Cheap eats – Page 4 – Cleveland Rocks, Cleveland Eats

Michael Angelo’s Bakery

It’s almost Pączki time. Celebrate at the Winery this year from noon-6 pm on January 28th, but you can stock up on pączki at the Bakery until February 13th this year.

My favorite pączki are made at Michael Angelo’s Bakery. The Bakery has been open for 20 years and is located on Broadview Road in Broadview Heights Ohio just to the north of Wallings Road. The same owners opened Michael Angelo’s Winery during the pandemic. It is located down the street on the corner of Boston Road and Broadview Road in Richfield, and I have heard nothing but good things about it. I haven’t made it there yet though.

As I’ve said, Michael Angelo’s Bakery (not to be confused with Michaelangelo’s (the restaurant in Little Italy) or Michael Angelo’s Winery) is my go-to bakery for pączki (pronounced poonch-kee). For those who don’t know, pączki are made from especially rich dough containing eggs, fats, sugar, yeast and sometimes milk in the month or two before Lent (but definitely on both Fat Tuesday and Fat Thursday). They feature a variety of fruit and cream fillings and can be glazed, or covered with granulated or powdered sugar. Michael Angelo’s pączki are generously stuffed with filling and are light and airy while also being heavy in weight. It is a must-visit for me every pączki season. I go during the day during the week, but you have to get there early before they run out (or you will be stuck with prune) – or order them ahead of time. The lines are long during pączki season – especially on the weekends. If they run out of a certain flavor and they still have the pastries they will run and fill them for you. But once they are out they are out.

Their bread is also very good. They make bread for St. Sava. It looks like it would have a firm crust, but it is really quite soft. It is a tasty bread, but my favorite is their Buttercrust bread. It is their Italian bread topped with butter and baked in a loaf pan. It’s so good! Pictured here to the left is the Country Grain. It reminds me a lot of European bread – a harder crust with a soft center.

They also sell lots of packaged coffee, boxed or bagged cookies and bagged chocolate-covered treats like Oreos or pretzel rods. Their chocolate chip and oatmeal cranberry cookies are great. I had a friend buy them for one of our tea events. The last time I went I also bought a bag of their peanut butter cookies with mini Reese’s pieces, and they were moist and delicious. I’ve also heard good things about the macaroons but can’t attest to them because I’m not a fan. They do look pretty though!

They are also known for their special order cakes. The cakes I have seen people pick up here are spectacular, from kid’s birthday cakes to special events like bachelorette parties or baptisms. They also have smaller individual cakes in a display case to the left of the store.

The only thing I haven’t enjoyed here are the ham and cheese croissants. They are too doughy, and the ham is not good. Croissants should be light and flaky. These are not.

They also sell coffee and tea, which is helpful when you need a jolt of caffeine or a soothing hot tea.

Contact info:

Michael Angelo’s Bakery
8035 Broadview Road
Broadview Heights, OH 44147
(440) 526-0499

Savour at Polaris and The Buckeye Room at Lorain County JVS

Growing up in Olmsted Falls I am very familiar with Polaris Career Center and its job and training courses, which offer hospitality and cosmetology services to the community such as the restaurant and bakery, hair salon and the now-closed audiovisual services. Polaris offers courses designed to help junior and senior high students and adults from the surrounding cities prepare for meaningful careers, update job qualifications, or develop a personal interest. Students who were not college-bound attended Polaris in the afternoons. The only reason I was familiar with the Lorain County JVS, which is in Oberlin, is because I know someone who works there and used to run the Culinary Arts program there. The Culinary Arts program trains students in all areas of the demanding and competitive world of food service. Basic cooking techniques, baking, salad preparation, cafeteria operation and advanced culinary skills are taught by chef instructors and guest chefs. The Buckeye Room is a full-service restaurant run by students in their senior year. They also learn to cater functions before, during and after school.

The restaurant at Polaris is Savour and the bakery is Indulge. The restaurant at the JVC is The Buckeye Room. I had never eaten at either restaurant before. I have eaten at both twice now and look forward to more visits in the future. The food is amazing and the kids take great pride in what they are doing. You can also order online for take-out at Polaris. Finding the restaurant at Polaris was easy from the visitor parking lot on the right side of the complex (the last driveway on Old Oak Boulevard). Finding the Buckeye Room was a little more difficult. I entered the main entrance and parked in the lot to the right. I then had to walk to the entrance on the right of the photo and turn right as I walked in. There was a sign pointing me to the right, but the doors to the restaurant are not marked. Once you turn to the right, if you don’t know that the restaurant is hidden behind the double doors on the left just inside the cafeteria you will walk past it and have to ask someone where it is.

