Sparta Steak House & Lounge — Restaurant in Canton

6/28/24. My first time eating at Sparta. I’ve been there for drinks but never had a meal. I hate to admit that because I’ve lived in this area my entire life. We had a 5:30 reservation and I’m glad we did. It was Friday and got busy quickly. Our server was Alisha and she was fantastic. Very informative and helpful. Getting right to it we started with the bang bang shrimp and cheese sticks for appetizers. The cheese sticks were perfectly fried. Not burned like some can do and the oil must have been fresh. The shrimp are lightly breaded and still give you the shrimp flavor. Not overpowered by breading. And yet not fishy and just a bit of heat. I got a filet with a blackberry glaze and feta. It was a special. When the steak came out I was concerned with what the doneness would actually be because it was so huge. It was a perfect medium rare and the actual temperature was also excellent. My sides were the double baked potato and Brussel Sprouts with bacon. The potato is a gem. Covered in cheddar and craveable. Dipped in sour cream it’s great. The Brussels are shaved so it’s a salad actually. I loved these like this. An excellent way to serve them. My wife also had a filet and Sparta fries. Her steak was a perfect medium rare and those fries, actually sliced fried potatoes, are great. A nice change to what you would get anywhere else. Our guest had a strip steak which was done to her liking also. We took home the baklava cheesecake and we both liked it very much. A nice twist to ordinary cheesecake which you can also get. The Sparta has long been a favorite in Canton and I can see why. It’s a one of a kind in style and atmosphere. The place was full of obvious regulars who I’m sure have been going there for many years. If I have one tiny critique it was the seasoning on the steaks. My steak had the glaze so it was fine. Both my wife’s steak and our guests seemed to be lacking any seasoning. And it’s a comment I’ve seen repeated. Other than that our experience was excellent. Thank you again Alisha and hope to have you serve us again. If you haven’t tried this place, give it a shot. If for nothing else the drinks and atmosphere. It’s...

So...this was our first time this evening. Saw it posted in a FB group and decided to give it a go. Here's out honest review:

Staff/waitress: I did not get our waitresses name...dark haired, talked about traveling with the army...she was AWESOME. I really appreciated her talking with my kiddo and bringing her crayons and just overall...from a mom to a mom, really really meant a lot. My daughter is for sure socially awkward but she also enjoyed our waitress. She was also very timely with order taking, refills etc.

Food: let's start with apps. We had the mozzarella sticks. Hands down the best mozzarella sticks I've ever had. The sauce was super flavourful and so were the sticks. Super crisp on the outside and ooie gooey goodness on the inside. Main course...Kiddo had pasta which she enjoyed and she had the fries which she also really enjoyed. The hubby had a filet and I had the ribeye. Now...hands down steaks were very very flavourful...taste wise best steaks I've had in the area. If I did have any sort of feed back...is we both thought our steaks were a bit under our preference. Asked for medium...and they seemed a bit more mid-rare to rare. It was not anything that bothered us badly because they still had great flavor and I always bring home for leftovers...so the re-cook will turn out to a perfect temp. Dessert.. kiddo had some ice cream with chocolate and we shared a peanut butter chocolate pie. Both were good. Pie was rich but tasted great with the ice cream from the kiddo.

Drinks: we only shared a drink. We had the blueberry martini. Taste great...but boy oh boy...that was a strong drink lol...but no complaints for that. It's nice ordering a drink and getting a drink that isn't watered down.

All in all, great first experience. Food tasted great, staff excellent...will for...

Atmosphere was old but kept up very well. Kinda cool.

I was hesitant to post since the owner, instead of learning from mistakes bashed the customers who gave a lower rating. First when ordering my husband ordered the pork chop, she came out told him they were out , understandable. He asked her for a suggestion, he always does because people that work there know what is best. He took her up on whatever it was. She came back out and said we can’t make it, he ordered for a third time and that worked. We got our salads and bread quickly also drinks, except she forgot his drink. He asked her again she apologized and said I’ll be right back. After 15 minutes he started for the bar to get a beer himself, she saw him and stopped him and went and got it. Food starts coming out the two other couples then ours and there was another lady with us who continued waiting. Our food was barely warm and as someone else said bland. I don’t salt my food but I really had to salt my steak and potatoes (they were cold and hard). The single lady got her drink for free because she was waiting so long. Then as we were all done she was told that her meal was free she had it put in a box to take home.

I’m not “picking on “ a local restaurant I’m telling you about my experience. It was subpar and we will never go back again. I wanted it to be good but it was not a good time. My husband is very, very kind to people in the restaurant industry as he was in the industry for over 30 years. Everyone at our table was kind and tipped well. Must have been an off night. For this long...