The Best New Restaurant in Akron, Ohio: Rocky River Grillhouse

Any town's restaurant scene can get boring after a while. Sometimes if you're fortunate enough to get a new place in your area, it's another version of Applebee's or Bennigan's. Residents of Akron, Ohio, finally got a new choice this winter with the debut of Rocky River Grillhouse at Chapel Hill Plaza.

Rocky River Grillhouse is located at the site of the old "Cooker" restaurant. That place never got off the ground because it had no identity and never advertised. It relied on word-of-mouth advertising that went like this:

"What's the name of that one restaurant?"

"I forget."

I will always remember Cooker fondly, however, because that's where my wife told me I was going to become a daddy. She had the waitress bring a covered dish, and when I opened it there was a positive pregnancy test inside. She had another waitress hiding around the corner to photograph my reaction. I was so overcome with joy that I couldn't eat my dinner.

So Rocky River Grillhouse didn't have a tough act to follow when it came to food. My wife and I recently went there for lunch and enjoyed ourselves very much. Our waiter, Bobby, was very friendly and welcoming. The bar area was neat and organized. Most importantly, the bathrooms were spacious and spotless.

If you want to try something different for an appetizer, you can go for the Grilled Asiago Portobello for $7. It's stuffed with spinach and artichoke and topped with melted cheese.

As far as entrees go, the Grillhouse specializes in steak and fresh fish. You can get your steak with one of five toppings: bleu-cheese butter; garlic-herb butter; roasted garlic and olive oil; Portobello wine sauce; and "steak sauce" butter.

The four regulars on the fish menu are salmon, tilapia, ruby trout and mahi-mahi. You can get toppings on your fish, too. The choices are lemon-butter sauce, citrus-ginger glaze and tropical salsa.

The design of the building is that of a log home. It's a comfortable, clean environment and the food is very tasty. I'm looking forward to going there again sometime.