Tucky's - Nice Place to get a bite

I've stopped by the Mayfield Tucky's a couple of times in the past couple weeks and I was impressed.  Tucky's is a local chain based around hot dogs, burgers and fries.  They have locations downtown, Parma and at 6232 Mayfield Road, Mayfield (map is here) where they have taken over a small storefront that has gone through a couple of different restaurants in the past couple of years.

Going in, the counter and kitchen is on one side and the nice neat dining room is on the other.  The appearance is modern and warm with browns and beiges set off with metal tables and chairs.  The memorabilia  and flat screen add a nice friendly touch. 

The menu is straightforward and caters to the carnivore, although there are a couple of chicken dishes and a veggie burger.  The first time I was there they had a fish sandwich as a special and the second time I had the Wednesday special of 2 fish tacos.  Prices are not cheap, but Tucky's uses quality ingredients and prepares food to the order, so value is pretty good.  In addition, they offer kids under 5 a free meal and kids between 5 to 12 eat for 1/2 price, so there is some added value there.  One thing to note is that this is not fast food, since food is cooked to order, therefore you will wait about 5 minutes or so to get your food.

Both the fish sandwich and the fish tacos had the fish nicely fried with a crisp crust and firm fish in the middle.  For $6 you get two small tacos (they cut the large fillet of fish in half) and a bag of black bean salsa chips.  The tacos were good, as an American version of one of my favorites, although even cut in half the fish needed a bigger taco shell as it tended to push all the other ingredients out of the shell.   The lettuce and cabbage was crisp and the salsa was bright, but very mild.  The chips included were not bad, but I am not a big fan of flavored chips and would have preferred having a choice.  The fish sandwich was also good and my buddy Danny liked his Cheeseburger.

One of the things I really like at Tucky's is the condiment bar which allows you to add the sauces or condiment that you want to your food.  Some hot sauce, banana and jalapeno peppers spiced up the tacos and the tarter sauce made with the Chicago fluorescent green relish helped the fish sandwich.  A good idea that I would like to see more places adopt.

Tucky's does a number of interesting variations on the hot dog, including what looks like a pretty good version of the Chicago Dog (poppyseed bun, sport peppers, fluorescent relish and celery salt are some of the items).   I have asked my friend Mindy who is a Chicago native and hot dog expert to stop by Tucky's and render judgment on the Chicago dog, but that will have to be a an update to this post.

Tucky's is a nice local chain that serves quality food, keeps it restaurant clean and neat and the prices may be higher then fast food, but you get value for your money.  Not a place that I will seek out, but certainly a better choice then the fast food places nearby, especially if you have kids with you.  If you want a dog or some fries, give them a try.

Mike's Place - Kent Mainstay for Grub

Over the weekend I took my young buddy Danny to Kent to show him around.  Since I was a student there they have redone the Cuyahoga River which used to be dammed behind a waterfall.  Now the river can run unimpeded but they have retained the old waterfall by using a pump to circulate water over it.  There is a nice park along the river and we saw fish, a turtle and a blue heron.

When we started to get hungry I took Danny to Mike's Place, which has been around for quite a while now, yet I had never managed to eat there.  Located at 1799 South Water Street, Kent, Ohio, which is the intersection of Ohio Routes 43 and 261 (map is here), Mike's is a place you almost have to see to believe.  The building started life as a Dutch Pantry, for those who date back further than we might like; which has been converted, added to and just messed with in ways that are fantastic.  To start with there is the full sized Star Wars Tie Fighter siting out front; where this came from I don't know, but it certainly looks good and draws attention.  Then you might notice the Castle Turret and catapult that sits behind the main building.  Finally you see the bright yellow and blue paint job and you are assured this isn't just some chain restaurant.

Inside is an amazing mix of memorabilia, antiques and just plain junk.  The booth room where we were seated looked out at the back of the Tie Fighter.  Looking the other way you have a booth with Elvis and R2D2 on top.

Even more amazing is that each room is different and each is the result of someone with their own wacky vision.  In the back, inside the castle is the bar with a medieval theme.  There is a Bus that has been added to the restaurant with tables inside. And everywhere pictures and license plates.  Truly a unique and fun atmosphere.

Then you get to the menu (which can be downloaded here).  At a hefty six pages of small type, this is one of the most text heavy menus you will find.  It is also one of the most in your face, funny, insulting and generally interesting things you will find.  From the 21 listed acceptable methods of payments, ranging from checks (sometimes) to droids and Excalibur to indentured servitude to the Rules (example: 10. Stop stealing our menus and we’ll stop keying your cars.) this is more than just a list of food, it is funny, it is insulting and it is extensive.

