Time For A Spanish Fling
***UPDATE****
THIS RESTAURANT IS NOW PERMANENTLY CLOSED
I discovered Tapas 218 by pure happenstance, walking down the side streets of downtown Canton on a festival day called First Friday, but I wouldn’t recommend going to that anymore since the July 4th 2014 First Friday someone was shot in the head. You see Canton has a little crime problem….well the most crime in the entire state, but that doesn’t stop it from having really good restaurants; you just have to be on guard. Now, I remembered the name but I didn’t go into eat. A few weeks later, I got off work early and decided to go in and check it out. I’ve been four times now if that tells you anything. Also prepare for some wear and tear on your vehicle when you drive through the city to dine at Tapas or anywhere else, because the roads are horrible, full of pot holes, and falling apart. Someone forgot to allocate funds to infrastructure projects and crime watches.
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Canton, Ohio, USA
Cuisine style: Spanish, Tapas
Dined
in June 2014
By: Sean Overpeck (CFE)
***UPDATE****
THIS RESTAURANT IS NOW PERMANENTLY CLOSED
I discovered Tapas 218 by pure happenstance, walking down the side streets of downtown Canton on a festival day called First Friday, but I wouldn’t recommend going to that anymore since the July 4th 2014 First Friday someone was shot in the head. You see Canton has a little crime problem….well the most crime in the entire state, but that doesn’t stop it from having really good restaurants; you just have to be on guard. Now, I remembered the name but I didn’t go into eat. A few weeks later, I got off work early and decided to go in and check it out. I’ve been four times now if that tells you anything. Also prepare for some wear and tear on your vehicle when you drive through the city to dine at Tapas or anywhere else, because the roads are horrible, full of pot holes, and falling apart. Someone forgot to allocate funds to infrastructure projects and crime watches.
Follow Wine, dine, and Play:
Chef:
Darwin & Edmun
Food price per person
(Excluding tax & gratuity)
Price chart:
$£€¥ - Under 50.00
$£€¥ x 2 - Under 75.00
$£€¥ x 3 - Over 100.00
$£€¥ x 4 - Over 200.00
$£€¥ x 5 - Over 400.00
Currencies
chosen reflect the world’s major travelers and restaurant connoisseur's
My food bill:
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Currency:
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Price chart:
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$41.00
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United States Dollar (USD)
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$
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£24.14
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Great Britain Pound
Sterling (GBP)
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£
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€30.46
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European Union (EUR) i.e. Spain
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€
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$44.08
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Canadian Dollar (CAN)
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$
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$43.44
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Australian Dollar (AUS)
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$
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¥252.72
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Chinese Yuan (CNY)
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¥¥¥¥
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From restaurants home page:
They’ve been popular in Spain and other parts of the world
for centuries and were originally developed along the Andalusian coastline of
southern Spain, where sherry was created and is still produced today. At Tapas
218, we consider tapas to be small plates served and enjoyed among friends,
family and dining companions. It’s all about sharing when it comes to tapas.
Some are served cold; others are served hot. Tapas make great companions with
wine, sherry, cocktails, beer or even your favorite soft drink. Or ask your
server for the perfect pairing from our bourbon bar featuring over 40 different
bourbons. We invite you to come visit and enjoy the wonderful combinations of
flavors we serve.
Main review:
The restaurant is built into a larger building dating back
over one hundred years as are most buildings in downtown Canton, but a lot of
time, energy, and thought went into the setup to that design. The restaurant is
three levels, and you enter on the middle, with the bar, and cocktail tables on
the lower level, where I usually go to enjoy a nice glass of Spanish vino and
eat my tapas.
