This Ain't Your domino's Philly Cheesesteak Pizza!

A few weeks back Jen and I attempted to eat lunch at Jimmy’s Restaurant and Lounge in North Canton, but instead ended up in Akron at Lindsay’s Amber Restaurant. It’s a somewhat comical story that I already told in my Amber’s review so I won’t get into it here. This Sunday we gave Jimmy’s another shot and I have to admit to being very surprised. I’m happy to say that my first impressions of Jimmy’s was way off-base.

From the outside Jimmy’s Restaurant and Lounge doesn’t look like much. It almost gives the impression of a biker bar or perhaps some country bar out on Podunk Highway in the middle of nowhere.

Jimmy’s Restaurant and Lounge isn’t in the middle of nowhere, it’s right off portage a couple of blocks from the strip. Nor is Jimmy’s a biker or country bar that serves up sub-par food to a bunch of hicks. If that’s your impression as it was mine, just get that out of your head right now.

A view of the bar and TVs from my booth.

We got to Jimmy’s around one in the afternoon on a Sunday. There were half a dozen over-40 folks at the bar drinking and eating with another half dozen people spread out over a few booths. The bar centers the room and is the main focal point with booths and tables lining the walls. There is a sunroom section of the restaurant with another dozen tables enclosed in three glass walls and glass ceiling.

We took a seat and started looking over the menu. We were approached by none other than Jimmy himself, working his restaurant on a Sunday afternoon. He asked if we’d like him to make some recommendations and he ran down the list of some of his favorites. Throughout our meal Jimmy worked is way around the restaurant talking to patrons, having a few laughs and drinking beer.

There were at least five TV’s placed in the main room with at three visible at any one time. Three different football games played with another couple of screens showing Keno. Our waitress wore a Steelers shirt but assured us Browns fans are welcome too, often mixing at the bar.

I asked Jimmy about their Philly Cheesesteak Pizza. I’ve only seen those at Domino’s so I was curious. Jimmy said it wasn’t his favorite but he’d take on the challenge of beating Domino’s Philly Pizza in taste test. If I thought Domino’s version was better then I wouldn’t have to pay for my lunch at Jimmy’s. I couldn’t pass that up.

I can’t say for certain who’s is better. They are both good, but very different from each other. The best way to describe it is this: you can often find a great hamburger at a restaurant but sometimes you just want a Whopper from Burger King. Does that make the Whopper superior? No, it’s just fast food candy. Domino’s philly cheesesteak pizza is fast food candy. The philly cheesesteak pizza from Jimmy’s offered a more refined, mature taste that required a little salt to bring out it’s full flavor.

This is what happens when I forget my camera and have to take pictures with my iphone. The lasagna looked much tastier than this picture presents.

Needless to say I never ask for my lunch to be comped, and gleefully took half of my large pizza home for later.

Jen ordered the lasagna with garlic bread. All of Jimmy’s pasta is home made and you can tell the difference. The noodles were thicker and much more tender than you get from the store-bought stuff and that made the lasagna that much tastier.

We were also served a couple pieces of bread that tasted like home made. It wasn’t fresh-from-the-oven warm and the bread itself was average but the sesame seed crust was extremely flavorful. The only negatives at Jimmy’s was the spotty silverware which I hate, the house red Italian dressing which Jen felt was flavorless.

If I had to describe Jimmy’s Restaurant and Lounge I’d say it’s Cheers in the latter years. It’s not a bar for the young, hipster crowd, but more for the mature sports loving adults that like to get some great food with their friends or family while they watch the game. The wait staff is very friendly and they do a lot of chatting up the guests at the bar and tables.

During the day time hours Jimmy’s gets a lot of regulars, but a varied crowd in the evenings when they have their events: karaoke on Wednesdays, Frick and Frack on Thursdays and other live music on Fridays and Saturdays.

More Jimmy’s Info

My Cost: 2 Adults – $35
Hats off: 4/5
Jimmy’s website
Jimmy’s menu
Yelp reviews
Google Reviews and info
Location:
4262 Portage Street Northwest
North Canton, OH
(330) 494-9096‎

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Somewhere under all those mushrooms a pasta awaits to be eaten.

I normally do all my eating out with Jen but on a few occasions I find other/new friends to eat with. I got to know @martijen on Twitter. She’s a freelance copywriter and I’m frequently in the need of copywriting services for my clients. I invited Jen out to lunch as a get-to-know-each-other session and see if we wanted to work together.

We set a lunch date which got bumped a couple of times due to my own illness, then finally were able to meet a few weeks later.

I made a few wrong turns on my way there but eventually found the place. I had actually driven right by the parking lot, but its in the back and I didn’t see any signs. Once I found the front of the restaurant I drove to the back and parked.

Jen and I arrived pretty much at the same time so we introduced ourselves and headed in through the back door.

Lunch was great. So is Jen.

The inside of Main Street Grille was a bit dark. We walked past the bar area and were seated near the front door where some natural light filtered in. At first glance, Main Street Grille looks small, but the multi-room layout makes it much larger than it appears.

Initially, I thought Main Street Grille was a small two room establishment with a small bar. I’ve since returned to have dinner with Jen (the usual one) and Rachel and we discovered there’s a lower level as well.

The downstairs features another room with a dozen or so tables, a small bar, a sitting area, a piano and a projector. When I asked what the projector was for, the waitress told me they play classic movies during dinner on Tuesday nights. (By classics, they mean Cary Grant movies, not Die Hard. Oh well.)

Both times the silverware was splotchy which is not the kind of thing I like to see at a restaurant. The waitress brought me my salad and some bread. There is not much to say about the salad, nothing spectacular, but the rolls were warm and extremely good.

