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

Michael's AM - Akron

For something new TBG and I decided to try Michael's AM in the Merriman Valley.  The inside is a sea of green vinyl and wallpaper.  The menu was everything I would expect from a breakfast place along with a few specials.  TBG went with the french toast since that is what he was craving anyway.  I got the buckwheat pancake special and we also got a side of corned beef hash.  The french toast was bland even with tons of butter and syrup.  I thought the buckwheat pancakes we good but filling.  TBG didn't care for them.  The corned beef hash was average.  The service was good, but the prices seemed a little much for the average experience we had.  I would not go back due to the number of good breakfast places closer to my house.

Service____ 7 Chipps

Food____5 Chipps

Atmosphere____5 Chipps

Beer List____0 Chipps

Wine List____0 Chipps

Value____4 Chipps

Cafe Tandoor - Aurora

I have never eaten at an Indian restaurant and was eager to try.  I wanted something not too intimidating.  

Cafe Tandoor was perfect.  Located in the Barrington Town Center it offers carry out.  We started out with the samosas.  Filled with lamb, cashews, raisins and peas it was good with the provided sauces.  We  couldn't decide what to get next so we ordered from two sections of the menu.  We got the mixed grill and the lamb curry called Rogan Josh.  We also got a side of saffron rice and 2 sides of nan.  One with garlic butter and one plain.  The meals did not come with anything so we had to order these side separate.  I am not sure how you would eat a curry dish without rice and nan so we had to order these sides.  While we were waiting TBG and I split and large Taj Mahal beer.  The beer list was small but did have a couple Indian beers.  The food came out fast and hot.  We actually didn't care for the grill.  The meat was kinda dry and just tasted like grilled meat.  The lamb curry however was great.  I loved it mixed with the rice and scooped up with nan.  The garlic nan was awesome.  The atmosphere was average, clean, outdated, not large.  The service was good and helpful.  The prices however were steep.  I thought it was overpriced since you had to order everything separate.  We needed the two orders of nan to finish the curry.  I would go back if this was the only Indian restaurant around, but since we have other options we probably will not.

Service____ 8 Chipps

Food____6 Chipps

Atmosphere____5 Chipps

Beer List____3 Chipps

Wine List____3 Chipps

Value____4 Chipps

Presti's Cafe and Deli - Littly Italy

Presti's is one of those places we go to every time we are in Little Italy.  It doesn't matter how full we are or how late at night it is, we always get a dessert and an espresso.  This time we were with 4 other people so there were lots of desserts.  I was waiting at the counter for all the goodies and everyone else started eating so sorry for the half eaten pics!  We also got some thumb print cookies but the picture didn't turn out.  This first one had cream and strawberries, I don't remember what it was called.  Everyone liked everything!

I love their tiramisu, TBG thinks its the best around.

Half eaten cream puff

Espresso with hazelnut syrup

Cappuccino

Presti's also has food, but we have never gotten it.  The service can be a little slow if they are busy.  The counters get crowded and it's hard to tell who needs help.  Sometimes they have gelato which is pretty good.  We usually get that when they have it.  I like the atmosphere, the front is all windows so you can sit and watch the streets of Little Italy while you sip your espresso.  The prices are pretty average for a bakery.  They have a large stock of Italian desserts, breads and coffees. 



Service____ 8 Chipps

Food____9 Chipps

Atmosphere____8 Chipps

Beer List____0 Chipps

Wine List____0 Chipps

Value____7 Chipps

Valerio's - Little Italy

Calamari and stuffed pepper app

TBG and I love Little Italy.  We went to Valerio's with my family and had a great time.  We started with a bottle of wine.  Then we ordered the stuffed pepper and calamari appetizers.  Both were spicy and good.  The calamari was cooked perfectly.  The calamari was tender and both tasted fresh and handmade.  The sausage tasted high quality.  The spicy red sauce was great with the bread.  Some people at the table got the house salad.  It was mixed greens and a nice red tomato with a balsamic dressing.  Very tasty and also fresh.  Next the meals came out.  The first one was a spaghetti ai frutti di mare, which had scallops, clams, shrimp and mussels with a white wine garlic sauce.  The next entree was a lobster tortolloni, it had large pieces of lobster on top.  This was our least favorite dish.  It did not taste like it was made there.  The next entree was the osso bucco.  It was a large veal shank with roasted red pepper risotto.  This dish was our favorite dish of the night.  The veal was tender and tasty, the risotto properly cooked and seasoned.  Of course TBG liked the bone marrow and even got my brother to enjoy it as well.  The last dish was a portobello ravioli.  It was good, the cream sauce was a little rich but most people seemed to like it.  The portions were huge.  We even brought some food home.  Throughout the night we also consumed 2 bottle of red wine.  The selection seemed good but I was unfamiliar with some of the types of Italian wine.  They had equal amounts of red and white and most were around $40/bottle.  The server was awesome.  He is from Sorrento and was helpful, knowledgeable, and did not hurry us.  The atmosphere was modern Italian.  It was very clean and very cozy with large pictures of Italy on all the walls and columns.  The bar is small, but most people come to mangia anyway.  The prices were more on the expensive side, but the food quality was good, and portions were large.  

Service____ 9 Chipps

Food____9 Chipps

Atmosphere____8 Chipps

Beer List____3 Chipps

Wine List____8 Chipps

Value____8 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

Flip Side - Hudson

 

As soon as TBG and I walked in the door we felt at home.  The decor was perfect for the meal we were expecting.  The beer list was good (even to his standards!).  We both got draft beers and they came in the proper glasses.  The whole place is smaller than I expected, but we didn't have to wait for a table.  We were there at dinner time on Memorial Day weekend so I actually expected a wait.  I ordered the Shawn Burger.  It came with a fried egg (perfectly gooey), carmalized onions, bacon (perfectly cooked, not chewy), spicy pickles (awesome!), and provolone cheese on a fresh bun.  The burger was cooked nicely and the whole thing was wonderful and very messy!  TBG got the Curry Lamb Burger which I actually liked better than mine.  It was fresh tasting with a curry yogurt sauce and cucumber slaw on top.  The burgers do not come with anything so we got an order of Mikey Fries which have truffle oil and Grana Pandana cheese on top.  They were very good.  I like my fries crispy and these were perfect.  Next time we would have to get an order each!  There are plenty of other things on the menu I would love to try.  The menu included a variety of meats to put on a sandwich including vegitarian.  The prices were reasonable for such quality food.  The service was good until the end.  A large party came in and there were only 2 waiters for the whole place.  We weren't in a hurry so we did not care, but it could have been an issue on such a busy weekend. 

Service____ 8 Chipps

Food____8 Chipps

Atmosphere____9 Chipps

Beer List____8 Chipps

Wine List____5 Chipps

Value____8 Chipps