The menu is built around the idea of small bites of food,
only 3-5 and you’re done, so everything is a sampling versus a large entrée like
most restaurants, so depending how hungry you are, you can have 4-6 items on
the menu on your first visit. Like I mentioned above, I have been over four or
five times. The funny story was when I made a reservation and drove down to the
city, I couldn’t remember exactly where it was, even though I had ran into it a
few weeks before and remembered the name. Before finding some parking, I ran
into a cop walking the beat and asked him where it was, he told me directions,
so I drove around and parked. I was in front of a meter, so I put some quarters
in and pressed the button. Nothing happened…shit; this thing just ate my damn
quarters. Well hell they needed them to fix the roads, or line the pockets of
corrupt officials and judges, who knows. So I walked into a bar restaurant and
asked for change. The cop that gave me directions was in there sitting at the
bar…interesting! At this time I was informed that parking was free after 4:00
PM, well the city shore found a way to pass that information on to people that don’t
visit the criminal streets of downtown.
Making a long story short, I walked over to Tapas 218, went
down the stairs to the bar, where Shawn the bartender would serve me some good
wine, and bring out some really good food. But this gets funny, because as I
ate my meal, that same cop walks in and sits at the same bar I’m sitting at. He
wasn’t a drunken cop, part of his job was to walk from restaurant to restaurant
and into local business to show a police presence against the criminal element,
damn good idea. I began with a glass of Bodegas Breca winery, a Grenache, located in
the town of Mundobriga, which was the ancient Celt-Iberian city that gave birth
to the modern village of Munebrega in Aragon. (Scroll down below the main
review to see wine tasting notes)
That night as I enjoyed my wine, and chatted with the cop, I
enjoyed four tapas items to include the Pimientos Rellenos with goat cheese, jamon, which is Spanish cured ham, and stuffed
green pepper, item number two was the Chorizo with spicy Spanish sausage, followed
by the the Empanadas with Beef, onion, potato, peppers, baked in a half-moon
dough, and finally the Chorizo Enceboliado with Spanish sausage, and caramelized
onions. The Empanadas was my favorite selection, but all of them were good.
For a dessert or Postre, after I rested from the four wonderful
tapas entrees, I had the traditional Latin American Flan, and
the Churros Espanolas aka delicious “Spanish doughnuts”. I was in heaven, and
new that I would be coming back often. Another funny thing is that the best
Asian Bistro to visit in Canton is Called Basil,
and the owner Tony Ly is also the owner of Tapas 218, I discovered that on my
second visit when he was working, so he had a good talk during my second visit.
Speaking of the second visit, just when you think it couldn’t
get better, after I was done talking with Tony it was time to order, and my
rule is if I visit a restaurant more than once, I never try the same thing twice
until I’ve tried everything on the menu. So visit number two consisted of a meat
and cheese platter with assorted jamon and Spanish plus American cheeses, with
a wonderful display with green olives and jerkins. Roasted artichoke and spinach
dip with crusted bread was my second item, followed by Scallops, two to the order;
pan seared in mushroom and onion sauce, and then came the Ceviche with shrimp,
onion, avocado, and jalapeño. Now instead of ordering dessert on my second
visit, I had a fifth Tapas, from the main menu or Platos Grande, except as I
mentioned earlier, you could have it in tapas size, so I ordered the Margarita
Shrimp cooked in Tequila, served with lemon rice and roasted tomato.
The menu is huge with so many items to choose from. When you
visit you could order some of the things I had on my visit, or go outside the
box and try some items that I have yet to try such as the Pollo a la
Champiñones, Berengena con Chevre, Salmon Español con Mojo, Filet Mignon con
Cognac Scampi Sauce, Tilapia con Patatas y Verdes, Fish Tacos, or Pollo
Andalucia just to name a few.
