off Van Aken, but people were parked on the side street (Norwood) as well as in the RTA parking across the road. We met up at the entrance and walked into absolute chaos. Someone in a local fish fry group on Facebook said there were a lot of kids at St. Dom’s – boy he wasn’t kidding. The placed was packed – and not just with screaming children. We stood in a long line in the foyer to order (there were 3 of them! and it was credit card only); we then climbed down a flight of stairs (not sure if there is an elevator) and had to walk to the opposite corner to stand in a long line to get the food. It was not the fastest moving line. Once we got to the cafeteria window, there were three volunteers collecting our forms to pass to the folks putting together our plate of food.
They had a table with bins of condiments as well as a beverage station to the left of the cafeteria windows (one serving dine in and one serving carryout). Runners brought folks their carryout as they waited in the foyer. There was a dessert table stretched down the middle of the room. I managed to get a slice of tasty cream cake with fruit topping. They also had lemon squares, chocolate cake and brownies and towards the end brought out slices of cassata cake.
I ordered a small dinner (2 pieces of fish and sweet potato) because I ordered sides of clam chowder and mac & cheese. My friend ordered a large dinner with breaded shrimp and sweet potato. Two ladies at our table ordered the salmon, and it looked amazing (it came with mashed potatoes and green beans). The fish was nicely cooked and tasty (as you can see below on the right). The sweet potato was delicious. Great chowder. The mac & cheese is definitely for the kiddos. It was soupy and Stouffer’s-like. Alas, the rolls are standard dinner rolls, but they were tasty enough. I did miss Zoss’ bread rolls, but since he retired it wasn’t that surprising.
The volunteers did a good job clearing tables and setting up place settings with disposable dinnerware for new diners. The screaming children running around cleared out at some point after 6:30. Overall the food was good, but my nerves are shot. We were thanked by the schoolchildren for coming and supporting their fundraiser as we left, which was nice.
Yours Truly is a long-standing local chain that has been in operation since 1981. In fact, they are celebrating their 45th anniversary this year. Yours Truly is an ideal choice for a great breakfast, lunch or dinner. I have been going to Yours Truly restaurants for probably 25 years. My first experience was at the Yours Truly on Rockside Road in the Cuyahoga Valley. I have visited several Yours Truly locations over the years, but I have been frequenting the one on Chagrin Boulevard since I moved to Cleveland Heights. This restaurant with a smaller footprint offers the same burgers, sandwiches & omelets as other YT locations, but tables are at a premium here. The few tables and counter stools are usually full during peak hours; carryout is a reasonable alternative. There are locations in Beachwood, Chagrin Falls, Hudson, Medina, Mentor and Solon. Your Truly in the Halle Building in the PlayhouseSquare district is also a popular choice.
They serve breakfast all day. I met a Meetup brunch group there years ago, but it is simply not on my radar for breakfast. However, I do stop in during non-peak hours for either a late lunch or early dinner (off-hours ensure I can usually get a seat quickly). The Killet Skillet (two eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns with onion, green pepper, and mixed cheese) and the Notso Omelet (three eggs, hash browns, cheese, chopped bacon and sour cream) are all very popular, but the #1 selling item is their Eggs Benedict. The Notso Fries™ are also extremely popular. Yours Truly’s menu explains: “They’re notso common. Golden brown cottage fries with melted cheese, chopped bacon and a dollop of sour cream.” They come in three different sizes. The one shown here is the small.
If you have dietary issues they are pretty accommodating. You can order a gluten-free bun or no bun at all (they bill it as a carb-conscious choice), and their salads can be customized. The cottage fries aren’t gluten-free, but I hear the hash browns are. They are known for their Fish Fryday, serving filet of cod as a dinner or sandwich. Clam chowder is the soup of the day on Fridays, and it was extremely tasty and full of clams, potatoes, etc.
They are also known for their chicken and tuna salad, and you can get them by the scoop on a salad, as a ‘Temptation’ with a hard-boiled egg, as a sandwich, as a platter with fruit, or as a Melt. As regular readers know, I am a sucker for a good tuna melt, and they do a great tuna melt here. It features two scoops of tuna with a tomato slice and topped with melted cheddar on a toasted English muffin. A tuna melt on an English muffin is in fact my preferred form of tuna melt. The tuna salad was warmed up just enough and the cheese was nicely melted.
On my most recent visits I tried to focus on a little bit of everything. I absolutely fell in love with the chicken noodle soup. The noodles are hearty, the broth is extremely well-seasoned, and it is chock full of chicken, veggies and noodles. It has become my go-to chicken soup since The Red Chimney closed after a fire.
Their burgers are made with fresh certified Angus beef, and there are nine different burgers to choose from. If you order the Deluxe it comes with coleslaw and cottage fries. The Sweet Deluxe comes with coleslaw and sweet potato fries. I love a good mushroom and Swiss burger, and the Special Delivery burger here did not disappoint. It features an 8 oz burger patty topped with Swiss cheese, sautéed mushrooms, grilled onions and a dollop of sour cream on a seared brioche bun. I ordered the cup of soup picture above, so I didn’t get it with any sides.
