Hudson's Restaurant — Restaurant in Hudson

I recently enjoyed my lunch during my first visit to Hudson's Restaurant & Catering located on the west side of Darrow Road/North Main Street/State Route 91 in Hudson, Ohio. There is limited free diagonal on-street parking in front of the restaurant. There is plenty of free off-street parking behind the restaurant (including a two level parking structure).

Hudson's Restaurant & Catering is located in the Hudson Business District. In the front window is a red sign with white lettering that proudly claims, "BEST FRENCH ONION SOUP IN TOWN". I have not ate at all the restaurants in Hudson. Hudson's Restaurant & Catering French Onion Au-Gratin soup is simply outstanding! They live up to their boast in my opinion. The broth has a tremendous depth of flavor and is loaded with consistently cut and bite sized onion pieces with no onion skins. The bread is an excellent choice. The blend of cheeses melted over the top of the bread taste great.

When you walk in the restaurant from the east side/Darrow Road side, you see the bar at the end of the entrance hall. As you approach the bar, there is a hostess station on your right in the center of the dining room. If you enter the restaurant from the west side/rear of the building, the restrooms are to your left. You walk down a long hallway, where the kitchen is behind the wall to your left, to the dining room. The staff is very good. The hostess greets you and guides you to your table. One busboy is on duty. The hostess assists the busboy in clearing tables. There are two servers on duty. My server, Aaron K., is tremendous. He is very friendly and does a great job of answering questions on the menu items. He covers many tables with a welcoming and attentive manner. He never just walks by one of his tables without making eye contact and seeing if the diner needs a refill or top-off of a beverage. Great job! The kitchen staff's passion for cooking is reflected in each dish served.

There were three menu items that particularly caught my interest. I will sample the others along with a crock of French Onion Au Gratin soup on future visits. This trip I ordered the Main Street Burger. The Main Street Burger is an 8 oz. Butcher Blend Beef Patty on a Brioche Bunn. The beef Patty is topped with slices of grilled mushrooms, caramelized onions and Swiss Cheese. I had to ask for lettuce and tomato slices to top off my burger. Aaron K. promptly brought the lettuce and tomato slices to me. The Main Street Burger is very tasty. Not in the same class as the French Onion Au Gratin.

I settled on a four star rating because the French Onion Au Gratin soup and the service set such a high standard and the Main Street Burger fell short of THAT standard. The burger is very tasty and prepared well - not exceptionally well. I am looking forward to tasting other menu items on future visits to Hudson's...

I had a horrible experience at Hudson’s yesterday that I’d like to share. During the “non-Blitzen’s season” my family and I go to Hudson’s regularly, at least 3-4 times per month. We often go there with my parents making us a table of five. Our favorite spot is the booth to the left of the Main St entrance. We live in the village so it is easy to walk there and my son calls it the “family restaurant.” He’s been wanting to see the Christmas decorations as it is now dressed up as Blitzen’s. We have tried to go several times and it has been an hour wait even on a weeknight for dinner and a 4 year old can’t realistically wait an hour and then also wait for dinner to be served. So we planned to go yesterday for lunch hoping it would be less busy. I had an appointment in twinsburg and my son was at an indoor playground with his babysitter. I planned to get to the restaurant at 11:30 and spend time catching up on work email while I waited for the rest of my family to arrive at noon. When I walked in all of the tables were empty. I asked for a table for four and they said they could not seat me until my full party arrived. I thought they were joking. I fully understand that policy when your restaurant is full and you need to move parties who are ready to sit down and eat but I didn’t understand this when the restaurant was empty. They also said I couldn’t sit at the bar because it wasn’t open. They wanted me to stand in the hallway and wait 30 mins for the rest of my party to arrive when I intended on spending this time alone and catching up on work. They said they would check with the manager and they still said no. I don’t understand why an empty restaurant would turn away a customer who wants to sit down for any reason. I then asked for a table for one and they said they couldn’t do that. I was so upset mainly for my son who had been wanting to see the decorations. I left and then contacted the restaurant, assuming that an owner or more experienced manager would reply to my concern with a more helpful option and they stood behind their “policy.” It wasn’t until I said I would be updating my google review, sharing my negative experience on social media and not returning to the restaurant that they offered to “put us on a waitlist” but at that point we were already at FlipSide where I had the opportunity to sit quietly and catch up on work while I waited for my family to join me. It’s unfortunate that the buzz of Blitzen’s has alienated some regular customers who go to the restaurant on the week nights when there is no wait during the off months. I will not be returning and will frequent Farmer’s Rail from now on where the food is much better for a marginal price difference and where we’ve never had an issue that the management didn’t attempt...

We hosted our wedding at Highfields Event Center (also amazing) in Hudson and Hudson’s Restaurant is on the list of preferred caterers! Joyce, Highfields’ owner, spoke very highly of their food and owner Kevin, so there was no question about it! I was planning my wedding from Virginia, so my first “meeting” with Kevin was a phone call. It is completely obvious that Kevin is very knowledgeable and passionate about his business! I felt like I was in good hands from the start! Even with just that first phone call Kevin advised on reception timelines, meal planning, and a myriad of other wedding elements. He knows the restaurant and food industry VERY well but is also incredibly knowledgeable about what it takes to host a seamless dinner reception and overall wedding reception, from placement of toasts and cake cutting to the logistics behind calling tables up for a buffet.

Since my husband and I couldn’t make it to the first tasting to finalize food and put down our deposit we had our mom’s and my grandma go. They did nothing but rave about how amazing the food was. And for my grandma to rave about food means something (seriously!). Leading up to the wedding Kevin answered all of my many questions about logistics and layouts. He was also very creative in meal plannings, especially when it came to our late night snack! We were originally going with a soft pretzel bar but upon the mention of us having a very Eastern European family he immediately suggested a pierogi bar! It was a HUGE hit!

Our wedding day went seamlessly! The team helped set up all of our dinner table centerpieces and decorations. They also helped fill the cookie and dessert table and cut our strudel and potica as we had it come in loaves. With COVID, the team was very accommodating, with simple acrylic shields at the buffet and the catering team serving portions, also wearing masks and gloves. They promptly picked up tables as guests finished food and were very attentive to my husband and I! Kevin was there and advised me on how to cut the cake before the cutting so I didn’t look silly! At the end of the night they also helped break down all centerpieces too! Such a big help!

I would 100% recommend Hudson’s Restaurant for your event’s catering, the food is amazing and the ownership and catering team is so friendly and...