After much discussion and amusement we finally deciding on our lunches and gave our order to our friendly Serving Wench (I know I am violating Rule #2, but just as Mike's is his castle, this is my blog!!!). Service was friendly, knowledgeable and prompt, kudos to the staff and kitchen, especially as there was a Shaker Baseball team of 13year olds up for a tournament and yet everything was handled smoothly.

Danny had the kid's cheeseburger meal, which comes with fries and a drink for $4.  As you can see they use a nice bun and give a large order of fries; what you don't see is that there are actually two patties on the bun.  Danny said the burger was good and for $4 this is a great deal.

I ordered the Walleye dinner, which comes with two large fillets and two side dishes.  I ordered the baja rice and fries, which ended up being overkill.  The Walleye fillets were large and batter fried very nicely.  The fish was mild and flaky, the crust was crunchy and tasty.  Combined with homemade tarter sauce and the fresh lemon, better then I expected, and much bigger.   Added to this was the huge portion of tasty rice, which was moist and flavorful, but about twice what I could eat, then you get a full basket of crisp fresh cut french fries and you start having way more food then you need or want.  This was a lot of food for $9 and you even get a couple of rolls on the side. 

Mike's Place is the kind of place that I really like, it has attitude, good food, huge portions and more than a bit of humor.  The food is good straight forward cooking, well prepared; you are not going to get exotic food combinations or  or subtle seasoning, but you will leave full and satisfied and probably more then a little entertained.   Worth a trip, if only to get a picture of your Star Wars fan in front of the Tie Fighter.  If you are up Kent way stop off and give them a try.  

Confluence of Greatness

Last week I noticed that the new Five Guys (review is here) has opened up on Richmond Road across from Tri-C East in the same strip as DiBella's Subs (review here) (map is here). If you have read the past entries you will know that DiBella's is one of my current favorites for subs and that I have raved about Five Guys, especially the french fries. Well now I can easily combine the two; I can grab a tuna sub with hot and sweet peppers and then walk a couple of doors down and grab an enormous bag of hot, fresh tasty fries. Well that is of course what I did and it was really good. The cool tuna is nicely set off by the spicy hot peppers and complimented perfectly by the fries. Of course the one downside is I have to try to resist having this combination too often as I will end up fatter then I already am. I will have to work on it; in the meantime, we have another Five Guys open on the East Side and so far it is not as crowded as the Mayfield Heights location, plus there are some good subs just down the way if you are not in a burger mood. A great place to grab a lunch or a quick dinner.

Five Guys - Burgers and Fries

You may be asking yourself why is a guy who doesn't eat meat reviewing a burger place; good question, but I have heard about Five Guys for a while and now that they have come to our area I thought I would give them a try so I headed over to their new location at 1237 SOM Center Road in Mayfield Heights. This is part of the new strip mall just North of Eastgate. Five Guys is a snappy set up decorated in white and red tiles with some black accents. A pretty good sized place offers seating at both regular and high tables and a counter along the wall. You enter past piled up bags of potatoes waiting to be made into fries, grab some peanuts in the shells to eat while your order is being made, saunter up to the counter and order from a fairly simple menu. Five Guys offers burgers, hot dogs, grilled cheese, fries and drinks. That is it, no chicken, fish, happy meals or even milkshakes. Now that does not mean there is no variety as there are plenty of toppings that you can add (bacon and cheese are extra, all of the other toppings are included) from basics like ketchup, tomato and lettuce to the more interesting like grilled onions, mushrooms and jalapenos. I ordered a grilled cheese with grilled onions, mushrooms, green peppers and jalapenos ($2.49) and a regular order of fries ($2.39). While I was waiting for the order to be made I settled in and started eating the very tasty peanuts. About 5 minutes later my number was called and I picked up my order, all of which are served in a bag whether it is to go or for eat in. The grilled cheese was nicely done with the bun grilled nicely and a good portion of the veggies making for a very tasty treat. I especially want to mention the jalapenos which were crisp, fresh and very spicy, helping to take the sandwich up a notch. The fries were very good and the portion size was huge, a regular is suppose to fill a small cup, yet mine seemed to be at least double what I would have expected. The fries are fresh cut and then fried in peanut oil, the result is a very good fry with a nice crisp outside and a well cooked inside, the peanut oil adds a little extra flavor to compliment the good potato taste. Five Guys is decorated with quotes from the many favorable reviews they have gotten around the country; not suprising when they do such a good job and keep their approach basic and focused. I arrived about 1:30pm on a Saturday and the place was very busy and stayed that way; clearly Five Guys is catching on in Cleveland. I admire Five Guys, they have taken an approach of keeping things basic and using quality products to produce very good food at a reasonable price. They do not make excuses, cooking in peanut oil and serving bulk peanuts, they warn if you are allergic you need to stay away. They have not tried to expand their menu or make it overly complicated and they are succeeding with this approach. Go see what you think, they currently have locations in Mayfield Heights, Southpark and Great Northern.