There are seven different chicken sandwiches to choose from. The chicken is marinated and then fire-grilled. I ordered the Buckeye Bacon Broil, which features American cheese, bacon strips, lettuce and tomato on a seared brioche bun. I was particularly struck by how huge the chicken breast patty is. It hangs far over the sides of the bun.
The Monte Cristo is also a really nice choice. It is made with their lovely cinnamony French toast and is filled with Swiss, natural fresh turkey breast and ham. It is served with a side of our homemade tango sauce, which was kind of like a honey mustard. I will probably order it again, because I loved the cinnamon French toast paired with the savory sandwich fixings and the dipping sauce. I also really enjoyed the slice of cantaloupe, which was perfectly ripe.
They also have a well-stocked bar and a vast array of beverage choices. They serve coffee (regular and flavor of the day), several espresso drinks, fresh squeezed juices like tangy and diet limeade, orange juice and grapefuit juice as well as hot chocolate and bottomless lemonade, iced tea, Arnold Palmers or fountain drinks. I enjoyed a Dirty Snowman on a particularly cold, snowy day near Christmas – gotta love a boozy hot chocolate topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. The photo is blurry, but I didn’t feel blurry when I left because I stuck to just one.
Yours Truly restaurants are open Mon-Thurs from 6:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., Fri-Sat, 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sun from 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. They have longer hours in the summer. The downtown Yours Truly in the Playhouse district is a nice choice after a show at PlayhouseSquare.
Contact info:
Yours Truly Go to the website and use the location feature to find one closest to you
The Fairview Tavern in Fairview Park is a hole in the wall bar that serves great food. It is located in a strip mall on Lorain Road and is open every day of the year from 11 a.m. to 2:30 a.m. (and opens at 7 a.m. on Sundays). There is a basic menu, but the Blue Plate Specials and Chef’s Specials change weekly and a happy hour that runs from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. They also serve breakfast on Sundays from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. If you live nearby that might be a fun option, but since I live 40 minutes away it isn’t one for me.
There is plenty of seating in the bar area, but I have always sat at the dining area at the back of the venue. There are plenty of tables that can accommodate any number of diners.
The Friday special is their perch dinners. I met a chef friend here when we heard about their perch. They use real perch because it curled up perfectly. The perch filets are perfectly fried. They are $14 for 3 filets and $17 for 4. They come served with fries and slaw, but we were able to upgrade to pierogi, which were really well prepared. One of my friends ordered a perch sandwich on another visit. The sandwich only has 2 perch filets. It would have been perfect with 3. He ended up cutting the sub roll in half and only eating half a roll with both filets. So if you want a good perch sub ask to add another filet even if there is an additional charge.
The appetizers are also tasty. I have had the kielbasa coins, which were stellar, and another friend recently ordered the pepperoni rolls, which featured phyllo dough. He also raved about their fresh made pork rinds. So if an appetizer appeals to you by all means order it.
My friends who live on the west side and appreciate a good bargain turned me on to the place. The Blue Plate Specials are $10 and include a generous side salad. They also haven’t charged us for non-alcoholic beverages. We initially met there for the Tuesday burger and pint special (for $10 – $8 for the burger and 2 for a domestic beer). The burger patties are generous and you can get whatever burger fixings you want.
The burgers and sandwiches are served with housemade kettle chips, which are quite tasty, but the star of the show is the chip dip. I ordered a Patty Melt most recently and was quite pleased with it. I ended up taking half of it home to eat later.
The clam chowder is great – with lots of big chunks of potato, clams, celery, etc. If it’s on the menu definitely get it. I ordered a bowl along with my Patty Melt. The serving was huge. The chowder was creamy and not at all lumpy. I enjoyed every bite.
The pizzas are also quite large. I haven’t tried one yet, but my friends who did enjoyed it. One ordered the Mediterranean and the one below is mushroom and pepperoni. The mushrooms are fresh and not canned, which is always appreciated. Both had several slices but had to get boxes for later. I will probably order one the next time I go and none of the Blue Plate Specials appeal to me.
The schnitzel and spätzle were quite nice on another visit. They were supposed to come with a lemon basil sauce, but the waitress happily substituted brown gravy instead when my friends asked for the sauce on the side because it was extremely lemony on a previous visit. It was a lot of ofod for only $10 0 with two pork cutlets and lots of fresh made spätzle.
The servers have all been friendly and accommodating every time I have been there. We tip generously when we order the Blue Plate Specials because they run around a lot for a $10 tab, bring out salads and then the entrees, refilling our beverages (which they don’t charge for), etc.
It isn’t fine dining, but it is quite tasty for a hole in the wall bar. I’d go so far as to call it a diamond in the rough. And the food changes often enough that you won’t get bored. I’ve only been there for lunch, but the live music apparently can bring in the crowds. I can’t wait to try their clambake.
Baraona’s Bakery is a family-owned bakery in Garfield Heights on Libby Road just off Lee Road that has been serving the Cleveland area since 1949. They are known for their cakes. It is being run by the third generation. The bakery was originally named Giaimo’s and was located at 119th and Kinsman. Baraona’s bakery moved to its current location in 1970.
