The Peanut Shoppe - Akron, Ohio

Peanut Shoppe Of Akron - 203 S Main St, Akron, OH 44308

Peanut Shoppe Of Akron Facebook Page

Boy, I just let time slip by in between my reviews, don't I? Truth is, in between my time spent working on this blog I have several other projects I work on, plus a regular job. Most importantly, Crissy and I like to spend a lot of time together (sometimes when we're out we look for places for this blog, but not always). We just celebrated our first wedding anniversary last Sunday. The laptop we currently have seems to be on its last legs as it runs very slowly, but eventually we will upgrade (though hopefully not to anything with Windows 8 or newer). 

Last week we reviewed an Akron restaurant, and this week we remain in Akron once more. That said, our review today is not actually for a restaurant. While we like to find the best food on the road for you to try, we also love local shops that give you something unique, something that takes you back to the good old days. We've found it in a wonderful place called the Peanut Shoppe of Akron. 

(Photo Credit: Tim Davisson)

The Peanut Shoppe of Akron is one of just a dozen Peanut Shop/Shoppe locations left from when there were over 200 locations all over the country, opened by the National Peanut Corp. between 1930 and 1960 as a means of selling Planters Peanuts to customers. In 1961, Standard Brands bought out Planters Peanuts and began closing up the retail shops. Akron's location, around since 1933, remained open, but in the 82 years since opening, the store has seen three owners and three business locations, all on South Main Street. 

(Photo credit: Lisa Abraham, Akron Beacon Journal)

When the city of Akron purchased the building that housed the previous location of the Peanut Shoppe, they helped store owner Marge Kline find her current location, which allowed her to expand the business to include more than just nuts.

They have almost every kind of nut or candy you can imagine in this store, available to purchase by weight, even as little as 1/4 of a pound if you are only craving a small snack. They have a wide variety of nuts, chocolate candies, hard candies, something to satisfy any craving. We've come here numerous times for their fresh roasted peanuts, sunflower seed kernels, chocolate toffee squares, juju candies, valentine hearts (in season, of course), brazil nuts, malt balls, banana chips, even their fresh made popcorn. I could go on and on, but you can see for yourself from the pictures (many of which were taken by our friend Tim for The Peanut Shoppe's Facebook page) just how much this store has to offer. They even have ice cream available in both prepackaged ice cream bars and soft serve flavors.

When you come to visit, don't forget to say hello to Marge, and while you're here, try to spot as many Mr. Peanuts as you possibly can...

As you can see, Mr. Peanut sure knows how to get around. Crissy and I do too, and when we are in Akron, we're always sure to stop in on the Peanut Shoppe! Perhaps best of all, the Peanut Shoppe of Akron does accept credit cards (you know, for those times when you're hauling out two plastic bags filled with goodies like i've done in the past).

It's time for us to be hitting the road again. We'll check in again soon with our next review. If you have something to say about the Peanut Shoppe of Akron, leave us a comment on this post. If there's a restaurant in your local area (whether or not it is local to us) that you'd like us to check out for a possible review on our blog, let us know by messaging us on our Facebook Page. If you have your own pictures or reviews to add to our blog, drop us a line because we would love to add further reviews for this business as well as other restaurants to our blog.

Until the next time, we'll catch you on the flip side.

For Diehls On The Road, this is Tom Diehl, signing off....

El Puente Mexican Restaurant - Akron, Ohio

El Puente Mexican Restaurant - 2329 Romig Rd, Akron, OH 44320

http://elpuenteakron.weebly.com/

Has it really been two weeks since an update? Oof, sorry about that! Between both of us, we've been sick quite a bit lately, not to mention two recent hospital visits from Tom for some recurring ear issues. We wanted to give a review when we were best able to present our honest opinions.

A couple of weeks ago, in between all of our sicknesses, we spent some time in Akron, Ohio, house sitting for a friend. Of course, we decided to check out some local places to review. One of our friends had once taken us to a different Mexican restaurant in Akron, called Mi Casa, when we were visiting some friends in the area, Well let me tell you, I'm not big on Mexican food (Crissy is more so since she comes from Southern California). When I was growing up in Maryland, we had one local place that is apparently still around (and until looking them up today, I had no idea they were local - I thought they were a national chain!) but it was never my favorite place to eat.

Coming to El Puente and a few other places recently has really changed my mind on Mexican food. We were warmly greeted (in Spanish) by the host of the evening, who then took us to our seat. We had our drink orders taken (Coke products, including Cherry Coke!) and were given a basket of fresh made tortilla chips and salsa (I don't care for any kind of salsa, Crissy enjoyed it, though). The chips were nice and hot and tasted great.

When I was first reading about this restaurant online (which had many, many positive reviews), I had looked the menu over and planned to have Arroz con Pollo (Chicken and Rice), which I decided on trying simply for the fact that it had been mentioned in one of the most famous episodes of I Love Lucy, Job Switching:

I can't get the Youtube page to start on my blog right where I want it to, so for reference start at 11:45 into the episode.

I didn't really know what to expect, as it was something new I was trying (my father would be so proud of me for trying something new!) and I figured I would enjoy it anyway since this restaurant was busy! There were lots of customers here, and they all seemed to be enjoying themselves.

If you like peppers, tomatoes and onions, this would be the perfect dish for you. I am not fond of them so I picked all of those out (okay, i left some onions in but took out some of the bigger chunks), and was left with about 2/3 of my dish. The rice tasted amazing, the chicken was incredible. I think I would've loved the dish more if it was just the chicken (cooked exactly the way it was in this dish) and the rice, but I loved it just the same.

Crissy had what the restaurant called their vegetarian combination #3, a bean burrito, a cheese quesadilla, and what they said was a chalupa (though Crissy says it looks more like a tostada). See it for yourself:

As for how things tasted, Crissy says, coming from California, the food was very authentic Mexican food. It has a lot more flavor than many other "Mexican" restaurants, and it lives up to the standard of many Mexican restaurants out in California, and has a home-cooked feel to it.

As for the actual name of the restaurant, it does get confusing. Their Facebook page calls themselves "El Puente Mexican Restaurant & Grill", Their website says "El Puente Mexican Bar & Grill", and their actual building just says "El Puente Mexican Grill". 

We've already been back here a second time. Yes, I got the same thing once again, Crissy got something different and loved it, and the place was just as packed. If you like authentic Mexican food, this is the best place in Akron to try. It's well worth the trip to get here and the prices are extremely reasonable for the amount of food you get. The next time we return to Akron, I know where we'll be heading for dinner.

It's time for us to be hitting the road again. We'll check in again soon with our next review. If you have something to say about this restaurant, leave us a comment on this post. If there's a restaurant in your local area (whether or not it is local to us) that you'd like us to check out for a possible review on our blog, let us know by messaging us on our Facebook Page. If you have your own pictures or reviews to add to our blog, drop us a line because we would love to add further reviews for this and other restaurants to our site.

Until the next time, we'll catch you on the flip side.

For Diehls On The Road, this is Tom Diehl, signing off....