I’ve been trying to broaden my culinary horizons when I eat out these days, so I ordered some type of Portobello Mushroom pasta. (BLAST! I forgot to grab a menu on my way out!) As you can see from the picture above, the pasta was absolutely covered with Portobello Mushrooms and sun dried tomatoes. Absolutely fantastic.

That's one big chunk of meat!

Jen (from Twitter) got a Mozzarella Salad which looked good, though they went a bit light on the vinaigrette. Jen asked for some more on the side and the waitress was happy to get it for her.

On my next visit I ordered the prime rib. What I got was almost half a cow! This was the thickest, juiciest, and tastiest prime rib I have ever had the pleasure of being placed in front of me. It melted in my mouth and the taste was like nothing I’ve ever had before. It was every bit worth $27!

Jen ordered a tasty Chicken Bruchetta pasta and Rachel got the Seafood Alfredo. I didn’t taste the seafood pasta but I did have some of the Chicken Bruchetta. Rachel loved her seafood pasta, but Jen thought the Chicken Bruchetta would have done better with some balsamic glaze. I added a bit of salt when I tried it and enjoyed it very much.

I enjoyed both my lunch and dinner experiences equally. The downstairs offers a classier atmosphere, one that you might expect from a much more expensive restaurant. Lunch was just as good, and in all cases the service was wonderful.

More Main Street Grille Info

My Cost: 2 adults – $22
Hats off: 5/5
Yelp reviews
Google Reviews and info
Location:
123 South Main Street
North Canton, OH 44720
(330) 497-1117

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Warm, tasty and melts in your mouth.

This may come as a surprise to you but I really don’t get to eat out that often. Many people I know eat out several times each week. Usually a quick lunch at a sandwich shop or maybe something more extravagant. Between breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week, I’m lucky if I get to eat out two or three times.

Now that I’m writing about all my experiences I’m trying to go out more frequently and to make it something worth writing about. When on a budget, eating out has to be strategic. I frequently use coupons from Restaurant.com. I’ve got a stack of them sitting next to my computer.

Sunday morning Jen and I decided we’d go out for lunch. We grabbed a stack of coupons, put the bark collar on the dog and headed out.

After church, about a quarter til 11:00, Jen rummaged through the stack of coupons and found one for Jimmy’s in Canton. Pulling into the parking lot the place looked suspect. Lots of plastic hanging off the patio areas and very few cars in the lot. As we got out and made our way to the entrance someone met us at the door. “We don’t open til noon,” he said brusquely.

Ah, that explains the lack of vehicles. He could have been friendlier, though.

The rest of the coupons we had were for places in Akron. We either had to take the 30 minute trek or go to someplace local. Ichiban Japanese Buffet was on my mind but we figured, what the heck, we don’t get out of Canton much, lets try the Ohio Brewing Company in Akron.

We got off the freeway and followed the GPS to the restaurant. I drove past looking for a place to park, and found meter parking just down the street. Jen thought it was a good idea for me to walk up to see if they were actually open before we pumped the meter full of coins. Good thing she’s brilliant. Not only was Ohio Brewing Company closed, the front door was heavily chained and padlocked shut. Uh-oh. Someone was bad.

What’s next on our list? How about Cilantro Thai and Sushi? We have a coupon for that. So we drove another ten minutes only to find that Cilantro is closed on Sunday until dinner. Sigh.

By now we’ve just about given up on lunch. Three restaurants. Two cities. One hour. Zero food. Does that seem right to you?

We have one more coupon for Lindsay’s Amber Restaurant in Akron. My belly needed food so I was praying they were open.

We pulled into the parking lot in front of Lindsay’s and sure enough the place was hopping. But what’s this, is it seniors only day? As we drove by and peered through the windows, that’s about all we saw inside. Then we saw carload after carload pull up and unload more seniors.

Trepidly we walked in, looked around, and spotted a few people under 60 that didn’t appear to be eating with someone who has their Buckeye Card. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t have any problems with older folks. I plan to be one myself some day. But I still fancy myself as young (though I’m rapidly approaching 40) so I want to eat where all the “cool kids” eat.

We took a seat near the front and watched as older folks continued to pour in. Lindsay’s Amber Restaurant is a very popular place on Sundays. The joint filled up quickly, but the staff handled it all smoothly. At no point did we feel the waitress took too long to take our order, deliver our food or check back up on us to make sure we were doing okay.

Loaded Potato Skins

We were delivered some very warm, and very tasty bread. A whole loaf was brought out to us with butter. It was soft and melted right in your mouth. Wow. I’m not a bread guy, but this was good stuff. Unfortunately we had no bread plates so we made quite a crumb mess all over the table.

Chicken Strip Salad

I ordered the potato skins and a Swiss Mushroom burger. Jen ordered the chicken strip salad.

The potato skins weren’t so much skins as slightly hallowed out potato halves. Plenty of potato left in these skins and that’s all right with me. The skins were about as good as I’ve had anywhere, if not better. Loaded with cheese and bacon they are served with my favorite condiment; sour cream.

Mushroom Swiss Burger

Jen enjoyed her chicken salad plenty, too. I ordered one to go (to hit the $35 minimum for the coupon) and even then I was plenty pleased with it.

The Swiss Mushroom burger didn’t do anything for me. I think I have to stop ordering hamburgers at restaurants. I get such good burgers from Jen and I love a Whopper above all others, that everything else pales in comparison.

The service was great, the atmosphere was typical and the food was good. If I lived in the area I could see Lindsay’s being a place to go when I needed an easy meal with friends on a Sunday afternoon.

More Lindsay’s Amber Restaurant Info

Cost: Three meals plus appetizer – $39
Hats off: 3/5
Yelp reviews
Google Reviews and info
Location:
1395 Canton Rd
Akron, Ohio
(330) 733-9611

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The Gyro. The tasty sauce and tomatoes are hidden under all that meat.