The bakery is open on Wednesdays through Fridays (most weeks from September to May) from noon to 2:00 p.m. and coincide with Savour’s hours of operation. The baked goods are quite good, and I can highly recommend the cookies, eclairs, individual cheesecakes and pastries such as the tarts and croissants. The bakery usually has a long line and it is SLOW. If you have a reservation at 12:30 you’d better get in line before noon because you will still be in line at 12:30 (even if you were towards the front). If you have a 11:45 am reservation grab your table and then put your order in with a friend as you queue up. Not only do all the elderly patrons slow things down, but the girls working behind the counter were not efficient either time I was there. One writes down your order while the other puts the baked goods on the tray – then they get taken to be boxed and then ring the sale up. I know they are students, but the slow pace is not doing anyone any favors. I’ve worked in restaurants and they are very high pace environments. They also tend to sell out of things quickly.

Both restaurants require reservations because demand for tables is high since they are only open a couple of days a week and only a couple of weeks a month. My friend makes several reservations at once as early in the season as she can for the lunches. I always joke that I am one of the youngest ones dining here, but there has always been one table of twentysomethings eating here as well.

Savour is open for lunch from 11:45 am – 1:00 pm. The schedule is posted here. Each table gets a basket of bialys for your party, and you can order more to go if there are extra. A bialy is flat bagel-like roll with a depression in the center typically seasoned with an onion and poppy seed mixture. The more well-known bagel refers is a round roll, typically with a hole in the center. Unlike bialys, bagels are boiled and then baked, giving them a chewier texture. On our first visit they had not taken the number of reservations into account, and our table was shorted two bialys.

First row: Walleye, Short Ribs, No-Bake Nutella Cheesecake
Second row: Clam chowder, Pot Roast, Maryland Crab Cake
Third row: cross-section of the Crab Cake, NOLA Bread Pudding, Pot de Creme

You order off the limited menu here. There are two soup choices, two salad choices, a Reuben, two flatbreads, three entrees and two desserts to choose from. All the entrees include a complementary dessert for around $16. The servers are also learning to work front of house, but they have all been fairly competent. Our beverages have been refilled and food brought out efficiently. We had one case of the shrimp in the soup being overcooked, so we let the program manager know to tell them not to cook the shrimp in the soups for so long. Other than that everything has been excellent. The clam chowder on my second visit was so good that I ordered a quart to take home. They did not overcook the clams, and the potatos and seasoning were perfect. I absolutely fell in love with the Chicken Rockefeller on my first visit, and it was one of my Best Bites of 2023. The chicken, hollandaise and rice were perfectly cooked and the sauteed zucchini was also delicious. My crab cake on my second visit was moist and delicious (see photos in the table above – including the cross-section). And the chocolate pot de creme was exquisite.

The Buckeye Room is open for lunch from 10:45 am – 1:00 pm Monday thru Friday on certain dates throughout the year. All prix fixe menus are $17.00 for a 4-course meal and a drink. The dining room here at the Buckeye Room is very small, only seating maybe 50 people. On our first visit we were seated promptly, but they had taken too many reservations on the second visit and the kitchen was in the weeds, so we had to wait a while for our table. They had some seating for waiting guests, but people were standing in the small hallway for quite a while. The clientele here tends to skew a little younger.

Just a selection of the meals
First row: Cheese & sausage stuffed mushrooms, Calamari, Potato & leek soup
Second row: Herb roasted turkey breast with sage stuffing, mashed potatoes, glazed carrots and corn; Spiced vanilla trifle; Arancini
Third row: Winter chop salad, Chicken pot pie; Cherry pie

I can never finish the full 4-course meals here. I tend to enjoy the appetizer and soup or salad and then half of the entree, and tend to ask for a to go box. The cherry pie was easier to take home than the tiramisu, so I opted for the cherry pie even though the tiramisu looked amazing. My favorite bite here so far was the Surf & Turf on my second visit. The 4 oz. filet was perfectly cooked to my medium rare specification with a delicious demi-glace. The shrimp skewer was delightfully charred and served on a bed of roasted tomato risotto that was extremely flavorful. They had run out of the brussel sprouts, but the zucchini they substituted was also delicious and I didn’t miss the brussel sprouts. Another Best Bite of 2023.

