Falls Deli - Cuyahoga Falls

Falls Deli is a take out only stand.  TBG picked it up and brought it home.  The prices are pretty fair, but do not come with a side unless you make it a combo.  Every sandwich does comes with a fresh pickle.  I don't really like fresh pickles and thought these tasted more like just cucumbers, but TBG liked it.  TBG got a reuben.  He said it was good, not enough sauerkraut, but the corned beef was good.  I ordered the Gyro.  It was good, not real big but big enough for me.  The pita was nice and moist, the meat well flavored.  There wasn't too many onions like a lot of places, but the tomatoes were a little on the big side.  I would go back if I was in the area or wanted something quick to grab and bring home.  They are not open on Sundays so beware.

Service____ 6 Chipps

Food____6 Chipps

Atmosphere____5 Chipps

Beer List____0 Chipps

Wine List____0 Chipps

Value____6 Chipps

French Coffee Shop - Cuyahoga Falls

To call the French Coffee Shop a "coffee shop" is a little misleading.  They offer little more than your normal cup of coffee and it is a weak cup at that.  It also does not open until 11.  Normally I want my coffee before 11:00.  The menu is not extensive, but does have a French flair to it.  Everyone I have talked to about this place says to get the French Onion Soup.  We both got a cup and it was very good.  There was lots of delicious melty cheese and a large piece of bread.  There weren't a lot of onions in it, but the broth was tasty.  I ordered the half sandwich with my cup of soup which I thought was a pretty good deal and filling enough for lunch.  I got the French dip and it was good.  The bread was very good, fresh but crusty.  The meat was tender and the homemade mayo was good.  TBG got the cheese burger.  He agreed about the bread, but the burger was way overcooked.  There was a selection of savory and sweet crepes that looked good, but we did not try.  The service was a little slow.  There was only one server when we arrived, but not too many tables either.  As the lunch hour went on there were more servers and plenty more tables.  The decor was french chef, not great but looked clean enough.  I would say if you live close this is a great place for lunch, I do not know if I will make the effort to go back.

Service____ 5 Chipps

Food____6 Chipps

Atmosphere____5 Chipps

Beer List____0 Chipps

Wine List____0 Chipps

Value____6 Chipps

The Blue Door Bakery and Cafe - Revisit

The Blue Door Bakery and Cafe used to be Golden Goose - original post here.  The outside still looks the same except for the blue front door.  The inside got a fresh coat of white paint, new bakery area, and new advertisement tables.  You can see parts of the table under these pics even though I cropped portions out.  I am not crazy about the tables, but it is better than the worn out tables cloths they had before. I am happy to say the bakery is still great.  There is a specials board in the front of the restaurant and I would recommend getting something from it if eating in.  I ordered the stuffed french toast and it was wonderful.  Creamy inside, fresh raspberries on top with slivered almonds throughout on nice thick pieces of fresh bread.  TBG ordered the western omelet.  It had ham, Chihuahua cheese, and peppers with a spicy sauce on top.  He also enjoyed his breakfast, said everything tasted fresh.  The omelet came with a fresh english muffin as well.  They serve wonderful Angel Falls Coffee.  The staff seemed a little confused with the reopen and the owner was seating people instead of in the kitchen.  The restaurant was full when we were there but not overly busy.  I would recommend coming here if you are looking for fresh local food or a good fresh bakery.  The homemade granola I have yet to try is beckoning me to come back soon!

Service____ 6 Chipps

Food____8 Chipps

Atmosphere____6 Chipps

Beer List____0 Chipps

Wine List____0 Chipps

Value____6 Chipps

Moe's Revist - Cuyahoga Falls

The first review for Moe's is here.  We decided to go back a few nights ago because we know a lot of the people that work there.  We both ordered off the seasonal menu.  We started with an order of oysters which I didn't take a pic of, but looked a lot like oysters.  They were good.  I got the Asian braised short ribs with ginger sweet potato mash and sesame bok choy.  The short rib was very good.  Nice and tender, juicy, and tasty.  The ginger sweet potato had way to much ginger for me, I didn't eat them.  The bok choy was tasty if you like cabbage like I do.  TBG got the duck with goat cheese mashed potatoes and beet root.  I do not like duck so I didn't like his either, but he said it was very good.  The mashed potatoes were good and were topped with a honey apricot which was really sweet, but went well.  The beet root tasted like beets, but was cooked well.  We also got creme brulee for dessert, but ate it before we got a picture.  They have different flavors at different times, this night it was a vanilla bean.  It was very good.  I think Moe's has the best creme brulee around.  Once again we ended up spending a lot, but we got a bottle of wine and upgraded our salads to the goat cheese salad I reviewed last time.  The service was great like always.   

