PUFFERBELLY LTD.

Both my husband Jack and I are graduates of Kent State University - in fact, we met there back in 1959 toward the end of my freshman year (he was a sophomore; we got married after he graduated in 1962 and was about to start teaching English and competitive speech at Niles McKinley High School in his home town). If we were lucky back in our college days, we'd have four bucks between us on the weekends and would head to downtown Kent - walking, of course, since neither of us had a car. There, we'd have to choose how to best spend our precious money: Would it be on a movie (hopefully with enough left to share a cold drink and a small box of popcorn), or have a beer or two and maybe share a sandwich at one of the bars like The Deck or Ray's?


On the times the bar won, our journey often took us past the theater to Water Street, where we'd see - but not really see - the old brick train depot that served as the main railway depot in the area until 1970, when it was boarded up. Not long thereafter, research tells me, the Kent Historical Society was formed, mostly with an eye toward saving the station. Long story short, the Pufferbelly Ltd. Restaurant opened in 1981 and now is part of the Kent Industrial District, which in turn is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Outside, the building has retained it's train depot look - much like the B&O Station Restaurant building in downtown Youngstown, Ohio. It's much longer than it is wide with high ceilings, from which a variety of objects hang (including a full-size buggy). Some of the interior walls are the old brick, and railroad memorabilia is hung here, there and everywhere. If you sit on the railroad tracks side, you can hear trains pass by; the railroad itself is still active - the trains just don't stop here any more.

Although neither of us is much interested in returning to our alma mater for special events like homecoming, we do enjoy driving through the campus now and again just to see the latest changes. I was devastated, for instance, when "my" dormitory - Terrace Hall - was razed; lots and lots of wonderful memories came down with that building. And on several of those drive-through occasions, we've stopped for lunch at the Pufferbelly. And on at least two occasions, we've gone to Kent expressly for that purpose. We've lunched there with our son Scott and his wife, Lilla, as well as Lilla's wonderful Mum, Sheila - at the time, they all lived close by in the Cuyahoga Falls area. At any rate, we love the ambience and food here; one of these days, we'll get there for one of the special events (there's a clam bake each September, for instance). 

There's also a Sunday brunch buffet that's served from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and it includes several goodies like bacon and sausage, potatoes and vegetables, eggs Benedict, fish, chicken and pork, made-to-order omelets and waffles, rice and pasta and more.

If you go during the right season, we suggest trying the gazpacho as an appetizer. Quite some time ago we took the plunge - call us food-challenged, but we'd never even heard of cold tomato-based soup before. But tell you what - we left smacking our lips, and the first thing we did when we got back home was track down a recipe so we could make it ourselves.

The menu isn't what I'd call extensive, but there are always a few things that are a little on the unique side. Ever hear of Andouille Quesadilla? At $8.25, it's a flour tortilla stuffed with Andouille sausage, scallions, tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. For an entree, there's Veggie Aglio, or sauteed artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, black olives, sun-dried tomatoes, onions and spinach served over wheat linguine in a garlic, herb and olive oil sauce ($10.50).

Our most recent stop was on our way home from Cleveland; it was around lunch time, we were hungry, and it wasn't much out of our way to go through Kent. The day was sunny, so we took a few photos in the historic district while we were at it, as is our usual custom. We were seated almost immediately, and then realized it would take some time to decide what we wanted because everything sounded wonderful - even the daily specials.

I almost caved in and ordered the baked Brie appetizer once again - a whole mini-wheel of Brie cheese topped with roasted almonds and served warm with fresh fruit and French bread ($8.95). Oh mama, it's to die for. To this day, I don't know why I passed it by this time, but I did.

Both of us love reuben sandwiches, and past experience told me they're very good here. They're a combination of the usual lean corned beef, swiss cheese, sauerkraut and thousand island dressing, but here, they add a bit of turkey as well ($7.25). Jack went for it almost immediately (substituting cole slaw for the standard fries) and I considered it, but since I've had it before I wanted something different this time.

Finally, I settled on the cashew chicken salad croissant - chicken in a honey mayonnaise blend with toasted cashews served on a toasted croissant with fresh fruit ($6.95). I'd had it long ago and it was delicious - and by golly, it's still every bit as tasty. There's so much filling that it's hard to eat without everything spilling, but it's well worth the effort (besides, you can clean up the fallout with a fork).

If you go:

Pufferbelly Ltd.
152 Franklin Ave.
Kent, Ohio 44240
(330) 673-1771

http://www.pufferbellyltd.com

Open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday; 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Sunday (brunch); 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday (dinner). In winter months, closes at 8 p.m. Sunday and Monday.