It was a dark and rainy evening, I was fighting off the last remaining bits of being sick and food was on my mind as it definitely wasn’t in my belly. Not looking to spend a great deal of money, Jen pulled out some coupons for Papa Gyros, we put the bark collar on the dog and headed out.

We traveled the 10 minute drive to Papa Gyros and exited the vehicle as the rain was subsiding. Papa Gyros is a small little place with probably less than a dozen tables in total. The entry way was spacious leaving plenty of room to wait in line (if necessary) to order at the walk-up counter.

Jen chit-chatted with cashier while I snapped a few photos of the establishment. We paid and no sooner found a booth when a waitress approached us asking me to please not to take any more pictures.

I was perplexed and it obviously showed. She volunteered that orders came from management and asked if I would like to talk to the manager. “Yes, please.”

A few minutes later management came to our table, I explained to him why I was taking pictures and showed him my hot-off-the-press The Hero Of Canton business cards. This seemed to convince him I’m not a competitor out to steal company secrets. Both the manager and the waitress were very nice, respectful, and I appreciate them allowing me to take and post these pictures of their restaurant.

Jen was excited about the tiny ketchup bottle. Yeah, I didn't get it either.

The dining area was spotlessly clean. That’s seems to be the exception these days and it was worth taking note of. The staff obviously took great care to provide quick clean-up as patrons left and ensure the restaurant consistently looks fresh.

When we received our food the waitress offered to refill our drinks for us. They have one of the serve-yourself fountains so I thought this was a very customer-focused gesture. I’ve heard about Papa Gyros excellent service and was now seeing it first hand.

The Gyros we ordered were massive. This wasn’t a simple pita sandwich, this was mammoth portion of meat stuffed into a bursting roll of pita bread. And it was good. It’s been years since I’ve had a gyro and I always liked them. This one was exceptional.

It took me a while to figure out how to eat the darn thing. It was simply too big and juicy to pick up with your hands without falling apart all over the place. I opted for the knife and fork, but that created issues with the paper layered on the bottom of the plate. I had to be careful with my cuts so I didn’t end up with strips of paper in my bites. Neither Jen or I could finish the entire sandwich and took half of each home, which made an excellent lunch the next day.

Initially I wasn’t much enamored with the fries, but then I rarely like restaurant fries. I was spoiled growing up on McDonald’s french fries. I added some salt which did a little, threw some ketchup on there and that improved them a bit more (I rarely eat fries with ketchup.) Jen suggested I try vinegar. I’ve never (knowingly) had vinegar on my fries and I liked what I tasted. It gave the fries a whole new twist.

If you’re looking for a good Gyro, Papa Gyros is the place. It’s rare that I leave a restaurant thinking I can’t wait to eat here again, but this was definitely one of those times. Oh, and in case you didn’t know, it’s pronounced Year-roh, not Jy-roh.

More Papa Gyros Info

Cost: 2 adults – $19
Hats off: 4/5
Papa Gyros menu (pdf)
Yelp reviews
Google Reviews and info
Location:
2045 Cleveland Ave NW
Canton, Ohio
(330) 456-9000‎

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A sandwich just ain't a sandwich unless it's got a slab of cow in it.

I wanted to title this post “Just Another Cock-a-Doody Sports Bar” but I was afraid that too many readers wouldn’t get the reference to Misery. I wasn’t being disgusting, I promise.

Sigh.

I don’t go to chain restaurants too often anymore. It’s not that I have anything against them–there are plenty of chains that I enjoy quite a bit–it’s just that over the past several years I hadn’t really had an opportunity to explore. You don’t find those hidden gems or experience the local flavor when all you do is chain restaurants.

But every now and then I make an exception. Especially if it’s one I’ve never been to before, and someone else is paying.

Monday was one of those days. Jen was looking for a place to take the kids before we headed off to Nickajack Farms. She dug up some coupons from my entertainment book, put the bark collar on the dog and we headed out.

Roosters is one of those clever restaurants. You know the ones I’m talking about. The kind that make their employees wear 15 pieces of flare or have chotchkies hanging all over the walls. That doesn’t make it a bad place to eat, its just that kind of place.

I enjoyed reading many of the signs on the wall that said things like “My wife and I were happy for 20 years, and then we met,” or “Super lotto: One winner, millions of losers.” Basically, Roosters is a fun, casual joint.

See? They're fun and causual, it says so right there!

Most restaurants have several dining sections, but Roosters on Dressler is just one giant open room. The tables were large enough to sleep three comfortably. It was clean and spacious making it a perfect place to go when you have large groups. Kick back with some friends, drink a few brewskies, and watch one of the many large-screen TVs hung on the walls. I counted 32 of them. (Could that be right? Someone please verify.)

Roosters is essentially a kid-friendly sports bar. They boast a pretty decent kids menu, including a pretty decent grilled cheese sandwich and fried macaroni and cheese. Jen ordered both for her kids, finding the fried mac and cheese greasy enough to make a pizza jealous. I tried one; T.G.I. Friday’s does it better.

After studying their sizable menu, I ordered a steak sandwich with onion and mushrooms. As far as steak sandwiches go, I enjoyed it as much I’ve enjoyed any other. The steak was cooked as ordered and it came with plenty of toppings. The mushrooms and onions are my favorite steak topping, rarely ordering without, and these did not disappoint.

Jen ordered chicken strips, a favorite of my own kids. I never quite understood the whole eating chicken strips at a restaurant. That’s kind of a pull-it-out-of-the-freezer-and throw-it-in-the-oven meal. Surely there’s something better on the menu! But as far as chicken strips go, Jen rated these a 4 out of 5 which says something.

Our appetizers were served with our meals. We got a hold of some bacon cheddar wedges and onion petals. The only other place I’ve had cheddar wedges was from Jack-in-the-box. I can’t say I noticed a distinguishable difference other than the wedges at Roosters are slightly smaller but come in larger quantities. More wedges, more bacon and more cheese.