I look forward to my meals here in 2024 and beyond.

Contact info:

The Buckeye Room
15181 State Route 58
Oberlin, OH 44074

Savour Restaurant
7285 Old Oak Boulevard
Middleburg Heights, OH 44130

Ice or Rice Cafe

Ice or Rice Cafe attempts to fill the Japanese food void in Asiatown (and dabbles in Hawaiian too). I have been looking forward to the opening of Ice or Rice Cafe for a while. I first got to know Andy and Jessie at the AsianTown Night Markets and their YouTube videos. I even attended a ramen class that Andy taught. Andy and Jessie were the co-founders of the early Ice or Rice, but are not the owners of Ice or Rice Cafe. Andy’s brother is. Knowing that the Cafe is run by Andy’s brother, who is a health inspector, makes me confident that the restaurant and kitchen will always be immaculately clean and the food top-notch.

There’s no parking lot here, so you have to park on the street out front, which usually isn’t too busy, or on the side street. The inside is new and renovated. Everything is made to order, which means it’s fresh. You can watch the cold dishes being made right at the counter, while frying and grilling seems to occur behind the curtains in the back. After ordering at the counter, you can take a seat and food is brought directly to your table.

I gained an appreciation for onigiri in San Francisco, so I was excited to hear they would be featured on the menu. I very much enjoyed all four onigiri (tuna, salmon, pork sung and picled plum) on my first visit, but my favorite was the tuna. My least favorite one was the vegetarian pickled plum onigiri. Onigiri are a “triangle rice ball sandwiching a layer of seasened tuna / salmon / pork sung / pickled plum and wrapped with seaweed with an optinal drizzle of sweet soy sauce or spicy sriracha.” It is a simple yet tasty concept. The rice vs. filling ratio is well-balanced.

The iced milk tea was perfect. The counter workers were efficient and super friendly. They even offered the table next to us a onigiri for them to try when they asked about what I was eating.

My friend ordered a spicy tuna roll, an eel roll, and an onigiri and enjoyed them. The rolls were rolled tightly, which is always a good sign.

The sushi prices are reasonable compared to some other places I have been ($14.99 for a Hawaiian plate lunch with Curry or Katsu Pork Cutlet (the most expensive items on the menu), $9.99 for a Dragon Roll and the spam musubi and onigiri are $4.50 each as of 10/2023).

The staff was friendly and welcoming. I treated myself to a spam musubi and shrimp okonomiyaki the other day. The spam was not salty, but rather was a sweet treat. The rice was firmly packed, topped with a slice of spam with a sweet sauce and wrapped in a sheet of nori. I actually really enjoyed it. It was warm and pliant and definitely hit the spot while I waited for my okonomiyaki, which I was told would take 15 minutes to prepare.

Okonomiyaki is a Japanese cabbage pancake made of shrimp, pork belly or carrots (billed as the veggie okonomiyaki) and topped with okonomiyaki sauce, mayo, powdered seaweed, scallion and bonito flakes. It was so hot that the bonito flakes were curling up and seemed to be waving at me. It was absolutely delicious and the leftovers made my home smell awesome. I couldn’t wait for breakfast the next day (I had eaten half of everything and brought the rest home – they were conveniently served in styrofoam containers. Environmentally unfriendly but I understand why. I wonder if I can bring my own container next time?).

I was also excited to see Ramune Japanese soda ($4). Ramune is a Japanese carbonated soft drink. It is sold in a “Codd-neck bottle” (a heavy glass bottle whose mouth is sealed by a round marble due to the pressure of the carbonated contents). I’m partial to the lychee, but melon is probably also awesome. The photo here was taken at Sushi Train (a conveyor belt sushi restaurant) in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

I have loved everything I have tried here. I’m going back soon for a Hawaiian plate lunch with mac salad and rice. I just need to decide if I want a pork or chicken cutlet or the Loco Moco (a hamburger patty smothered in beef gravy served with two sunny side eggs). I thoroughly enjoyed the Loco Moco and mac salad while in Hawaii and can’t wait. I can see this becoming a favorite spot for me.

