Jimmy’s Restaurant and Lounge is a nice little bar with a lot of food flavor that’s worth checking out.

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.

Main Street Grille is a surprising little restaurant that offers more than meets the eye.

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.

Take your family to Lindsay’s Amber Restaurant for a nice meal in a friendly environment.

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.

Papa Gyros’ Gyros are fresh, juicy and big enough for two… If you’re willing to share.

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.

As advertised, Roosters is a fun, casual joint where you don’t need to think about what you eat.

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.

Bill and Mary’s Diner has the best potato cakes ever… and some other food too.

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.

Ichiban Japanese Buffet indulges your taste buds with a flavorful buffet and hibachi grilled meals.

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.

Samantha’s Sunny Corner Restaurant is the diner where “everyone knows your name.”

The mushroom swiss, loaded with cheese!

On Friday I was invited out to lunch with Jen, her mother and her two kids. Never one to turn down a free meal (yes, you can have lunch with The Hero of Canton, too. Just offer!) I readily agreed. Jen had Samantha’s in mind and asked me to check online for coupons. I looked at the usual spots but came up short. So much for the sign at Samantha’s front entrance telling patrons to check online for coupons. I had, dang it!

So with no coupons in hand, Jen and her mother swung by my apartment. I put the bark collar on the dog and we headed out.

Old Carolina BBQ is authentic BBQ with your choice of chicken, pork, turkey or brisket.

The Outlaw. But I swear... I only shot the sheriff.

Let me start by getting my biases out of the way. I have no particular love for BBQ. I don’t like “smoked” flavored anything, and when pig battles cow for my stomach’s heart, cow wins every time. The question then is, why the heck did I visit Old Carolina Barbecue? I’m glad you asked.

The answer is simple, really. I was invited. (And someone else paid.)

Jen’s parents were in town and instead of ordering out for pizza they decided have dinner at their favorite BBQ joint; Old Carolina. So we put the bark collar on the dog and headed out.

El Campesino offers authentic Mexican sit-down dining at fast-food speed.

Real Mexican environment with real Mexican food.

Since I started writing The Hero of Canton blog in September, I’ve been wanting to go back to restaurants I’ve previously visited so I could review them here. Considering I’ve only been living here since June that’s a pretty short list. But somebody’s got to do it!

I’m developing a real love for Mexican food and found a Mexican restaurant that I particularly enjoy: El Campesino. I’ve been to two separate El Campesino restaurants in Canton and both have been equally as good.

My first visit was on a business trip long before I moved here. There were three of us and we were told that this was the place to go for Mexican. It’s always packed and always good. The always packed part wasn’t true, but the other certainly was.

My next two visits were equally as solid. I think each time I ordered the exact same thing, The Cancun Cheese Steak. I couldn’t really tell you what it is, but it was the best Mexican food I’ve ever had in my mouth.

Months later, Jen and I decided to make another trip to El Campesino so I could do my review and get some pictures. So we put the bark collar on the dog and headed out.

Arcadia Grille hits the spot if you’re hungry and too lazy to walk a block to another restaurant.

When I was a kid Denny’s was the only restaurant that was open 24 hours. The saying was, “nobody plans to go to Denny’s, they just end up there.” In other words, we were happy to eat at Denny’s when everything else was closed. Arcadia Grille reminds me of that. Its a popular establishment mostly due to its location in downtown Canton. It’s too much effort to go anywhere else, so people just end up there for lunch.

Inside Arcadia Grille

This was my third time eating at Arcadia Grille. The first time I ordered a hamburger and recall that it didn’t make a very strong impression on me. On my second visit I ordered a steak salad only to receive a bland salad topped with even four very small pieces of steak. Not exactly meeting my expectations, but also not setting the bar very high for a return visit.

Mama Guzzardi’s Italian Restaurant is authentic home cooked Italian full of yummy goodness.

One big hunk of meaty, cheesy goodness.

Four hours in the car and another down in a really dark pit works up quite an appetite. Jen, Rachel and I got together for a Saturday evening meal before hanging out at my place for a few episodes of Firefly on glorious Blu-ray. While trying to figure out where to go we rummaged through our Restaurant.com coupons and decided on Italian. Jen finished curling her hair, I put the bark collar on the dog and we headed out.