The bar

Service____ 9 Chipps

Food____8 Chipps

Atmosphere____8 Chipps

Beer List____9 Chipps

Wine List____8 Chipps

Value____6 Chipps

Raj Mahal - Cuyahoga Falls

I am happy to say I am no longer afraid of Indian food, in fact I am starting to love it.  I had an idea of what I wanted when I walked in the door, and I loved what I got.  I was not that hungry so we skipped the appetizer even though there were plenty of yummy looking options.  They do not serve beer, but you can bring your own.  The atmosphere is almost nonexistent.  White, dirty walls with vinyl covered tables.  I would recommend carry out for the skittish.  TBG got the spicy lamb vindaloo.  It was very good, too spicy for me but he loved it.  There was plenty to fill TBG up.  It comes with potatoes in the sauce with the lamb, but he asked for it with less than normal.  All the dishes come with basmati rice which was cooked well and there was plenty of it.  I got the chana marsala.  It was vegetarian with chick peas and no meat in a tomato based sauce.  I ordered it medium and it was perfect.  It was exactly what I wanted.  I love the warm Indian spices of cumin, cinnamon, and coriander.  We got two orders of naan which was exactly enough.  One order was garlic as you can see in the picture, and the other plain.  Both were awesome as any bread cooked perfectly is.  The prices were a little steep, but the food was really good so I would definitely go back (or have TBG go back and bring it home!)  I ate the rest of my chana masala the next day and it was still delicious.    

Service____ 9 Chipps

Food____8 Chipps

Atmosphere____2 Chipps

Beer List____0 Chipps

Wine List____0 Chipps

Value____6.5 Chipps

Flury's - Cuyahoga Falls

Located amongst houses on a side street in Cuyahoga Falls you have to know this place is there to find it. When we walked in I noticed it was a hole in the wall as was expected.  Now, when I say "hole in the wall" it's generally a good thing, usually greasy, but still good.  This place was different.  After we sat there for a couple minutes I felt like I was in my friends mother's kitchens.  ( I say friends mother's because MY mother's kitchen is much louder!)  TBG really liked the coffee mugs because they were short and squat, not the typical white boring cafe mug.  The menu is a typical breakfast menu.  I did notice they had specialty pancakes which I wish I tried, but that morning I was jonesing for some fattening benedict.  Also on the menu is the fact that they only take cash.  TBG got country fried steak with sausage gravy biscuits and 2 fried eggs.  The steak was very good.  TBG loved it, I normally don't eat that sort of thing, but the breading was flavorful and the steak tender.  Both meals came with hashbrowns which were perfectly cooked.  I like mine crispy, not soggy.  The buiscuits looked hommade and TBG enjoyed watching her make the sausage gravy when he ordered.  Later in the meal we watched her hand press sausage patties in a metal press.  My eggs benedict were actually dissapointing.  The hollendaise was bland and the eggs were overcooked.  I was looking forward to breaking into the eggs and having that gooey yolk spill out over the rest of the plate.  The yolks were more like a hard boiled egg.  The ham (not canadian bacon) was really well cooked.  I enjoyed it and the saltiness it added to the meal.  I do not normally like ham because it gets slimy.  This was not slimy, and perfectly seared.  The english muffins were a nice texture.  Even though I did not like my meal that much, I would go back and try some of the other things on the menu.  The service was great.  In the small area it was easy to see when we needed something but she also could have gotten caught up cleaning up the small space.  The picture below shows the entire kitchen. The prices were slightly more than other places, but I was happy to pay.  There is a room seperate from the kitchen if you do not wish to sit in the same room they are cooking.  It was not hot in there despite sitting near the griddle.  They are only open for breakfast and lunch Mon-Sat so get up and get there!

Not a lot of room, but they use it well





Service____ 8 Chipps

Food____7 Chipps

Atmosphere____7 Chipps

Beer List____0 Chipps

Wine List____0 Chipps

Value____6 Chipps









Chowder House - Cuyahoga Falls



It looks thick in the picture, but it wasn't.  It was good.