Contact info:

Ice or Rice Cafe
3713 Payne Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44114
(216) 539-9092

Zoma Ethiopian Restaurant

Zoma Ethiopian Restaurant opened on Lee Road in Cleveland Heights in 2016. Back then Empress Taytu had my heart, but I was willing to give Zoma a try. It didn’t disappoint. Ethiopian cuisine is characterized both by its unique flavors and known for its communal presentation, a family-style approach with multiple items arriving on a large platter. Ethiopian food centers around vegetable, meat and fish-based stews, some of which are spicy, that are scooped up and eaten with small pieces of injera, a spongy flatbread made from fermented teff batter. It is eaten with your hands.

We went as a large group right in January 2017 after it opened and had a great time. They do not take reservations, but appreciate the heads up if there is going to be a big party. The dining room isn’t as homey as Empress Taytu, but it is still decorated nicely and has plenty of seating. They serve lunch from 11:45 to 2 and dinner from 4 to 9 (3 to 8 on Sundays). The lunch special is quite a good deal – two vegetarian entrees (not including the tibs) for $10.99, and you can add an extra veggie entree for $4. Extra injera is $2. The spicy beef stew and one veggie entree is $12.99.

I ordered the mild chicken stew, which is made with chunks of chicken breast simmered in a tumeric sauce and seasoned with ginger, garlic, onion and an herb butter. It is also served with a hard-boiled egg. It was quite tasty. It could have used a touch more heat, but I am not a spicy fan. The spicy chicken stew (dorowat) is simmered in a red pepper sauce and seasoned with the ginger, garlic, onion and herb butter. Dorowat is the signature dish of Ethiopian cuisine.

They have a wide variety of tib dishes, which are meat (chicken, beef or lamb), mushroom or tofu marinated with a special sauce and fried with onion, rosemary, jalapeno pepper and fresh garlic served in a sizzling pan. My favorite Ethiopian dish is without a doubt the chicken tibs. Their tibs are quite tasty. Unfortunately I can’t order it with a side of tikil gomen. The meat and veggie combo features only beef stew. I haven’t gotten the nerve to ask if I can sub it out. The meat combo features the stew and your choice of 2 veggie entrees.

They have a large variety of options for vegetarians and vegans. One of my friends couldn’t decide which vegetarian option she wanted, so she ordered the veggie combo. There are two veggie combo options available – 3 or 4 entrees. The Zoma Special Combo features beef tibs, spicy beef stew, home made cottage cheese and all 6 of the veggie dishes.

The fun part about Ethiopian food is they often serve the food on communal platters, which allows everyone to share several options. Ethiopian portions may look small at first, but the injera will fill you up. You will never leave hungry.

I met a vegetarian friend for lunch there a little while later, and we sat at one of the basket tables. We enjoyed the samosas (small vegetarian pastries filled with sauteed whole lentils, onions, and jalapeno pepper and served with a sweet chili dipping sauce) as well as the tim-tim fit fit, which is made with pieces of injera bread mixed with chopped fresh tomato, onion, jalapeno and Ethiopian herbs. The fit fit is obviously quite spicy, but it was really tasty. We both ordered vegetarian combos that day. I ordered my beloved tikil gomen (on the menu as simply “cabbage”), the collard greens and green beans and carrots, while she ordered the cabbage, green beans and carrots and split red lentils. The split red lentils are simmered in a medium hot berbere garlic and onion sauce, while the split yellow lentils are milder and simmered with onions, garlic, and turmeric.

Ethiopian offers a little something for everyone. They serve a wide variety of wine, including honey wine (Tej). The honey wine is light and refreshing, but also not overly sweet. I like the tea because it has a nice spice note. You can also get amped up on their coffee service. They roast the beans right in front of you and it is quite an experience for the senses.

Contact info:

Zoma Ethiopian RestaurantZoma Ethiopian Restaurant
2240 Lee Road
Cleveland Heights, OH 44118
(216) 465-3239

Tita Flora’s

Cleveland does not have many Filipino restaurants. For the longest time, the only choice was Nipa Hut, a store on W. 130th in Parma that serves takeout during the week and had a buffet on Saturdays until COVID hit. Tita Flora’s is a welcome addition to the dining landscape. This sit-down restaurant can seat 60 and is located on Brecksville Road in Independence (in the former Babushka’s Kitchen location).

