A superb portion of occasions, regardless of how inherently thrilling, are made tedious on an empty abdomen — and concert events aren’t any exception.
The time for preshow dinners is quick approaching. Blossom Music Center will kick off its summer time concert events with Tim McGraw at 7 p.m. Could 19.
Blossom’s 2022 live performance schedule:Blossom Music Center lining up concerts for 2022
Fortunately, there are fairly just a few locations to gasoline up on nice meals earlier than heading to Blossom this summer time. The Beacon Journal has recognized 9 regionally owned eating places as much as the duty of satisfying concertgoers. Additionally, as an added bonus, every place is inside a 15-minute drive from the Cuyahoga Falls music venue (not contemplating site visitors, in fact).
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Critically, don’t be these hangry individuals on the live performance bringing the temper down for everybody else — eat, drink, rock out and be merry (in that order).
Dilly’s Drive In (Cuyahoga Falls, 7 minutes from Blossom)
Dilly’s options an old-school menu of burgers, Coney canine and milkshakes. Plus, you’ll be able to keep in your automotive and let the carhops do the hopping.
One of many drive-in’s signature objects is the Double Dilly Burger ($3.85), a double burger with two sauces (do-it-yourself recipe tartar sauce and do-it-yourself recipe barbecue sauce), cheese and dill pickles.
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One other Dilly’s specialty is the Dilly Canine ($4.55), a ¼-pound scorching canine with Velveeta cheese, do-it-yourself Coney sauce and coleslaw on prime, served on a “Luigi” bun — a hoagie bun from an unnamed baker in Lakemore.
Dilly’s 1/6-pound burgers are constituted of a secret recipe that provides them sweetness, in response to proprietor Steve Laughorn. The recent patties are delivered thrice per week from an organization in Canal Fulton. Many shoppers have tried to guess the patties’ secret ingredient, Laughorn stated, however he will not give it away.
Shawarma Brothers (Cuyahoga Falls, 12 minutes from Blossom)
No matter your data about Center Japanese delicacies, take into account a go to to Shawarma Brothers. A scratch-made meal can do a world of fine, and it is a excellent spot to get one.
The star of this eatery is the rooster shawarma, rooster thighs and breasts marinated in Mediterranean spices and cooked for 2½ hours on a big skewer, which will be ordered in a pita wrap ($7.50) or bowl ($10). Pair that with a few of the restaurant’s do-it-yourself sides ($4) like hummus, grape leaves or falafel balls for a flavorful pre-concert meal.
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Irrespective of the way you combine and match the entrée and sides, all combos are filling however not too heavy — good when you possibly can be leaping, hooting and hollering together with a band in just a few hours.
Chowder Home Café (Akron, 12 minutes from Blossom)
This seafood restaurant is understood for its fish-based soups, that are created by chef and proprietor Louis Prpich. Chowder House additionally gives a wide range of wines and craft cocktails.
Entrees vary from $19 to $36, with many seafood decisions in addition to filet mignon and rooster supreme. Seafood dishes vary from Cioppino, a San Francisco seafood stew with mussels, shrimp, scallops and fish, to Black Grouper Oscar topped with crab bearnaise.
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Prpich’s top-selling appetizers are lobster crepes, crab muffins and the seafood platter. The preferred entree by far is the seafood Pappardelle, which has lobster, shrimp and scallops simmered in a three-cheese cream sauce.
All of the desserts are made in home, too, together with many from Prpich’s grandmother’s cookbook, like mini cast-iron berry cobbler.
Pint & Pie Works (Tub, 13 minutes from Blossom)
Described by Beacon Journal reporter Mark J. Worth as a “manufacturing facility of taste,” Pint and Pie Works serves build-your-own pizzas — not fruit pies as some may assume.
Pizzas are made with recent, by no means frozen dough and price $10 for a small, $13 for a medium and $16 for a big. There’s additionally a gluten-free medium choice with rice or cauliflower crust for $13. Most toppings are $1 to $2 every on a sliding scale relying on the scale of the pizza. Choices embrace pepperoni, sausage, ham, bacon, banana peppers, jalapenos, inexperienced peppers, onions, zucchini, tomato, inexperienced olives, black olives, mushroom, anchovies, pineapple and additional cheese.
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Together with pizzas, the restaurant additionally has appetizers, practically 30 sorts of bourbon, whiskey and rye and one scrumptious dessert: cinnamon twist breadsticks (twisted dough, baked with cinnamon and sugar and slathered in frosting). The eatery additionally gives a rotating collection of Ohio beer on draft.
Drink, construct and eat your coronary heart out earlier than heading to Blossom at Pint & Pie Works. Oh, and don’t overlook to sprinkle your pizza with some “pizza spice” from that giant metallic container on the desk.
