The Merchant Tavern - Akron

First time in at the Merchant Tavern and I had a pretty good experience, the service was fast and our waitress was really kind. It was kind of dark in the restaurant which gave it that tavern vibe. We ordered the poutine fries as a starter, the BBQ pork belly on these fries was AMAZING and wish I could have had more of it. I wanted there to be a menu item of just the pork belly because it was honestly the best thing we ate here. the fries were okay and the cheese was cold so it for sure was not my favorite poutine but I would order it again just for that bbq pork belly. The salmon salad was good, the lemon vinaigrette came on the side which I appreciated. There was not a ton of flavor for the whole dish but it was refreshing and a solid size piece of salmon. The Hell Fire burger was spicy and most of the flavor came from that sauce, was not a super juicy burger from what I could tell but it looked good and a nice looking bun. The fries were good, not super crispy but they are decent fries as a side for the burger. If i were to go again I will be trying mel's killer steak sandwich, it looks DELICIOUS!

Thai mussles- with bacon, ginger and shallots! 5/5 this was amazing! My favorite thing we tried. Seafood hushpuppies- not exactly what i expected. It was good but not great. 2/5 Calamari- the aiolis they used on these spectacular buttermilk fried babies is so tasty! 5/5 Shrimp n lobster gratin- there was onions, bell peppers and loads of cheese. The bread was perfect for serving this dish to make it less messy. 4/5 Steak- we order medium and it was cooked as we ordered. Great flavor for both the steak and the delicious smashed tatters. 5/5 Shrimp and grits- the shrimps were huge! Not over cooked which is easy to do with shrimp. The grits has a slight smokeness from the gouda cheese and i believe pork belly was a topper! 5/5 I HIGHLY recommend getting a reservation for this place. We walked in and waited about 45 minutes. Avoid the hassel, and prebook your party.

Good, solid meals and apps. Great service. Great beer list, and overall full bar. I took my parents and my teenager, and there was something for everyone.

Been eating at the Merchant for years and I ALWAYS recommend to friends as well as bring out of town guests, but the last few times it has been an overall unpleasant experience on many levels. Last night was the nail in the coffin for us, don't think I am willing to give them another chance. It was a packed Tuesday night, we brought our out of town guests (table of 5) for a relaxing dinner. Was told it would be a 10 minute wait, it turned out to be 40 minutes. The dining area where we were told we could wait was EXTREMELY loud, which would have been okay for 10 minutes but not 40. Took a long time to just get water once we were seated. My husband asked to substitute vegetables for the mashed potato on the pork chop dinner and was told there would be an added charge to do that, which in all the years we've been doing that simple exchange, we have never been charged extra. Our waitress looked at him like had made an outlandish request. Service was slow, our waitress was inexperienced and worst of all, the food was so over salted that it was either inedible or nearly so depending on the dish. I had added calamari to my salad and not only was it overly cooked and dry, it was literally the saltiest thing I have ever eaten. It tasted like the cook used salt instead of flour to bread it. It was so bad that I told the waitress it was inedible and I'd like it taken off my bill and without even apologizing she informed me that she'd have to talk to her manager about that. Very rude. Everyone at the table then told me that their food was over salted too. When you spend well over $200 on a dinner, you expect at last one aspect of your experience to be satisfactory. When you bring out of town guests to what you expect will be a dinner they will be impressed with and you also wait 40 minutes for that dinner, are served nearly inedible food by an indifferent, bordering on rude server and on top of it pay a hefty price for that experience, you tend to not come back. After years and years, this restaurant has sadly disappointed me one too many times recently, so I am done spending my hard earned money here.

Highly amused (and definitely impressed) with the dichotomy of this place. Want burgers fries? Basic beer? Got it. Salmon? Salad? Calamari? Homemade sauerkraut balls? Craft beer? Bourbon? They have that too! Lauren was our waitress and she was great! Polite, attentive, and friendly with quick service. Wish we lived closer and could visit regularly!! Great 'upscale ' sports bar atmosphere.