Visiting Main Street Ohio

buffetbuster


M and I spent the weekend in Ohio, so I have some places to write about, which will happen tonight.  The highlight was lleechef and Michael Hoffman joining us at Crabill's for some delicious sliders. 


A full report to come.....

 
 
Ah! It's the two beauties and the beast! 

Congratulations. You finally got something right.

Ann, I am mad. I'm seething inside because I didn't have room for more than four of Crabill's burgers and buffetrbuster was buying.

We have made a couple of trips to and through Ohio in the past month and tried some really good new places.
 
In Wooster, just south of Akron, we visited Tulipan Hungarian Pastry and Coffee Shop.  They always have Hungarian Pork Goulash on the menu, so we tried a cup of that and a cup of Cauliflower w/ Chicken and Dumplings. 

Both of the soups had good flavor, but were on the thin side.  We wished they were a little heartier.  The items on the menu that had me excited was a crepes (palacsinta) that came with a chicken paprikash filling and paprikash sauce.  Unfortunately, our visit was late in the day and the young lady who waited on us (the owner's daughter), told us her mother took the last two home as dinner for her husband.  Bad timing!  We will be back if nothing else just for those. 
 
They had several cases of interesting pastries

I had never seen before and we bought things like ischlers (chocolate dipped sandwich cake with different fillings) and bishop's hat (papsapka), but the item we liked best was the Dobos Torte. 

This multi layered sponge cake was moist and had the hardest layer of caramel top I have ever encountered.  It was excellent and Mariton and I raced to see who could get more!
 
Tulipan is located in a charming downtown area.  We are looking forward to returning!
 
Tulipan Hungarian Pastry and Coffee Shop
122 S. Market Street
Wooster, OH
330-264-8092  

That's too bad that the soups were a little thin, but on the flip side it's still better than more body and less flavor!

In the trip report that began this thread, I mentioned a drive-thru place in Bucyrus that caught my eye.  When I saw that our trip across US Rte. 30 would take us near "the bratwurst capitol of America", I knew a stop in was necessary.  The name of the place is Bratworks

and it is both a beer distributor and a brat purveyor.  Are you sure this isn't Wisconsin?  Anyway, we pulled in and was greeted warmly.  We got one brat, with brown mustard on a rye roll. 

Oh my goodness, was this good!  It was juicy, nicely seasoned and grilled perfectly.  They do make their own brats, though not on the premises.
 
The Bratworks
574 S. Sandusky Avenue
Bucyrus, OH
419-562-9872
 
Also in town is Carle's Bratwurst, which I had previously visited and an intriguing place called Gus's Grill & Grog.  I looked at their menu and not only do they have brats, but they also have lake perch and what they call Waldo Bologna.  Has anyone been here before?  I'm thinking there is a good chance Michael Hoffman has eaten here.  Next time in town, this is where I am going. 

As we continued across US Rte. 30, when I saw the road signs for Van Wert, near the Indiana border, we got off the highway and headed into town.  That's because Van Wert is the home of a classic Roadfood spot, Balyeat's Coffee Shop.  What makes it such an interesting restaurant starts with the terrific neon sign. 

I have been here three times before, but they were always in the day, so this was the first time I could admire it at night.
 
Obviously, the chicken is the star of the menu.  But, they no longer fry the chicken, they pan fry it and then bake it.  It gives it a limp skin and juicy inside meat. 

It is different and it is good.  And the mashed potatoes on the side were real mashed potatoes.  Mariton wasn't too interested in eating again, until I pointed out they have chicken livers. 

That's all she needed to here and ate an order all by herself, calling them delicious.
 
That's the good news.  The bad news is that Balyeat's is well known for their pies, but since it was late, they were already sold out.  Disappointing, but I knew there was going to be plenty of great pie the next day in Indiana.
 
Balyeat's Coffee Shop
133 E. Main Street
Van Wert, OH
419-238-1580 

I'm really enjoying your report.That's funny about your great grandfather maybe being a mechanic for the Red Baron. Never been to the Air Museum in Dayton.It does have a family connection though.My dad was a flight crew chief and mechanic during WW2.The museum has some parts of the Lady Be Good, the famous
376 Th Liberator  bomber. My dad knew the guys who were on it when she disappeared.In fact, I recall him saying he was  supposed to go on her, but there was some sort of change of plan, and he went on another plane.Daddy of course came back, but these guys never did. The museum is also supposed to be haunted.
My mother made cabbage rolls, but never put saurkraut on hers.

Yep, I've eaten at the Grill & Grog. Unfortunately, they don't have any real grog, which is a killer if you really need your hot rum and water.

Michael-
I'm guessing the food at GG&G is nothing special.

Mariton and I will get along just fine-chicken livers! And those look fantastic!

wanderingjew

buffetbuster


M and I spent the weekend in Ohio, so I have some places to write about, which will happen tonight.  The highlight was lleechef and Michael Hoffman joining us at Crabill's for some delicious sliders. 


A full report to come.....

Ah! It's the two beauties and the beast! 

Pretty book ends, with a old classic in the middle. I'm just happy he didn't have mustard on his sleeve, Great job Lisa, he cleaned up well.......................

buffetbuster


Michael-
I'm guessing the food at GG&G is nothing special.

Nope. Nothing special. I was there during the Bratwurst Festival one year and of course I had a cheeseburger.

pnwchef
It isn't easy keeping a curmudgeon mustardless!

Love traveling and eating vicariously through your trip reports, buffetbuster! Thanks!

macaroni-
Thanks so much for the kind words and welcome to Roadfood!