A beef patty stuffed with shrimp, the Akron Burger that celebrates the area’s tastes, and a Korean BBQ hamburger.
Sure, you’ll be able to get a traditional burger at this weekend’s National Hamburger Festival in downtown Akron. This is the 11th year for the celebration of the all-American treat that some say was invented by the Menches brothers of Akron in the 1880s.
And as in past years, you’ll also be able to stretch your taste buds. Punch in the Mouth Burger, anyone?
“It has a loyal following,” said Charly Murphy, owner of Akron’s Stray Dog Carts, noting that he sold it at last year’s fest.
“Cheetos are inside the burger and on top, and it has a housemade hot sauce called the Wrath of Dog,” he said, pointing to a Punch in the Mouth Burger at a promotional event Tuesday at Canal Park stadium in downtown.
Murphy also created the Akron Burger, whose ingredients include chipped chopped ham and Lawsons chip dip, and is garnished with a sauerkraut ball.
There will be 20 restaurants and food trucks with operations in Northeast Ohio — serving up dozens of different types of burgers. Hours are from noon to 11 p.m. Saturday and noon to 7 p.m. Sunday. Admission to the event, in and around Lock 3, is $5; children under 8 are free.
Other vendors will sell festival fare such as ice cream, kettle corn, funnel cakes and fresh lemonade.
Of course, Menches Bros. is returning. The Green restaurant has participated each year, and has several offerings including its Glory Burger, with grilled onions, mushrooms and Swiss cheese. The eatery is owned by descendants of Frank and Charles Menches, Akron natives who maintained they invented the hamburger at the Erie County Fair in New York in 1885.
Co-owner John Menches won’t make this year’s festival, his sister and co-owner Linda Menches noted. But he has a good excuse. He’ll be at the Erie County Fair in Hamburg, N.Y., where his burger-making ancestors will be honored.
Other returning vendors include Sammie’s Bar & Grill of Tallmadge, Smoke the Burger Joint of Jackson Township and Carrollton and Billy’s Hut of Plain Township, which will cook up vegan burgers and appetizers.
New this year is Dave’s Dinners, a carryout place that opened on Copley Road in Akron last year. Owner Dave Quarterman will offer beef patties and turkey patties, each stuffed with shrimp.
“It’s the same concept” as a surf and turf, he said. “But it’s something on the go.”
Quarterman has long attended the festival. This time, he’s excited to participate, marketing his new business that also offers items like chicken wings and hand-cut fries.
Newbie Square Scullery, the food truck based in Akron’s Highland Square neighborhood, typically doesn’t offer burgers, but “we’re getting ourselves out there,” owner Matt Ulichney said.
Its menu does include Korean BBQ ribs, and for the festival Ulichney will offer a Korean BBQ burger, with ingredients such as cilantro, sesame seed oil and fresh ginger. It’s topped with pickled mustard seed and Fresno chili peppers candied in a mixture of green tea and sugar. Ulichney also will cook up burgers featuring guajillo chili peppers for this weekend’s event.
The city-sponsored festival retains its quirky charm, with a “Bobbing for Burgers” contest (3 p.m. both days), a hamburger-eating contest and more. A schedule — including the live music lineup — is on the festival’s Facebook page and at www.hamburgerfestival.com.
The new Buckeye Brewfest will run from noon to 7 p.m. Sunday. It is included in festival admission; drinkers pay an additional fee for samples of various sizes.
Last year’s festival attracted an estimated 18,000 people over the two days. The festival is organized by Drew Cerza, a founder of the National Buffalo Wing Festival in Buffalo, N.Y. A portion of proceeds goes to Akron Children’s Hospital.
More fest news: Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan issued a proclamation Tuesday proclaiming this weekend to be National Hamburger Festival Weekend.
Crave to open in Falls
Crave, the 11-year-old downtown Akron restaurant known for its adventurous, moderately priced food, is planning a spinoff in Cuyahoga Falls.
Crave Cantina will debut next spring at 2097 Front St., on the pedestrian mall the city plans to reopen to two-way traffic by 2018. The decades-old building most recently housed Firehouse Grille & Pub, which closed last year. It will be near the cozy Cashmere Cricket bar.
In an email, Crave touted a Cantina menu offering “global tacos, Latin fare, craft cocktails and Crave hospitality.”
Crave folks will offer a preview of the food at the Aug. 26-27 Falls Better Block on the mall. The event — modeled after successful programs in Akron — is designed to show the potential of the underused area and will feature pop-up businesses, food vendors and live music.
The event will run from 5 to 11 p.m. Aug. 26 and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Aug. 27. For more information, go to Falls Better Block Facebook page.
How to find Chill
The address of the new Chill Ice Cream Co. in downtown Akron is 30 N. High St., but you can’t get there from there — High Street, that is.
In last week’s column, I said Chill was next to the Nightlight cinema and the new Akron Coffee Roasters on High Street. That’s what the nonprofit Downtown Akron Partnership said in a message about the opening.
