Parkside came to our neighborhood a couple of years ago and has quickly become our go-to spot in Hyde Park Square. It has it all: reasonably priced food, kids’ menu, great draft beer, cocktails, a nice patio, and wonderful staff. If you’ve been to their sister restaurant, Delwood, expect pretty much the same experience here, but with a completely different menu, which is great!

Dip Duo

For starters, we almost always order the dip duo, which includes both their guacamole and pimento cheese dip, served with corn tortilla chips ($12). I love the pimento cheese dip and could order that alone ($10), but for $2 more, throw in the guacamole too! Another great appetizer is the Buffalo Chicken Egg Rolls, featuring pulled chicken, mozzarella, pepperoni, zucchini, Crystal Hot Sauce, and blue cheese crumble ($6 each). Also, the Parkside chopped salad is nice to split as either an appetizer or a side. It combines romaine, tomato, red onion, avocado, roasted chickpeas, goat cheese, and honey dijon vinaigrette ($7 half).

Grilled Chicken Sandwich

There are three items on the main menu that I rotate between. The grilled chicken sandwich is a Peruvian marinated chargrilled chicken breast topped with roasted garlic aioli, white cheddar, lettuce, tomato, and onion ($15). This is probably my most ordered. I also really like the veggie burger, which is a falafel patty topped the same as the chicken sandwich ($13). If you like falafel, definitely give this a try. I also order the boneless wings from time to time, which is a rather large portion of hand-battered chicken ($15). Don’t forget to wash it all down with a Three Floyds Zombie Dust pale ale, which is always on tap ($7).

After over 20 years of hosting edpaffjr.com (and other sites too) from my home PC’s, I have moved everything to a shared server at DreamHost. The final straw for this move came as the power supply on my newest PC died for a second time. Keep in mind that this machine is almost 20 years old! It was struggling to keep up anyway, so rather than buying another power supply, I bought this hard drive docking station on Amazon to pull the files I needed off the 2 hard drives in this old PC. So far things are mostly working as they were before, with one big change being the old photo gallery I was using for years hadn’t been updated in many years and I couldn’t get it running on PHP 8, so I uploaded all these old photos onto old posts that can be viewed in the gallery category. Now that the site is running much faster, perhaps I’ll update more regularly again. Time will tell!

If you find yourself in the Fort Lauderdale airport and looking for something to eat, Bokampers is a good option. It’s a traditional sports bar with a large menu and many drink options. Plenty of TVs entertain you while waiting for your next flight.

Inside

I enjoyed the crispy chicken sandwich topped with spicy mayo, pickles, and lettuce and served with fries on the side ($18). The chicken breast was large and fried well and the spicy mayo was a delicious condiment. It wasn’t very thick, and almost melted over the chicken.

Crispy Chicken

For dessert, my daughter insisted we get the fried Oreo cookies, which are dipped in a sweet cream batter and fries, served with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce ($8). These were very good and I would highly recommend them. This comes from someone who is not typically big on dessert, but you have to try these!

Fried Oreos

I was super disappointed when Urban Grill on Main went out of business. For many years it was a staple of spring and fall soccer seasons, with its convenient location near one of the area’s largest soccer parks. Fortunately, the space has recently reopened as Mercer Social House and many of the same things we love about the former restaurant continue to be true with the new ownership. We have already been a couple of times and have sampled the brunch and regular lunch/dinner menus.

Fried Spicy Chicken Sandwich

An early favorite on the menu for me is the fried spicy chicken sandwich topped with sriracha aioli, cabbage slaw, and cherry pepper ($15.45). This is served with Saratoga chips or you can substitute fries for $1.25. The spicy on this sandwich is no joke and the cherry peppers really sealed the deal for me on this one, such a great flavor from those. The fries were alright, but next time I think I’ll try the Saratoga chips.

Monte Cristo

On the brunch menu, I selected the Monte Cristo with French toasted brioche, tasso ham, Swiss cheese, provolone, and dijonnaise all deep-fried and served with raspberry compote ($19.95). This was a large and very filling sandwich. I must admit one of the best Monte Cristo’s I think I’ve had. The outside was crispy fried, but the inside was soft and had a really nice combination of flavors. Overall the food has been good, the service great, and the atmosphere perfect. Spring soccer season is just around the corner so I’ll soon be back more often!

Happy New Year! Below is the list of cities I visited in 2024 with at least one night spent in each place.

• Boyne Falls, Michigan
• Cincinnati, Ohio *
• Duck Key, Florida
• Seven Springs, Pennsylvania
• Park City, Utah
• Fishers, Indiana
• Denver, Colorado
• Copper Mountain, Colorado
• Grove City, Ohio
• Dayton, Ohio
• Columbus, Ohio
• Burlington, Kentucky
• Williamstown, Kentucky *
• Dania Beach, Florida
• Nassau, The Bahamas **
• Little San Salvador Island, The Bahamas **
• Cockburn Town, Turks & Caicos Islands **
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania *
• Montreal, Québec
• Québec City, Québec
• Indianapolis, Indiana
• Providenciales, Turks & Caicos Islands
• Logan, Ohio
• Newport, Kentucky
• Snowshoe, West Virginia

* Those cities marked with an asterisk were visited multiple times on non-consecutive days.
** Those cities marked with a double asterisk were  ports on a Caribbean cruise.

