The Black Fork Bistro — Restaurant in Hanover Township

Positive side, the food was amazing! Everyone was extremely pleased with the food we ordered!

We came down for the day to float on the Mohican River from the Cleveland, Akron, Medina area. We had ended our day on the river about 5pm everyone got cleaned up and changed there were 7 of us and we headed into town. We got there around 7pm and were told there was an hour wait. No problem we stoped in at Stellas and had some ice cream to wait for dinner.

Around 8:15pm we got seated at 2 separate tables that we pulled together to sit as a group. We had seen others in larger groups but the hosts seated us separate thats where thing just got off on the wrong foot.

2 people from our group ordered drinks (no drinks were had from 5pm till now at 8:15pm) the 5 others ordered water or pop. Everyone was brought thier drinks except for one of the alcohol drinks, the waitress said she was going to check on it. She came back and told us that one person from our party was over served and that they were not makeing the drink. We were all shocked at this statement. We were shocked at how it was handled all together but decided it was not worth the argument at that point no matter how un-true it was. She took the order of the 3 ladys at one of our tables and then immediately took the orders from our table of 4.

The table of 3 recived there appetizers and finished that. (No waitress)Then they recived thier food. (No waitress)When they were half way done eating our table of 4 recived the appetizers that were ordered. (No waitress) When our table of 3 were done eating, our table of 4 finally got our food! (Still no waitress)

At this point I bet you could imagine our frustration.

One person from our party got up to go find a manager at this point. We had not seen the waitress since she told us we were not being served the alcohol and took our orders. She did not come check to see if our food was right or even good. We were never asked if we needed refills on our non-alcoholic drinks. 4 of our 7 never even recived thier salads!

So the manager comes to the table with a chip on her shoulder right off the rip. As one of the ladys from our group started to say they and 3 others did not receive thier salad the manager cut her off and said rudely " if you would stop talking and let me finish I will let you know what I can do."

The manager explained it was at there discretion about the alcohol and she apologized for the missing salads and said she could have them made and packed up to take home and she could offer 4 people a free dessert and that was all she could do......... never even gave us a chance to tell her the alcohol was the least of our problems!

Our group of people are not and are still not argumentative people we all very much so avoid confrontation so to us it was not worth arguing with this manager who came over to us with her mind made up already on one side of the story. She never even asked how our food was!

We did not accept her salads or her desserts as we were honestly appalled at the whole evenings events. Not one of us was rude or argumentative. The waitress came back for the first time since taking our orders to offer refills and checks and no one wanted a refill just the check and she refilled everyone as if anything we said went in one ear and out the other. We all paid for our food and unfortunately left little to no tip but hind sight none of us should have tipped after it was all said and done!

Thank you to the kitchen for the amazing food you cooked! From here on out we will only order take out if we come back to the restaurant again after this trip.

I have been to this establishment 10+ times now and have never been so disappointed at the way my group was treated. Five of the people in this group were visiting not only the area for the first time but this restaurant for the first time and I was embarrassed at how badly our day ended after talking this place up all day...

Stopped in for lunch and was completely let down. The "bottomless mimosas" deal for NYE was a complete farce—$24 per person for half a bottle of André and another low-tier champagne (I didn’t catch the name on the label), paired with cheap OJ. To make matters worse, the two champagnes were mixed together because multiple bottles were open at different levels. This is something you should absolutely NEVER do, regardless of the champagne's quality. That’s $48 for ONE bottle of mediocre champagne shared between two people! It’s outrageous and felt like a blatant rip-off. The experience was so unpleasant that we didn’t even want to drink more to try to take advantage of the “deal.” You’re better off just ordering the bottle of champagne by itself—it would likely be cheaper than this so-called "deal." Another couple nearby also ordered the bottomless mimosa deal, and I was genuinely tempted to walk over and tell them to change their order.

Service was equally disappointing. When we arrived around 12:30, there was a small crowd with only a few tables available, but by 1:15/1:30, the restaurant was nearly empty, with only six tables occupied at its busiest and just four as we were leaving. Despite this, the servers were inattentive and slow, focusing more on cleaning than actually serving. We had to flag down our server just to get a single refill. Even then, our server passed the task off to another staff member so they could continue cleaning.