The onion petals were quite good, better than I’ve had at most places. The sauce they come with was also very tasty.

The meals at Roosters don’t come with the obligatory fries but most items are cheap enough that they don’t need to. It gives you the opportunity to select an appetizer of your choice to go with your meal.

Our waitress was great, and very good with the kids, paying far more attention to their nonsensical ramblings than was warranted. Though she certainly wasn’t keeping up on her 80′s music trivia. For shame!

Roosters is a pressure-free restaurant. It’s perfect for a casual meal with friends and family. You don’t go having have high-expectations of the food, nor do you leave disappointed. But you might have some fun while you’re there.

More Roosters Info

My Cost: 2 adults, 2 kids – $28
Hats off: 3/5
Roosters website
Roosers Restaurant menu (pdf)
Yelp reviews
Google Reviews and info
Location:
4335 Dressler Rd NW
Canton, Ohio
(330) 546-7001

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Smothered in cheese, this philly cheese steak omelet left something to be desired.

Ever have one of those mornings when you planned everythign just right only to find out you had your timing off? Sunday was one of those days.

Jen and I were going to try out the adult Sunday School class before church service so we had to make sure each of us was up earlier than normal for a Sunday morning. I knew we had to leave before 8:45 to make sure we could get to class by 9am. I was ready to go on time but found Jen to be running a bit late. curling her hair and, you know… women stuff. She finished up about 8:50, we put the bark collar on the dog and headed out.

There are two routes we could have gone and, absentmindedly, I took the longer route. Come five minutes after 9 and we were still five minutes out. We figured better never than late, so we opted to make another detour to breakfast instead. We’d still have enough time to eat and get to the 11 O’clock service on time.

Not far off our route was Bill and Mary’s Diner. Just the night before @MAPSAirMuseum had tweeted me the suggestion, “Could be THE BEST steak and eggs b’fast in the area.” What better time than now to check it out?

Bill and Mary’s Diner in North Canton is a small diner on Main Street, just across the street from Mama Guzzardi’s Italian Restaurant. We were told to seat ourselves so we found a table in the front of the restaurant up against the far corner. The dining area stretched back parallel to the kitchen on the entrance side.

We got our menus and drinks in short order and spent some time looking over our dining options. Bill and Mary’s has some traditional favorites on the menu as well as some items that are off the familiar path. The menu contains a number of items that could have used some explanation (What’s on a Bubba Burger?) but no details were provided.

If you like soda, Bill and Mary’s have their own brand of Cream Soda and Root Beer. had it not been breakfast, I would have tried one. Maybe next time.

I love a good Philly Cheese Steak. Whether its a sandwich, a Pizza (my favorite pizza of all time,) or… what’s this? A Philly Cheese Steak omelet? Oh, I gotta have that. I decided to forgo the recommendation made by @MAPSAirMuseum and ordered the Philly omelet instead, which comes with home fries and English muffin.

I was a tad disappointed with the Philly Cheese Steak omelet. Maybe I’m just a cheese steak snob, but it didn’t do it for me. The omelet tasted just fine, just not as good as I expected. The home fries were another matter all together. With enough salt they were good enough to eat, but didn’t have enough natural flavor of their own to make them worth the effort.

Jen ordered a couple of eggs, some sausage links, a handful of potato cakes, and a pancake with wheat toast. She didn’t think her meal was anything worth writing home about either, with one glaring exception. What was that exceptional exception that exploded all expectations? What was that delectable delight that was so dang delicious?

Potato cakes.

I’ve never had potato cakes before. The closest I’ve ever come is the hash browns you get with your Egg McMuffin at the Micky D’s. But those aren’t potato cakes are they? No, those are the red-headed step-child of potato cakes.

I’m a big fan of potato. I loved baked potato, I like french fries from all sorts of places, I like potato chips, I even like Mr. Potato head. But the king of all things potato? Potato cakes. Is this what all potato cakes taste like? Are these the standard bearer of potato cakes?

Is Bill and Mary’s Diner the flagship diner in the world of potato cakes? Because if I ever have potato cakes even half this good again I’d still be a very happy man. And top that off, they are served with with the world’s all-time best condiment: Sour Cream! Just when you thought potato cakes couldn’t get any better!

While I was drooling over the potato cakes on Jen’s plate I realized something completely non-potato cake related. Sunday School wasn’t at 9am, it started at 10am! Jen and I had time to finish our meal and make it class with time to spare!

Bill and Mary’s is a traditional breakfast and lunch diner. The service wasn’t particularly fast and the food wasn’t exceptionally good. Service was a bit slow with a lot of chatter going on behind the counter. It was simply a place to come and get something to eat. Nothing more.

There are a lot of places I would avoid and this certainly isn’t one of them. If I ever find myself late for church again I might make another stop there for breakfast, but it’s not a place I’d go out of my way for. Except for those potato cakes. I’d go out of my way for those.

More Bill and Mary’s Diner Info

My Cost: 2 adults – $18
Hats off: 2/5
Bill and Mary’s Diner Menu
Yelp reviews
Google Reviews and info
Location:
1022 N Main St
North Canton, OH
(330) 494-9036‎

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'Come out to the park, we'll get together, have a few laughs...'

We’re down to the last few nice days of the year before winter sets in. There won’t be too many afternoons left to go outdoors without having to bundled up under a thick coat, scarf and gloves. Since I work at home, there are many days that I don’t go outside at all except maybe to take the garbage out. But this was a day too beautiful to let pass without getting outside to enjoy it a bit.

Jen and I decided to take advantage of a still-warm fall evening to take her kids to Price Park over on W. Maple Street in North Canton. So we put the bark collar on the dog and headed out.

