Craft Beer Bar

Ok, a fire has been lit under my butt. It's time to take the 2016 To Dine Challenge seriously, as the end of the year looms.

Mr. H and I found ourselves furniture shopping in Akron on Saturday evening, and on our way back to Cleveland, we decided to stop in to Craft Beer Bar in Cuyahoga Falls. Not an area that we get to that often.

Easy to find on the main drag of Front Street, we were able to score a parking spot across the street at a meter. There was also a parking lot across the street, and there seemed to be ample spots, even though it appeared to be homecoming night (based on the tweens and teens running around in formal ware).

It's a small place, with mostly limited high-top seating and the bar only. Luckily, the staff asked a guy to move down so that two bar seats next to each would be available. I always hate asking people to move!

The beer list isn't super extensive, but it's full of craft beer options and you'll easily find something. We went right for a rare stout at 14% ABV, woof.

We decided to share a few things, since several things on the menu sounded great and we wouldn't likely find ourselves in the area again anytime soon.

We started with the Smoked Salmon Crouton ($11) with a pretzel crouton, smoked salmon, chive cream cheese, arugula, and raspberry walnut vinaigrette.

The sweetness of the raspberry balanced the saltiness of the pretzel and smoked fish well, but I had wished there was a little less of it on the plate. Some bites, it dominated a bit too much.

We also shared the Pulled Pork Cornbread ($12) with jalapeno cheddar cornbread, BBQ pork, house slaw and pickled onion.

Again, the flavor profile was nice and balanced, a little sweetness from the BBQ and heat from the jalapeno. Pulled pork is always great with a slaw. The cornbread was just a little dry, and the dish overall is larger and heavier than you'd think for a "shareable." So, great price point for making this your meal, but I didn't eat too much of it because we also had the Craft Burger ($12) coming.

It is an 8 oz. brisket burger with red onion jam, blue cheese, and horseradish mayo on a Portuguese roll. This was my first time having a burger on a Portuguese roll, and it worked! Overall, I liked the flavors and textures of the toppings together and the meat was seasoned well. I'd order this again.

So, it was a quite enjoyable time at Craft Beer Bar. It reminded me of the Tremont Tap House or Beer Engine in the Cleveland area. A great casual spot with exceptional craft beers and solid bar food to wash them down.

Craft Beer Bar
1846 Front Street
Cuyahoga Falls, OH
234-571-1409

Blue Door Cafe

As part of our anniversary celebration, "R" and I took a "staycation" day on Friday to just enjoy a day off together. The only goal? Have a fun lunch together and explore someplace new. We woke up with no plans, but somehow the Blue Door Café and Bakery popped into my head. It's on the 2013 "To Dine" list, and I've been meaning to get there all year.

We decided to drive out to Cuyahoga Falls for the day, and to start with a late breakfast at Blue Door. When we arrived, I couldn't see any signage for the restaurant. But, you knew that you were there from the distinctive blue door.

So cute, right?!

The menu isn't huge, but they do offer daily specials and it was hard to select what we wanted from the tempting descriptions. I was drawn to the Croissant Monsieur ($10), and I added an egg.

It was basically a ham, egg, and cheese sandwich, but oh so good. That flaky croissant was clearly the star. The fruit was also very fresh, and much better than what you typically receive for a side of fruit.

We couldn't resist a stop at the bakery counter as we checked out.

My mouth was drooling instantly. "R" and I purchased a ham and cheese croissant and a cinnamon pastry. We split them later as a pre-Twilight at the Zoo snack, and they were both heavenly.

The rest of the day led us to bumming around that area, playing mini-golf, and a stop at West Point Market in Akron. Have you ever been there? More on that later!

Then we headed home to get ready for one of our favorite summer events- Twilight at the Zoo. This is our fifth year going, but the first for rain. The evening started out so nicely...

Oh hey, there's a band, and a polar bear!

Then, this started to happen...

...and we ended up like this...

I'd like to pretend that we just partied in the rain and stayed all night, but we did not. We toughed it out for a while, but most of the bands had to pack up, and the covered areas were packed and it was tough to find space to camp out. We eventually found a prop to sit on outside of Australia that had easy access to a wine station and the bathrooms, but after about two hours of just complete downpours, we bailed and got a cab home. There's always next year!

Blue Door Café and Bakery
1970 State Road
Cuyahoga Falls, OH 44223
330-926-9774