Mark J. Price: Readers savor memories of Akron restaurants

It’s good to know that I’m not the only person with an appetite for Akron’s past. Apparently, I stirred up some hunger pangs with my column on 10 restaurants I miss from childhood.

Steve Shoemaker, 56, of Akron, who describes himself as “one of the most nostalgic people I know,” loves the old days and admits that he doesn’t care too much for change.

His family didn’t dine out often because his mother usually had supper ready by 5 p.m. when his father got home from work. But the restaurants they did visit hold special memories.

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For example: Lou & Hy’s on West Market Street at Wallhaven.

“What a great deli,” he wrote. “Great Reuben sandwich, great pickles, great cheesecakes! I still can’t believe it’s gone and replaced with a … CVS? Seriously?”

Shoemaker also doesn’t think he’ll ever get over the loss of Jack Horner’s on East Market Street.

“They had great breakfast food,” he noted. “It was always the Sunday morning place to be.”

One of his other favorites from childhood was the Brown Derby on Waterloo Road.

“It was the nicest place I had ever been as a kid,” Shoemaker wrote. “My Mom and I would almost make ourselves sick on the salad bar before our meal ever arrived. My Dad would always say he was embarrassed by our plates. Somehow, we still managed to finish our Gus’ Special steaks.”

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His favorite aunt, Margaret, would frequent Art’s Place after church and always ordered the bean soup and cornbread, but always with a glass of buttermilk. 

“How’s that for a combination?” he asked. “She thought it was wonderful!”

Other places he remembers fondly include  the Georgian Room at O’Neil’s and the Harvest House Cafeteria in Woolworth’s at Chapel Hill Mall.

“Such great memories,” he concluded. “Thanks for listening to me wax sentimental, and keep the nostalgic articles coming. They are appreciated.”

Thanks from the family

Bill Owen appreciated the mention of Jack Horner’s. His family owned it for more than 50 years.

William and Vickie Owen purchased the restaurant in 1947, and their son, also named William, and grandson, also named William, worked there, too, along with a host of other family members.

Bill, the grandson of William and Vickie, said the underlying factor that helped make the family-style restaurant so successful was the great people who worked there and the loyal customers.

“I made so many friendships with the customers and my co-workers that mean so much to me,” he wrote. “All of us that worked there were like family and not a day goes by that I don’t think of my times and memories that I had there.”

More food for thought

Mindy Aleman would like to know the name of the steak and eggs place on East Market Street that may have been open 24 hours a day. It wasn’t too far from Jack Horner’s.

“I fell in love with the huge batter-fried onion rings that melted in your mouth,” she wrote. “Maybe the flour was actually pancake flour? I’m not 100% sure of the restaurant’s name but to this day, no other fried onion rings can compare. Bring on the batter!”

Marilyn Costanzo added two more restaurants to our fast-growing list of fondly remembered restaurants: Sanginiti’s on East Market Street and Capri Pizza at Highland Square.

“My husband and I started our own New Year’s celebration,” she wrote. “Heck with the sauerkraut. We took our four kids and headed for Sanginiti’s for pasta on New Year’s Day.”

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Sanginiti’s closed in 1990 after 40 years. The Haven of Rest built a dormitory on the site.

Ray Sanginiti founded Capri Pizza in 1966 and operated it for more than 20 years. It’s the place that introduced me to jo-jo potatoes. The shop closed in 2017.

Anne Robins and Donna Lewis Paola wanted us to know that The Ramp, a Portage Lakes restaurant at Sandy Beach Marina, uses the bean soup recipe from Art’s Place.

Ernie Genovese, the owner of Art’s Place, was the patriarch of the family who owns the marina and restaurant. The Ramp also serves Art’s signature salad made with iceberg lettuce, bacon, shredded cheese and tomato served with sweet and sour dressing.

“The bean soup is just as I remember when Art’s Place was open,” Robins wrote.

Quick bites

Becky Migdal remembers dining at the Georgian Room in the downtown O’Neil’s store as well as Georgian West at Summit Mall.

“I loved the hot dog and the ice cream roll smothered in hot fudge and covered in nuts,” she said. “Oh, how I miss these places."

Mike Bianco always ate the beef stroganoff when he dined at Nick Yanko’s restaurant. The most memorable meal, however, was the flaming-sword shish kebab “served in a fiery presentation by a tall man in flowing robes and turban,” he wrote.

The Highland Square restaurant burned down in 1969. No, it wasn’t the flaming swords: The fire began in the basement. Yanko’s reopened at Fairlawn Plaza and operated well into the 1990s.

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If Susanna Freeman could go back in time, she would pay a visit to Gareri’s Spaghetti House on South Main Street in downtown Akron.

Fred Gareri opened the restaurant in 1934 and his son Aurelio took over in 1964 after his father’s death. The restaurant closed in 1977, and DaVinci's and Perfect Pour occupy the space today.

“Best spaghetti ever,” Freeman wrote.

Mark J. Price can be reached at mprice@thebeaconjournal.com.