See also: 2023 |  2022 |  2021 |  2020 |  2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 |  2015 |  2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006

If you find yourself in northern Ohio you must check out Twin Oast Brewing in Port Clinton. As their website states, Twin Oast is above all things, an experience. The restaurant and brewery sit on a 60-acre farm. If you’ve ever been to Sierra Nevada’s location in Mills River, NC, it is similar in a lot of ways. The grounds are beautiful and there are a variety of places to sit and enjoy a meal or just a couple of drinks.

Oast

I enjoyed the Legitimate Swells IPA with a fruity hop flavor and light bitterness. They have nearly two dozen taps, so there is definitely something for everyone. Plus they have cider, mead, wines, seltzers, and canned cocktails.

Pulled Pork

For lunch, the pulled pork was just what I needed. Slow-roasted pork, kickin’ bourbon BBQ sauce, sweet & spicy pickle slaw, shredded white cheddar, and crunchy onions on an artisan hoagie roll ($16.50 with chips on the side). The slaw was really great and having crunchy onions on the sandwich put it over the top!

I recently tried Cincinnati’s latest brewery, Mellotone Beer Project, which occupies the old church that was previously Taft’s Ale House. After a nearby event, my wife and I popped in to meet up with a couple of friends. We only had time for a couple of drinks and a quick snack, but I was impressed by the slight renovations to the space. The seating options are a little better than they were before, and the acoustics seemed to have a nice refresh.

Inside

I enjoyed a Golden Hour West Coast IPA while others in the group loved seeing a cocktail menu in addition to the made-in-house beer selections. The taps seem to be changing pretty quickly as they try to determine what styles will stick.

Burrata & Roasted Grapes

The food menu was fresh and features their modern take on the American brewpub. Things like smash burgers and hotdogs are featured alongside grilled swordfish and and spaghetti squash. We only had time for a quick bite, and really enjoyed the burrata and roasted grapes, served with Blue Oven Bakery sourdough ($15). The grapes were sauced and gave a nice sweetness to the dish and the pistachios were a great touch. Highly recommend this one!

I’ve enjoyed beer from Third Eye Brewing Company for years but up until recently that was always just canned beer. With the recent addition of a couple of taprooms in the area, you can easily enjoy their offerings on tap, plus sample some pub food. Be sure to try the Third Eye P.A.

House Pickle Dip

For starters, I highly recommend the house pickle dip with saratoga chips ($9). This is a massive plate of food, enough for a family to share, and the pickle dip is really good! Boneless wings are another solid choice (10 for $14). The Chipotle BBQ is a little spicy but really flavorful.

Boneless Wings

As far as sandwiches go, the southwest grilled chicken sandwich was great ($14 with fries). It features flame-grilled chicken, chipotle mayonnaise, BBQ sauce, pepper jack cheese, lettuce, heirloom tomato, and guacamole. That’s a lot of really bold flavors mixing together to create a pretty unique and delicious sandwich.

Southwest Chicken Sandwich

The menu also features salads, pizzas, and burgers, plus a ton more to offer in the appetizer section. There is a lot to offer and I feel something for everyone. Plus with 20 taps, there is something for everyone to drink as well!

Tostados Grill is known locally for its evening karaoke sessions, but I have to admit the food was pretty good, too! My son and I recently joined some friends for dinner and karaoke and had a great time. They even have a kids’ menu. For dinner, I went with my typical Mexican restaurant dinner choice: chicken chimichanga ($13.99) with cheese sauce, rice, and beans. The portion size was huge and the chimichanga was perfectly fried. I’m glad the cheese sauce was served on the side, as there was a ton of it! I only used half of the bowl on the chimichanga, though mixing some into the otherwise plain rice gave it some flavor. I’m not sure I would head to Tostados just for the food, but if you are going for evening entertainment, definitely stop by early for some food beforehand.

Chimichanga

Captains Corner was one of our favorite places to eat during a recent visit to Kelleys Island. We had dinner on our first night and later returned for breakfast. The breakfast was solid, but I think I enjoyed the dinner more. I love a good buffalo chicken sandwich, and theirs was really good. A buttermilk fried chicken breast tossed in Buffalo sauce, topped with bleu cheese crumbles, lettuce, tomato, and onion served on a toasted bun ($12.99). The sauce was just spicy enough and I always enjoy having fresh bleu cheese crumbles on the sandwich!

Crispy Buffalo Chicken Sandwich

My wife enjoyed the cranberry pecan salad ($12.99 add chicken for $3). This combined fresh mixed greens, dried cranberries, crushed pecans, red onion, and feta cheese with a raspberry vinaigrette. The chicken was a nice addition, though probably not necessary for this tasty salad. Large chunks of feta added a nice creamy flavor to compliment the sweet flavors of the cranberry and raspberry dressing.

Cranberry Pecan Salad

Truthfully there aren’t a ton of options on Kelleys Island, but Captains Corner was among the best we experienced.