I’ve driven past Price Park a number of times on my way to North Canton. I’d admire the duck pond as I drove by, spotting handfuls of people milling about with kids playing on the playground equipment. But I didn’t realize how big Price Park was until we pulled into the parking lot, got out and started exploring.

“This place has everything”

Jen, her kids and I had a quick picnic in the grass, then the kid’s ran off to play on the massive play structures. When there were bored with one, they moved on to another. And then another. And then another.

Price Park isn’t just a playground for the kids. It’s a great place to have a picnic, play some tennis, feed the ducks, spike the volleyball and maybe even play a game of touch football, if you got the crew for it. You’ll find walking paths and plenty of benches scattered about to sit while you watch others at play or just enjoy an afternoon breeze.

Price Park has a pretty substantial duck pond with no small number of ducks. They’ve figured out the whole “people have food” scam so be prepared for them to come at you in swarms.

Price Park is one of the better parks I’ve been to. It’s spacious, plenty of playground equipment for the kids, and appears to be very well maintained. If you’re looking for some afternoon enjoyment, or just a place to lazy a day away, Price Park provides the place and the space.

More Price Park Info

Cost: Free!
Hats off: 5/5
Google Reviews and info
Location:
W. Maple Street off Whipple
North Canton, Ohio

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(What happens when the Hero of Canton leaves town to visit his kids on at the same time Jennifer’s kids are spending the weekend with her in Canton? He begs and pleads with her to do something fun, take lots of pictures and write an incredibly witty and informative post for his blog. Then he crosses his fingers, does the dishes and hopes she’s as brilliant as he knows she is so his readers are left entertained and educated.)

I wanted to caption this "You won't get bored with these gourds" but Stoney said no.

If you’re anything like me, fall is your favorite season. There’s something about walking around outside when the air is crisp, the leaves are changing and crops are harvested. Give me a glass of apple cider, a pumpkin to carve and a bonfire to cozy up to and I’m a happy girl. Thankfully my kids have inherited this love of all things fall, so October generally finds me hunting the nearest pumpkin patch. A few weeks back we carted them off to Nickajack Farms for a pretty fun filled evening. Our primary regret? Not having enough time to really enjoy everything the farm had to offer.

So when my parents decided to come visit on a weekend when my kids were in town, we went hunting for another farm with a harvest event so we could enjoy an afternoon of fun. I went online, did some research and found out the Maize Valley Farm Market & Winery has boatloads of family fun. It was only about a 30 minute drive from Canton, so on Sunday after church we put the bark collar on the dog and headed out.

Maize Valley Farm Market and Winery is located in Hartville, Ohio and is open year round. It doesn’t have to be fall for you to go and enjoy a good time, but it helps. While the Winery features some great outdoor play areas for kids, live entertainment, wine tastings and a great little deli year round, they really ramp things up in the harvest season. Their Family Fun days kick off at the end of September with a hot air balloon festival and keep going strong through Halloween as people spend the days playing and the nights getting their wits scared off in the haunted corn maze.

Stop off in the winery for a bite to eat before or after a day of fun.

We pulled up at the winery at about 3:30 in the afternoon on a Sunday. There was plenty of parking just outside the winery itself and loads of extra space in a field behind the main parking lot. We wandered over to the winery to look at the beautiful displays of pumpkins and gourds and the kids made a beeline to a height chart and a mural of farm animals with face holes. We looked around and it was pretty clear the fun and activity was up the path a hundred yards or so beyond the winery.

Who Knew Burrow Were So Soft?

On the walk up to the ticket booth, we passed a small concession stand with a fresh donut fryer sitting out front and a giant stack of cinnamon sugar donuts that were clearly fresh from the fryer. With promises to the kids (and me!) that we’d return to sample them later we continued up the path. The path runs along side a field that was home to a variety of pigs, llamas, goats and a very friendly Burro. Emmitt and I detoured over to the fence to make friends with the burro (who was as soft as fleece) while Elnora and my mother tried to pet a goat that clearly thought it was enjoy a never ending game of tag.

The “family fun” area of Maize Valley is fenced off, so if you want anything more than animal petting and fresh donuts you’ll need to pay an admission fee. At $7 for kids age 2-12 and $9 for anyone 13 and over, (kids under 2 are free) Maize Valley’s Fall Family Fun isn’t cheap. That said, you could easily kill four or five hours here.

Who Knew Hard Work Could be so Fun

The first place we headed once we got through the gate was up to a covered pavilion. At one end was a swarm of kids gathered around hand pump powered rubber duckie racers. Four hand pumps were feeding into large buckets that then fed into about a 12 foot long section of piping just wide enough to hold a rubber duckie. Racers set the rubber ducking at the starting point and then pumped water fast enough to overflow the bucket and fill the pipes. The fastest or most productive pumper then propelled their rubber ducky down the track and back to win the game.

My kids adored this and probably spent a good 20-30 minutes here before we literally dragged them off to experience other things.

Hay Bales + Old Tires + Rocks = Fun (No, Really!)

The protests we heard as we dragged the kids away from the pavilion quickly turned to cheers when they spotted the kids play area just up the hill. Emmitt and Nora made a beeline for a giant wooden ark, storming up the gang plank to explore the ship. It was just your standard church or preschool style wooden ark, but to a three and four year old, it was heaven. They burned another 20 minutes or so here before noticing the grain silo sitting behind it acting like a giant sandbox.

We headed back there and realized the “sand box” was actually a rock box. Very fine rock was piled up several inches deep around and inside the grain silo, giving kids a chance to dig and pile and play without loading their shoes and socks up with enough sand to fill a house for the next six months. (A brilliant idea Maize Valley, moms everywhere thank you!)

Now THIS is smart recycling!

