A favorite West Akron haunt, Rockne’s, is turning 30 — a remarkable feat for a locally owned restaurant — and a favorite place to grab an ice cream cone, Pav’s Creamery, is expanding again, this time to North Canton.
First the scoop on Rockne’s birthday. After all, it has survived three decades at 7 Merriman Road in Akron, and is continuing without its longtime owner and patriarch, Chris Hamad, who died in 2016.
“Celebrating 30 years without our dad and mentor will be hard, but what better way to honor him than pushing forward?” said his son Chris Hamad II, who’s the manager.
The celebration is being combined with St. Patrick’s Day festivities. This Thursday, the Callahan and O’Connor Irish band will play at 8 p.m. The restaurant will run its $8.99 corned beef and cabbage special from Thursday through St. Patrick’s Day, March 17. You can also get corned beef via the staple Reuben sandwiches.
The late Chris Hamad was hired to help manage the original Rockne’s on Hudson Drive in Cuyahoga Falls. He then bought a bar, Bobb-A-Louie’s, near the University of Akron.
He was asked to become a partner when the owners of the first Rockne’s decided to open a second place at Merriman and West Market Street in the late 1980s. Eventually, he bought out the other stakeholders and became the location’s sole owner. His Rockne’s, with its old brick building and family feel, became an Akron institution and has long been a hangout of some area politicians.
He died in January 2016, about a year after he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. His wife, Sandy, continues to work there and his mother, “Grandma Peggy” Hamad, pulls hostess duty five days a week.
Hours for Rockne’s on Merriman are 11 a.m. to 2:30 a.m. Monday through Saturday (kitchen hours until 10 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays). The restaurant phone is 330-762-7555
Pav’s is expanding
The Pav’s Creamery in North Canton, set to open this spring at an existing building at 708 S. Main St., is a homecoming of sorts for Nik Pappas, co-owner of the family business. He is a graduate of Hoover High School.
He notes that years ago the North Canton building was the home of an Isaly’s, a boomer-era favorite that sold ice cream and other food.
“We want to try to find some pictures of the original Isaly’s. We’re not going to make the North Canton Pav’s an old-school place, but we’d still like to bring a little of the old place back,” Pappas said.
It will be Pav’s third location and the second to be open year-round. The other is in Green and opened in 2015. The original Pav’s at 3769 Manchester Road in Coventry Township opened for the season last week.
Pappas is hoping for a May opening for the North Canton shop that will serve homemade custards, hard ice cream, yogurts and sorbets, as well as new all-natural ice cream (made with a mix that includes milk from grass-fed cows, with no high-fructose corn syrup and no added coloring).
Like the Pav’s in Green, it will have indoor and outdoor seating. The menu will feature a few savory options, including Australian-style chicken pot pies — you read that right — and flatbreads made with naan, a leavened Indian bread.
Pappas and his wife, Melody, enjoyed the pot pies when they lived in Australia. They’re topped with real mashed potatoes, mashed peas and gravy.
Pappas hopes to get city and state approval to serve adult milkshakes, like the Peanut Butter Oreo Mudslide, proven popular in Green.
Pav’s was founded in 1969 by Robert Pavlik and sold to the Micochero family in the 1970s. The business is now owned and operated by Michelle Micochero and her son and daughter-in-law, Nik and Melody Pappas. They also sell Pav’s products to restaurants and groceries.
Seasonal spots
Other ice cream stands and seasonal spots are gearing up for the season.
Akron’s original Strickland’s stand opened for its 81st year last week at 1809 Triplett Blvd., in view of the imposing Akron Airdock. Go to http://mystricklands.com to subscribe to the Flavor of the Day mailing list.
Welch’s Dairy Cream at 3254 S. Cleveland-Massillon Road also opened last week in Norton.
The B&K Root Beer stand at Manchester Road in Akron’s Kenmore neighborhood will open Monday at the latest, manager and cook Will Cheatwood told me.
Like the homemade root beer and dogs topped with “Spanish sauce,” Cheatwood is a local institution who has been at the stand since the 1960s, when he was a teen. He often makes some 20 pounds of Spanish sauce in a single day.
The Cuyahoga Falls B&K stand at 737 Munroe Falls Ave., which has a different owner, will open April 1.
Initially, the stands were part of the B&K chain, which began in Michigan City, Ind., in the 1940s. B&K stands for Bergerson & Kenefick. These days, the stands are independent.
Wine at Menches
Menches Bros. Restaurant at 3700 Massillon Road in Green, known for its burgers, will feature its first International Wine Tasting and Food Pairing from 7 to 9 p.m. Monday.
On the menu are six wines (from Italy, New Zealand and California) paired with six customer favorite foods: caprese appetizer, mini shrimp cocktail, all-beef sliders, cheese, grape and olive skewers, fried ravioli and blood orange sorbet.