The restaurant serves Filipino staples like chicken or pork adobo (braised in soy sauce, vinegar, onions, garlic, and pepper), crispy vegetable or pork lumpia (similar to fried spring rolls), pork or tofu sisig served on a sizzling platter, pancit made with rice or wheat noodles, and longsilog, the all-day breakfast dish of sausage fried rice topped with a fried egg. They are still working out some kinks and were not serving the buttery garlic shrimp or the lunch specials that have since been taken off the menu.

We started off being greeted by our server and having any questions we had answered. She was very knowledgeable and took good care of us. We ordered beverages and Pik Pik (starters) to start. I had a taste of both lumpia, and they were both quite tasty and perfectly fried. The vegetable lumpia are filled with carrot, cabbage, and green bean and are served as two long rolls. I preferred the pork lumpia (Lumpia Shanghai). They just had more flavor and are served with a delicious chili dipping sauce. Another one of my friends enjoyed the fish balls. He was on the other side of the table, so I didn’t get a chance to sample them.

She highly recommended the pork or chicken adobo. My friend ordered the Bistek (thinly sliced beef and onions braised in soy and citrus – see above), but sent it back because it was too salty and ordered the pork adobo instead. I highly recommend getting the pork adobo. I had a piece of it and fell in love. It is made with pork belly and just has a ton of flavor. They were little nuggets of deliciousness.

Several of us ordered the Chicken Inasal. Billed as a “famous Ilonggo dish,” it is a quarter chicken marinated in a unique blend of spices and fire-grilled. It was served with a tiny side of tomato and cucumbers and little dipping sauce dishes to add to taste. One of us loved it, while the other had difficulty eating it.

One of my friends ordered the Ginataang Gulay, which is a creamy coconut milk stew made with squash and green beans. You can add shrimp to it. I had a taste of it and also loved it. It reminded me of the coconut milk stews I have enjoyed at Batuqui and Sergio’s Sarava. I will definitely order this the next time if the garlic shrimp still isn’t available.

All of the dinners come with white rice, but you can upgrade to garlic fried rice for an extra $2. We all chose to upgrade. I thought the garlic fried rice was good, but it was a little overpowering when paired with some of the more flavor-forward items. I ordered the white rice on my second visit with my chicken adobo, and it definitely hit the spot as I drizzled the sauce over the rice and paired it with a bit of chicken.

I went back a week later, hoping the garlic shrimp would be available, but it still wasn’t. I ordered the pork lumpia and chicken adobo and took half of both home for leftovers. The chicken adobo had a similar flavor profile as the pork adobo since it uses the same spices and marinade. The chicken flaked apart with my fork and was tasty, but I definitely prefer the pork adobo.

I have tried both desserts on the menu – the Turon and the Halo Halo. The Turon is a deep-fried banana rolled in a spring roll wrapper. It is normally served with ube ice cream, but they were out of the ube ice cream so I was served vanilla ice cream with an ube drizzle. It was perfectly fried with no residual grease and absolutely delicious. I shared it with my friends, and everyone agreed that it was tasty.

Halo Halo is Tagalog for “mix-mix.” The Halo Halo is a mix of crushed ice, evaporated milk, and various ingredients including coconut strips, sago, gulaman, sweet beans, and yams, and topped with a scoop of ice cream. I enjoyed it except for the clumps of ice that overwhelmed at times. It is kind of like a shaved ice with several toppings. I prefer the shaved ice at Koko Bakery over Halo Halo, but it is a nice ending to the meal if the Dairy King on the other side of the street is closed for the season.

I also hear that they serve silvanas, a traditional layered Filipino cookie from the southern region of the Philippines made by Silvanas Kitchen, a local Filipino artisan who started making them during the pandemic and selling them at local farmer’s markets. Be sure to ask about them and try one or two.

Contact info:

Tita Flora’s
6531 Brecksville Road
Independence, OH 44131
(216) 232-4303

Szalay’s Sweet Corn Farm & Market

There’s a magical time of year in Ohio called “corn season.” At least in my opinion. My all-time favorite food is corn on the cob, but corn is best when it is in season. Sweet corn season in Ohio begins July 1, usually spreading from southern Ohio to the north. It continues until the first frost in late September or early October.

