Gambier, Ohio Eats

Posted by Ed Levine, October 24, 2005 at 2:09 PM

Just got back from a weekend visiting my son in Gambier, Ohio.

It was great to see my son, who seems to be doing really well.

Trying to find something good to eat in and around Gambier was another story entirely.

Friday night we went out to a hotel restaurant in a nearby town that someone had posted a favorable review of on an website.

It was goddawful. It served a lot of frozen, pre-portioned food with a smattering of ill-conceived chef's creations thrown in.

Saturday lunch was at an Amish restaurant (Knox County, where Kenyon is situated, has a large Amish population). I have had lots of good homey Amish meals in my life, but this was not one of them. Even the pies were awful, and the Amish are known for their piebaking ability. I wanted to order one slice of each of the fifteen pies offered, but my wife refused to let me do that, claiming it was wasteful. Thank God I didn't, because the three slices of pie we had, along with an apple crisp that was markedly inferior to school cafeteria food, had cardboard crusts and sickly sweet fillings.

Saturday dinner was at the Gambier Grill, and I rather enjoyed my grilled chicken, cheddar and bacon sandwich, though the roll was soft enough to use as facial tissue.

Sunday lunch was the highlight. We ate at the coffeehouse on campus, The Middle Ground. The patty melt, made with organically fed beef, was terrific, and the espresso milk shake was rich, creamy, and most remarkably, not too sweet.

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Tags: Ohio