Local Flavor: Great Oaks Tavern is great fun in Wadsworth

Fun is the name of the game at Great Oaks Tavern.

The rules are simple: Eat, drink and be merry.

Our visit to the Wadsworth restaurant was more satisfying than landing a triple-word score in Scrabble, developing a property in Monopoly or capturing a continent in Risk.

We felt like winners.

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Brothers Alex and Jordan Nassos opened the tavern in 2020 at the former Great Oaks Lanes, which closed in 2012 after 35 years. The Tasting Room most recently occupied the space at 210 Great Oaks Trail.

The stated objective of the Nassos brothers is “to create one-of-a-kind, face-to-face experiences for anyone that walks through our doors.”

1,000 board games to play at Great Oaks Tavern

They have parlayed a childhood love of board games into a restaurant where gaming is appreciated and encouraged. More than 1,000 games are available for customers to play while feasting or quaffing.

The collection covers all skill levels from Candyland to Catan, from Sorry to Magic, from Battleship to Cthulu, from Yahtzee to Yamatai. A $5 fee allows visitors to play for as long as they wish, and helps the tavern maintain and expand its library. The fee is waived on Sundays, though, and children play for free with the purchase of a kids’ meal.

Gamers can join the Great Oaks Guild, read the Great Oaks Courier and buy new games from the Great Oaks shop. To top it off, the Nassos brothers are working to renovate and reopen Great Oaks Lanes.

This is more than a tavern. It’s a destination.

Here’s the kicker: You don’t have to play anything to enjoy the place. The food is really, really good.

My wife, Susie, and I paid our first visit to the tavern on a late Sunday afternoon at the recommendation of her co-workers at the library.

“Hi, friends!” the hostess beamed as we arrived.

I looked around. No one was behind us. She was talking to us.

Already we felt at home.

We were ushered through a large, rectangular room with a wall of games on one side and a half-circle bar with a dozen chairs on the other. Pop music and raucous laughter bounced off the open ceiling. On the day we visited, the customer base skewed younger.

The main dining area has high tops, low tops and a long, oval table big enough to seat “The Last Supper.” Gamers rolled dice and exchanged playful banter while focusing on boards and sipping drinks.

Great Oaks menu is impressive

The menu, scanned by smartphone via a QR code on our table, is filled with sandwiches, burgers, salads and appetizers, but the depth of flavor is impressive.

Seasonal offerings include smoked meatloaf, croquettes, a shredded jackfruit sandwich and a smoked beet chopped salad. The Oy Vey Burger is a quarter pound of certified Angus beef served on an everything bagel with herbed cream cheese, pastrami and a fried egg. Mom’s sandwich is a combination of havarti and goat cheeses with house-made tomato jam and lavender honey served on toasted sourdough bread.

The main menu features such interesting-sounding items as za’taar-crusted pita and hummus, vegan chorizo tacos, fried cheese curds, a flame-broiled gyro, a chicken pesto panini, a smoked brisket Philly, a Buffalo chicken wrap, a falafel sandwich and a charcuterie board of meats and cheeses served on a 16-ounce Bavarian pretzel.

The Tavern Burger is a chargrilled half-pound patty topped with white American cheese, lettuce, tomato, red onions and house-made pickles. The grilled cheese is made with smoked cheddar, pepper jack, bacon and tomato served on grilled sourdough bread. The Baaad Salad is a bowl of mixed greens, goat cheese, nuts, seasonal berries and pickled red onions served with house-made white French dressing.

Those Wadsworth bowlers from long ago would be amazed.

Our server, Kristen, took good care of us, answering all of our questions about the food and the games.

Chili and hush puppies

For starters, I ordered smoked chili ($7) off the seasonal menu. It’s a blend of the tavern’s four smoked meats — turkey, brisket, chicken and pork — topped with shredded, smoked cheddar cheese, chopped onions and sriracha lime sour cream.

Oh, my gosh, I’d never tasted anything like it before: tender, smoky deliciousness with a zesty kick. I savored every spoonful and then scraped the bowl to secure every drop.

Susie ordered hush puppies ($8), a shareable serving of cornmeal fritters served with a house-made honey mustard sauce. Served sizzling hot, the deep-fried spheres were crispy on the outside and soft inside.

Crunch, crunch, crunch. My wife was happy.

“I think I could eat all of these hush puppies,” she said. “You’d better have some.”

Sure, Sweetie. Twist my arm.

Crunch, crunch, crunch. I found myself in total agreement: It’s a terrific appetizer, and the dip is a nice accompaniment.

Turkey and pork sandwiches

For the main course, I had hoped to try the smoked meatloaf with chipotle bourbon glaze, but the kitchen was fresh out. So I kept the smoky theme going with a jerk smoked turkey breast sandwich ($13).

A mound of thinly sliced meat, smoked in house, is served with Jamaican jerk seasoning, pepper jack cheese, lettuce, tomato, red onions, an avocado spread and chipotle aioli on grilled sourdough bread. I really liked the sandwich and would order it again, but I do want to try that meatloaf sometime.

Great Oaks sandwiches come with chips or coleslaw. Diners can substitute fries for $2 or add sweet potato tots or mac and cheese for $3.

I took the upcharge and enjoyed a creamy, comforting blend of elbow macaroni and white cheddar. It was worth the extra fee.

Susie ordered the pulled pork sandwich, a stack of smoked meat served with house-made coleslaw, sweet and spicy pickles and barbecue sauce.

“This is going to be messy,” she decided. “It’s piled so high, which isn’t a bad thing.”

The full combination of ingredients provided a perfect bite.

“Mmmm. That’s really good,” she said.

As a side, my wife ordered sweet potato tots, which are served with a cinnamon sauce reminiscent of baklava syrup.

“They’re really yummy,” Susie said. “It’s almost like a dessert.”

I sampled a few and liked them, too.

Sweet finale to big meal

Speaking of dessert, there are two on the menu: sweet pretzel bites and a bread pudding muffin, both $5.99. We split an order of warm, scratch-made pudding and added a dish of vanilla ice cream ($1.50). It was a lovely pairing, a sweet finale to our big meal.

Our only complaint, admittedly minor, was that the coffee was served lukewarm and didn’t heat up until a second refill. A better thermal carafe would be a good investment.

Including beverages, our total bill came to $61.32, not including tip. We had plenty of leftovers to take home.

“I would definitely come here again, wouldn’t you?” Susie said.

Yes, indeed. I’m game.

Great Oaks Tavern offers gift coins instead of gift cards. We bought tokens for our nephews and their wives, knowing they will love this place.

We were done with the meal, but we weren’t finished.

Susie challenged me to a game of chess, apparently forgetting that her suave, debonair husband used to be a high school nerd who played on the chess team.

Pawns marched forward. Warring pieces collided. A kingdom toppled.

I won’t tell you who won, but next time we might play Candyland.

Mark J. Price can be reached at mprice@thebeaconjournal.com.

Details

Place: Great Oaks Tavern

Address: 210 Great Oaks Trail, Wadsworth

Hours: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Brunch is served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays

Services: Dine in or carry out

Liquor license: Yes

More info: 330-331-7199 or https://www.greatoaks.fun/

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This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Great Oaks Tavern in Wadsworth is a fun, flavorful destination