Delanie's Grille
 Akron, Ohio        Date of Visit  08/09/14       http://www.mydelaniesgrille.com 

Delanie’s Grille doesn’t come up on any of the typical internet restaurant sites I usually use to find new places. It popped up on the map and I found the menu to be intriguing. There’s a certain cheekiness about the place and the menu was rangier than most bars…maybe the food would be fun and better than most too. Located just off of the circle in Tallmadge, Delanie’s is pretty nice inside, clean, lots of tv’s showing the Little League World Series. The servers are probably a little better than the average bar staff but average overall for a restaurant. This seems like a place with a lot of regulars, and we are not them. Most of the patrons seem like middle class Harley riders able to afford expensive shiny bikes for weekend rides. We started with two cups of soup and pierogies.
 

Only The Shape Betrayed The Fact A Pierogie Hid Beneath Burnt Crust
 

The pierogie were potato and cheese with a unique finish. They were breaded and fried. This was the first hint that the fryer oil needs cleaned and filtered or replaced. The very dark brown crust carried the flavor of scorched everything else from the fryer. You really couldn’t taste the pierogie.

Steph tried the lobster bisque. It seems like they are having trouble holding the creamy soup. It arrived barley luke warm and even then it seemed to have started separating. Not a bad cup, it had nuggets of overdone lobster and a fair shellfishy and brandied broth but didn’t really scream of lobster. It did however have something else going for it, a forward and warming punch of spice. Most lobster bisques we’ve tried shy away from that kind of bite but it worked really well with the rich and creamy soup.

The beer cheese soup was delivered hot and topped with some salty croutons. This stuff was thick with cheese and beer, at least one of which had a note of smoke to it. A definite improvement over the bisque.
 

Steph ordered the chicken parmesan. I wish we had the pierogie before ordering the chicken, since it arrived with the same breading and therefore, flavor as the potato pillows. The angel hair pasta was done well but the house marinara sauce was mostly nearly raw and acidic tomato chunks and so much basil and other herbs it was getting close to pepper spray discomfort. A definite pass…the ambiance felt like a restaurant...the food felt like seedy bar.
 

The menu listed “The National Hamburger Festival’s 1st Place Winner.” The original cheeseburger wrap is described as being loaded with everything. It says you may never eat a “regular” burg again. The festival takes place in Akron Ohio. I’ve never been but it seems that all of the contestants in the National contest are from the area. Hmmmmm. Realistically the wrap is a cheesier Big Mac with tomato (think sauce, lettuce, pickles, crumbled patty, etc.) in a thin and lightly crisp flour tortilla. It’s actually pretty good, especially with the reduced bread to burger ratio, but national winner is going to involve some pretty active delusion. Add some nice fries and it works but wouldn’t make me drive great distances for a repeat. We had high hopes for Delanie’s which probably hurt overall. It’s a nice bar with typically flawed bar food.