Next to this was a giant pile of old tractor tires with a little bit of plastic piping thrown in for good measure. Yeah, yeah, I know…sounds like loads of fun, right? Actually…it was. The Maize Valley team had taken a dozen or more old tractor tires of various sizes and piled them up just right to make a great little jungle gym. A few well placed pipes to act as tunnels and slides and Emmitt was in heaven. Granted, I had to help him out quite a bit because the tires were just too big for him to really be able to climb across, but he had a blast going down the slide.

While Emmitt was exploring the tire pile, Elnora spotted the giant hay mound of death. Ok, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but I’ll fully admit that even my fairly easy going parenting was tested when I saw the 20 foot mountain of hay and tunnels standing before us. While my kids tend to be outgoing and like to explore, neither is particularly fearless, so I didn’t worry too much. I figured they’d stick to the low tunnels and enjoy clambering in the hay around the base.

Nope.

I glanced over to see Nora heading through a tunnel and the next thing I knew, she was standing on top of the world.

After a brief moment of mom-induced “oh my word, she’ll fall and kill herself” I came to my senses and realized the hay pile was set up kind of like a pyramid. If the kids fell off, they were probably only going to fall one hay level down (a few feet) and of course they’d be landing on hay. All in all, not quite the death trap I’d labeled it.

The hay pile was probably the single most exciting thing there for my kids. They spent at least half an hour, maybe longer climbing up, over, under and through. It took Emmitt a while to get up the courage to climb up to the top, but a little coaxing and help from Elnora was enough to get him inspired. In the end, I joined them and the three of us spent a bit of time sitting on the top of the pile taking in the sites before making our way back down to go explore the rest of the farm.

Not the Longest Hay Ride Ever (and that’s a good thing!)

A hay ride that stops at the shows? It's a lazy man's (or Stoney's) dream!

By this time, the grown-ups were ready for a little bit of a rest. Mom and dad suggested we take the hay ride as a way to see what else was around the farm. That’s when the protesting started.

“We don’t want to go on the hay ride!”

“It’s too long!”

“We want to play! Don’t make us go!”

(If you read Stoney’s review of Nickajack Farms and the hay ride we took there, you’ll understand.)

After a minute or two of this I played the mommy card and decided that we (ALL of us) would be going on the hay ride. Kudos to Maize Valley, they set this up nicely.

The hay ride starts in front of the farm’s pumpkin chunkin’ machine. (If you’re not familiar with pumpkin chunkin, you’re missing out. There’s nothing like watching grown men operate fire truck size, air powered pumpkin launchers that can hurl a pumpkin thousands of feet or blast the side out of an old van…it’s all very Monty Pythonesque and quite entertaining.)

We watched the operator spool up the air compressor, load a few pumpkins into the pipe and then take aim at an old beat up van a few hundred yards away. His first shot fell short, exploding the pumpkin just in front of the van on the ground, but the next two pumpkins pounded the snot out of the side of the van. Once he’d wowed us with the sheer force of the pumpkin cannon, he cranked up the cannon’s trajectory and lobbed a couple of pumpkins a few thousand yards into the nearby woods.

When the pumpkin chunkin display was over, the hay ride took off and drove us a couple hundred yards down to the “Nashog Raceway” where we had a chance to watch the Maize Valley pig races.

Our next stop was the farm’s self-pick pumpkin patch where visitors could hop off, borrow a wagon and head out into the fields to pick just the right pumpkin. At 40 cents a pound, the self pick pumpkins were far from cheap, but if you’re looking to take your kids for an experience, it’s a fun way to let them really feel like they’ve “picked” their own pumpkin.

The final stop on the hay ride was Maize Valley’s giant themed corn maze. While we didn’t have a chance to check out the maze with the little ones, it’s clearly an experience. There’s a large stairway leading to a platform in the middle of the maze so lost visitors can climb up and try to find their way out. There are also discovery stations and games throughout the maze as well as an interactive text message game designed to help visitors find their way through.

Incidentally, if you’ve ever wondered how a corn maze is created, the team at Maize Valley has put together a YouTube video about this year’s civil war themed maze.

So Much More to Do and See

Power Wheels? We don't need no stinkin' Power Wheels!

When we came back from the hay ride, it was about time to head out. It was cold that day and my fingers were starting to lose all feeling. The kids made a beeline for some push powered racing cars, so mom and I joined them. The kids were pretty good at steering them, so I decided to hop on one myself. No sooner had dad snapped a picture than mom decided to start pushing. Apparently my mad driving skills do not translate to people powered carts.

I crashed.

Big time.

It was not graceful.

Thankfully, it was also not captured on film. (Thanks Dad!)

As we gathered up the kids to head out, we passed quite a few other activities we hadn’t had a chance to try. There were a variety of large plastic pipes being rolled up and down the hill, often with children laughing hysterically inside them. There was also a tractor pulling a long train of barrels fitted with seats and decorated to look like farm animals.

If you’re looking to have some fun without small children around, Maize Valley also offers a haunted corn maze and forest that sets up after dark and runs an additional $12 per person.

On our way back down to the parking lot we stopped by that little snack bar to pick up a dozen freshly made cinnamon sugar donuts. At $6 a dozen, the price was perfect. We took them to the Winery with the kids and headed inside to get drinks, warm up and enjoy the sweet doughy goodness. And what sweet, doughy goodness it was. I consider myself a bit of a donut connoisseur, and these may have been the finest, freshest cinnamon sugar donuts I’d ever tasted. I ate two that day, and stopped only because I wanted to have some to eat the next day. They were a hit with everyone else as well.

Mmmmmmmmmm................donuts.

That was the first time I’d been inside the winery and it was beautiful. An old barn converted into a lovely little shop and deli, the winery also has ample seating and a beautiful wine bar. The deli offers a variety of fresh made Amish cheeses, deli meats and baked goods, or you can order fresh made sandwiches for around $6-$8 each. Wine isn’t served on Sundays, so if you’re looking to do some tasting, avoid that day.

