DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Everything Else... Restaurants We Miss

Good memories of places that are no longer around but bring back good memories of tastes and smells of when we were younger. Could be local, personal favorites or defunct chains
or whatever.

1 - Gerorge's Tin Roof (in Amherst) - best chocolate and peanut butter sundae ever.

2 -Presti's (in Oberlin) Dorothy was the best greeter ever. For some reason, they had a pineapple ring on the top of every standard hamburger and those little chalky mints in a bowl
when you left.

3 - Moss's (in Elyria) best prime rib ever.

4 - Burger Chef chain (most everywhere for awhile) - my Dad and I used to get their bacon cheeseburgers.

5 - Sirloin Stockade chain. (Though, through some quick research, I found that there are some open locations in northern Mexico.)

(I was going to add Kon Tiki, but I guess they are still around but not here. Good teriyaki platters.)



I don't know - just things to talk about before the draft.

Red Barn.

Best chicken, burgers, and especially onion rings ....and gone too soon, in the name of corporate stupidity.

Dominics in Westlake.

Ruby Tuesday near me. It was my black bar that I always went to. It didnt survive covid. I miss the staff, cheap drinks and salad bar.

I never went to a Red Barn. I don't think there was one close by. But everyone I knew had been to one of the locations. Maybe in Elyria, but I can't remember.

I forgot a couple of others:


Charlie Brown restaurant. Before I moved from OH was the last time I heard of it.

Sizzler. There was one when I first got to AZ that turned into a Taco Seoul ( Korean/Mexican hybrid), then succumbed to Golden Corral.

We went to Howard Johnson's when I was a kid.

No more.

I'd kill a burro for a Chi-Chi's chimichanga and fried ice cream.

Rax Roast Beef

Zantigo Mexican Restaurants (a truly upgraded Taco Bell type)

My parents used to take my sister and me to the HoJos when they had their fish fry.

Rax was very good. They actually took over the Burger Chef building in Oberlin when they went out of business. Better than Arby's.

I never had the fried ice cream, but Chi Chi's had really good take out burritos I would get for my girlfriend and myself a couple times a month. There was one about ten minutes from where I live. Then it turned into a Chuy's. They're out of business now as well (at least here).

Johnny's Lunch Wellsville Ohio

The Pine Tree Lisbon Ohio

I have never been to a Ruby Tuesday, but I pass one on my way to Costco in Tucson. It was closed for awhile due to the virus but is now open. I think other locations weren't as lucky.

It was always a treat to get a burger and fries and shake a Woolworths in the Midway Mall Elyria. Or even swing by and get a soft pretzel and coke while holiday shopping.

I have really good memories of Midway Mall. My mom insisted on driving the half hour there because there was a shoe store inside that sold the only "quality" socks for kids. But there was a men's suit store where I could sort of run around and misbehave between the racks.

I remember the Woolworths. Didn't eat in that one, but got milkshakes for the way home. I think until about 25 years ago, there was still some places out west with drug store names and cosmetic counters that had that food counter you could go to.

One of the things I found out quickly when my family moved to Arizona was that there were very few long-standing neighborhood type restaurants where we lived.

You could slip down to Agua Prieta or Nogales for a Saturday feast at a local place, but for the most part, there wasn't too much tradition or a small, privately owned restaurant you could count on.

I miss the mid-west in that way.

Did you know??

As business waned and competition in the discount area became tougher and tougher, Woolworths eventually became Foot Locker. Woolworths bought Kinney Shoes in the '60s and opened the first Foot Locker in 1974.

Foot Locker applied for trademark rights to the store's original name in 2020.

Bring back the lunch counter!!

Good thread idea. I was thinking of places that remember going to in the Stark County area. The Canton Repository wrote a couple of articles about this subject. I will post what they wrote and a link to a photo of the restaurant. I'll add a personal comment afterwards.

Bear Creek Steakhouse: Famous for it's 6-pound steak challenge, the restaurant opened in 1969 in the former Camp Zion Church of the Brethren in Pike Township. The steak place was a destination place, surrounded by the Siehnlen family's recreation complex. Bear Creek was said to be home to the world's largest steak. It also had a 'no neckties allowed' policy and offenders were known to have their ties chopped off on the spot and hung from the ceiling. The restaurant was destroyed by fire in 1988.

https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/...format=pjpg&auto=webp&quality=50

Bear Creek was cool. You could go there and ride a toboggan down a frightfully steep hill. The locale was rural and very woodsy. The Steak Challenge was that you got the steak for free if you ate every last piece of that 6 lb steak.






Geisen Haus: The German "beer garden" opened in 1968 on Promway Avenue NW in Jackson Township. The popular pub and eatery, owned by Ron Cavalier, closed in 2017 amid financial troubles.


https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/...format=pjpg&auto=webp&quality=50


This was a popular location where you threw peanut shells on the floor while waiting for your meal and drinking plenty of beer. Folks used to go there to watch the Browns a lot and it always seemed busy.


Lujan's: One of the most popular drive-in-style restaurants in the Akron-Canton area. Owner Ron Lujan opened his first location in Cuyahoga Falls in 1956. The first in Stark County was in 1961 at 3250 Cleveland Ave. NW. The chain ultimately grew to 12 locations before it was sold to Azar Inc. in 1975. The Lujan name disappeared.


https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/...format=pjpg&auto=webp&quality=50


The place was cool because it was a popular stopping place where many of us brought our muscle cars. Driving muscle cars up and down Cleveland Ave was a "thing" in the early 70s when I was in high school. Car hops would come out and take your order and you could get out of your car and meet girls in the parking lot. Good times.

