Cupid’s arrow points directly to Northern Ohio for romantic dinners, delicious chocolates and wonderful getaways.

Time to plan your romantic Valentine’s Day! With only a few more weeks to make your Valentine’s Day plans, Northern Ohio couldn’t be a more perfect place to celebrate this romantic holiday. From romatic getaways to elegant and award winning restaurants to delicious “Made In Ohio” gifts Northern Ohio has so much to offer.

And to help you plan this special holiday, NorthernOhioTourism.com has put together just a few ideas to help inspire you.

Valentine’s Day Chocolate
Here are our favorite places to purchase Chocolate!!

Ben Heggy’s Candies
743 Cleveland Ave., N.W., Canton, OH 447020
website

Buckeye Chocolate Company
14646 Ravenna Rd., Burton, OH 44021
website

Coblentz Chocolate Company
4917 State Route 515, Walnut Creek, OH 44687
website

Malley’s Chocolates
Various locations throughout Northern Ohio.
website

Whitehouse Chocolates
14607 Kinsman Rd, Burton, OH 440621

Chocolate not your thing? How about Cupcakes??

Main Street Cupcakes @mscCupcakes
Various locations: Hudson, Rocky River and Medina, OH
website

Wine?
Make sure you grab a bottle of Ohio Wine from one of our area’s Wineries.

Unique Gift from
Don Drumm Studios & Gallery
437 Crouse St., Akron OH, 330.253.6268
website

Maybe a Spa package:
Spa West
29109 Center Ridge Rd, Westlake, OH
440.899.SPAW
website

A White Pond Paradise Salon & Day Spa
566 White Pond Dr., Suite D., Akron, OH
330.865.7800
website

Places to Eat on Valentine’s Day

Angelo’s Nido Italia
Little Italy, 12020 Myfield Rd, Cleveland, OH
216.421.0221

Blue Canyon
8960 Wilcox Dr., Twinsburg, OH
330.486.2583
website

Blue Point Grille
700 West St. Clair Ave., Cleveland, OH
216.875.7827
website

Don’s Lighthouse
8905 Lake Ave., Cleveland, OH 44102
216.961.6700
website

Don’s Pomeroy House
13664 Pearl Rd., Strongsville, OH
440.572.1111
website

Ferrante Winery and Ristorante
5585 State Route 307, Geneva, OH
440.466.8466
website

Flying Fig
2523 Market Ave, Cleveland, OH
216.241.4243
website

Giovanni’s Restaurant
25550 Chagrin Blvd., Beachwood
216.831.8625
website

Iacomini’s Papa Joes @papajoes_status
1561 Akron-Peninsula Rd., Akron, OH
330.253.2999
website

JohnQ’s Steakhouse
55 Public Square, Cleveland, OH
216.861.0900
website

Ken Stewart’s Lodge
1911 N. Cleveland Massillon Rd., Bath, OH
330.666.8881
website

LockKeepers
8001 Rockside Rd., Valley View, OH
216.524.9404
website

Lola
2058 East 4th Street, Cleveland, OH
216.621.5652
website

Pier W
12700 Lake Ave., Lakewood
216.228.2250
website

Raven’s Glenn Winery & Italian Resturant
56183 CR 143, West Lafayette, OH
740.545.1000
website

Spennato’s Restaurant
10446 Northfield Road, Northfield, OH
330.468.8688
website

The Oaks Lakeside
5878 Longacre Lane, Chippewa Lake, OH
330.769.2601
website

Thyme
716 N. Court St., Medina, OH
330.764.4114
website

Valentine’s Day Getaway Ideas

Celebrate your love with a romantic Valentine’s Day getaway in Northern Ohio.  Here are a few of our romantic getaway ideas:

Valentine’s Day Winery Tours
Northcoast Grapevine Tours LLC
1319 West 35th Street, Lorain, OH
216-587-1965 or 440-282-6598
Website

