Customer Reviews

Cleveland Food Memories: A Nostalgic Look Back at Great Food We Ate, the People Who Made It, and the Places Where We Bought It

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This is a good book for baby boomers like myself to trip down memory lane. Or so I thought. I enjoyed the pictures. But I had several problems with this book. If we were in school I would have to grade it "incomplete". Some of the pictures do not indicate the location: the picture of the people lined up in front of the Hough Bakery after V-J; the two pictures of the Manner's on page 37; the old Lawson store that is pictured...and it goes on and on and on. Where were they located?

Many of her stories start off interesting then drop you and leave you hanging. She mentions that in the 1940s there were four Chandler & Rudd stores. Then she switches to Heinen's. What happened to Chandler & Rudd? There is an old ad for Fisher Foods but only a mere mention of Fazio's and no mention of Stop-N-Shop.

Many items that folks may remember get an one word mention like the Forum or Dearings, others are shown over and over again like Manners. Whatever happened to the Uncle Marty ice cream trucks? No mention of them. Some of the East Side barbeque joints of the 1950s and 60s like Whitmore's or Hot Sauce William's or Ferris'? No mention of them. Peterson Nuts. Yes. King's Nuts. No.

But the kisser is: there's a picture of Otto's Deli. And that's it. All of the places you could go and get a great corned beef sandwich? Hold on to the memory.

And don't look for them in this book.

I enjoyed this book for exactly what it was - a walk through the Cleveland Food, Beverage and Snack businesses from the early 1900's to the eighties. As any Clevelander knows, Clark's, Mawby's and Hough Bakeries were right up there with Heaven on Earth! It was a pleasure to read snips and short histories on the many establishments that I grew up with. The book had wonderful photos and the samplings of memories about each of the places were fun to read. NO - this isn't John Grisham or Stephen King as far as literary genius - but who cares? It is a terrific collection of CLEVELAND FOOD MEMORIES! Buy the book!!

Gave this book to my parents...a native West Sider, and Geauga county country girl. My dad spent the rest of the day savoring all the antecdotes and photos, thorougly enjoying the dining of his past. The book is mostly a compilation of personal memories, not as much of a factual historical listing of Cleveland food establishments....but aren't memories personal anyway? Food is universal, and even though my mom was a country girl who didn't go into the city often....they had common dining memories. A great gift for the pre-boom and boomer age. (I'm a older Gen Xer...and hardly knew any of the places listed) I put this book in a gift basket of several of the food products from the book that are still available...Humphrey Kisses, Bertman's Mustard, it was a big hit.

Great book for Clevelanders. Even had Uncle Jack at his deli. Lots of memories.