Route 52 Diner — Restaurant in Orrville

Ate here with family yesterday. Overall a positive experience. I ordered their gyro platter with fries and onion rings as my second side. I also, because I have no self control, ordered some baklava for dessert.

First off, the fries. They were fresh cut fries, but had some real crispiness to them. I'm used to my fresh cut fries being droopy, but these weren't at all. And they were lightly seasoned, which was perfect.

Then the onion rings. They were made from whole onions, not processed and reformed onions that you get at cheap restaurants. (AKA frozen garbage.) They had a solid crunch and good flavor. The dipping sauce though, my goodness it's delicious. I could drink it by itself it's so good.

Highly recommend both the fresh cut fries and onion rings.

The gyro platter though, first off, it's massive. I was definitely overfilled by the time I had cleaned my plate. Especially considering you get two sides. Personally, I'd like to see them offer the meal with fries and a dessert as opposed to a second side.

But that's just my preference.

The gyro protein is tasty and seasoned well. But I can't lie, it does put me off a little when they say it's a mix of pork and lamb. I don't remember that being an option at any other Greek restaurant I've been to. Is that to help keep costs down? Is it to help prevent waste between proteins? Is that actually done for flavor or consistency reasons?

No clue. I personally couldn't tell. But it's different and should be noted at least.

The veggies were fresh and the dressing over them was appropriate. The pita was crisp on the outside and soft on the inside, exactly as it should be.

The baklava was kind of disappointing. It had really good flavor, but it was so soggy. I'm used to the top few layers of my baklava being crispy. This had the same consistency when I get an order of baklava at Jungle Jim's and by the third day the last piece or two have just soaked up all the honey to the very brim.

Great flavor, but wish it was crispier.

That being said, for the $21 spent on this meal, no real complaints. The value is there, as is the flavor.

Also, it's comical seeing the staff attempt to explain Greek recipes to 60+ year old men at the bar who have never ventured more than five miles outside of Kidron, Ohio. Absolute gold.

Big win here and a huge value. Will be back to try out...

After reading great reviews (along with several negative ones) we were looking forward to a great burger at luch on 8/6/24. However, this was how two of our patties were served (double meat burger). I know some people would eat this not being very cooked, but we do not. There are reasons restaurants in different states require a burger to be cooked to medium well. After not being able to catch our waitress' attention, I took the plate to the counter where she was chatting (flirting) with another customer and totally ignored me. FINALLY I got here attention and she was very rude. Told me they couldn't take it back and could fix a new one. I told her just to charge us for a single patty on one of the burgers and we would be fine. She agreed. The ticket had been left on our table when food was served - so she NEVER returned to fix the ticket nor give us refills. We ALWAYS leave a tip, as it is not the waitress' fault if the cook messes up. However, it is the waitress' fault if they do not serve you and take care of you. I finally approached the male cahsier (who may have been the owner or manager) and gave him the ticket. I told him I was paying the entire bill even though it should have bee reduced, and told him to tell the waitress she purposely did not receive a tip. I showed him a pic of the rare patty and he told me that was how they served them and had been told to do so by their market - medium well. I told him in Texas that was not medium well and walked out. Eat there at your own risk and ask for a well...

An epic disappointment. To be honest, I didn't expect much, which should have meant my expectations would have been easily exceeded. It was a Saturday afternoon, the restaurant was NOT very busy. I had the Mystery Stew and onion rings, my wife had a chicken sandwich with fries. The waitress was reasonably attentive, but the kitchen was wicked slow getting orders out. Over 30 minutes after ordering the food finally arrived. The Mystery Stew (chunks of beef, onions, peppers, in gravy) was pretty good. My onion rings arrived in a bowl with about 1/4" of oil in the bottom of the bowl. Whoever cooked and plated the onion rings should be fired! My wife's chicken sandwich was some sort of processed meat, but it didn't resemble chicken of any kind. It looked more like veal than chicken. It made the cafeteria chicken back in high school look like a gourmet meal. And of course, the fries were cold.

Route 52 has lots of potential, but its very much untapped. I won't be surprised to see them soon on...