Landoll’s Mohican Castle
561 Twp. Rd. 3352, Loudonville, OH
800.291.5001
website

Punderson Manor Lodge – Ohio State Park
11755 Kinsman Road,
Newbury, Ohio 44065-9684
440-564-9144 or 800-282-7275
website

Shady Oaks Farm Bed & Breakfast
241 Highland Road, Northfield Center, OH
330-468-2909 or 800-785-9769
website

Inn at Honey Run @innathoneyrun
6920 CR 203, Millersburg
330.674.0011 or 800.468.6639
website

Red Maple Inn Bed & Breakfast
14707 S. Cheshire Street, Burton, Ohio
440-834-8334 or 1-888-OH-MAPLE
website

The Lodge at Geneva-on-the-Lake @lodgeatgenevaoh
4888 North Broadway, Geneva-on-the-Lake, OH
440.466.7100 or 800.801.9982
website

Polly Harper Inn Bed and Breakfast
6308 South River Road, Geneva, OH
440.466.6183
website

Market Street Inn
356 N. Market Street, Wooster, OH
330.262.4085
website

And let us not forget the all important Valentine’s Day card.  Did you know that according to the U.S. Greeting Cards Association Valentine’s Day is the second-most popular card-giving day of the year?  Make sure you support American Greetings an Ohio company when making your card choices.

For more Valentine’s Day ideas make sure you check out our Valentine’s Day page on our website.

United Way of Medina County Celebrates 21 Years of Taste of Medina County- “The Premier Networking Event of the Year!”

Medina, Ohio, September 23, 2011 – United Way of Medina County welcomes 4 new and 16 returning Restaurants for the 21st Annual, Taste of Medina County. This event, which has been called the “premier networking event of the year” will be held on Thursday, October 20, 2011 from 5:00 – 8:00 p.m. at Weymouth Country Club in Medina. All are invited to attend!

“For over two decades this tremendous event has linked together the best restaurants and the caring hearts of our communities to raise nearly $350,000 for friends in need. This event has severalnew creative social entrepreneurial twists which will make for an exciting place to be. Ourmotivation is to help improve lives, and if we can network and have fun along the way, then we should enjoy ourselves for one evening” said Seth Kujat, executive director at United Way.

The event would not be what it is without the talented chefs who go above and beyond to make this a spectacular event. The following Restaurants make up the 2011 line-up which includes:

Abbottino’s (Seville), A Cupcake a Day… (Medina), Bianca’s Ristorante Italiano (Brunswick), Blue Heron Banquet & Conference Center- River Styx Grill (Medina), Coppertop at Cherokee Hills (Valley City), Corkscrew Saloon (Medina), Main Street Café (Medina), Medina Steak & Seafood Company (Medina), Melrose Grille- Mapleside Farms Bakery (Brunswick), Miss Molly’s Tea Room & Gift Shop (Medina), Oasis Grill & BBQ (Medina), Old Schoolhouse Catering (Litchfield), Rito’s Italian Bakery-Deli-Catering (Brunswick), Riverstone Taverne (Valley City), Rustic Hills Country Club (Medina), The Center Café at MCCC (Medina), The Galaxy Restaurant & Banquet Center (Wadsworth), Thyme the Restaurant (Medina), Westfield Group Country Club (Westfield Center), and Weymouth Country Club (Medina).

The event format is simple – move from one restaurant’s display to another while sampling the finest cuisine in Medina County. Come dressed in business casual and be prepared to enjoy gourmet food and good conversation with friends while donating to a great cause.

In addition to great food, drink and conversation, 20 eye-catching food and entertainment raffle baskets will also be available. Themes include: Cash Basket, Restaurant Gift Certificates, Lottery Tickets, Westfield Golf Basket, Weekend Getaway, Ohio Wines and many others! All baskets are valued at $200.00 or more and the winner does not need to be present to win. Raffle Tickets are Contact: Ashley Waite, Community Outreach & Events Coordinator, United Way of Medina County, (330) 725-3926 ext. 223
2573 Medina Road, Medina, OH 44256 Tel: 330.725.3926, Fax: 330.725.3000, http://www.unitedwaymedina.org/

(as submitted by Medina County Convention & Visitor Bureau)

In search of Ohio’s Best Fried Chicken

March 26, 2010:

Over the past few months I had started to receive numerous emails from readers that I needed to do a feature story about what they called “The Chicken Capital of United States”.  As the emails noted, I would not find any better fried chicken anywhere than right there.

