Place: The Stew Pot
Quick Blurb:
The Stew Pot is, at the time of this review, a new restaurant that just had its Grand Opening. Choose from homemade soups, burgers or beer cooked hot dogs. The friendly, family atmosphere paired with really good, honest and affordable food, will make this a popular stop.
Review:
Appearance:
Located in an old office building, there isn’t much to the outside. When you walk in, the paint color creates a welcoming, warm feeling. There are some tables to your left and the counter directly in front of you, with the old-style soup pots to the side – very cool, although hidden behind some see through shelves. I’d like to see the pots as if on display – it’s a soup place, show off the soup! Everything screams family restaurant, which is something I haven’t found around the area yet – I like it!
I think that as time goes by, they may redesign the layout inside to be more accommodating when ordering and sitting. It just seemed a little cramped when ordering, and there were only three tables to sit at, albeit they were tables for four people. I think multiple, smaller, two person tables would be better. It didn’t bother me as it wasn’t crowded, but having only three tables to sit at will become a problem once the word gets around about how good the soups are!
Staff:
The lady that served us at the cashier was welcoming, and the gentleman (who I believe is the owner and chef) was very friendly. He takes great pride in his food – in fact the Beer Cheese soup that I ordered had some chunks of cheese in it that hadn’t melted completely. I wasn’t bothered by it and actually liked it a little, but it wasn’t how he wanted it to be served, so they gave me a complimentary to-go cup. Very nice touch – thank you!
Meal:
Appetizer:
None
Entrée:
I ordered a 16oz cup of the Beer Cheese soup (yes, soup on a hot summer’s day – and it was great!) and two of their Smoked Chicken Cheddar crescent rolls. Add on a can of soda and my total came to less than $5!
The Beer Cheese soup was so full of flavour. The sharp cheddar cheese (and perhaps another?) paired with the yeast/fermented taste of the beer reminded me of a cheese fondue. So good! I had a piece of a baguette on the side, but as I ordered two crescent rolls, I didn’t eat it.
The crescent rolls were really good! A good piece of smoked chicken with what tasted like Cajun spices and cheddar cheese wrapped up in pastry. The only thing I’d recommend changing was the presentation – they were served in a Tupper ware container that you opened and served yourself. It slightly turned me off and cramped up the ordering area as well. But ultimately, they were delicious!
Now onto my friend’s chili dog – holy cow! Now this is one massive hot dog that we cut in half and shared. All beef and cooked in beer. Served with a bunch of sausage chili on top made it quite the site to be seen. I’m personally not a hot dog man, so although it looked great and had some good flavours, I wouldn’t order one. But that’s simply based on my general feeling for hot dogs – which is why I didn’t get one myself. For hot dog lovers out there, give it a go and let me know what you think!
Desserts:
None
Drinks:
Soda was $0.75 for a can and water $0.50 for a bottle – cheap.
Prices:
Very affordable. My total meal was under $5 – a bargain for fresh, homemade food. You can’t even get a Subway foot-long and a drink for that price.
Overall Experience:
Situated on a one-way street made it a little difficult to figure out where to park and how to get there. Maybe it’s my lack of knowledge of downtown Akron and I hope that it doesn’t discourage people from coming because I really enjoyed my first time here. I’ll admit that I went in slightly biased towards wanting to like the place. But, my review is ultimately how I see it. The soup I had was very good and I will be going back to try their other styles. I overheard how he uses roast beef from the deli to make his Kansas City Steak soup – it almost made me order a cup right then and there, if I hadn’t been so full from the food already.
It’s a very satisfying place to go to and I can’t wait to warm up in the winter here. I’m sure as people start flocking, they’ll find a way to have more seating and an easier ordering area. But then again, maybe most of their customers are the To-Go type.
Good luck to The Stew Pot and check them out on Facebook!
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