The Eye Opener - Akron

The Eye Opener is not just a normal breakfast place.  They have twists on traditional breakfast items like the PB&J waffle which is what I usually get at lunch time.  It is a Belgium waffle with a peanut butter sauce and locally made jelly.  I always pick the mango habenaro which is wonderful.  I have even bought a whole jar and brought it home.  TBG likes it too.  They do have sandwiches for lunch, but I like breakfast so much!  TBG got the Ribeye round up.  He liked it and said it tasted fresh.  The chips are homemade.  The atmosphere is bright and clean with old pictures of Akron all around.  The service is usually a little slow, but the last time was perfect for a half hour work lunch.  The price is pretty good for what you get.

Service____ 7 Chipps

Food____7 Chipps

Atmosphere____7 Chipps

Beer List____0 Chipps

Wine List____0 Chipps

Value____8 Chipps

Sandwich Board - Akron

Tucked behind CVS on Market St is this cute little sandwich place.  Perfect for work lunches, it's fast and healthy.  Everything is very fresh and the service is great.  There is not a lot of seating, but I have never had to wait.  My favorite thing to get is the Ranchero sandwich with avacado instead of mayo.  The mayo actually weighs the sandwich down and I love avacados.  The wheat bread is wonderfully light and fresh.  There is 2 kinds of cheese, bacon, tomato, and alfalfa sprouts on the sandwich as well.  This time TBG met me for lunch and got the Italian panini.  It is not real big, but he said it was very good.  Prices are very reasonable for the quality of food and service.  The atmosphere is like walking into grandma's house for tea.  The walls are pink and booths are church pews.  Wouldn't be my pick for decorating, but it's very clean and does not take away from the experience.  Most of the items are conversation starters. 

Service____ 8 Chipps

Food____8 Chipps

Atmosphere____7 Chipps

Beer List____0 Chipps

Wine List____0 Chipps

Value____8 Chipps

Sushi Rock - Beachwood

Volcano, Crazy, Beachwood, and Spider rolls

I like that Sushi Rock takes reservations as they are usually pretty busy.  They are located on busy Cedar Rd with plenty of parking.  The atmosphere is modern and fun.  The sushi bar is large with seating on almost all sides.  There are a lot of tables, and can accomodate large parties.  The quality of the food is great.  We eat a lot of sushi, and this place is one of the best.  We ordered two appetizers, but ate them before I could get a picture!  We got the calamari with a sweet chili glaze.  Wonderful!  The calamari was lightly breaded, not chewy, and the glaze was delicious.  The second app was a Kobe beef tray with Asian slaw.  Cooked well and very pretty TBG loved it.  We got 4 different maki rolls, Crazy, Beachwood, Volcano, and Spider.  Crazy was my favorite.  The whole roll was tempura fried.  YUM.  None of them were bad.  We were with one person that did not eat sushi, so he got a steak.  He said it was very good.  It was big and came with a ton of mashed potatoes.  We also ordered the cool cucumber martini.  It was very good, and a perfect compliment to a spicy Asian meal.  The beer list was typical Asian beers.  For dessert we got the creme brulee.  Not the best I have ever had but still good.  The prices are expensive, but worth it.  It was a very nice night out.

Service____ 8 Chipps

Food____8 Chipps

Atmosphere____9 Chipps

Beer List____5 Chipps

Wine List____5 Chipps

Value____6 Chipps

Nick Anthe's - Akron

From the outside Nick Anthe's looks like a hip place.  It is however, severely outdated inside.  There are mirrors on the walls of the booths which caused me to see myself when trying to talk to my date.  There is a big red velvet chair rail running next to the booths  under the mirrors.  It was dusty as well as ugly.  We went at lunchtime and there were a few people in the place.  The tables get white cloth table cloths at dinner, which would definitely help the decor.  The service was good, and the food came out in a reasonable amount of time.  I got a tuna melt on rye which was good.  TBG got a burger and a side of fries.  I didn't care for the fries, but they were homemade and TBG liked them.  The prices were a bit high for what we got.  The sandwiches did not come with fries or chips.  The food was very average, and the prices were above average.  To me, there are plenty of other places to go in the area that are better.

Service____ 7 Chipps

Food____5 Chipps

Atmosphere____4 Chipps

Beer List____5 Chipps

Wine List____6 Chipps

Value____5 Chipps

The Lighthouse Cafe of Lodi - Lodi

Soo, I went to this restaurant and did not bring my camera.  Sorry, no pictures today.  Recently I met my family at the Lodi Outlets, we did not want to eat in the food court so I Googled restaurants in the area.  There are a few located on the square in downtown Lodi.  This place was pretty small, and older looking.  It wasn't dirty, but looked like it needed updating.  Our group of 6 took up the whole middle of the place.  Our table had games on it (with lighthouses of course), so that was cute.  The menu is typical "local cafe" food.  Mostly sandwiches and burgers.  I got a BLT with applesauce, but there were many other things ordered.  We had Buffalo chicken salad (lots of chicken!), Patty melt with mushrooms and Swiss, Monte Crisco (actually was french toast, that was good), Veggie burger (as expected), and a cheese burger.  This was not the best meal I have ever had, but it was a great alternative to the Food Court at the outlets.  I would recommend looking it up if you are in the Lodi area to shop and find yourself getting hungry. 

Service____ 5 Chipps

Food____5 Chipps

Atmosphere____5 Chipps

Beer List____0 Chipps

Wine List____0 Chipps

Value____5 Chipps

Mustard Seed Cafe - Akron

I went shopping in Fairlawn while TBG was at work Friday.  I usually don't eat out by myself, but it was early and I have never tried Mustard Seed Cafe, so I thought, what the hell.  I sat at the bar, the place is actually not too small for being above a store, and was clean.  The service was a little slower than expected at the bar.  The menu has a diverse organic and vegan selection.  These selections make them a little on the pricey side, but if you need these things then I'm sure you would be willing to pay for it.  I got the salmon wrap.  It was good, a little wet - not sure why- but good.  It came with about 3 new potatoes halved.  They were tasty, but looked sparse.  Since I do not need these special foods, it's probably not a place I would go back, but it was good to try by myself.  

Service____ 5 Chipps

Food____6 Chipps

Atmosphere____5 Chipps

Beer List____4 Chipps

Wine List____4 Chipps

Value____5 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