Well, it turns out Chill is in the same building as those two businesses, but you won’t find it on High Street. Rather, it fronts Maiden Lane, which runs parallel to High, off East Market Street. (Stand facing the entrance to Musica and Chill is to your left.)
Chill, owned by brothers Jeremy, Zachary and Patrick Jaworski, is the sixth venture to get a boost through the nonprofit Downtown Akron Partnership’s “pop-up” retail program, which uses a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to subsidize rent for new storefront businesses downtown.
Chill’s flavors include mint julep, candied bacon bourbon, sage pecan, blueberry sorbet, chocolate milk and cookies, and Philadelphia cheesecake. It will be easier to find when a local artist, working with area students, paints a mural on the side of the building beginning later this month.
Scouting for BBQ?
Folks are getting their aprons out for another homemade dinner Saturday at Queen of Heaven Catholic Church to benefit Boy Scout Troop 334.
The troop — known for having adventurous food-centric fundraisers — will serve barbecue pulled pork and other food from 5 to 7:30 p.m., and La Flavor will perform from 7 to 10 p.m. at the church at 1800 Steese Road, where the troop meets.
A scout’s father will bring a commercial-size smoker to the church in the wee hours of Saturday morning. He’ll use hardwoods, such as cherry and apple, slow-cooking the pork with indirect heat.
“It’s gonna be pretty authentic Carolina BBQ,” said Marty LaConte, whose husband, Vince, is the former leader of the Boy Scout troop. The pulled pork will be served with sauces on the side: traditional or spicy red, mustard and vinegar.
Also on the menu: chicken, smoked pork and beans, macaroni and cheese, coleslaw and cornbread. Sweet tea, lemonade and water will be served.
“We will be cooking for 600,” LaConte said. “When it’s gone, it’s gone.”
Teens in the Boy Scouts’ Venturing program that meets at the church will sell soda and ice cream throughout the evening. Also on the bill: free carnival games and a raffle drawing for a Chevy Equinox.
For information, call the church at 330-896-2345.
Wingstop spreads
Wingstop is spreading its wings in Akron.
The franchisee for the Akron area has opened up a second location, at Arlington Plaza, on South Arlington Street near Waterloo Road.
“We want to go in an area where we think we can develop it,” and help revitalize a struggling area, said Gaurav Aggarwal, the franchisee.
Aggarwal, a mechanical engineer, opened a Wingstop last year, next to the UPS store in the Westgate Plaza in Akron’s Wallhaven neighborhood. This was the first area location for the Texas chain founded in 1994.
On Aug. 27, the Wingstop in Arlington Plaza will give away five wings to each visitor at its grand-opening celebration. The free wings will be available from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and customers can choose one of the restaurant’s 11 sauces.
Aggarwal also has a Wingstop in South Euclid; the chain, founded in 1994, has more than 900 locations. He said the Arlington Plaza Wingstop employs 16 full- and part-time workers. It’s open 11 a.m. to midnight daily and the phone is 330-724-9464.
Remodeled Aldi
Aldi, the growing no-frills grocer, will reopen its Stow store Aug. 25. The extensively remodeled store, at 3804 Fishcreek Road, will feature an easier-to-navigate selling area with high ceilings, natural lighting and new signage promoting “Dietitian’s Picks.”
Changes will allow the store to showcase its inventory of organic produce, USDA Choice beef, a gluten-free line and the SimplyNature products that do not contain artificial ingredients and preservatives.
Aldi, facing heightened competition, has been sprucing up stores across the country as it expands. The company now has more than 1,500 locations in the United States and plans to have about 2,000 by 2018.
To answer the question I get asked a lot: Yes, Aldi is related to the Trader Joe’s grocery chain. A family trust associated with Aldi, a German company, has owned Trader Joe’s since 1979.
To mark the reopening of the Stow location, Aldi will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 8:30 a.m. Aug. 25. The first 100 shoppers will receive a “golden ticket,” with gift certificates of various amounts, and a sweepstakes will award a year’s supply of produce.
Product samplings and free reusable grocery bags will be available; typically, customers must bring their own bags or buy reusable ones.
The store will be open 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday.
Medina International
Nine hours of world music, a 100-plus vendor bazaar and food by more than 15 restaurants and food trucks will mark the eighth annual Medina International Fest from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Aug. 20 on Medina Square.
Food vendors include 216 Bistro, Bruno’s Ristorante, Connection Church, Fire Truck Pizza Co., Hobo’s Gumbo Company, Old World Foods, Rito’s Bakery, Schloneger’s Ice Cream, Southern Thangs, Thyme, Umami Moto Korean, Wholly Frijoles and Zydeco Bistro.
Presenters are the nonprofit Main Street Medina and Cleveland Clinic Medina Hospital. For a schedule, go to www.mainstreetmedina.com or call 330-952-0910.
Send local food news to Katie Byard at 330-996-3781 or kbyard@thebeaconjournal.com. You can read her Akron Dish blog at www.ohio.com/food and you can follow her @KatieByardABJ on Twitter or on Facebook at www.facebook.com.