Massive Eu’es BBQ (Cuyahoga Falls, 12 minutes from Blossom)
So many sauces, so little time to attempt all of them. However Massive Eue’s permits clients to offer it their greatest shot. Patrons can slather any of Big Eu’es BBQ’s many meats in eight sauces: Asian barbecue, ranch, spicy ranch, delicate sauce, scorching sauce, home barbecue sauce, scorching barbecue sauce and spicy mayo.
Together with barbecue staples like ribs, rooster, brisket and pulled pork, in addition they serve sausages, scorching canine, roasted turkey, sandwiches and wraps.
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The restaurant is a tribute to proprietor Eugene Wilson Jr.’s father, Eugene Sr., who died in 2013 however had all the time wished to open a barbecue place. Wilson’s father had a barbecue sauce recipe, which is the signature function at Massive Eu’es.
Gasoline Alley (Tub, 13 minutes from Blossom)
This informal neighborhood hangout in Tub caters to everybody from mates bellying as much as the lengthy granite bar for “aspect automotive” appetizers and cocktails to households searching for burgers or pizza on its lined aspect patio.
Gasoline Alley is a small place with a big menu, that includes greater than 60 sandwiches and burgers. Eight of the sandwiches are so massive, you’ll be able to order a complete (a Bully) or a half (a Sissy). And the costs are good: full sandwiches and burgers price $7.99 to $13.99.
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It additionally gives quite a few pizza decisions ($15-$23). One of many extra unusual-sounding ones is a Reuben pizza with corned beef, swiss, mozzarella and sauerkraut with Thousand Island dressing.
The proprietor’s sister is a pastry chef and makes all of Gasoline Alley’s desserts, which embrace whipped cream cheesecake, Key lime cheesecake and carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.
Sarah’s Winery (Cuyahoga Falls, 7 minutes from Blossom)
Whereas Sarah’s Vineyard sits again off Steels Corners Street, the property is sort of straight throughout from Blossom Music Heart, making it the closest place to eat on this checklist.
Two kitchens service the vineyard, so exterior meals (aside from cake or cupcakes) will not be permitted. Their menu consists of a wide range of starters, salads, sandwiches, sweets and wood-fired pizzas. Every 14-inch pizza is $16, toppings are a further $1.50 for meats and $1 for greens.
Sarah’s has 9 wines which might be bought in glasses ($5-$7), half ($10-$14) and full ($16-$24) carafes in addition to bottles ($16-$24) and you may style all of them for 50 cents a pattern.
Quarter Up Bar Arcade (Akron, 11 minutes from Blossom)
This bar and arcade combo is unassuming from the skin, nestled in Parkwood Plaza alongside North Portage Path, however as soon as inside, it offers a feast for the eyes, ears and abdomen.
A mixture of classic and fashionable arcade, console and board video games, together with pinball machines, are positioned all through the constructing. Most of them price 1 / 4 to play, however a few of the newer, extra bold ones price 1 / 4 or two extra. Among the older video games embrace Punch-Out!!, BurgerTime and Dig Dug.
However Quarter Up is greater than only a bar or arcade, it additionally has some fairly good meals.
The appetizer menu has all of the prerequisite objects from pub fries to wings. When it comes to entrees, it additionally has burgers, sandwiches and brats, though it’s clear that scorching canine are the primary meals focus at Quarter Up.
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There are 11 sorts of the all-beef scorching canine on the menu from the boring outdated Only a Canine for $3 to the The Mortal Kombat scorching canine with kimchi, spicy mayo and jalapeño crunchies for $5.
The chips are what sealed the deal for Beacon Journal reporter Craig Webb.
“At many locations the chips are a generic afterthought,” he stated. “I take into account myself a little bit of a potato chip connoisseur. If there may be such a factor as a potato chip snob — I will surely qualify as one. And Quarter Up earned my 4 potato ranking by serving Gold’N Krisp chips with its scorching canine.”
Arthur Treacher’s Fish & Chips (Cuyahoga Falls, quarter-hour from Blossom)
This restaurant is actually the final of its variety. The Arthur Treacher’s in Cuyahoga Falls is the one remaining fixture of a sequence that had greater than 800 places within the Seventies.
What a aid:The last Arthur Treacher’s to stay in Cuyahoga Falls
The signature dish is the Unique Fish & Chips meal ($7.49), which comes with two items batter-dipped Alaskan pollock, English-style fried potatoes and two hushpuppies. Along with fish, Arthur Treacher’s serves rooster, shrimp and clam dinners together with sandwiches.
Extra on fish and chips:Take a trip down memory lane at the last remaining Arthur Treacher’s in Cuyahoga Falls
However what actually makes every meal particular are the hushpuppies. Candy and fluffy and… properly, Beacon Journal reporter Mark J. Worth says it greatest:
“The deep-fried cornmeal balls had been candy and savory, thick and crunchy, dense however by some means ethereal. Do they actually serve these in Nice Britain? I’ve critical doubts. I feel a southern U.S. dish by some means sneaked its means onto the English menu. God save the queen.”
Contact Beacon Journal reporter Tawney Beans at tbeans@gannett.com and on Twitter @TawneyBeans.
