Good eats – Page 20 – Cleveland Rocks, Cleveland Eats

Hot Sauce Williams

in-memoriam-graphic

Edit: All Hot Sauce Williams locations are now closed.

1297095070-hot-sauce-williams — Photo from the Cleveland Scene

Hot Sauce Williams is a Cleveland institution. I drive past it all the time and had heard so many good things about it that I finally decided I needed to try it. If you love fried food that is slathered in hot sauce, then this is your place. We went to the main restaurant on Carnegie, but they have additional locations on Lee Road and Superior Avenue. The restaurant has a “divey” feel to it, which I always enjoy (I still miss the old Suds Maguire in Olmsted Township). The tables are covered in plastic and the place looks somewhat run-down. Just don’t come here expecting fast or friendly service. In fact, the major negative about our visit to Hot Sauce Williams was that the service was slower than molasses and was not particularly friendly, but we quickly forgot about that after digging into the food. But if you go in knowing it’s a bit of a dive and that the food makes it worth the trip you’ll be ok. One thing I can say is that you get a massive amount of food for a great price. It just took an hour to get it. If you don’t want to wait that long, order whatever is in the warmers behind the counter.

Hot Sauce Williams’ fried chicken was highly recommended as being amazingly good, so I went there intent on fried chicken. I ordered the 2 piece fried chicken breast dinner and received two massive bone-in chicken breasts. They needed to make it in the back and took their good old sweet time doing so. It came out so hot it melted the styrofoam. I could barely finish one breast and took the rest home. It came with cole slaw and French fries and slices of white or wheat bread and cost a whopping $5.99.

The wing dinner was $5.00 and also came with French fries and coleslaw, white or wheat bread. My friend upgraded and ordered three different sides, which she absolutely raved about – mac and cheese, collard greens and candied yams. True Southern comfort food!

Another friend ordered a full slab rib dinner for $19.50 (it also comes with French fries, cole slaw and white or wheat bread). He let me try a couple bones while I waited for my food and watched everyone eat. They don’t fall off the bone, but they are nicely smoked and slathered in an absolutely delicious sauce. After all, Hot Sauce Williams is known for the BBQ sauce.

They gave our group a mess of French fries for free to compensate for our wait. We got an industrial restaurant aluminum pan brimming full of fries (you can see it at the top of the photo in the center of the table). The fries are actually store-bought Ore-Ida brand fries, but they were good – especially drenched in the hot sauce, which wasn’t all that hot (as in spicy).

We weren’t all that impressed with the desserts though (I was so unimpressed that I didn’t even take photos of it), so unless something really tickles your fancy just keep gorging yourself on the dinners. No one walked out of here hungry. In fact, we all left with lots of leftovers.

Hot Sauce Williams has been featured on Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations and Man vs. Food. The menu item that was featured on Man vs. Food was the Polish Boy IMG_20170625_193149 sandwich. It is a whopping $3.50. According to Man vs. Food, the Polish Boy is Cleveland’s signature menu item. I must not be a true Clevelander (although I was born in Parma and grew up in Olmsted Falls), because I have never had a Polish Boy. Pierogis? Yes. Kielbasa? Yes. But a Polish Boy? I had never heard of one until a few years ago. The Polish Boy at Hot Sauce Williams is made up of an all beef kielbasa, French fries, cole slaw, bbq pork shoulder, and hot sauce on a bun. I’ll be sure to get one next time.

Contact info:

Hot Sauce Williams
3770 Lee Road
Cleveland, OH 44128
(216) 921-4704

12310 Superior Ave.
Cleveland, OH 44106
(216)249-0710

Chop It Salad Co.

Since it is summer I had a hankerin’ for a chopped salad. Like any good technophile I turned to Google to find a good one near me, which is how I discovered Chop It Salad Co. It is located in the atrium of Eton Center in Woodmere. In fact, you can watch the folks at B Spot eat their burgers and drink those delicious milkshakes while knowing you are eating somewhat healthy. Chop It Salad Co. allows you to order off the pre-designed Signature Menu (which is what I did since I was craving a good Cobb salad) or create your own salad or wrap with “Unlimited Toppings”! If you choose the latter option, you first choose your lettuce mixture between romaine, iceberg, spring mix or spinach and then choose from their over 50 toppings of meats, cheeses, shrimp, eggs, and veggies.