Overall, Maize Valley Farm Market and Winery puts on a wonderful fall harvest festival. Perhaps one of the nicest I’d ever attended. It’s a great place to take the family, but I’d also highly suggest planning an outing with a group. There’s a large field just behind the activity area filled with large fire pits and hay bales. Maize Valley rents these out to groups and allows you to bring in food and drink. It’s a great way to extend the day by giving your group a home base for food, s’ mores and warming up.

More Maize Valley Farm Market and Winery Fall Family Fun Info

Cost: 3 adults, 2 children – $41 (+ $6 for a dozen donuts)
Hats off: 5/5
Yelp reviews
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Location:
6193 Edison Street NE
Hartville, OH 44632
(330) 877-8344

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My mouth waters just looking at it!

After about an hour navigating our way through a hall of haunted mirrors, sneaking around an industrial strength slaughter house, surviving the flames of hell (in 3D!) and fighting our way through zombies intent on making us their last meal at the Factory of Terror, Craig and I figured we were ready to get some post-living flesh between our own teeth. Not quite hungry enough to eat a member of the living dead, we figured some Chinese cooked chicken and cow would do us nicely.

As we bantered about places to go, I shared my two requirements. 1) the food needed to be good and 2) the restaurant should have some “atmosphere”. Craig knew of a place that would do the trick so we hopped in our vehicles and headed out.

As I pulled into the parking lot Craig made a shocking discovery. The restaurant had been made to disappear. I knew of another place so Craig followed me down the street only to find my choice had closed for the night. It was getting late, but wasn’t quite 10pm. Surely we could find something open?

Strike two.

It was Craig’s turn to choose again and he lead us not to a Chinese restaurant but to a Japanese restaurant instead. We landed at Ichiban Japanese Buffet on Fulton Avenue. I had been wanting to try Ichiban for some time so I was delighted that this is where we ended up.

From the moment you walk in the front doors, Ichiban Japanese Buffet immerses you into a rich, subtle Japanese atmosphere. The decor is unassuming with dark wood chairs and fresh-oak tables scatted throughout the dining area. The Japanese buffet ran down the left side of the room between the main eating area and the kitchen.

There were only a few other patrons at the restaurant which isn’t unexpected for this time of the evening. I was impressed with the overall cleanliness of the restaurant. Ichiban Japanese Buffet has only been around eight months, but it has obviously been well maintained and kept immaculately clean.

Varieties of chicken and beef surrounding a pile of delicious noodles.

Craig and I grabbed a couple of plates and were encouraged by the waitress to try the hibachi grill. I opted go pile my plate with a selection of chicken, beef and noodles from the buffet table. It was apparent that the food had been out a while and was no longer fresh. The serving trays were near empty and I had to scrape the bottom of several of them to get the last few remaining morsels.

On the tables the silverware was wrapped in paper napkins, but not a chopstick could be found. What’s up with that? I don’t do Asian without the chops! I walked to the front where they had them stashed away, came back with a set and settled down to eat.

Craig came back with a sparsely populated plate of Sushi and some noodles. He didn’t have a high opinion of the sushi but said it wasn’t bad either. Over all, Craig gave his Ichiban Buffet dining experience a four out of five hats off.

This isn't the meal... it's bait for the meal to come.

Even though the buffet food was hitting the stale side, everything I tasted was extremely flavorful. Enjoying it as I did, I knew that had I gotten there earlier in the evening, when the food was fresher, I would have enjoyed it that much more.

After clearing my plate I had eaten enough but still wanted more. The waitress, wanting me to try something fresh, came back and really talked up the hibachi. I decided to give it a shot, and much to my surprise, this turned out to be the highlight of my dining experience.

At Ichiban the hibachi works like most Japanese or Chinese buffets. You pile your plate with veggies, tell them what meat you want and then you can go back to your table or hang out as you watch it being cooked. We didn’t get any type of show with spatulas and food flying through the air, but that’s okay. The real show is when the food slides past your taste buds, over your tongue, down your throat and into your belly.

Had I left Ichiban without trying the hibachi I would have only given it four hats off. That would have been an injustice. As much as I like the buffet food, the hibachi beef I ordered was absolutely terrific.

For “buffet food” Ichiban Japanese Buffet is pricey, but its quality and flavor surpasses any Asian buffet I’ve ever had, and that of most Asian restaurants. Even with hours-old and getting-stale food, it was still delicious. I’m certainly looking forward to going back when all the food is fresh. I suggest not waiting until 30 minutes before closing time as I did.

More Ichiban Japanese Buffet Info

Cost: 2 adults – $33.71
Hats off: 5/5
Ichiban Japanese Buffet menu (pdf)
Yelp reviews
Google Reviews and info
Location:
5111 Fulton Dr NW
Canton, Ohio
(330) 305-0101 ‎

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Everybody has to have a last meal... it's just not supposed to be you.

After writing my review of Fear Forest Haunted Hay Ride I realized how big of a difference pictures can make. Not being able to take pictures on the hay ride or in the insanetarium, I could only tell my readers about the awesomeness that it was, but not show it.

To remedy this, I called around a few places to see if they would allow me to get in early to take a few pictures. Factory of Terror took the bait and did me one better. Instead of letting me in early to get a few shots of the sets, they comped me a couple of tickets and let me take the live tour snapping shots as I went.

I was given a tee time of Friday at 8pm. Jen was planning on being out of town so I went to work finding new haunted house buddy. Posting the opportunity on Twitter to join me at Factory of Terror, I had a few followers retweet my message, thereby throwing their hat into the ring. Craig (@CraigGeis,) was the lucky winner.

