Hopocan Gardens — Restaurant in Norton

2023 UPDATE: Stopped in for a dine-in experience with some kids that came back into town and wanted something "local." The chicken dinner changed from all the tiny, bone-rich pieces that I mentioned in my older post below and moved to traditional classic meals of wing, leg, thigh and breast with 2 sides and fries. My mother had a memory flashback from years ago and decided to order a bowl of paprikash dumplings for the table to share. Bad idea. The dumplings were beautifully done, fluffy and rich, about the size of a duck egg, very well done.... Until we got to the paprikash sauce, which was literally hungarian paprika and water, one of the worst sauces I've been served in a long time. Not even close to a paprikash sauce, which can include lard, garlic, onion, chicken broth, sour cream (depending on ethnicity) and other ingredients, culminating in a thickened sauce that actually lends something to the otherwise bland dumplings. In short, skip the paprikash until they decide at some point to make a proper sauce and freeze in portions (which works for paprikash) for quick service so that the guests aren't just buying a $8 bowl of flour, water and paprika. Yes to the chicken, no to the paprikash, no to their new 4% upcharge for payment by card.

Stopped by on a recent Saturday night about 7:30 PM and was surprised to see only 2 seated tables in the entire restaurant, with 5 people waiting in line for to-go orders. Placed my order and settled in for the wait, as all tickets are prepared to order. I received my order sooner than expected, and headed out. When I opened the order, I observed the frying oil thickly pooling in the corners of the box. Chicken was properly and freshly cooked, with a smaller than expected double side of fries.

I think we may have reached the time when 2 smallish whole wings cut in half and a pair of skinny chicken backs should no longer be considered 6 out of the 12 pieces of chicken in the box, or 2 of the 4 pieces in a dinner. I know it's been the tradition for literally forever, I do - I've been visiting since the early '70s. I am a great fan of traditions, but more importantly, I am even more in favor of a restaurant having more than 2 tables seated in the middle of a sunny, beautiful Saturday night dinner service. I was there in the decades when a 30-45 minute wait to be seated for every Saturday dinner was expected. In my opinion, far fewer people today are interested in paying $12-$15 with beverage and tip for 2 full-size pieces of chicken, plus half a wing and a back served up with a healthy...

I was quite hungry and made my way to DeVore's Hopican Gardens Resturaunt. I was greeted by a seven foot chicken on the front porch to which I made a mental note to do an interesting photo-op later.

I seated myself in a booth with a bench that felt like the back of a 1950's patty wagon. My server just back from a smoke break kindly greeted me. I told my server I would like to try the Chicken Paprikash. She took a seat across from me and very solemnly said," I really would not recommend that you do that." Though slightly taken aback by this, I gratefully asked what would you order? She ultimately steered me towards the Classic 2 piece dark dinner with 3 sides....chicken fries coleslaw and hot rice

I observed the other diners devouring their meals with lip smakin delight and my mind fantasized about the sumptuous feast that would soon arrive. Words fail to describe the utter dismay I felt when she plopped down my plate of food.

The 1st thing I noticed was an obscene pile of fries.... greasy soggy seasoned fries that would seriously feed a family of six The watered down bowl of hot rice was hauntingly reminiscent of what one might imagine Korean prisoners of war would be force fed .The coleslaw showed promise but it too did not fail to disappoint.

The chicken, which oddly came as 4 pcs, was remarkable in that no piece even closely resembled chicken parts as I have come to know them. I would like to point out that if any of my buddies are looking into LineX bed liner for the back of the pickup truck you may want to consider looking into this economical alternative.The coating was nearly 1/4" thick and bullet proof. I peeled away the layers and the meat was in fact moist and digestible.

Now, I have a cast iron stomach but, I was unable to eat more than a couple fries and the strange tasting coleslaw and the not so hot Hot Rice.seriously left me feeling shaky& disoriented. The wheat bread and water was amazing.

I am however extremely dissapointed most about the fact that I missed out on my photo-op with the chicken because I was distracted by the nearly flat tire on my car.My day did not play out quite like I imagined but this liver detox from the Dollar General should...

Ok, I have been goin to this place, since I was a kid. I had to edit my comment, since I have eaten there, since then. And, the food was just like it was, back when I was a kid! Well, the size's, were a bit smaller, since I am like 4ft taller, than I was, when I first went there, with my family!(LOL) But, the chicken was great(I love the breast and back section's, they are my favorite's!) and the hot sauce(I call it hot rice), cole slaw & fries were like I remembered them, back in the day, as well. The staff was great, as well. The chicken was super juicy and the breading was cooked perfectly! When I move back down to Texas, there will only be like, 3 place's, that I am going to miss, here in Ohio. And, this is definitely 1 of them! But, I would definitely have to stop in here, to get me some of that great chicken, when I would come back for a visit, with some friend's and family member's! I would literally travel from Cleveland, or even Columbus airport's, just to get some of this chicken! And, I would definitely recommend this to anyone(And, I actually do! LOL), that is traveling by Barberton, or live's within a drive's time! Don't forget, when you get the bucket's of chicken, you can save their purchase seal's, on the boxes and if you collect 20 of those seal's, you can get a free bucket of chicken! As well as, you get a $1.00 off your next bucket, with the other seal/coupon, that you can either tear, or cut out of the...