I wanted a Cobb salad, but I asked for Honey Mustard dressing instead of the default Bleu Cheese or Ranch dressing. My Cobb salad was made of iceberg and romaine lettuce, grilled chicken, bacon, cheddar cheese, crumbled blue cheese, avocado, hard boiled egg, tomatoes and black olives. It was accompanied by a thin slice of pita bread. I ordered a fountain drink to go with it and was told I could get a free refill at any time by bringing my glass back up to the register.

My salad was made quickly by the helpful chopper, and after I paid for it at the register (the total was around $11 for the salad and large beverage) I found a cozy upholstered chair in the center of the atrium where I enjoyed my salad and did some people watching. So if you are in the Woodmere area and want to enjoy a refreshing chopped salad or wrap give Chop It Salad a try. They also have locations in Southpark Center (500 Southpark Ctr, Strongsville, OH 44136) and the food courts at Great Northern Mall and Belden Village Mall.

Contact info:

Chop It Salad Co.
28699 Chagrin Boulevard
Beachwood, OH 44122
(216) 378-9122

Bo Loong (Dim sum in Cleveland)

Bo Loong is under new management, and they have really spiffed up the place. One change is it now closes at 9 or 10 PM every night instead of 2 or 3 AM. It is still located across from Siam Cafe and has the same entrance doors, but the water-stained ceiling tile and grungy carpet is gone. The tables still have white tablecloths, but the chairs have sumptuous red covers. They also offer some fun and different dim sum choices.

Everyone has their favorite restaurant when it comes to dim sum (I know a guy through Meetup who is at Bo Loong every Saturday for dim sum), whether it be Bo Loong or Li Wah. I’ve tried them both – and both are very good – but in my opinion Bo Loong doesn’t quite measure up to Li Wah. I think the service has a lot to do with it. The carts don’t flow through the restaurant as often as in Li Wah, and the offerings aren’t as diverse. One morning we had to sit and wait 30 minutes for the first cart to be ready.

The crust on the egg tart is just a little flakier, and I prefer the atmosphere at Li Wah more. Plus, you never have a problem getting a table at Li Wah because it is so large. Bo Loong, on the other hand, also has plenty of seating and was deemed Cleveland’s best dim sum restaurant by the Plain Dealer. Both restaurants are usually packed with Chinese diners, which is a testament to the quality of both places. You really can’t go wrong at either place. IMG_20171111_114256

Dim sum refers to a style of Chinese food prepared as small, bite-sized or individual portions of food traditionally served in small steamer baskets or on small plates. Most people think of various steamed or pan-fried dumplings and stuffed steamed or baked buns when it comes to dim sum. My favorites include the turnip cake, sui mai (or sao mai depending on the restaurant), sticky rice, and shrimp dumplings. It’s a chance to be adventurous and try new things. I always try to order Chinese broccoli or some other vegetables to balance out all the carbs. Pro tip: order the green veg FIRST so you have it at the same time as the rest of the food! IMG_20171111_114821

Dim sum is served in most Chinese restaurants on carts. The fully cooked and ready-to-serve dim sum dishes are wheeled around the restaurant for customers to choose their orders while seated at their tables. The most unusual dishes can be ordered from the servers and are made to order in the kitchen. The dishes are tallied on a bill that is left on the table, and are priced according to size. The recent cost of dim sum at Bo Loong for 8 people was $62.55, which came out to about $10 a person after tax and a generous tip.

Dim sum is traditionally served with tea. In fact, the drinking of tea is just as important to dim sum as the food. More traditional dim sum restaurants typically serve dim sum until mid-afternoon.

Dim sum is a great choice when you dine with several people, and it’s a fun thing to do on a Saturday or Sunday morning. The first time I went to Li Wah we had a nice-sized group and sat at a round table with a lazy susan in the middle. We could select the dishes and rotate the lazy susan to get what we wanted.

My friends and I usually order a bunch of steamed goodies like shumai (a mixture of pork, shrimp and mushroom – last photo above), sin joe gin (tofu skin rolls – middle photo in top row above), various pork or shrimp dumplings, turnip cakes, char siu baau (steamed BBQ pork buns), or sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaves (see last two photos in last row below – so good!). We also got a fun deep-fried dumpling that blew us all away along with the house special Phoenix dumplings (shrimp, mushroom and pork paste – first photo below). The second photo are meatballs covered in shaved carrot – also delicious. The third photo are shrimp rice noodles. The first photo in the next row are ham sui gok (fried glutinous rice dumplings).

