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EATING OUT

By Fred

How many times have you and a friend stood around at "after hours" on a Friday or Saturday and wondered where to go to satisfy those early-morning hunger pangs? That is, assuming you'd like to rest your dance-weary feet and find out a little more about that person you've decided to wake up with without yelling over Donna Summer. Well, Cleveland for the most part has been asleep for some time by then, but there are a few places. Don't expect gourmet dining at that hour. However, you can get a good old fashioned greasy hamburger at Lips by the E. 9th St. entrance to the Innerbelt, or dine on any number of the seafood specialities which are served up without much flourish directly North on the same street at Captain Frank's (Lobster House) on the pier.

The latter is an old 24-hour Art-Deco diner kind of sleazy with pin-ball machines in the back room, a few street characters, a sweet but sleepy waitress, and typical diner fare on the menu... all served on chic Chinettes! Captain Frank's has seen better days when there used to be table cloths and carpeting, but the menu has remained fairly large and the seafood quite good with crabmeat patties being my favorite. They're under $5. and taste great when dipped in the hot butter that comes alongside. Surprisingly, this may be the only place open then where a spaghetti dish in several of its forms can be had without traveling out to an all night Denny's, which I'll get to in a minute. It's pretty good and ranks as the best buy along with the hot BBQ beef and the turkey sandwich. Try to get there at least an hour before closing at 4 a.m. Otherwise, the waitresses are cranky, they tell you they can't have certain items prepared, and the coffee sometimes runs out.

What can I say about any one of the five Denny's restaurants located in the area with one half-way between Akron and Canton off of 1-77, except that they are open 24 hours and you won't need coffee to wake you up once you're surrounded by the orange and fuchsia decor inside. The food is burger, sandwich, and egg combos, all prepared systematically time after time. The one on Northfield Rd. in Warrensville Hts., may be the most lively and interesting of the bunch, due to its proximity to the racetrack nearby and the cabaret downstairs. Many a show occurs right in the booths. If Denny's won't do it and you are still in the suburbs, try one of the Hospitality Inn coffee shops also open all night.

Perhaps one of the most enjoyable places to eat, be seen and relax among friends and acquaintances up until approximately 4 a.m. on

HIGH GEAR/FEBRUARY 1978

weekends is Heck's in Ohio City. It's usually crowded, but the wait is completely forgotten once you dig into the fabulous old-fashioned sundaes or try any one of over a dozen real beef burger entrees which are cooked to your specification and are usually more than one person can handle. The last time I was there, I not only had a peppermint stick sundae (Wonderful!), but about six cups of their specially blended coffee which I've never tasted the likes of anywhere else in the city. Enough about Heck's. It's received numerous rave reviews since it opened a couple of years ago, and if for no other reason, the back room with its dozens of plants, stained glass, and high-backed rattan chairs are worth planning a stop in themselves.

If you're not in a hurry to get anywhere fast (or anything on the table for that matter) and happen to be out on the Shoreway heading East, you can drop in at the Howard Johnsons coffee shop at the 55th Street exit. We once waited almost an hour before anyone bothered to ask what we wanted, but sometimes it's a convenient place to stop and the coffee which is usually the only thing we get is good and plentiful served by the pot which is left at your table.

Heading West on Detroit Avenue at 51st, there is the infamous Big Eggthe old Egg Palace. Anyone who is hungry on the lower West Side stops here to take care of it, and know of someone who met a hot trucker once... Needless to say. eggs are the specialty served in all of their more common forms,

but there is a little of everything printed tastefully on plasticcoated menus in the shape of eggs. Real greasy and fun!

Cleveland even has a late night Chinese spot. Chung Wah's on Superior Avenue at 38th Street may not be an Oriental garden I doubt that anything desirable could grow in there anyhow, but the 40,000 different items all crammed together on the menu along with the waiters and waitresses who answer questions by nodding heads and saying "yes" are there

accompanied by autographed pictures of Jack Benny and Bob Hope when they must have eaten there in 1939. A true delight.

Greater

morning establishments should cost a single person under $5. and more likely around $3.

greasy

Atmosphere/Decor: sleaze, early 60's Ford interiors, stuffed gamefish on walls with tables in the middle, garden paradise... What more do you want?

Credit: You'll have to ask, but I always use cash. At that hour, who wants to be bothered, and I could just see trying to explain a Visa at Lips.

Reservations: Hardly.

Hours: Heck's...'till about 4 a.m. Captain Frank's ... the same all others... longer or 24 hrs.

Admittedly, there have got to be other obscure places for late night/early morning eating, I On the side: hope, hidden away perhaps in corners of shopping centers, or shining out on empty streets somewhere in Cleveland, but these are a few that stand out most and are easiest to reach from downtown. Country Kitchen at W. 150th St. and 1-71 is also open, serving much the same fare as Denny's but is less eye-popping in decor. All I have to say is... whatever happened to Gypsy's on the strip?!

Vital Statistics-

Food: Most of these places have a little of everything. The quality at some is consistently good, at

others consistently poor or passable at that hour.

Price: With the exception of Captain Frank's, a visit to arty one of our late night / early

David S. Holleb

WISHES TO ANNOUNCE

THE OPENING OF HIS OFFICE AT

2140 LEE ROAD, ROOM 202

CLEVELAND HTS., 44118.

COUNSELING BY APPOINTMENT

FOR THE GAY COMMUNITY.

321-1451 321-8189

BIOFEEDBACK AND SEX THERAPY

MEDICAL SUPERVISIÓN AVAILABLE

There is a restaurant in Columbus, Ohio that not only has some of the most crazy and exotic drinks I've ever experienced, it also puts you on the set of a South Sea Island paradise.. circa Hollywood, 1956. It's name is the Kahiki Polynesian Supper Club located at 3583 E. Broad Street and is definitely a place to go if you like the theatrical aspects of dining out. Flashy, extravagant, fun, and a little outrageously tacky, all describe this Columbus landmark where you can either be surrounded by 30foot palm trees beneath the insane gaze of a lit-up Tiki god of about the same size, or look out from safety beneath your own little grass shack onto a tropical rain, forest complete with lightning, thunder, and rain. Sugar-sweet strains of

Hollywood Hawaiian tunes set the mood of the evening as my friend and I began with a drink order from a bar menu showing 36 island concoctions mostly rum conbinations with a few gin, brandy, vodka, and scotch contenders thrown in. Choosing was hard, but I finally ordered a Smoking Eruption ($3.50) and my dining partner evidently wanted to remain more traditional with a Mai-Tai ($3.25). Both shared the list with the likes of the Pago Passage, the Maiden's

Prayer, the Headhunter, the Malayan Mist and the Mystery Drink ($10.00) which is served by the Kahiki Mystery Girl for four or more! Since I had just downed a huge drink that gurgled and smoked to the last drop, I decided to continue the pattern with the (filet mignon) Beef Teriyaki ($8.95) which was speared and flamed on a sword tableside by our elderly waiter who had on baggy white pants and a Waikiki tourist shirt.

My friend took a chance that turned out to be very much worth it and got the Mystery Dinner ($8.95) a choice that included combination appetizers and entrees that are different every day. Both dinners were exceptionally good, especially for an establishment that places so much effort and emphasis on atmosphere. The taste treat of the evening however, has to be given to the Chicken Shanghai (an appetizer) at $2.75 that consists of chunks of marinated chicken breasts wrapped in bacon. Delicious! The menu, primarily composed of

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