I’ve never met Craig though we have common acquaintances. I didn’t believe a single thing I’ve heard about him! We emailed, making arrangements to meet up at Factory of Terror. Come Friday, I put the bark collar on the dog and headed out.

I initially had mixed feelings about Factory of Terror. I was impressed by its magnitude but at some points it felt like sitting in a pew in a near empty church on Sunday morning. It was big, but it wasn’t always full of life… or in this case, death, destruction, murder and mayhem.

By the time Craig and I got our tickets there was already a short line building. The Factory of Terror is housed in a large warehouse on Mahoning Road in Canton. You don’t quite get the magnitude of it until you’re inside. It’s pretty dang massive.

The path from ticket booth to warehouse was largely unmarked. They could have done a better job outlining the path with police tape, a trail of blood, dead bodies or whatever. Instead we were pointed down the rope line, around the corner and…. um, is it this door? No. How about this one? Nope, not it either.

Luckily behind us was someone who had been there the night before and was able to point us in the right direction. Rounding another corner there it was. A large warehouse door entrance. Inside was the rope line and waiting area. The music was thumping loudly prepping you for the thrills yet to come. Painted on the walls were scary murials with zombies making their way around the room growling at newcomers and making a general nuisance of themselves, like all good zombies should.

The line was short but the wait was still about 10 minutes before we were permitted entry. They take their time staggering groups in so you get your own experience rather than viewing someone else’s from ten feet behind. This strategy didn’t always work out as planned.

Factory of Terror has four separate phases: Portal to Insanity, Industrial Nightmare, Mahoning Rd. Massacre, and Judgment Day 3D.

The Portal to Insanity was a very large house of mirrors. But this was nothing like any house of mirrors I’ve ever been in. Before entering you are required to put on plastic gloves. This keeps fingerprints off the mirrors and it worked marvelously. All through the house of mirrors you could not tell the difference between a mirror and a clear path.

There was a continuous heartbeat thumping that could be felt in your bones. As you make your way through the house of mirrors it gets louder and louder. Making our way through the Portal to Insanity wasn’t easy. You literally had to walk with your hands outstretched in front of you until they came into contact with a mirror. I was looking dead at people who I knew were not in front of me, but were a reflection of a reflection of a reflection. At one point I jumped out at myself from behind a post and scared the bejeezus out of me.

There was not a single path through the mirrors. There were many twists, turns and even circles. As Craig and I made our way through we passed others making their way back toward us, looking for the exit. Through the mirrors you could see an entrance and exit but you never could quite tell where it was.

Layer of mist that covered the factory floor.

Eventually, thanks to my bold leadership, Craig and I made our way out. Next up: Industrial Nightmare.

This was the big disappointment of the Factory of Terror. You were ushered into a large open warehouse with some machinery, storage racks piled with tools and what not. The atmosphere was creepy, but there really wasn’t much more than that. You just kind of walked through it. There were some decorations here and there and even the occasional zombie jumping out at you, but it just felt kind of empty.

It wasn’t until after we made our way that I noticed the ticket says it doesn’t officially open until next year. The question is, why have us walk through it at all? In its current form its a downer. I kept waiting for somethign to happen, becoming more and more disappointed realizing that it was not much more than a giant prop room.

Get your bloody mary's and finger foods here.

When you finished strolling through the Industrial Bad Dream you find a snack bar This is where you can get refreshments and a bloody mary. (Get it? A bloody mary in a horror house? C’mon, that was funny.) My guess is that during peak times the lines for each of the four areas can be long, creating extended waits between the four areas. Only having approximately 10 groups ahead of us our wait was still 10-15 minutes each time.

The next section we entered into was the Mahoning Rd. Massacre. This area alone was probably double the size of Fear Forest’s Insanetarium. But bigger does not necessarily mean better.

Put your right foot in, put your right foot out. Put your right foot in and... hey, where'd it go?

The walk through was your standard haunted house fare. You walk from one set to the next, each with it’s gruesome scene of violence or monsters jumping out at you. Sometimes both.

There was an overabundance of hydrolics used. Eventually I tired of the body’s shaking in uncontrollable spasms, or someone jumping out from behind something they were obviously hiding behind. Most of the actors did great. A few were even successful in catching me off guard. But overall I would have liked more real human bodies to get me engaged with the scares. A lot more.

About 3/4 way through the Massacre we caught up to the group in front of us. And shortly after that the group behind us caught up. We became a human train. All the scares were spoiled by those in front of us, and the fun was ruined by the loud group behind us. I’m all for making the talking to the actors as that’s half the fun. Making sarcastic comments is par for the course, but the group behind us were loud, obnoxious and not even remotely funny.

I never knew the lord of darkness was so... two dimensional.

The final stage was Judgment Day 3D. Before entering everyone is given a pair of glasses which allows them to get the full 3d experience. The effects in this section were expertly implemented. The walls, monsters, and decorations were painted orange and green. With the glasses the orange elements came jumping off the walls out toward you. Fixtures moved as you walked by creating a surreal feeling. Room after room of 3D effects gave Factory of Terror an excellent finale.

We exited the Factory of Terror on the south side of nowhere. It was kinda like being dumped in the middle of the desert with no directions how to get home. Where’s the path? The Markers? Heck, where is the parking lot? We ended up following a few other poor, lost souls on a long walk down the street, across an open lot and, oh, there’s where we parked! Nice of them to help us out and point the way.

I’ve never experienced a haunted house on this scale. Factory of Terror is simply massive in scope and bold in execution. They could use more of the human element, but overall, it’s a thrill I’d go back for.

More Factory of Terror Info

Cost: $20/person with internet coupons
Hats off: 4/5
Factory of Terror website
Yelp reviews
Google Reviews and info
Location:
4125 Mahoning Road NE
Canton, OH
(330) 455-3327

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