Once we start getting full, we then order some sweets like egg tarts, jin deui (a chewy dough filled with red bean paste, rolled in sesame seeds, and deep fried) or steamed buns for dessert (see below). The third photo is complementary tofu fa – a kind of smoky-tasting soybean pudding.

258785763_10224633915142792_8388280024862154337_n

259875759_10224633914782783_7929226191356024334_n

We then divide the check by however many people are in attendance (any vegetarians or picky/allergic diners get their own check – it’s just easier and more fair). It is always a surprise how stuffed we are and how little we spend in the end. As long as you avoid the roasted meats and vegetables (the higher priced items), you can sit there for hours and walk away paying less than $20.

The most important thing about enjoying dim sum is to go in there with an open mind and just try as many dishes as you can. Once you have learned what you like and don’t like you can then start being choosier. For example, I cannot and will not order tripe, jelly fish or chicken feet, even though they are a dim sum delicacy. But I have at least tried them.

IMG_20171111_113912

Dim sum tip: Bo Loong and Li Wah serve dim sum off carts, while Emperor’s Palace brings them fresh from the kitchen.

Contact info:

Bo Loong
3922 St Clair Ave NE
Cleveland, OH 44114
(216) 391-3113
Open Mon-Thu 10 am – 9 pm and Fri-Sun 10 am – 10 pm

Hansa Import Haus in Ohio City

Cleveland truly does rock and features all kinds of little ethnic stores and markets such as Yeleseyevsky Deli (Russian), Lakshmi Plaza (Indian), Farkas Bakery (European Hungarian desserts – try the Napoleon!), or the stores in Asian Plaza and the surrounding area (for a great list of ethnic stores be sure to buy a copy of Laura Taxel’s Ethnic Eats, which is currently in its eight edition). My favorite market that I regularly visit is Hansa Import Haus. It is located on Lorain Avenue just down the street from the West Side Market (across from Touch Supper Club and Farkas Bakery). Just look for the wrought iron gate. It has its own parking lot for customers.

Hansa Import Haus has been a Cleveland legacy since 1957. Its current owner is Boris Music, a native of Slovenia, who also runs a travel agency out of the store. It’s a great store full of hard-to-find treats from Germany and other parts of Europe. Customers are greeted with Old World murals decorating the walls, German music playing throughout the store, and smells of fresh lunch meats and cheeses. Hansa gets fresh bread delivered to the store every week from the Dimpflmeier Bakery in Toronto, Canada and Reinecker’s Bakery in Macedonia, Ohio. The selection of wine and beer (German beers as well as beers from Central and Eastern Europe) is incredibly good. The beer is available in single bottles, four or six-packs and pony kegs.

In the real world (and not this virtual world) I am a German translator by trade. I began studying German in high school here in Cleveland and eventually earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in German (and Russian) and German translation, respectively. Cleveland has a very strong German heritage, and I grew up at the Donauschwaben German-American Club in Olmsted Falls. I lived in Germany for six years, and when I moved back in 2001 I was thrilled to learn about Hansa Haus in Ohio City. I can’t believe I hadn’t heard of it before that. Hansa Haus sells lots of European specialties, including (but not limited to) beer, wine, chocolate, candies, honey, condiments like mustards, ketchup, curry ketchup, shashlik sauce, jams, coffee, cookies, vinegars, herring, dairy products, sausages and wurst (if you like carpacchio, try the Lachsschinken – it’s amazing), and breads as well as Hungarian paprika and other spices, Persil detergent, Fa deodorant, Niveau creams and lotions, and many more items. The coolers hold juice, herring, fresh cold cuts, cheeses, European butters (the Sauerrahmbutter is my personal favorite), and Quark (a European farmer’s cheese that is a cross between creme fraiche, yogurt and ricotta cheese). They even sell beer glasses and mugs, German magazines and curios such as bread boards, knives, Feuerzange [a metal grate mounted on top of the bowl to hold the sugar pyramid or Zuckerhut] for a Feuerzangenbowle [Flaming Fire Tongs Punch], Jausenbretter [wood boards that the Germans use to eat the evening meals of cold cuts and bread] and much more. The varieties of chocolate is worth a blog post all by itself. Hansa sells all the big brands, such as Milka, Lindt, Mozart Kugeln, Toblerone, Ritter Sport, KitKat (not the basic KitKat – they have several other varieties you can’t normally buy here!), and other rare chocolates such as Kinderschokolade, Katzenzungen, etc. The chocolate varieties range from raisin and nut to strawberry yogurt and dark and milk chocolates, chocolate with cookies, chocolate with corn flakes, chocolate with spices… It will blow you away. The Milka Tenders (think Ho-Hos but better) are also pretty amazing. You’ll be amazed when you walk in and see for yourself how big it is.