It is THE place to buy cassata cake or strawberry whipped cream cake. Their cassata cake is known as the best in town among those in the know. Baraona’s finished with more than 49 percent of more than 5,000 votes cast making it Cleveland.com’s People’s Choice cassata cake award winner in 2023. Baraona’s sells an average of 200 to 250 Cleveland cassata cakes a week. Cleveland cassata cake is not like Italian cassata cake. The Italian cassata cake (only available by special order) features layers of sponge cake filled with ricotta cheese, chocolate chips and maraschino cherries, and iced in whipped cream, while the Cleveland cassata cake features layers of sponge cake filled with custard, strawberries in a glaze and iced in whipped cream. The strawberry whipped cream cake does not contain custard – just strawberries and whipped cream. I prefer the cassata cake, because I love a good custard. The whipped cream frosting is light and airy, the custard filling is creamy and delicious, and the strawberries are always fresh! Baraona’s signature cassata cake was my birthday cake this year and was just as good as I remembered. You can get flowers or sprinkles on their cakes, but I just went with a plain “Happy Birthday” since I was sharing the birthday party with another friend. Everyone loved it.
They don’t usually sell the cakes by the slice, but you can always get them as a cupcake. The cassata cupcake is always a nice alternative.
They also make a variety of other mouth-watering, made-from-scratch bakery products like doughnuts, cookies, nut rolls, poppyseed rolls, cannolis, pastries, pies, cupcakes and turnovers. While I was in line to pick up my cassata cake, I chatted with several customers and ended up buying a chocolate chunk cookie and a slice of banana cake. Both were good, but that chocolate chunk cookie was one of the best I’ve had. The guy who recommended the cookies got a red velvet cookie. If you like coconut you’ll love the Almond Joy cookie. There is basically a cookie for everyone’s taste, and they are all great.
I need to try their datenut cake to see if it is as good as Dick’s Bakery in Berea, which is my ride-or-die cake. I had a Dick’s datenut cake for my high school graduation years ago and have been known to buy the datenut cupcakes. If you like Italian baked goods like 7-layer bars, pignoli (a cookie made with almond paste, granulated sugar, and egg whites), Italian spritz cookies, cannolis, etc. you will find it here. I also bought a bunch of kolachky recently. They aren’t as light and fluffy as kolachky from a Eastern European bakery like Rudy’s or Michael’s. I got lemon, cheese, apricot and raspberry and passed on the nut filling. The cheesecake, however, was absolutely heavenly. No topping needed. It was creamy and delicious just plain.
Baraona’s is open every day of the week but Sunday. Monday they are open from 7:45 a.m. – 4:00 p.m., Tuesday – Friday from 7:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m., and Saturday from 7:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Try to pay in cash if you can.
Contact info:
Baraona’s Bakery 15842 Libby Road Maple Heights, OH 44137 (216) 662-8383
Fredibertos is a family-owned Mexican restaurant located in Slavic Village with 3 franchises in other Ohio cities. A lot of people who appreciate authentic California-style Mexican food from little hole-in-the-wall taquerias rave about it, so I wanted to give it a try. As soon as I saw a TikTok about it I immediately knew where it was. It is just down the street from the Red Chimney at the intersection of Fleet Avenue and Broadway Avenue and used to be a hot dog place. It features a drive-thru and a walk up window with a few outdoor tables. Since it is close to home I will use the drive-thru.
The first time I went I rolled through the drive-thru. It took a little while to get my food, but the food is made to order and super fresh. I ordered a Pollo Asado street taco (served with onions and cilantro), an Arizona burrito and a horchata. The street taco was really flavorful, but I would probably add a dollop of sour cream to it. The Arizona burrito was loaded with steak, pico de gallo, potatoes & cheese. I love a good burrito, and this definitely hit the spot. I would definitely order it again. It was extremely flavorful – espcially when I squeezed the lime slice (served in a bag with two sauces and several lime slices) on it. The horchata was delicious. It had a nice cinnamon flavor and quenched my thirst. I’ve made horchata in the past, so I can appreciate a good horchata.
I’ve heard good things about the breakfast burritos. They are available all day, even though the menus say until 2 PM. I met a friend here to enjoy the last of the good weather at 1 PM on a Wednesday. I ordered the ham, egg and cheese burrito and a watermelon agua fresca (sandria) and was full for the entire day. The burrito was stuffed full of goodness. The watermelon drink was not sweet at all, and I really enjoyed it. Very refreshing. My friend, who was a Spanish interpreter, ordered the Machaca and Eggs, which is on the breakfast menu. His breakfast came with a medium drink, and he ordered the Horchata. Machaca is a shredded beef. The refried beans looked delicious. He enjoyed it a lot – and so did the honeybees. They swarmed him and left me alone.
Prices are very affordable, and the quality of food is well worth the trip. It is open every day from 6 AM to midnight.
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.
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.
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.
Cleveland Rocks, Cleveland Eats 