Located on a side street off State Rd. in Cuyahoga Falls, you could drive by a million times and not even notice this small restaurant.  There is actually a good amount of tables in the restaurant and on one side the wall to the kitchen is open.  The decor is very eccentric, very colorful.  The menu is small, but offers a lot of options.  We both started with soup.  We were going to get the clam chowder since that is what the place is called, but I like potatoes in mine, and TBG wanted lobster.  He got the lobster bisque shown above and I got the french onion.  The lobster bisque tasted like rue to me.  I thought it needed a lot more flavor.  I didn't even taste lobster.  TBG said he only got about 2 pieces of lobster.  He said those pieces were good and the soup wasn't the worst he has ever had.  I do not know if that is saying much though.  The french onion was very good.  Very flavorful, the bread was toasted and the cheese plentiful.  There were a lot of onions, but they were cooked perfectly and were sweet.  Let me take a moment to talk about the service.  When we first sat down the waitress was wonderful.  After ordering our soup we had a new waitress.  She was not good.  Slow to refill our water, not nice in general and was not really nice when TBG's burger was cooked wrong.  For our entrees I decided to get one of the specials, seafood pasta with mussels, scallops, and a white wine sauce.  It was really good.  The scallops here huge, and there was plenty of seafood.  The pasta was swimming in sauce, I have honestly never seen so much sauce on pasta before.  Even with the amount of sauce, the pasta was not mushy, and the sauce was tasty.  There was plenty of delicious fresh Italian cheese.  TBG got a Kobe burger with bleu cheese and a variety of pickles.  It came with some garlic smashed potatoes.  The burger was over cooked with just a little spot of pink in the middle.  For those of you that do not know.  TBG always orders his burger Mid Rare and if you are going to error, on the raw side would be best.  Overcooked meat is the worst thing you can serve to TBG.  He was heart broken.  The pickles were good, but that didn't matter anymore.  He didn't even eat the rest of the pasta I had left because he lost his appetite.  We told the waitress and she said she would tell the kitchen.  Not sure what that helped.  She didn't offer to get him anything else or take anything off our bill.  I thought the prices were a little much.  Mine did have a lot of seafood, and his was Kobe beef, but if you never know what kind of quality you are going to get then the prices are not worth it.  They do not have a liquor license, but you can bring your own.  After going to Sugo we were really excited to try the Chowder House.  The same owner/chef runs both places.  I would probably go back if someone wanted to go, but TBG and I won't be taking any dates there. 

Service____ 5 Chipps

Food____5 Chipps

Atmosphere____6 Chipps

Beer List____0 Chipps

Wine List____0 Chipps

Value____4 Chipps

Sugo Modern Italian Bistro - Cuyahoga Falls



Confit Chicken wings.  We ate 3 before I remembered to take a pic!





Sugo has only been open a few months and you can tell.  Maybe this isn't a good way to start a post for a resturant that I really enjoyed, but it wasn't what I expected.  The outside is offputting.  It does not look like a nice Modern Italian resturant.  I have faith that will change as they establish themselves as a great resturant.  There is already a small grape vine growning from a pot near the door.  Inside is a little better.  They have painted and hung some cool pictures.  There were a lot of tables and a long bar in the small resturant.  We went on a Wednesday which is retail wine night.  The wine list is not that impressive and I did not think it was cheap for a retail wine night.  We had trouble picking which wine we wanted so the waitress let us sample a couple.  We finally decided on a somewhat dry red.  But...Lets move on to the food!  We could not decide what to get to start because everything sounded good.  The waitress suggested the Confit Chicken Wings.  They were very tasty.  The texture was great, and they were moist.  The menu says they are tossed in "angry" chili sauce.  We did not think they were spicy at all.  The gorgonzola dipping sauce was not needed, but also tasted good.  TBG ordered the Osso Bucco which came as two courses.  The first (which is the whole reason he ordered it) was a plate of bone marrow with bread, fig jam, and a pickled vegetable mix.  He loved it.  There was more sides than he really needed for the bread, but still good.  Then came our bread.  The olive oil and seasonings were awesome.  The bread was fresh and light.  I don't always eat the bread because it fills me up, but it was good.  I wish we had more time to enjoy this course before our entrees came out, but then I probably wouldn't have been able to eat ANY of my entree.  The rest of TBGs meal was veal over risotto.  I felt the risotto was slightly overcooked, but I'm probably a risotto snob.  The veal was good.  I ordered the Braciole.  I again had to ask the waitress because so many things sounded good.  She said the Braciole was the most popular so I went with that.  Let me just tell you, I hated this dish.  Hated it because I couldn't eat more!  Usually I am ok with eating a few bites, enjoying the flavors, then letting TBG finish it off.  We both walked out stuffed AND with a doggy bag of Braciole.  This dish consisted of two huge pieces of filet mingon stuffed with italian sausage cooked in sauce served over gnocchi.  I loved the sauce.  It had just enough sausage flavor to it and the gnoochi were cooked perfect.  The service was good.  I expected rookie service since they have only been open about three months, but she was very knowledgeable about the menu and very helpful when we needed her to be.  The food came out in reasonable amounts of time.  There were not many people in the resturant, so at times we may have gotten our food too fast, but that's ok.  The prices were reasonable.  I was surprised by the amount of food we got.  They also have a bar menu of sandwiches which I would love to try. 