I love coming here right before Easter or Christmas and stocking up on the holiday chocolates (the German liquor-filled chocolates at Christmas are a particular favorite of mine), chocolate bunnies or Santas, cookies (Lebkuchen, Dominosteine, Stollen), and chocolate Advent calendars. The last photo here was the aisle of Christmas goodies back in November of last year.

Contact info:

Hansa Import Haus
2717 Lorain Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44113
(216) 281-3177

Southern Cookin’ class at Viking Cooking School

I’m a sucker for banana pudding and fried chicken, so signing up for the Southern Cookin’ class at Viking Cooking School in Lyndhurst was a no-brainer for me. Viking Cooking School is located in the Viking Store at Legacy Village, and they offer a variety of fun hands-on cooking classes and chef demonstrations. I have attended 9 hands-on classes there so far, my favorite being the Steak, Roast and Chop class and my least favorite being the Vietnamese Cooking class. I am on a cooking class kick at the moment, so I have attended cooking classes at both The Chubby Cook and Viking recently. This led to some confusion on my part when I showed up for the Southern Cooking class at The Chubby Cook. I realized my mistake when they started passing around edamame, and I apologized and ran out of there to drive to Viking. Luckily they are close to each other, so I was only five minutes late. I had missed the introductions, but quickly grabbed a seat next to my friend A., put on my apron, grabbed a sweet tea and took a deep breath (not necessarily in that order).

Viking always puts out a snack to nibble on while we cook, and the “sample recipe” this time was cheese straws. Not being a big fan of cheese straws I ate one and then concentrated on the recipes at hand. We started out making banana pudding with vanilla wafers, because it needed to set in the refrigerator for a while (at least 1 hour, but preferably up to 4). We whisked the ingredients together, added egg yolks (carefully tempering them into the heated mix), and made a custard. We especially enjoyed pushing in the bananas and vanilla wafers into the serving dish.

Next up were the slow-cooked collard greens, because they needed to cook on the stove for at least 20 to 30 minutes. We cooked the bacon and onions (in A.’s case, because she is Jewish, she cooked the onions in a separate sauce pot and made her very own bacon-free collard greens), washed and chopped the greens, added them to the bacon and onion, added water and let them cook down until tender while we focused on the mashed potatoes and fried chicken.

The mashed potatoes were fairly straight-forward. We cooked and riced the potatoes and mashed them with warm half and half and butter, adding salt and pepper. The interesting technique we learned is that you can make them ahead, wrap them tightly with plastic wrap and keep them in a 200° oven or warming drawer for up to 4 hours. They were still warm once they were served with the gravy later.

I had most anticipated learning how to fry chicken in a Dutch oven. I recently inherited my grandmother’s, so I was anxious to learn how to use it properly. The chicken had been brined in a buttermilk mixture overnight, so all we had to do was heat up the oil in the Dutch oven (checking the temperature constantly with a candy thermometer), coat the chicken in a bag of flour, cornstarch, baking powder, cayenne, paprika and black pepper, and fry it up two pieces at a time. The toughest part about frying the chicken was maintaining a steady heat, because the heat drops once you add the chicken. I was the fry master, learning how to scoop out the little bits that broke loose while frying using a fine-meshed sieve to use later for the gravy. I only burned myself once when A. accidentally singed me with the sieve. The chicken was then put into the oven to finish cooking.

Our instructor Brie then showed us how to make a quick skillet cornbread and sent us out into the store while she and her assistant whipped up some gravy using some leftover oil and crispy chicken bits, cleaned up, and prepped and set the table. Class attendees get 10% off on most items in the store during classes. I used my discount to buy a sieve, a good Viking Santoku knife and a scone pan.

