American Heritage
 Seville, Ohio        Date of Visit  01/11/13         No Known Website

We had just stopped in at Mike’s Main Street Frank’s and on the way out stopped into the American Heritage Restaurant which sits right next door. They told us they make their own soups and have pies from the local Mennonite folk so we figured we would give them a shot in the near future. The future is now. Arriving past the lunch hour we found the place empty except for a single booth whose conversation highlighted the difficulties the government would have in taking people’s firearms…especially in Seville apparently.
 

Homey Feel, Except For The Smell
 

The square room with booths against the walls and tables in the center is covered in antique signs for everything from motorcycles to farm equipment. There is a distinct unpleasant odor that competes with the aroma of food right when you walk in the door, my guess would be carpet. There are two people working, one male and one female. Well, working is a relative term.

The guy must be the owner of the place, no one would be paying him for meandering around aimlessly, he might have been cooking. Our server was friendly and attentive, even if she was confused from time to time.

We ordered their “famous” chili, a shake referred to as “cleverly cinnamon”, the fish sandwich special and Maryland chicken. The chicken was served with a salad and while the salad was somewhat sad, the dressings were thick and rich and served to boost the anemic lettuce.

 

The shake wasn’t bad. It was good ice cream and a fair dose of cassia (what most of us think of as cinnamon) but that was it. It was cinnamony but far from clever. The chili was actually deep and delicious. Sweet and tang combined with the acidity of the tomato and then evolved into the warmth of chili and spice. Whoever is making the soups probably ought to be in charge of the rest of the menu.

The Maryland Chicken was breaded and appeared to be pan fried. It was piping hot and had a forward herbaciousness fried into the crust. It tasted pretty good but was very plain both in how it was laid on the plate and how it sat on the palate. The way it sat next to the mash on the plate made me think they have been cooking for a child with an obsession about their food touching for years. I was actually fine with the plainiocity of the chicken, the place is named American Heritage after all, but then you try the out of the box mash with yellow gravy salty enough to make your taste buds dig fox holes to recoil into for safety. If you want a pass on the chicken from the 50’s then don’t you dare serve instant mash. You can’t have both. The fish had obviously been seasoned by the gravy creator, saltier than Utah. Add to that some not quite done limp and mealy fries and it wasn’t as much of a deal as it seemed on the special board.
 

We were disappointed to see only one pie on the menu board on the sidewalk, pecan. I haven’t had pecan since former family of mine changed my taste about a lot of things. So pie was out, hence the shake. Steph later noticed the special board inside was different, oh, so is the one on the other wall. And none of them were right, neither was the staff with their first two lists…eventually we learned they had apple and cherry and went with one of each. The apple wasn’t bad but the fruit still had the skin on which is both unappetizing and lazy to me. That being said it tasted pretty good. The cherry wasn’t nearly as successful. The crust was mealy and damp, the cherries were tasty but the juice in the filling had been thickened just shy of play dough consistency, I’ve had better freezer pies. I would try some of the other soups but I don’t expect there is enough of anything else on the menu that would bring me back to Seville to give them a shot.