First Annual BikerGrub.com Lake Erie Perch Fest and Motorcycle Run
By bikergrub | August 24, 2011
Alas, so many perch so little time. Friday last week, we packed up the bikes and headed to the Port Clinton, Ohio area for a weekend of hard work and research into the eating habits of Ohioans. Ok, Ok , there was no real intention of more than finding some motorcycle friendly restaurants and bars, eating too much, drinking a few beers, having a few laughs and some relaxation. However, we did need to reconnoiter the terrain.
The consensus was this would probably be an appropriate headquarters for our research team to conduct business. So we promptly set up our portable research center and had our planning sessions so we could properly utilize our time.
After a short discussion we decided on Phil’s Inn for dinner; an Italian restaurant that has been in business over 40 years and I have been going there on and off for 35 years myself. I looked up a few reviews before we left and had some concern that maybe this local favorite may be slipping. So off we went!
We were staying very close and walked the hundred or so yards to Phil’s so we could have a couple of drinks with dinner. Surprisingly, there was no wait that evening which I guess shouldn’t have surprised me because the hotel was not full and the traffic was light. I wanted to get some fresh lake Erie Perch and although Phil’s is an Italian eatery it has always had a reputation for great Perch. As it turned out all five of us ordered Perch, so much for “sampling the menu”. We did, however, get a few different sides. We had an antipasto salad that for $7.50 was humungous with good homemade Italian dressing fresh local tasting tomatoes, ham, provolone and peppercini peppers. Was it the best antipasto I have ever had? No, but it was good, a good value, tasty and something I would order again. One of us ordered a bowl of deep fried mushrooms which was also large, also tasty, and also a good value. Since we were not watching our weight this weekend we decided on some potatoe skins too which were different and good, these were not the typical halved potatoes layered with cheese, sour cream, bacon etc, these were thin with the same type of toppings but not as ” big and potaoey” and therefore much more suitable as an appetizer, at least in our humble opinion.
On to the main course and the subject of this blog – fresh Lake Erie Perch!
Ok, understand this, every single restaurant within a few miles of the Lake Erie claims they have the best fried lake Perch on Earth and most can find backers of their claims. Phil’s is no exception and our waitress, who was friendly and efficient, assured us that Phil’s, in fact, absolutely had the best Perch in the area. The fact is their Perch was very good; lightly breaded, fried properly, not greasy, ample portions and just plain good. Best? Hard to say as we only ate at three different places all of which have great reputations so I guess we will have to check out another 30 or so restaurants before we can legitimately answer that question.
Service was fast and friendly. Food was solid to very good. Value was in there: $50 bucks got us a humungous antipasto, couple of beers, couple of glasses of Lake Erie locale white wine and a Perch platter for two. Good enough for a return trip? You bet!
A hundred yard walk back to the hotel prompted another planning session lubricated by Pinapple Bomba.
1 – bottle Passion Fruit vodka
1 – cored pineapple sliced
soak for 7 days
serve over ice with a slice of the pineapple
Now that is good!
NOTE - Drink responsibly, Don’t drink and drive and PLEASE, PLEASE don’t drink and ride!
Tomorrow – our research team heads to Put in Bay!
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Get Ready Florida Here We Come!
By bikergrub | August 16, 2011
We are pretty excited to announce that we are opening Florida today. Starting in Central Florida which includes the Daytona area we are adding motorcycle friendly restaurants, biker bars and hang outs. Our goal is to be pretty well fleshed out in at least the Central region of Florida before Biketoberfest® in Daytona Beach, FL October 13-16, 2011. Let us know if you have favorite places in the Sunshine State so we can include them in our listing.
Tell us about your favorite motorcycle friendly restaurants and biker bars!
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Farmer Boy – Akron, Ohio
By bikergrub | August 14, 2011
Next time you are out on your motorcycle running around Summit County and you aren’t in the mood for typical biker bar food check this place out, even though it is not what you may think of as a biker joint. Nestled near Springfield Lake in Akron, OH is one of the last bastions of real home cookin’. Farmer Boy offers its customers meals that taste like grandma made them. This ain’t no health food joint! Generally, any health benefits of their food are erased by an immodest slathering of butter. It’s probably one of the last sit down places that two people could get away with spending less than twenty dollars (with tip). Dinners come with lots of sides and big portions.
Among the standard Americana offerings of meat loaf, fried chicken and roast beef customers will also find Greek, German and Italian fair on their menu. Farmer Boy’s Souvlaki is a Greek dish consisting of seasoned and grilled pork chunks , vegetables and rice. This house special is probably my favorite meal
Save room for desert. They have lots, they are homemade, and you can check them out on your way in!The pies are all awesome. My favorite has to be the carrot cake though. Again, big portions.
