Larry's Main Entrance
 Akron, Ohio        Date of Visit  06/07/13       No Known Website 

As you may have noticed we had sort of surrendered the fantasy of finding a go to Friday Fish Fry place in the area having tasted so much disappointing fishy fare. Well, I may have periods of pessimistic detachment but it turns out, hope springs eternal and as soon as Steph says what about a fish place the hunt continues. I actually discovered you could punch Friday fish fry into yelp and get options. The top result was a new place so off we went.
 

One Wall Adorned With Old Projectors, Never Seen That Before
 

Larry’s Main Entrance is almost indiscernible from the fancy dancy Ken Stewarts Grille next door which may explain why I never saw the place in many trips up or down Main Street. There is a little parking lot behind the building and we are quickly inside of a wonderfully quaint little spot. Outside of being small and cramped, if I were a hang out in a bar kinda guy I would want a place that looks like this. Dark with good lighting the smooth wear of old wood, small clutches of regulars drinking or dining, a couple of tvs to catch things of interest, if the fish is good we might have found our Cheers.

The service was confusing. I don’t know if they typically have a staff since our Friday outings are very early for dinner but everything today was being done by a single dude. He was strangely active and inefficient, one stop at the table would be friendly the next would be robotic and disinterested, he kept up with everything and let a lot of things slide. He was lightly odd and had a lot to do, manning both the entire bar and the floor all by his lonesome but the swings in personality were weird and unexplained.
 

We ordered some wings, a cup of soup, a burger and a AYCE fried fish special. One the strong side was the burger and the soup. The soup was the daily special and the board called it a crab bisque, I would describe it as more of a costal chowder, but it did have sufficient crabbiness running through its cream base. What made it more of a chowder to me were the cubes of potato, kernels of corn and other bits of veggie floating in the bowl. Along with the seasoning profile its more familiar with clams than crab but it still tasted pretty good and had just about a perfect consistency. Yelpers had raved about the wings and the burgers, they weren’t completely off with the burger. Steph ordered the bleu and bacon. The patty was nicely done and well seasoned, the dressing had nice punches of stinky cheese, the bacon was crispy and bacon (how else do you describe bacon, no way to improve on that word) it was a good sandwich. The bun was outstanding, sesame coated, grilled a toasty brown on the slice and maybe swabbed with a little brush of butter, it was a good burger with a fabulous wrapping.
 

Much less successful were the wings and the fish. I could quickly tell which Yelpers were writing just about dinner and those who were dining towards the end of a six hour binge. The wings were undercooked and flabby and resting in a watery thin sauce with more vinegar than spice. I would definitely avoid those if we ever returned. The fish was every bit as bad. The crisped batter looked really promising and it was alright but it couldn’t help the wet, greasy, mushy porridge that the fish itself had become. I would have picked off the batter and left the fish but that seemed rude. Top all that off with the tragic fries on both plates and a return trip is unlikely. I can’t imagine how you get a potato and fryer oil to turn out like this but the best description I can think of is chewable Lincoln logs. Horrifying.

Steph took one more shot with their homemade baklava which while nowhere near as bad as Kiflis, failed to impress. Larry's Main Entrance is a sharp little place but I hope they can pull a draft way better than they fry food.