No one seemed remotely happy or interested in providing good service. To make matters worse, there was someone overseeing the restaurant, likely the manager or owner, who cleared one of our plates. When she came by, she was cold, distant, and not friendly—there was no effort to engage with us, ask how our food was, or make the experience more welcoming. As someone who has worked in the service industry for many years, I was deeply disappointed by the lack of professionalism and attentiveness across the board.

The food was slightly better but still underwhelming. The chicken bacon dip had potential but lacked seasoning—salt, pepper, and hot sauce were absolutely necessary to make it worthwhile.

Adding to the chaos, the music was absolutely jarring. Country music played in the front of the house while screamo/hard metal blared from the kitchen or back of the house. The clashing genres created a completely uncoordinated and chaotic atmosphere. I couldn’t help but feel bad for an elderly woman and her son sitting closer to the divide—if I was uncomfortable, I can only imagine how unbearable it must have been for them.

We had initially planned to order more food, but with all the above issues, we decided to cut our losses and leave. By the end of our meal, we couldn’t wait to get out of there.

To make matters worse, when I got home and opened the gingerbread whoopie pies I had ordered to go, they were completely dry and borderline inedible. At $2 a piece, they were inconsistent in size (as shown in the picture) and so old that I’ll have to repurpose them into cake balls or something of the sort just to salvage them—they’re currently sitting in my freezer so they don’t completely go to waste. There were only four left, so it was clear they’d been sitting for a while. While no one should assume that when purchasing, if they were nearing the end of their shelf life, they should have been discounted or removed from the menu altogether. Selling them at full price was completely unacceptable and does not reflect well on the restaurant.

For $24 per person, I expected at least decent champagne, attentive service, and a pleasant atmosphere. Instead, I got overpriced drinks, subpar food, and lackluster service. Even the management lacked warmth and attentiveness, which set the tone for a truly disappointing experience. Save your money and go somewhere that values its customers and takes pride in its service...

I have mixed feelings about this place. I’ll start with the good. Our service last night was great. We sat at the bar and our server was great; she was genuinely friendly and very attentive. There was plenty of staff on, and food arrived very timely. Wife had the short ribs which were amazing- you could tell the green beans were fresh. I started with the grilled cheese but sent it back for the ahi tuna, which was as good as the best I’ve had anywhere else. Baked feta left an impression; wife wants to make it at home. Cocktails were very nice and perfect for the season, and atmosphere was pretty good too. Brunch on Saturday was limited but what was presented looked excellent- they really put a lot into presentation. This place has serious potential.

Now the bad: the grilled cheese last night was NOT a grilled cheese. It was advertised as an Adult Grilled Cheese, with Brie! and several other cheeses; I think cheddar, mozzarella, provolone? As such, you would expect this to have MORE cheese than usual. Like almost sloppy with cheese. This one? Nope. There was hardly ANY cheese at all. What I got was more like a fancy BLT. I’ve had more cheese on cheap kids menu grilled cheese, and I’m not kidding at all. Recommendation: either drop this dish entirely, OR entirely dedicate to it: don’t just cover both slices of bread with cheese- make that stuff count! You call it Adult and include Brie. BRIE for gods sakes. Slather that stuff on there. Make the cheese ooze out the sides. Impress an adult, will you please? The other bad thing: they don’t obey the 5 Easy Pieces rule. If you have it in house, you should give it. The brunch the following morning was very limited, lacking most traditional offerings. I wanted to make my corn beef hash more brunch-like, so I asked for more eggs on side, which the dish already had. Nope. I was told no deviation from menu. This limitation did not affect last night, but brunch? Recommendation: drop your brunch entirely, or entirely commit. Otherwise, you risk annoying guests and getting reviews like this. I’ve been to very busy places that do the same, but this place does not command the same volume. No reason not to give the customer what they want in small town Ohio.

I was going to critique service during brunch too, but then I realized they were short staffed. They had only TWO waitresses running the restaurant and bar. One guy helping to run food. Who does this for brunch? This tells me the main limitation of this place is management.

Recommendation: either close your doors entirely, or entirely commit. You must have enough staff to run the place smoothly so your staff has a reason to smile genuinely, not be stressed. Anyway, these were my thoughts. Great potential with a lot of good. But still some...