More information about Farmer Boy Restaurant
Find more Motorcycle Friendly Restaurants and Bars on BikerGrub.com
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Lembo’s Italian Restaurant Akron, Ohio
By bikergrub | August 11, 2011
At the corner of route 91 and route 224 Akron, Ohio, a.k.a. the Rubber City, is hiding an Italian secret: Lembo’s. O.K. It might not be that big of a secret, around for years, Lembo’s offers more than your standard Italian. Forget that over processed, frozen fair you’ll get at a national chain. Everything at Lembo’s taste’s homemade. Your wallet won’t look like it’s on a diet (and neither will you) with their daily lunch and dinner specials. Most notable is probably their Pizza Buffet every Monday, which offers eight different pizza selections!
Eating off the special’s menu for dinner will probably cost you a buck more than a lot of places, but you won’t go away hungry with the inclusion of all you can eat salad bar included with every dinner! It’s an awesome salad bar offering more than just the rabbit food—three hot items, two soups, garlic bread and desert bread. Along with all kinds of pickled goodies, potato and pasta salads, fruit and deserts. Most pasta dishes offer you the option of a couple different red sauces (mushroom, meat and marinara to name some). At Lembo’s you’ll find a typical family dinning atmosphere with friendly, customer oriented service by a friendly local staff.
A final tip—they pour a really nice (see: ‘big’) glass of wine
Get more information about Lembo’s onBikerGrub.com
More great Biker Friendly Bars and Restaurants on BikerGrub.com
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Food Blog Code of Ethics
By bikergrub | August 9, 2011
While we are not strictly a food blog and will continue to bring editorial content related in other ways to our passion, food and riding, one of our writer’s came across this “Food Blog Code of Ethics” http://foodethics.wordpress.com/the-code/ in their spare time and brought it to us. We all thought these seemed like a reasonable and responsible set of rules to adhere by. And so…
- We will be accountable.
- We will be civil.
- We will reveal bias.
- We will disclose gifts, comps and samples.
- We will follow the rules of good journalism.
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Erie Street Leather @ Quaker Steak & Lube Bike Night – Canton, Ohio
By bikergrub | July 29, 2011
Hey, we ran into our friends from Erie Street Leather over at the Quaker Steak and Lube Bike night in Canton Ohio. We snapped a few pictures and shot the breeze for a while in between them waiting on customers.
It looked like there may have been approaching a thousand motorcycles at this bike night so the guys (and Gals ) were pretty busy. It seems Quaker Steak and Lube has a hopping bike night in Canton, way more than this old geezer was expecting to see.
Aaron seemed to be the guy in charge, nice guy who will bust his back side to get you what need. All of the people there working for ESL were more than friendly and eager to serve. Aaron told me they have a drawing every bike night for a$25 gift voucher good at their store in Massillon.
Erie Street was our first sponsor and we appreciate their support before anyone knew who we were. They are great people and seem to have good prices on decent merchandise.
If you need patches sewn on or repair to your jacket, chaps etc. stop by Erie Street Leather and see Christine.
Yep the new guy! Name is Mark, lookin’ good is his game!
These are good folks, drop by their store:
416 Erie Street North
Massillon, Ohio 44646
330-833-2672
Or see them every Wednesday Night @ the Quaker Steak and Lube Bike Night in Canton, Ohio!
Visit Erie Street Leather’s web site
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Gameday Grille – Jackson Township Ohio
By bikergrub | July 25, 2011
Gameday Grill Biker friendly bar, restaurant and Sports Bar Jackson Township Ohio
If you are hungry near Jackson, not Jackson Hole but Jackson Township, Ohio, there is a nice little place tucked in along Fulton Rd (SR 687), between Massillon and Canton, Ohio, that you may not have ever heard of unless you are a sports fan from Jackson. It’s called Gameday Grille and while not a biker bar it is definitely a friendly locale place that is plenty friendly to bikers. I live close enough to visit relatively often and went there the other night to grab a bite and thought ‘by golly’ I ought to tell you all about it. Why, you may ask? Well the food is overall good, they have several very good salads if you want something light, and they put fried pepperoni on some of them instead of croutons for something crunchy and believe me these add way more flavor than croutons, pretty tasty! They have fried pickle wedges that my wife seems to order every time we go and I have to admit they are good. One of the other things worth mentioning is their South Western Burger which has green chiles mixed and cooked right in the burger, it makes a very good and a little different treat for you burger lovers. I happen to really like their wings; big, juicy and not overcooked like so many places do today. Several good flavors to choose from too. If I still haven’t hit your hot button try the Reuben, tender corned beef, nice rye, good dressing pretty well done. There are enough good things on the menu that you can make this a regular spot and not get tired of the menu. There are always current sports on the multiple TV screens around the bar and dining area, plenty of cold beer to go around, and friendly waitresses that will make sure you don’t go hungry or thirsty so drop by catch the end of ‘the game’ and grab a bite.