Braciole



Osso Bucco



Service____ 8 Chipps

Food____9 Chipps

Atmosphere____6 Chipps

Beer List____5 Chipps

Wine List____5 Chipps

Value____8 Chipps

Retz Laconi's - Cuyahoga Falls

Located on a back street in Cuyahoga Falls, from the outside Retz Laconi's does not look like much.  On the inside it looks like you stepped back in time 40 years and smells like smoke.  The bar area isn't dirty, but reminds me of the movie Goodfellas.  If the doorbell doesn't ring when you walk in you may have to knock on the kitchen door to let them know you are there.  The beer and wine selection were decent, the menu had typical Italian meals, and the prices were reasonable.  We opted for a large half cheese/half pepperoni pizza.  It took a long time, and many people came in getting pizza to go.  If there wasn't a half dozen pizza places between here and our house, this would definitely be the way to go; avoiding the long wait and smoke smell, but still getting their good pizza.  When we finally got the pizza, I was excited (and hungry) so I dug in.  It was good, but I burnt my mouth.  The second piece was much better.  The pizza keeps well, and would be perfect for takeout.  Back to the pizza-  The crust was light and tasty, lots of cheese, sauce was not too sweet but not spicy.  I like my pizza limp, and if the pieces were cut bigger I would have folded it over.  Perfect!  I would like to go back and try their other Italian food, but for now the pizza was good enough. 

Service____ 5 Chipps

Food____7 Chipps

Atmosphere____4 Chipps

Beer List____6 Chipps

Wine List____5 Chipps

Value____7 Chipps

Golden Goose - Cuyahoga Falls

**UPDATE:  Golden Goose is now Blue Door Bakery and Cafe.  Revist here**
This bakery restaurant is only open for breakfast and lunch.  I have passed it many times after work and always thought it was out of business.  I was very wrong.  We decided to try it out for breakfast and it was good.  There was no wait on a saturday morning.  The decor is a little tired.  We couldn't decide what to get so we got a few things and split them all.  First is the eggs benedict with hash browns.  It is also available in half size.  Not very much hollandaise sauce, eggs were a little too well done, but man did the english muffin make up for all that.  Homemade in their bakery, it was by far the best english muffin I have ever had.  Full of taste, large size, and great toasted texture.  We decided that we were going to have to start coming here and buying muffins and other bakery items to go.  The bakery is open till 5.  The hash browns were average.  I like mine crispier so I didn't eat them.  Next we got a side of corned beef hash.  This again, I prefer crispier.  The taste was ok and the potatoes were soft but it was not the best I have ever had.  Lastly we got the challah french toast.  This was good, I like mine soaked in more of the egg mixture, more soggy, but TBG loved it.  All in all we decided there were better places to go for breakfast, but we will definitely be back for the bakery!

Service____ 7 Chipps

Food____6.5 Chipps

Atmosphere____6 Chipps

Beer List____0 Chipps

Wine List____0 Chipps

Value____6 Chipps

Corned Beef Hash

Golden Dragon - Cuyahoga Falls

Octopus Salad

Golden Dragon is a very large restaurant, but if you can, sit at the sushi bar.  The owners/sushi chefs are hilarious and always entertaining the guests.  The rest of the restaurant is reminiscence of older, tacky Chinese restaurants.  They do have pretty good food.  On this trip we got a little of everything.  Pork fried rice, a spicy crab roll, beef pho, octopus salad, and negi maki.  The rice is a very large portion and always good, lots of pork.  The spicy crab roll is made from real crab, and a lot of it.  The pho was pretty good, it did not come with all the toppings like at #1 pho, but still good.  This was a special for the day, it is not always on the menu.  The octopus salad and sushi is not for me but TBG liked it.

Service____ 8 Chipps
Food____7 Chipps
Atmosphere____5 Chipps
Beer List____6 Chipps
Wine List____3 Chipps
Value____6 Chipps

Sushi Bar

Negi Maki

beef pho