We then came back into the classroom and took our seats for a delicious meal and a glass or two of wine. I wanted a chicken breast, so I had to wait a bit until it wasn’t raw on the inside. I ended up taking another one home for the next day. The food was delicious. There is something about enjoying the fruits of your labor over a glass of wine with friends. No one went home hungry, and I couldn’t wait to go home and try making the banana pudding on my own. It was a very enjoyable and delicious evening.

Contact info:

Viking Cooking School
24703 Cedar Road
Lyndhurst, OH 44124
(216) 381-2100

Inn on Coventry

The Inn on Coventry has been in business since 1981. This “mom-and-mom restaurant” has been feeding hungry college students and locals ever since. The matriarch died in 2010 (she was 96), and there is commemorative plaque hanging above the cash register. Word to the wise: since it is so popular it is always crowded on the weekends. Expect a wait. Also, they won’t seat you until everyone in your party is there. Despite what the website claims it is not open on Friday evening. I walked there for dinner last Friday, looking forward to trying their fish fry, and was sadly disappointed. I asked my waitress this morning, and she told me they haven’t been open for dinner for about two years. I suggested they update their website.

I first came here before I lived in Cleveland Heights (invited by local friends who were in the know), and it is one of my favorite breakfast and lunch places in the area. I ordered the Swedish eggs, which are eggs scrambled with lox and cream cheese, and fell in love. I treated myself to breakfast this morning and indulged in this favorite. The saltiness of the lox is balanced by the creamy chunks of cream cheese. I make this at home now, but I add chopped spinach. The dish is served with your choice of grits or home fries and toast. I chose the home fries and Jewish rye (not like the marbled rye some places serve). There is no better comfort for me than starting the day off with buttered rye toast and jelly.

My second favorite breakfast offering here is the Fresh Banana Walnut French Toast. The thick slices of French toast are topped with ricotta fresh sliced bananas. The flavors meld together really well, and it is simply a flavor explosion. It doesn’t get much better than this. I had a similar French toast at Deagan’s the other day, and although it was good it simply didn’t compare to Inn on Coventry’s. I ordered a side of bacon for good measure, because everything’s better with bacon.

sisterhood Inn on Coventry is also known for their Eggs Benedict and Eggs Mando – and they also offer a Veggie Mando topped with avocado instead of Canadian bacon for the vegetarians). The lemon ricotta pancakes are also divine (or any of the pancakes really… although I haven’t had the nerve to order IMG_20160303_133410 the Reese Cup pancakes). If you do order the pancakes stick with one at first. The pancakes are huge and, as you can see, span the whole plate.

Although I usually order breakfast, I can also personally vouch for the sloppy joe, the Coventry Burger, and the California Club sandwich. And I am usually critical of sloppy joes that aren’t my mother’s “white trash” version that consists of a pound of ground beef, a half bottle of chili sauce bloody and 4 oz of Velveeta (try it – you’ll love it). All of their items are made fresh and are just like Mom used to make. I intend to try as many items on their menu as I can, but it is hard when such delicious favorites are available.

They offer a full service bar if you want a mimosa or Bloody Mary. Also, one thing that simply must be mentioned is that Inn on Coventry has delicious coffee. It is a Kona blend that simply can’t be described. It is very smooth and not at all bitter. Plus, the waitresses are constantly coming around to ensure your cup is full. Come for the food, stay for the service. And don’t forget to always overtip your breakfast waitresses!

Contact info:

Inn on Coventry
2785 Euclid Heights Boulevard
Cleveland Heights, OH 44106
(216) 371-1811

Open 7 days a week from 7 a.m. (8 a.m. on Sat/Sun) to 2:45 p.m.

Mike’s Place in Kent

When I was in grad school at Kent State University Mike’s Place quickly became a favorite haunt. Mike’s Place opened at 6 am on September 5, 1987 and has become an institution. People either love it or hate it. I love it, because you can’t help but love a place that features off-the-wall humor on the menu (click here to check out the menu in all its glory), quirky decorating and a fighter plane.

I was in Kent the other day to visit my dentist (no cavities) and decided to go to Mike’s Place for an early lunch. I was there at 11 a.m., and apart from a couple hung over co-eds the place was populated with an older crowd than I was used to seeing.