Just remember, just in case, don’t be afraid if you are seated next to a table full of golfers, they don’t bite.
Find out more about Gameday Grille at BikerGrub.com
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Hot Weather Riding Tips
By bikergrub | July 22, 2011
Hi All,
It has been brutally hot out there lately and I wanted to get together some tips on how to best be safe while riding in this horrible hot weather. While researching i found a great article that says everything better than I possibly could and the author, David L. Hough, granted permission to reproduce his article here. Take the time to read this, it is important. So here ya go, some great info about Hot Weather Riding.
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The ride south over the Siskiyou Mountains from Oregon to California started out cool enough. Up at 4,000 feet, it was chilly enough that I was glad I had added the jacket liner and neck warmer. But a hundred miles later, as I descend down into the Sacramento Valley, the temperature begins to soar. By the time I reach Oroville, the temperature signs are flashing 118 F. It’s another hundred and fifty miles to the rally site at Mariposa in triple-digit temperatures.
A rider passes by in the opposite lane, jacket bungeed on the back, bare chest exposed to the hot blast. I wave, but there is no response. His exposed skin is red, and he doesn’t even appear to have noticed me, a bad sign that he’s on the fringe of heat exhaustion. I don’t wish any problems on a fellow motorcyclist, but there are lots of riders who have to contribute to the statistics before they crack the code.
To continue the ride, I go into hot weather survival mode. Full riding gear, including riding pants, leather boots, and gloves, and a knit neck “cooler” saturated with water. As quickly as the fabric dries out in the blast-furnace wind, I flip the faceshield open, squeeze a gusher of water down my chin, and slam the faceshield shut again. The water dribbles down to wet the neck cooler and my shirt inside the jacket. About 10 seconds after the water penetrates the neck cooler, it cools from evaporation in the hot air, and sucks some heat out of my neck.
I stop at a fast-food outlet every few miles to replenish the water bottle with ice and water. Whether riding or stopping for water, other people stare at me in disbelief. Peering out of their air-conditioned cars, or sitting in an air-conditioned restaurant, they just can’t understand how anyone could tolerate being outside during a heat wave, bundled up in heavy riding gear.
Your body has automatic “thermostats” to protect the core organs from heat stress, including sweating, vasodilation, increase in heart rate and reduction of blood pressure. If these tactics don’t keep core temperature within the redline, the body gives you warnings such as heat cramps. If you don’t take care of the problem, it gets more serious, including heat exhaustion and heat stroke.
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Smiley’s – Massillon, Ohio
By bikergrub | July 11, 2011
Definitely not fancy would be a fair description of this little Italian Restaurant, barely 20′ wide it is a bit tight but not uncomfortable in the dining area that is reached walking by the, unusual today, open kitchen.
Homemade rolls only make the standard Italian fare even better. The food here is just plain good! Not pretentious but served hot by a friendly wait staff that do their best to make you feel right at home. I just like this place although, bike parking is restricted to the street there are marked parallel parking places that work well enough. I am not a pizza fan but my son is and he tells me it ranks right up there. Others have said to me that the food here reminds them of Youngstown Italian food and while I do not know what that is, there you go.
Located right in the center of old downtown Massillon, Ohio there are several comfortable local watering holes that won’t break the bank if you choose to spend a few hours. Also, on Thursday nights during summer the city sponsors free concerts just a block away from Smileys. Mostly oldies but hey, starting to get there myself. Make it an evening, dinner, music and a drink after, all for twenty bucks a head… you figure out how to beat that.
Good food, good service, beer, wine, and cheap.
Gastronomically gratifying.
Find out more about Smiley’s Restaurant on www.BikerGrub.com
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Bullies BBQ
By bikergrub | June 29, 2011
Once in a while you run across a surprise in North East Ohio, a landscape permeated with strip malls and soccer moms driving Volvos while texting about their next tennis match. I certainly did not expect to find good southern style BBQ when Mama and I swung the scooter into the parking lot. We were just meeting friends for a bite and conversation. Located a couple miles North of Medina’s square on SR 42 is Bullies BBQ home of smoked on site beef brisket, ribs, pork shoulders (pulled pork) and more.
Two had pulled pork dinners, I had beef brisket and there was one Mondo Combo, a serious pile of food including, chicken, ribs, pulled pork and more. The beef brisket was great but the pulled pork was outstanding and definitely worth our hour run and worth a run back for more. The sauces on the table were definitely NOT from the ketchup aisle at the local grocery, I should have asked if they were homemade because if they were not they could have passed. Three of them made me think I might have been in South Carolina, full of flavor, not hot at all but just a bit of heat where necessary.
Great food, fast and friendly service, worth the trip.
FInd out more about Bullies at BikerGrub.com
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