Canton - Whipple Ave Grinders Above & Beyond — Restaurant in Ohio

I've come to Grinder's many times over the years. I remember when the lobby hosted a misc. trinket store like Cracker Barrel does. This is where I bought one of my very first CDs. For a time it hosted a Thomas Kinkade gallery in his hayday. Good memories. I wish that space saw better use than it's current state. Like expand it in a more informal seating not-restaurant area like a comfy starbucks wherein you can finish your coffee and wait for a storm to pass without clogging up the gears on the restaurant side. When last I visited I was offered a to go warm-up of my coffee without prompting so reasonably you wouldn't stand to lose out on establishing that space as more informal use. Rent space to local artisans and crafters to sell wares.

If you want an analagous vibe of the food offerings-- think rocknes or samantha's or a less commercial panera but frequented more by the older generation. They have a tasteful level of memerobilia (Aviation theme) that feels like a toned down max and erma's.

My late grandmother's church sewing group would routinely go as a large group for many years and likely still do to this day. They liked how kind and accomodating the servers were about splitting checks +10-15 ways. Food is always good and swiftly prepared. Never had a single disagreeable experience with the service staff. Despite her diabetes, my late grandmother would always ask what sugar free pies happened to be available and usually decided on whatever struck her fancy anyway. Save room for or take some pie home! They have a great selection and it's almost criminally underrated.

My standard order, creature of habit that I am, is a large appetizer order of spudniks half and half with sour cream and extra extra extra Russian dressing. When I say I drench these things in that stuff I mean DRENCH. Looks like sweet and sour chicken I lay it on so thick. Service is always kind and patient with requests for more and more sauce if they dont bring extra extra around the first time. I can only imagine how unhealthy it is to be downing 8oz of salad dressing but it is so satisfying.

(if I'm feeling peckish I'll also get a dinner chicken fingers which I think comes with salad and 1 (2?) Sides) I think everything is decent value for quantity and quality of their food chicken fingers have that nice almost dusty quality to the crisp fried breading. Very satisfying.

Unfamiliar with what a Spudnik is? (think hand cut steak fries, fried relatively soft) smothered in one or both cheddar and provolone cheeses and chopped bacon served with sour cream and Russian dressing. The taste of these guys with THEIR Russian dressing is top 10 bites in my life to date. It's like a North East Ohio answer to...

I'm from CT originally so when I asked for a grinder (What we call a sub sandwhich back there) my fiance thought I meant this restaurant. After laughing about the mistake we decided to go check out the prices and they looked relatively decent. We quickly took our seat, the staff were very nice, and we took a look at the menu.

The menu itself is a good size with lots of options, like I originally said I wanted a grinder so that's where my focus was after we ordered the artichoke dip appetizer which was average. I got the pot roast sub and my fiance got the chicken tender sub. The pot roast was, once again, decent, nothing extraordinary about it however my fiance's sandwich tasted odd, though we didn't complain at the time.

The decor was dreary and a lot of the booths looked ripped up. Colors are dull where we sat and and overall the place looked nothing like expected after driving past the outside a couple times a week.

Service was excellent, waitress was helpful, hostess made sure everything was okay as well.

However, after leaving the restaurant both my fiance and I became a bit ill. Not full blown food poison however we couldn't stomach dinner which was about 8...

The restaurant was clean and the staff was nice and friendly. The quality of the food was very good. It's what was served that wasn't.

First, for over $8 for a large Reuben grinder, I expect there to be meat on the grinder. I opted for coleslaw instead of sauerkraut and ended up with a lot of bun with coleslaw and some corned beef as a "condiment". I also found it strange when I was asked if I wanted Russian dressing on it. Russian dressing defines a Reuben sandwich. But I quickly realized that was a moot point since I was served a French dressing not Russian. Russian dressing is mayonnaise based not oil based - Google it. A lot of places confuse Russian with Thousand Island - at least that is close.

For a side, I opted for the deep fried mushrooms which I was excited for because they were served with horseradish. Well for $6 maybe I expected too much but clearly I did not expect generic GFS frozen mushrooms. I mean I can get those at a fast food place for half the cost.

All in all, it wasn't bad. Just don't expect to get a bang...