My favorite sandwiches at Mike’s Place include Samuri Mike’s Teriyaki Terror (a hamburger with teriyaki sauce and onion rings), Josh’s Chicken Meltdown (fried chicken tenders, sautéed onions, American & Swiss cheese on 2 slices of grilled rye) and Lutz Lavishous Lust (pictured here – grilled chicken breast, bacon, 1000 island dressing, tomatoes & pineapple topped with shredded cheese), but there is a sandwich for just about every taste under the sun. You will need at least ten minutes to peruse the menu and narrow down your choices. I never managed to order a dinner entree, because I never managed to work my way through the sandwich menu! IMAG5792

Mike’s also serves breakfast all day, which was really appreciated when I was in grad school. They also feature lots of affordable specials. Mike’s hours of operation are 6 am – 11pm Monday through Thursday and 6 am to midnight Friday and Saturday, and 7 am to 10 pm on Sundays.

And if your sandwich is too sloppy, there is always a roll of paper towels on the table.

Contact info:

Mike’s Place
1700 S. Water Street (corner of SR 43 & SR 261)
Kent, Ohio 44240
330-673-6501

Melt Bar and Grilled, Part Two

My love affair with Melt continues. My brunch group met there on a Saturday morning in September. We got there a half hour before it opened because the organizer got the times mixed up, so we were the first folks in the restaurant and the first table to be seated. The place quickly filled up, and every seat was soon full.

melt5 — Porky Cheese (honey ham, crisp bacon and Swiss cheese)

I wish I had thought to take a photo of the menus. They are cleverly printed on the backs of old album covers. The Muppet Christmas Album and Kenny Rogers menus were particularly comical. The album covers span many different genres from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

Since we were a large group (and the kitchen is probably fairly small) our sandwiches came out in batches. It didn’t matter. We were enjoying each other’s company.

Being a large group, we were able to order a lot of different sandwiches. Knowing how filling the sandwiches were, I planned on eating half of my sandwich and taking the other half home. The woman to my left commented that she thought I was a wimp when I told her my plan, but then she ended up doing the same thing with her very filling chorizo and potato grilled cheese.

Several of our members are vegetarians, so they were looking forward to the sandwich of the month, the Soul Vegetarian, which featured fried green tomatoes, collard greens, black-eyed pea puree, and pepper jack cheese jalapeno cornbread. I was able to taste it, and it truly was a taste sensation. The collard greens were simmered in garlic, and that took it to the next level!

I had been looking forward to trying the Mushroom Melt, but it seemed too early in the morning to be eating caramelized onions. So I ended up ordering The Kindergarten and added spinach, tomatoes and bacon. It was absolutely delicious.

With the focus on the grilled cheese the fact that Melt also serves grilled cheese burgers sometimes gets overlooked. Since it was brunch, the lone burger at the table was the Breakfast Burger, which features two Amish farmed fried eggs, crisp bacon, and American cheese. It is my friend’s favorite thing on their menu, and he loves it medium rare. It is cut in half here in the photo, because he cut it to make sure it was medium rare. The burger came out just to his specifications, and he loved it.

As has become our custom, we also ordered several desserts and passed them around the table. I had looked forward to the fried Twinkies, which are served with mixed berry preserves, but was most taken with the pumpkin cheesecake. It was creamy and delicious. I leave you with photos of the mouthwatering desserts.

Amish dinner at the Red Maple Inn in Burton

redmapleinn The Red Maple Inn is a quaint bed and breakfast in Burton, Ohio, which is about 45-60 minutes from downtown Cleveland. It features cozy rooms and a breathtaking view of the valley.

The inn offers an Amish style dinner every 1st and 3rd Friday of each month at 7:00pm. I took a small group th redmapleinn2 ere recently, and we enjoyed a lovely meal together. There were lots of different sized tables, ranging from dinner for one to a large family gathering that took up two whole tables, which seat 6-7 each.