Cost is $30 in advance or $40 at the door. Call 330-896-2288.
The Menches Bros. restaurants are owned by descendants of Frank and Charles Menches, who maintained they invented the hamburger at the Erie County Fair in New York in 1885.
Time for pancakes
The Maple Sugar Festival at Hale Farm & Village in Bath Township runs Saturday and Sunday and March 18 and 19.
Enjoy a pancake breakfast, prepared by Acme Catering, at the 19th century village/museum in Bath, participate in tree-tapping and learn about the process of making syrup. Crafts and trades will be demonstrated.
Admission for breakfast and activities is $15 for adults, $10 for children ages 3 to 12, $5 for members of Hale Farm. Pancake breakfast only is $5. Breakfast will be served from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Hale Farm closes at 4 p.m.
Reservations are not necessary. For information, call 330-666-3711 or visit www.halefarm.org.
Pi Day is Tuesday
The American Pie Council encourages you to observe Pi Day on Tuesday with a pie. Pi Day is a celebration of the mathematical constant that the ratio of any circle’s circumference divided by its diameter is always 3.14 et cetera.
Last year, Sweet Mary’s Bakery in downtown Akron marked its first Pi Day and it was big, said Mary Hospodarsky. The bakery that opened in late 2015 specializes in pies, among other treats.
Preorders for pickups from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday are now being accepted. Ten flavors are available. There also will be pie on hand Tuesday.
The bakery is at 76 Mill St. in the former Creperie in the Greystone building at Mill and High streets. Call 234-706-6088.
Dinner in the Valley
Reservations are still available for the March 22 Dinner in the Valley event featuring a creative meal, as well as a knife-skills demonstration at the historic Stanford House in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.
Chef Larkin Rogers will demonstrate the difference between classic culinary knife cuts, then serve a multicourse meal showcasing the techniques for Dinner in the Valley, hosted by the nonprofit Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park.
Dinner will include Guinness-braised beef stew and buttermilk mashed potatoes with a chiffonade of cabbage and onion and sticky toffee pudding.
The event begins at 6 p.m. The Stanford House is at 6093 Stanford Road in Boston Township in the national park. Cost is $52 for members of the conservancy and $55 for nonmembers. For reservations, go to http://forcvnp.org/div or call 330-657-2909, option 4.
Ramp up for festival
The fifth annual Ramp Up Peninsula festival arrives April 29, and organizers are seeking food vendors.
The celebration of the stinky wild leek will run from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Heritage Farms, 6050 Riverview Road, Peninsula.
Spots for food trucks are filled with Southern Thangs, Square Scullery and Byers Concessions, but other vendors interested in cooking with ramps — such as restaurants and makers of food products — are being sought.
Deadline to apply is April 15. The application and info are on www.explorepeninsula.com.
Small bites
• 35° Brix in Green has expanded its seafood offerings for Lent, adding PEI mussels and barbecue salmon served over grits, among other dishes.
Brix will mark its first year in April. It is at 3875 Massillon Road, 330-899-9200, www.35brix.com.
• The new La Loma location at 1682 Merriman Road in the Merriman Valley opened Tuesday. It’s in the former Monica’s. Co-owner Blanca Saucedo told me new equipment had finally been approved by the city’s water department.
• Reeves Cake Shop, 2770 Cory Ave., Akron, will host a free cake tasting from 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesday. This is a smaller version of its big cake tasting in January. For more information, call 330-848-1036. The cake shop celebrated 40 years last year.
• D’Agnese’s, the Italian restaurant in West Akron, will feature its annual St. Patrick’s Day specials March 15-19. Chef and co-owner Joe Gallagher is from County Mayo, Ireland.
The restaurant’s multicourse Jameson dinner March 15, pairing foods with different whiskeys, will be at 6 p.m.; dinner starts at 6:30 p.m. Cost is $45. Wine will be available for those who don’t want whiskey. D’Agnese’s is at 566 White Pond Drive. Call 234-678-3612 to reserve.
• The United Methodist Church of Uniontown in Stark County’s Lake Township hosts its big St. Patrick’s Day Cabbage Roll Dinner on March 18.
The rolls will be fresh; church members will make them that Saturday morning.
Cost for the meal of two cabbage rolls, mashed potatoes, salad, roll, beverage and dessert is $10. Children ages 4 to 12 pay $5. Cabbage roll six-packs are $13. Carryout will be available.
The church is at 13370 Cleveland Ave NW. The phone number is 330-699-3587.
Send local food news to Katie Byard at 330-996-3781 or kbyard@thebeaconjournal.com. You can follow her @KatieByardABJ on Twitter or on Facebook at www.facebook.com and read the Akron Dish blog at www.ohio.com/food.