Yeah, I noticed that when I moved to Florida. There aren't a lot of mom and pop places (Stores or restaurants), it's mostly chains here. I think it's because most of the people in the area are transplants.

You get in more inland, and you get more into that old town feel with more small home restaurants and such, but along the coasts it's all corporate.



Another place I vaguely remember is a store in Kamm's Corner, was a little drug store with a old style "Malt" shop inside. I had cousin's that lived right behind it and my aunt would give us money to walk over and get shakes. Hmm, I am seeing where my love for ice cream developed.

This soda fountain talk reminds me of something called a "Cherry Phosphate" that a couple local places had. Those things were so good.

A place I miss never closed. I moved to Tennessee. Dayton has a local pizza chain named Marion's. They call it "Dayton style pizza". I've worked in Chicago and spent a little time in New York City. Both of those locations have some great pizza. But Marion's was always my favorite. Nothing I've found down here can compare to it.

At the corner of Elm and Prospect in Oberlin, there was a delicious slice-by-slice pizza place that was very dark, cold, smelled like weed and dough and had an upright (black and white) Space Invaders arcade game in the back.

I think it might be a Dairy Queen now.

Greasy good stuff back then.

I know it's not a restaurant, but my sister and I would go down (she roller skated ahead) to Gibson's Bakery almost every day each summer for donuts and candy.

Also, Long John Silvers closed shop and moved to northern Arizona years ago which is no big deal; but I have good memories of fries and brown vinegar at Cedar Point when I was a kid.

It's strange to think about the sense that triggers your young years most - smell, sound, taste, whatever.

There is a Marion's in Troy, I've had pizza from there a few times and to me it's the best pizza around. Wish I lived closer.

One of the places I miss is Ponderosa Steak House, always enjoyed their food when i was younger.

Best pizza I've ever had... place burned down in the mid-eighties.

Sorry, pic wasn't that big when I plucked it...

Check out the prices and what you get in return on the menu.

https://www.gannett-cdn.com/authori...format=pjpg&auto=webp&quality=50

Speaking of menu prices, I have been amazed at the cost of things back then. It's amazing to consider how much prices have increased over the years. We used to go to this place occasionally.

https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/...format=pjpg&auto=webp&quality=50

I actually lived in Troy less than ten minutes away from Marion's before moving to Tennessee. I lived there when the Marion's in Troy opened. I first ate at the original Marion's on N. Dixie Drive in Dayton when I was a child and at their location in Beavercreek when I resided in Green County.

Except for the weed place when I was growing up, I've really missed out on great pizza restaurants.

Since my twenties, Round Table has always been my favorite. And I'm not sure there's many of those around anymore.

Sad state of affairs I guess.

I knew you lived in Troy just wasn't sure if they had a Marion's yet when you lived there. It's about a 30 minute drive from my house so I only get Marion's if I happen to be in Troy or for lunch sometimes as I work in Troy.

Let's see:

Mr Steak
L&K Restaurants
York Steakhouse
Steak and Ale

Yes.

There is still a York Steakhouse in Columbus, it’s about 10 minutes from my house near the casino. Think it’s the las one in existence. There is also a Rax on route 23 in Circleville. I always try to stop when I’m traveling through there.

The last time I had Rax was very early 1980.

The place didn't last long in a small city.

Fantastic, quick roast beef. Sides were great.

They are still around in some areas. In rural Clark Counrty, New Carlisle, Ohio, there was a locally owned roast beef place called Ranchers. Recently it was changed over to Rax. I have no idea if Rax bought it out or if the owner joined into a Rax franchise deal. I actually have no idea how Rax is structured. But I do know that Ranchers was around for decades in a rural town.

The other one I mentioned before was George's Tin Roof. After Presti's, that was a big part of my food memory.

Especially as far as sundaes..

Out of curiosity, I looked it up and eventually found that it is called sal and als now. I know nothing about it.

I was wondering if anyone that still lives near Amherst could clue me in.

We still have Rax and Arby's. We must live in some franchise test restaurant zone because we've had several first or early franchise startup test locations here, and those come and go often. We have an absurd number of restaurants for our size; without counting every single one, I approximate well over 100 restaurants of varying sizes, specialties, quality, and popularity; and counting mom-and-pop restaurants, it is easily more.

Anyone know the place that was by the train tracks in Berea? Can't remember the name of it but used to go there any time my mom came to visit in college in early 2000s....

I had friends and family on the east and west sides of Cleveland back in the day. Back in the 80’s, my dad loved taking us to the Brown Derby that was nearest to Randall Park Mall. Remember going there after many Browns games and training camps when I was a kid. Nearby was Ponderosa just outside of Randall Park Mall. -First time I’d ever tried ranch dressing or raisins on my salad. The salad bar was all we ever wanted and the chicken wings were the best. I still remember the excitement getting a tray and laying it on the rails as we poured our fountain drinks before heading to the table.
In the 90’s my buddy’s dad used to take us to George’s Dinner Bell in Mentor. I forget what their shtick was … all you can eat? Not sure but I remember it was amazing.
Within the last 10 years we made it to Sterle’s Country Inn on 55th street. Amazing European food.
It’s unfortunate that none of these places are around any longer.

There's a Brown Derby still operating in Medina. Actually, five in the area.

https://brownderbyusa.com/medina/