OTHER CANTON RESTAURANT REVIEWED ON WINE, DINE, AND PLAY:
Basil Asian Bistro Pan-Asian favorites from China to Vietnam with sushi specials in Canton, Ohio
91 Wood Fire Oven Refined rustic American fare in Canton, Ohio
Table Six Kitchen + Bar Casual American gastropub & elevated comfort foods in Canton, Ohio
Samantha’s Restaurant Mellow New American fare in North Canton, Ohio
Cost of wines and other
alcoholic beverages in USD:
$17.00
Tasting
Notes:
Wine & Grape:
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Nose (Bouquet):
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Palette Experience:
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consists of 100% Grenache coming from old vines which were
all planted between 1925 and 1968. The wine opens to flavors of strawberries
and black cherries
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Display the character of the Calatayud region from which
this medium bodied wine comes from, medium to full bodied
wine with earthy, dusty notes, black raspberry, truffle, kirsch, lavender and
liquid rock-like characteristics emerge
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Wine Regulatory:
Review basics:
Overall Star rating by Wine, Dine, & Play:
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3 of 5
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Quality of food:
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8 of 10
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Presentation:
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7 of 10
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Wine selections by region:
Scroll below the main review section to see the tasting notes of the wines chosen.
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4 of 10
Old world:
1. Spain: Ribera del Duero, Rias Baixas, & La Rioja
2. Italy: Veneto
New World:
1. Argentina: Mendoza
2. New Zealand: Marlborough
3. California: Sonoma, Napa
4. Washington State: Columbia Valley
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Customer service:
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8 of 10
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Ambiance:
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7 of 10
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Corkage fee’s:
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American Restaurant standard is $25.00 per bottle
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Restaurant style:
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Casual
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Dress code:
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Casual, or Conservative attire
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Reservations:
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Not Required, but Recommended
Make reservation through opentable.com, or by contacting the restaurant directly. See contact info below the review section
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Walk-ins:
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Accepted, but not guaranteed
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Child policy:
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The Restaurants reviewed on this site may have a child’s menu or cater to them; however for full enjoyment of food and wine, it is recommended for children not to be in attendance. Hire a Babysitter. See Alinea Baby Gate, god I love Alinea.
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Cuisine style:
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Contemporary, Spanish/Basque, Modern, Lounge, International, Fusion, & Vegetarian
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Music styles:
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Background instrumental, Band
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Experiences:
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Place for foodies, Lounge, Business parties, Romantic, Hot spot, Great bar, Good for special occasions, Rustic, Great brunch, Classy, Upscale, Trendsetting, and a Neighborhood gem.
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Gratuities:
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Industry standard is 18-20% added to parties of 6 or more
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Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express, Diner’s,
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Parking:
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Public lot, or street parking free after 4:00 PM
Validated for Bliss Parking Deck
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Transport options:
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Bus, taxi, limousine, personal vehicle, and walking
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The restaurants reviewed on this site may have Wi-Fi, but do not require you to go online, because the excitement of the food and wine alone will keep you too entertained instead of checking your social media and emails.
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Noise level:
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Medium
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Smoking:
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Nonsmoking restaurant
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Patio:
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no
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Restaurant address:
218 Court Ave NW
Canton, Ohio 44702
Neighborhood:
Downtown
Cross streets:
2nd Street NW & 3rd Street NW
GPS Coordinates:
Latitude: 40.799486
Longitude: -81.375328
Contact Information:
Maître d, reservations:
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330 453-3888
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Website:
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Email:
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Online Reservations :
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Social Media:
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Hours:
Monday
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5:30–9:00 pm
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Tuesday
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11:00 am - 10:00 am
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Wednesday
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11:00 am - 10:00 am
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Thursday
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11:00 am - 10:00 am
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Friday
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11:00 am - 11:00 pm
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Saturday
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4:30 pm - 11:00 pm
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Sunday
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10:00 am - 2:00 pm
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Standard Time (GMT -5:00)
Proprietor / Manager:
Tony Ly
Review by:
Chef Sean Overpeck (CFE)
at Petra, Jordan 2012
Chef Sean cooks for soldiers in Afghanistan, 2012:
"Culinary perfection
consists not in doing extraordinary things, but in doing ordinary things
extraordinarily well."
TTFN
