The Whatchamacallit
 Barberton, Ohio         Date of Visit: 07/01/16         Facebook Page

Found a new movie theater. No crowds, my fav. We stopped for dinner on the way home from a matinee. Just one block from the monster burgers at Hodges Cafe, The Whatchamacallit Facebook page offers more of the same. It’s another long thin building. Online it says they are family friendly. They aren’t family unfriendly but it has a pretty traditional bar feel, more so than restaurant. The employees, though, are seriously friendly, or were to us at least. At first it seemed the bartender was the only employee but there was someone frying everything in the kitchen. Everything. We ordered the Barberton takes on poutine, meatball sub, and Hawaiian burger.
 

More Bar Than Restaurant Inside
 

We’ve had much better poutine but this version wasn’t bad. Fries, brown gravy, bacon, cheese, fried egg, fine. I missed the squeaky cheese curds but he cheddar shreds were passable and the gravy was neither extraordinary not terrible. It’ll do. The burger (bacon wrapped & fried, it’s their thing) could have used some seasoning in the patty but the house honey bbq sauce and thick slices of griddled pineapple improved the situation. The fries were chilly but the same darkly fried sticks from the poutine (probably fried at same time and delivered later).

Then things went awry. The burger needed seasoning, the meatballs were maimed by it. I’ve seen folks stretch meatballs with bread products and other filler. I’ve never seen anyone attempt it with oregano. Stunning, like a face of mace stunning. The banana peppers and mozz were fine but their marinara was more paste than sauce, which evoked some fear in both of us. Nice folks, but there’s some work to be done on the food front before they challenge Hodges.