Shisler's Cheese House
 Akron, Ohio        Date of Visit  10/02/14        http://www.shislerscheesehouse.com 

This little shop in Copley has been on our list for years now and with one of the last summery looking days in the forecast we hopped on the bike and toured the back roads on the way to lunch. The space is divided into three areas, the deli, the grocery and the wine shop. Tables are scattered throughout the back with the wines.
 

Local Wine Shop
 

The edible goods in the middle section would once have been quite the draw with their boutique options but there is little you couldn’t find at a Giant Eagle nowadays. The deli is a little more unique. Every meat and cheese is attached to specific higher-end producers like Boar’s Head. You order at the counter and everything is brought to whatever table you choose. The service is friendly but disjointed, they do however trust you to pay on your way out the door and don’t seem to be paying much attention…Copleyites must be generally honest. We also walked over to Grandpa’s Candy Shop in the same complex. No candy you couldn’t find at the gas station, but full of other crap like plush grumpy cats. I wouldn’t bother.

On a side note I had my first blood orange San Pelligrino, or as they would call it, Aranciata Rossa. I’ve had the lemon before which was fine but this version seemed to have the entire fruit in the mineral water. Sweet and tangy with the punch of zest and a little bitter from the pith, it was tasty and refreshing.
 

We ordered soup, mac & tater salads, their Reuben, an Irish Plowman’s, and the Amish Sub. The soup was a wild mushroom and brie chowder which turned out to be a thick and tasty combo of earthy fungus and subtle cheese. There were a couple of shroom chunks that hadn’t been completely freed of their woody stems making for unpleasantly chewy surprises but over all the chowder was nicely done. Both the mac and tater salads were bound with a sweetened and generally clean mayo base, not bad but nothing of note.

The Rueben, ordered with extra cheese, was not bad. The beef had more of a tangy cure than the deep dusky stuff that I favor, but it was very lean and thinly sliced. Area Swiss along with sauerkraut and Thousand Island dressing rounded out the stuffing between the sourdough rye bread. Fine but won’t compete with many of the awesome versions we have enjoyed.
 

The plowman’s was ordered on rye and consisted of slices of medium sharp cheddar and a schmear of sweet and tangy mango chutney. The chutney nicely balances the salty sharpness of the cheese but it has trouble staying between the bread and cheese, quickly turning it into a plain ol’ cheddar on rye.

Then there’s Shisler’s Amish Sub. Apparently their own creation, I haven’t seen it anywhere before, of back country meat concotions. I enjoyed it, it’s unique, I would be cautious about recommending it to most folks, it does have a unique taste. The standard stuff consists of a sub bun, Streb’s hickory-smoked ham, Holmes County Swiss and Colby cheeses and a smear of honey mustard. Pretty good. Then comes the interesting.

A couple of years ago The Donald and I took a bike ride down through Ohio Amish Country and stopped in at the 18th century Trail bologna smokehouse and 19th century store. Rickety chest coolers filled with their signature bologna logs of varying circumference, a well worn counter for dining on sandwiches of the same hickory smoked meat slurry. The Trail stuff is different than your plastic-cased supermarket bologna, in the ball park but better.

Next, Lebanon bologna. This stuff looks like salami, it ain’t. Beef sausage which is cured, smoked and fermented, resulting in a smoky and tangy flavor. Lots of tangy things at Shisler’s I guess. All three meats, the cheeses and the little bit of honey mustard make for a sandwich you wont find anywhere else. It’s definitely worth a try, whether you end up liking it or not. Kinda like Shisler’s.