This means I get to enjoy corn on the cob on my birthday every year. I request it with whatever else we are eating for the birthday dinner. It goes with everything – fried chicken, ribs, burgers, kebabs, etc. It’s even good as a meal on its own. People have been doctoring up corn recently to make elote/Mexican sweet corn, but I like it just with butter and salt. Growing up our church would host a corn roast at one of the member’s homes. They would soak the corn in buckets and throw them husk and all on the fire to get the perfect char.

Szalay’s Sweet Corn Farm & Market is open 7 days a week from 9 am-7 pm, but it is an event on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays in August. The sweet corn farm has a market where you can buy lots of fresh fruits, vegetables, bread, strudel, etc., but it features weekend food stands that offer sandwiches and hot dogs, corn, homemade lemonade and canned pop, and soft serve ice cream and fruit sundaes with ice cream and fruit. There are swinging picnic tables to eat at, but they turn over quickly. They have a bouncy house and other play stuff for the kids, and later in the season they have a corn maze in the parking lot across the street.

Word of warning: they only take cash or checks. Not just the food stands, but also the market. They have an ATM on site if you need to withdraw cash.

I’ve been coming on my own on the spur of the moment for several years, but decided to organize a lunch on the second Friday the food stands were open. There is usually live music on the weekends. Things were crazy, but not as crazy as it usually is on Saturday and Sunday. I sat at the table while my friends hit the food stands. We feasted on pork loin sandwiches, corn on the cob, lemonade and delicious fruit and soft serve. I chose blueberries with vanilla ice cream that tasted like fresh cream. The corn was absolutely perfect. They roast it and dip it in butter before handing it over wrapped in husk and foil. The pork loin sandwich was okay. The pork loin was pretty thin and the tomato kind of overshadowed it.

After we ate, we hit the market to stock up on corn, nectarines, peaches, melons, tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbage, etc. We then all headed our separate ways to run errands, go back to work, or just go home.

Contact info:

Szalay’s Corn Farm & Market
4563 Riverview Road
Peninsula, OH 44264
(330) 657-2727

Euro Wafel Bar

UPDATE: Euro Wafel Bar has moved to Coventry Road in the space next to Bodega. The hours have also changed, from 3 PM until 10 PM during the week and midnight on Friday and Saturday. Sundays they are open from noon until 10 PM.

The Euro Wafel Bar is a late night cafe (5 pm to 1 am) that just recently started serving brunch from 10 am-2 pm on the weekend (as of July 1, 2023). It is closed on Mondays. They also have special hours during Ramadan. Euro Wafel Bar is located on Mayfield Road off Euclid Avenue at the Huntington Bank Building on One Triangle Plaza (parking lot available in front and behind the building). It is close to Case Western Reserve University and caters to the college crowd. The place is usually packed with co-eds.

The Euro Wafel Bar serves sweet and savory Belgian waffles and crepes as well as milkshakes, coffee, tea and handmade Hawaiian lemonade. You can order a Liege, Brussels or bubble waffle or a crepe. You can order them savory or sweet.

Their savory offerings include chicken, brie, Swiss, spinach or tomato – for example, The Parisienne features brie, honey and walnuts, while the Spicy Vegetarian features hummus, spinach, avocado, olive oil and red pepper. They also have a Honey Dijon Chicken with chicken, a dijon mustard dressing, cheddar and tomatoes. Their sweet offerings feature an array of fresh fruits, candy flavors like Ferrero Rocher, chocolate, Oreo, Nutella and cookie butter, and even ice cream.

I ordered the Bananas Foster waffle with ice cream on my first visit. My friend ordered the Bananas Foster without ice cream. The portion was huge and the fillings were generous. The Bananas Foster waffle features banana, caramel, cookie butter and whipped cream. It was super-sweet, and I was not able to finish it, which was a shame. But now you can order a mini-waffle of any of the choices for $5.50.

One of the fruit waffles on a Liege waffle had so much fruit in it you couldn’t see the waffle! This waffle with bananas, strawberries and mango totally hit the spot, and every single bite was delicious.

The Hawaiian lemonades are great. I haven’t been able to order a coffee or tea because I like to be able to sleep at night. They also serve Turkish coffee, which would make me jittery and keep me up all night. I guess if I were still in college that would come in handy. I used to work as a night guard from 11 pm to 7 am and developed a serious Mountain Dew addiction back then. Caffeine was king. Now I have to stop drinking coffee before 4 pm. Getting old sucks.

