One of my last regular trips between Cuyahoga
Falls and Kent and I’m dragging Steph along because my car is in the
shop so she is stuck for the long haul. Hoping to add more adventure
than drag to the afternoon we swing into Eddy’s Deli after having
passed it more times than I would be able to remember. The interior
is pretty well put together and an at least passable attempt has
been made to keep everything clean during lunch. We were greeted at
the door by a woman I would describe kindly as brusque.
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She did usher us quickly to a table where we were served by a much more personable staff member. We tried a couple soups and a couple of sandwiches…it is a deli. The soup du jour was a chicken dumpling. The dumplings were enormous and doughy but the soup itself was thin for me, as far as flavor is concerned. There were a few chunks of carrot, some chicken but the broth itself didn’t do much but float the carrots and dumplings.
I got a cup of the firehouse chili which was
the opposite of the chicken soup. This bean and beef concoction was
so thick I was a little surprised the spoon came out, the spoon
arrived protruding from the stew like Excalibur from the stone. It
wasn’t a problem at all as the chili was also much more textured in
flavor. It had all of the tastes you would expect with tomato,
beans, beef and layers of spice. What was nice about this cup was
the nearly perfect (for me, at least) dose of fire. The heat from
the chili seemed to pop up and disappear and pop up somewhere else;
sort of like playing whack-a-mole. It made every spoon interesting. |
Thick & Flavorful Firehouse Chili |
The Roast Beef With Cheddar & Pretzel Bun |
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Good But Lacked Magical Beefy Flavor... |
But Aided By Sharp Vinegary Horseradish |
Sandwiches arrived just was we were finishing
with the soups, the kitchen seems well timed. Steph ordered the
roast beef which the menu states the chef recommends be served with
horseradish. She also added Cheddar cheese and a pretzel bun. The
roast beef was thinly sliced and lean and while it was tasty (it
really was) there are just more beefy tasting slices of beef, they
are rare but they do exist. We’ve just been lucky enough to
encounter that rare flavor in a few sandwiches to make others pale
and this one paled. The cup of prepared horseradish did bring life
to the sandwich which together with the bun, cheese, lettuce and
tomato slice made for a tasty combination. Not the best but good. |
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Our Server Said It Was The Best Thing On The Menu |
Sure Does Look Pretty |
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I went with the Reuben classic to which our
server responded cheerily, “It’s the best thing on the menu.” It
arrived like it knew it was going to have its picture taken. From
the bottom up there was a slice of grilled rye, then a couple inches
of thinly sliced and lean corned beef, topped with about a half inch
of kraut. Typical construction would be finished with the final
slice of rye but this one featured a second dose of corned beef. It
also came with a couple service cups of Russian dressing so you
could control the goop ration on the sandwich. It looks great. It
tastes close to great. Really good would describe it. I enjoy corned
beef and the stronger the pickling the higher the yum factor. The
corned beef here has a touch too much for me. It’s wonderfully dark
and dusky but is a shade too sharp. Outside of that the sandwich is
really good, it’s not Primo’s or
Slyman’s but it stands up well. Overall,
Eddy’s proved to be above average for area delis but won’t crack the
top tier. |
Ratings | |||||||
Food |
Service |
Ambiance |
What's Best |
What's Worst |
Overall |
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B | C | C+ | B | D | C+ | ||
Chili & Reuben | Beef & Chicken Soup |