Cibo - Chagrin Falls Pasta

For the most part I have had a lot of success trying restaurants from Groupon (check Groupon out here), Cibo Homemade Pasta certainly ends up on the winner side of the list.  Located at 8564 East Washington Street in Chagrin Falls (the space that used to house Fat Taco) (map is here), at the intersection of Route 306 and Washington Street, Cibo is a friendly little place to get some very good pasta at an affordable price.  Tucked into a corner of the strip mall, it might be easy to miss Cibo, but it is worth finding.  Outside is a couple of tables overlooking a little fountain.  Inside you will find an attractive space that has a feeling of a little trattoria crossed with a fast food place.

Behind a long counter you will see the kitchen and the pasta machine pressing out fresh pasta.  The menu is straight forward and easy to understand, you pick either Cavetelli or whole wheat Rotini and then add sauce and any toppings.  There are also salads and a couple of sandwiches.  When I was there Cibo also had Eggplant Parmigiana, Cheese Lasagne, and some pizza available.  Everything looked very good, fresh made with high quality ingredients.  Since I had a $10 Groupon, I got 2 orders of pasta, one to eat there the other for the next day.

I had the whole wheat rotini with the Alfredo sauce at Cibo.  For $5 you get a very generous serving.  The whole wheat pasta were nice with a little more bite and character then regular pasta.  The Alfredo sauce was nicely balanced between the cheese and cream, with a subtle lighter flavor then many of the heavy Alfredo sauces you encounter; maybe a little bit on the subtle side, but good.

The serving of Cavatelli with the Arrabbita sauce and Romano cheese was one of the better plates of pasta I have had in a while.  The Cavatelli was perfectly cooked, just enough firmness to compliment the sauce and  give a nice chew.  The sauce was excellent, with nice tomato flavor, with spicy heat that balanced well with the grated cheese.  The portion was very good sized but I went through it quickly and would have kept going if there was more.  

Cibo's is a wonderful find, a place that is producing excellent food at affordable prices.  They are using high quality ingredients and obviously take pride in their products.  With a limited menu and the selected specials, they can focus on making the food taste good.  I recomend you head out East and give them a try.

Coleman Fish Market - Wheeling WV classic

I have been keeping close to home since I twisted my ankle last week, but since it was feeling better and the weather was beautiful, I decided to take a ride down to Wheeling, WV and check out Coleman's Fish Market.  I had heard about it from the Cleveland BMW Motorcycles Owners club and it sounded like a great ride and an interesting place to check out.  To get there I cruised down past Canton and picked up Ohio Route 250 which proceeds to meander down to Wheeling; the road has some nice twists and turns, especially after you pass Cadiz.  The ride was about 2 1/2 hours, and I located the Center Market without much trouble (map is here).  The market is a couple of buildings with Coleman's in the middle, with some local artist exhibits at one end and a couple of food places, but overall nothing too big.  The surrounding area seems to specialize in antiques.

Once you find Coleman's you see that it is an actual fish market along one side with fresh fish and seafood and then a counter at the end to order prepared food.  You can see the menu at this link, although prices have gone up a bit, the menu is still simple and very affordable.   One thing that was a bit hard to figure out was there were two different lines, going around to the right would allow you to order the regular items which come up quickly, on the left is the special items.  I ended up ordering the Canadian white fish sandwich, the fried clams and onion rings.  The portion sizes on each were extremely generous, especially considering the prices.  The fish was 4 or 5 medium sized fillets served between two slices of white bread, the fish was nicely breaded and fried and very fresh, add the tarter sauce (which you have to order and pay for) and you have a very good classic fish sandwich.  The clams were also nice and came with a mild cocktail sauce for dipping.  The generous portion of onion rings had a classic batter and were tasty with a nice balance of sweet onion to batter.  There are plenty of tables nearby to eat at.

Coleman's provides very fresh fish prepared in a classic American style with very little fuss and muss.  You are not going to find anything radical or even terribly modern, but the value is outstanding and the food is fresh and tasty.  If you are down near Wheeling WV it is definitely worth checking out for some good affordable grub. 

Metro Burger - Akron Premium Burger Joint

Metro Burger would not be one of my first choices for a meal, in fact just a couple of weeks ago I picked Zub's across the street (see review here), but when it came up on Groupon I checked out the website (located here) and they claimed to have award winning veggie burgers so I figured for half price it was worth a chance; and that is a great thing about Groupon, you get to take a chance without the full outlay of money (check Groupon out here).  Located at 845 W Market St. Akron, OH 44303 in the Highland Square area of Akron (map is here) is an attractive modern premium hamburger joint. 

The decor is modern funky with bright colors and steal tables and chairs.  A long counter holds the menu sheet that you fill out and present to the cashier, a slightly different approach and it can be a bit daunting with all of the choices, but at least they are clearly presented. 

While it may take a while to work through, the menu is fairly easy, you pick the kind of burger you want (beef, vegie, chicken or turkey), the size and whether you want a combo or not.  Then you work through the toppings, sauce, cheese and how its presented.  In my case I got a double veggie combo on a pretzel roll with smoked gouda, mushrooms, onion straws, red peppers and jalapenos.  Add in sweet potato fries and a drink and the $10 was gone. I also ordered the BBQ sauce and Basil Pesto Mayo to top the burger with.

After a couple of minutes wait, my electronic buzzer went off and I picked up the order.  I immediately noticed that they forgot the BBQ sauce, which they quickly remedied and later figured out they gave me the Horseradish Mayo, which actually worked out well for dipping the fries.  But I would make sure that you get the right order, especially if they are busy.   The 1/3 pound veggie burgers were huge and if I had to do it all over again I would order a single and get another side.   The veggie burger was interesting with a beef like texture, if I had to guess I would venture that it was a combination of soybeans and some other bean.  My personal preference would be for the patty to be a bit moister inside with a bit of a crust on the outside, but this was much better than most of the commercially available veggie burgers.  Taste was mild, without a lot of distinct flavor notes, good to use to build a sandwich around, but not a burger that I would crave.   The pretzel bun was nice, except it started to fall apart once the burger was fully dressed and sauced.  The toppings were good with the roasted jalapenos being the standout player, spicy hot with plenty of flavor and punch.  The gouda was lost between the two big patties.  Topped with BBQ sauce and some hot sauce the burger overall was good, but it had more to do with all of the accouterments then the "meat" of the sandwich.  The sweet potato fries were OK, nicely fried, but without much sweetness; luckily the horseradish mayo that I got by accident proved to be a great dip for the fries, with enough horseradish punch to set off the fries, but not enough to blow your nose off.

If I had it to do again, I would have probably gone with a single and gotten the onion rings or the fried pickles.  Metro Burgers was good, its a bit pricey, but you get a lot for what you pay, especially when you consider the premium toppings and quality ingredients.  The veggie burger is better then most, but lacks a bit in the crave-ability department.  Using the Groupon I was very happy with my visit, but for me, Metro Burgers is not high on the list for a return visit any time soon, but the carnivores among us should enjoy it.