Mon, Tue, Wed and Thurs	3:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Fri and Sat	3:00 PM – midnight
Sun	12:00 PM – 10:00 PM

Contact info:

Euro Wafel Bar
1854 Coventry Road
Cleveland Heights, OH 44118
(216) 280-8037
theeurowafelbar@gmail.com (preferred contact method)

Spudnut Donuts in Berea

Spudnuts are not just any doughnut. Spudnuts are fresh, delicious donuts made from potato flour. Berea’s Spudnut Donuts became one of the first franchised dealers in the nation in 1949 and is one of the few original Spudnut shops remaining. The parent company no longer exists, but there are only a few independent franchise shops left – with two in Ohio. One in Berea, and one in Mentor.

Bob and Al Pelton were looking for a recipe that would make a better doughnut and started experimenting with potato dough in 1946 at their doughnut shop in Salt Lake City, Utah. They came up with a combination of ingredients that included mashed Idaho potatoes, mountain grown wheat flours and spices from all over the world. The result was a consistently light, fluffy, tender potato doughnut with a unique delicate flavor.

I grew up one town over from Berea, and everyone always raved about Spudnuts. I’m sure I ate my share of spudnuts back in the day. To this day it remains my favorite doughnut. The location moved three times in the past – from Front Street to Riverside Drive and now to Prospect Road.

The Spudnuts in Berea always has a throughly stocked counter. Whenever I have gone to the one in Mentor (no matter what time it is) it is always fairly bare with a serious lack of fun doughnuts. I prefer a yeast doughnut, but even Spudnuts cake doughnuts are moist and delicious – unlike most other cake doughnuts (no coffee for dunking needed here!).

I love a good glazed doughnut, but the custard and jelly filled doughnuts are also a treat. I bought a huge box for my girlfriends in St. Patrick’s Day in March and they were a huge hit. They loved the sprinkles.

Contact info:

Spudnut Donuts (Berea)
650 Prospect Street
Berea, Ohio 44017
(440) 234-4249

Spudnuts Shoppe (Mentor)
6930 Center Street
Mentor, OH 44060
(440) 255-7257

St. Barnabas in Northfield

Did I save the best fish fry for last? I enjoyed an outstanding fish fry at St. Barnabas in Northfield tonight. It was one of the few churches offering a fish fry on Good Friday. Most pull back to focus on the Good Friday services, but this fish fry is put on by the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts and hosted by the church. They serve from 4:30 to 7 PM every Friday. The new priest arrived at the same time I did and was asked by the guy holding the door open for guests how the service went.

Finding it was pretty easy. My GPS brought me straight to the parking lot and the signs pointed me where to go. The fish fry was being held in the gymnasium. It was easy enough to find, and there wasn’t a line at all. They had two cash registers taking the orders, and I was able to pay with my debit card, which was nice because I had just spent my cash earlier today at State Meats getting the fresh kielbasa and lamb butter for our Easter dinner. I ordered a little bit of this and a little bit of that, so it added up.

The gymnasium/cafeteria was a good choice for it. The food was being served out of the kitchen at the back wall, and the drinks and cake were along the right wall. The Boy Scouts were conscientiously roaming the room with rolling carts, collecting trays, empty dirty plates and running to grab condiments as needed.

Let’s talk about the meal. They advertise the fish fry by talking about serving “pub style” Icelandic cod and fresh squeezed lemonade. They should also emphasize that they have a different special every week. This week they were serving Baja fish tacos. I decided to get a fish dinner with two pieces of fish and a crab cake and pierogi as sides. The Icelandic cod was flaky and moist. I ate one piece and saved the second one for tomorrow. The crab cake was great – served with a special mustard and more crab than breading. The pierogi were probably Mrs. T’s but they were cooked perfectly and had a nice amount of carmelized onions. Even the cole slaw was tasty – fresh veggies with a creamy sauce. But let’s talk about the real star in my eyes – the French fries. The fries were amazing! They are billed as “premium long cut french fries”and were crunchy on the outside but soft on the inside. There was no additional flavoring – just pure potato goodness. They were honestly the best fries I have eaten in a while. I also really enjoyed the fresh squeezed lemonade. It was totally worth the cost.

If you choose to get your meal as a carryout meal, you can phone in your order starting at 2:00 p.m. each Friday at 330-800-6804 (Note new phone number) or order online at http://www.mkt.com/575fishfry. I asked for a to-go box (biodegradeable!) as soon as I sat down and took half of my meal home for tomorrow. This fish fry is going on the rotation next year for sure. I enjoyed every single item on my tray.