So armed with my notepad, camera and some hard cash I headed south to Summit County, Ohio to investigate this chicken.  I selected three chicken places to check out from the list of emails I had received.

Devore's Hopocan Gardens Chicken

First stop DeVore’s Hopocan Gardens, Barberton, OH.  Now as far as ambiance, I have to say the three places I visited would not score high for décor.  Of course you really aren’t looking for a five star restaurant that serves fried chicken either.

Seated at my table, I asked the waitress what the popular dish was and she noted I needed to try the their fried chicken dinner.  So I selected the 4 piece dark.  (For those interested they do offer other items like chicken paprikash, fish, ham steak, soups, sandwiches and more.)

My four piece dinner came with two (2) thighs, one (1) drumette and one (1) back.  I was also able to select three sides, my choices where french fries, hot sauce and coleslaw.  Also included with my dinner was a choice of bread.

There is something to be said about a plate of fried chicken mounded with fresh cut french fries on top and where the hot sauce starts to mix with all the other juices on the plate.   Definitely a very unique flavor combination.  The fried chicken is fried in their secret breading recipe and the way it is fried it does keep the juice in the chicken just like my readers informed me. I think I overheard the word lard.  If so that is how Grandma used to make it years ago can’t go wrong.

The coleslaw was a vinegar base, the fries were addicting and the hot sauce had a bit of a kick and actually was very good. My dinner cost me about $6, because I being the savy shopper went to their website and printed a coupon first.  Normally this dinner would be about $8.95.

To find out additional information about DeVore’s Hopocan Gardens please check out their website: http://www.hopocangardens.com.

Whitehouse Chicken - Barberton Ohio

My next stop was Whitehouse Chicken in Barberton Ohio. Here I ordered take-out of the same dinner I previously had so I could be fair in judging taste. I learned that they have been making chicken since 1950 and they use only fresh Ohio-raised chickens in all their recipes.  When I sampled their chicken it seemed very similar to the chicken that I had just had at DeVore’s.  Their hot sauce had a slightly hotter taste, but other than that they were very similar dinners.  They also offer other items on their menu to order.

For additional information about Whitehouse Chicken, please check out their website: http://www.whitehousechicken.com

And last, I stopped at Milich’s Village Inn.  This restaurant had probably the best so called ambiance of the three, which I think I contributed to more windows to the outdoors giving it a more airy look.  I however was not as impressed with their chicken.  Again, ordering the same chicken dinner, I found their chicken pieces to be smaller in size compared to the other two places.  The hot sauce was a little runnier, but had the same flavor as the others. The flavor of the chicken was about the same and as far as the coleslaw and fries very similar.

Milich's Village Inn

I searched for a website for Milich’s Village Inn and was unable to locate one.  They are located at 4444 South Cleveland Massillon Rd., Norton (on Barberton line) and their phone number is 330-825-4553.

I guess I will have to agree with my readers that yes, Barberton is the “Chicken Capital of the World”.  And yes, I now know why so many people pilgrimage to Barberton for their chicken.

I also know, what you are going to ask next. How could I have eaten that much chicken in one day?  Well, I didn’t eat it all.  I shared with a few lucky friends to ask for their opinions and little did I know one of them happened to already be a Barberton chicken fanatic.   So of the four I shared the chicken with, I received four thumbs up for the chicken, three thumbs up for the hot sauce and four thumbs up for the fries.  No one at any of the bread.

If you would like to make a comment or contact me about this article please feel free to email at diane@northernohiotourism.com.