Jo Ann Kauffman and her family are local Mennonites who prepare and serve this feast. The menu includes foods that are typically served at an Amish wedding, including a redmapleinn3 salad and fresh baked rolls, breaded chicken, roast beef, mashed potatoes with gravy, stuffing, seasonal vegetables (we enjoyed corn), and dessert (which can be anything Jo Ann chooses, but this night we had the date & nut pudding). The dinner includes coffee and iced tea. No alcoholic beverages were served, but honestly we didn’t miss them.

redmapleinn5 The food is served family style, which means the food is served in bowls at the table which you then pass around the table. The meal was absolutely delicious. The baked chicken was moist, the roast beef was tender, the rolls were soft and fresh, and the mashed potatoes were smooth, creamy and delicious. But the big hit at our table was the stuffing. Fresh stuffing studded with chunks of celery, so you could tell it was homemade. We couldn’t get enough of it!

redmapleinn6 After dinner we were served coffee (both decaf and regular) and the aforementioned date & nut pudding. As you can see, the pudding was the consistency of a British pudding rather than the creamy pudding we usually associate with the word ‘pudding.’ The vanilla sauce was almost too sweet and I found myself working around it and just eating the pudding and the whipped cream. But it was delicious, just like everything we were served that night. Simple, yet delicious.

The price of dinner was quite reasonable considering all the food we were served. Guests of the inn pay $40.00 for two dinners, and public guests pay $24.00 per person plus tax and gratuity. The service was a little slow, but they were overwhelmed by having to serve so many tables. They told us they typically serve about twelve to twenty people a night. Our table alone accounted for 7 and there were at least 7 other tables if memory serves me correctly. Advanced reservations are required and you have to give them your credit card number to reserve your spot, but they had no problems ringing us each up individually at the inn’s check-in desk and my credit card was not charged.

We said goodbye and drove into the night sated and happy – and kept an eye peeled for horse and buggies in case one was out on the road after dark. I can’t wait to go back soon, perhaps sometime this winter and enjoy a roaring fire as the snow falls outside the window.

Contact info:

14707 S Cheshire Street
Burton, OH 44021
440-834-8334

Tremont Tap House & Grill

As the Tremont Tap House website explains, “Located on Cleveland’s Southside in the historic Tremont district, The Tremont TapHouse is the city’s first gastropub. The term gastropub is derived from London and depicts a casual pub that serves an upscale cuisine complimented by the assortment of wine and beer the tavern offers. The TapHouse boasts a meticulous and extensive selection of hand crafted American and European beers. The list consists of 100 plus examples of fine beer, 24 of which are available on draft.”

taphouse1 When I told my father I ate at the Tremont Tap House he exclaimed, “That used to be Pukach’s. Your Uncle Barney lived in the house behind it.” You see, my father grew up in the Tremont area and tells me all kinds of interesting stories about when he was a kid. GIs home from World War II used to rent rooms in homes and would hang out at the corner bars because they missed the company. They would also congregate at the Lincoln Park Bath House, because their rooms did not have modern bathing facilities. taphouse3 They would sit outside and used to give him a dime to run next door for a pack of smokes and a bucket of beer when he was 8 or so. This kind of stuff fascinates me, so I am really tempted to take him to the Tremont Tap House with me the next time I go, which will hopefully be soon.

We enjoyed a delightful evening at the Tremont Tap House the other night. The weather was perfect, not too hot and not too cool. We sat on the patio under several umbrellas and enjoyed the mood lights once the sun went down. The beer list is quite impressive. I normally don’t take pictures of menus, but I couldn’t resist taking a photo of this one.

taphouse7 The food was divine. I had a tough time deciding what to order. I ended up ordering the Salmon BLT on marble rye. It was delicious. The fries that accompanied it were thick and perfectly seasoned (you can see them peeking out from behind the sandwich).

taphouse4 Everyone thoroughly enjoyed their meals. From the macaroni and cheese with dried figs, rosemary and brie (for our vegetarian, but it was so good I will probably order it next time!) to the seared sea scallops with white truffle oil and mushroom risotto or smoked ham and turkey sandwich with brie and cranberry relish served on raisin walnut bread (Thanksgiving in a taphouse11 sandwich) and small plates like blackened scallops with red onion jam, blue cheese and walnuts to beer cheese soup and side salads, there was something for everyone. The fried egg burger with Swiss cheese and carmelized onions was a particular hit. The group had a discussion about how to best order the burger to bring out the flavors, with the quote “It is very important to me that it be medium rare.”

taphouse10 The service was a little slow, but they had another large party upstairs, which I think overwhelmed them. The mac and cheese, which was ordered after we had all ordered by one of our late-comers, was comped without her asking because she had such a long wait for it. One of the dining out members, who wasn’t able to join us and tried it separately, now claims it is one of his favorite restaurants in Cleveland to bring guests or just relax and watch a game.

Contact info:

2572 Scranton Road
Tremont City, OH 44113
(216) 298-4451