Contact info:

St. Barnabas Catholic Church
9451 Brandywine Road (fish fry is at 9200 Olde 8 Road)
Northfield, OH 4406
(330) 800-6804

Fish Fry Friday #7 2023 – St. Adalbert in Berea

I had been here before COVID and loved it. Any place that serves Dick’s Bakery is Aces in my book. Dick’s Bakery has amazing baked goods, but their Date Nut cake is the thing of legends. My high school graduation cake was a Date Nut sheet cake from Dick’s Bakery. That was way back in 1987, and I still love it. Well, things have changed post-COVID, and now, instead of including a dessert with the fish fry, the youth have a baked goods sales (free with donation) to support the group’s summer retreat to Steubenville. I can totally respect and support that.

Fish fry entrance is on the left; carry out on the right past the overhang.

Even without a dessert you still get a lot of bang for your buck here at St. Adalbert’s fish fry. It costs $13 and is all you can eat. It’s $11 for Seniors 60+ and $7 for kids 3-12. Cash or check only. The dinner includes baked breaded cod, cole slaw, mac n cheese, cabbage and noodles, three kinds of pierogi (kraut, potato and cheese – you can get up to four on your first go-around, then they limit you to two at a time), fresh cut french fries and coffee, water, lemonade or iced tea. I skipped the french fries and got one each of the pierogi. They ask that you limit what you choose, since the money goes to charity. I knew I wouldn’t be partaking in the all-you-can-eat feature, so I wanted to make sure I finished everything I chose. If you do choose to get more you just need to go to the right of the serving tables and they’ll take care of you.

The fish fry starts at 4:30. I got there shortly before 4, and the parking lot was almost full. I got into line at 4:15, and the line spanned down the hall and into the church foyer. And the line never subsided the whole time I was there. They have some bench seating along the sides, but if you have problems standing that long you may want to skip it or get carry out. One woman almost collapsed from low blood sugar and had to be carried to a bench. She was stubborn and got back into line after a few minutes. Her husband ended up seating her at a table as soon as they entered the hall and continued in the line to get dinners for them both. Because the line wrapped around the back and side of the hall as well.

They opened the hall doors at 4:30, and it took 45 minutes to work our way to the serving tables. It was fun looking at all the old photographs from the history of the church. One photo featured the first baptised baby from the 1830s!

Carry out is open from 4:30 to 6:30 and is in a completely separate area on the right side of the building. The choices include the fish dinner, a pierogi dinner, a fish sandwich and a kids’ meal. You can dine in from 4:30 to 7:30, but I was told they will lock the doors sometimes at 6:30 or 6:45 if they think they are going to run out of food. So the long lines were not just because it was their last fish fry of the year. It’s because the food is EXCELLENT and a total bargain!

Let’s start with the fish. It was delicious. They only serve baked breaded cod, so if you are looking for gluten-free options you are out of luck. But folks, this was one of the tastiest pieces of fish I’ve enjoyed all year – and I really loved St. Joseph’s. I don’t know what made it so tasty, but paired with the tartar sauce each bite was an absolute delight. I ALMOST went back for a second piece, but decided my diet and body wouldn’t appreciate that. I have been taking a semiglutide for the last 3 weeks, which is changing my tastes and what my body can handle. My digestion is slowing, and I will soon be unable to handle fatty, fried foods and sugar. But hey, I’m already down ten pounds.

OK, moving on to the sides. The mac n cheese was really good – not too goopy and not too sweet. The cheese clung to the pasta very well. The cabbage and noodles were great. The cabbage was cut up into small pieces, and the noodles and cabbage were easy to eat with a fork (which is not always the case). I chose one of each of the pierogo choices. The kraut and potato were great – very savory, nicely flavored without too much filling. I saved the cheese pierogi as my dessert, because it was filled with a sweet farmer’s cheese. I can’t say anything about the fries, but the guy sitting next to me enjoyed them a lot. I paired my meal with an Arnold Palmer (half lemonade, half iced tea). I can highly recommend St. Adalbert’s fish fry! Put them on the list for next year.

Contact info:

St. Adalbert Church
66 Adalbert Street
Berea, OH 44017
(440) 234-6830