The Merchant Tavern Review

Very good food and service tonght. Highly recommend the Maple Bacon BLT Salmon sandwich. Use a knife and fork!

The burgers are so good here that I waited 2 hrs to be seated. It was very busy at dinner time on a Friday night and I didn't have a reservation.

By far the worst bar service in Akron, let alone the most inconsistent food. I've given this "restaurant" three chances and what they say is true, fool me three times shame on me. This establishment is at the very least a poor excuse for a sports bar. It fits in very well in the "valley scene."

First recommendation: Get a bottled beer because the bartenders don't measure pours and the cocktails are inconsistent. You can have the same drink three times in one night and it not taste the same any of them.

Second recommendation: don't get a burger unless you prefer them well done. I've ordered two of them now at medium temperature and being cooked all the way through is not medium... The worst was when I sent the first one back for being overlooked and I was looked at and treated like I had done something wrong....

Third recommendation: don't sit anywhere near the end of the bar or the door way to the kitchen. On one occasion I had sat at the end of the bar and could hear the manager or owner, whomever the bald fellow is. Degrading and screaming at the wait staff about how stupid they are and how they can't do their jobs correctly. Terrible to handle anywhere near where a customer is within ear shot.

If you're looking for a place to go have a few beers, some sloppy bar food, and catch the game then the merchant tavern may be the place to go, or any brubakers pub or the pub bricco across the street. (They have better prices and more consistent drinks!!)

We love this place! Great food, great beer selection and servers we've had have been friendly and knowledgeable about the menu and specials. I highly recommend this place!

First impressions of the restaurant are not great. In entering at the bar, the place has a warehouse feel to it (dark and spartan). To the left is a room with a pool table. I was beginning to worry that I had made a mistake picking this restaurant.Service was very good. The entrees are priced on the upper end, but we felt that it was well worth the cost.

Love their happy hour. Great drink specials. Lettuce wraps and Goat cheese mac are .

The Mediterranean Salmon Salad never disappoints. Been here several times now and there's not been one meal or drink that I could say anything negative about. Consistently good service and quality food.

Great food great service!! I can eat here every day

I try to visit the Merchant as often as possible. Unfortunately, I am on a new diet so I can only go on diet cheat days. The location is great and the interior is clean, has a nice decor and you can usually get a table pretty quickly. The wait staff is always personable and helpful. The food never seems to disappoint. My personal favorite is Mel s Killer Steak sandwich, delicious! The burgers are great, the fried ravioli is amazing, the wings are always delicious, the flat iron steak is also a favorite. I haven t had anything here that I didn t like. The beer selection is top notch and the bartenders are always friendly. Overall, this is the best place to eat when you are in the valley!

My favorite restaurant. Awesome food. Awesime chef. Awesome owner and awesome friendly servers. They make you feel important and at home!

Always a good time. When I lived in Akron I would frequent this establishment. Chill environment, popular in the summertime. Right near a great park, Sand Run.

Very good food and our server (Kyle) was great! Lots of choices on the menu. Very fun.

I got the steak. It was market priced at $37. This was far from a $37 dollar steak. Would advise you just get the burger as everyone else I was with thoroughly enjoyed their burgers.

Always a good time with great food and equally great service!

One of the best in the Valley, we've had consistently great food here. Service can be spotty, a little on the slow side at times, but an excellent beer & drink selection to pick from while you wait.

Salmon comes in generous portions, but they really need to add better vegetable options to the menu. The medley slop they always push is no good.

Very disappointing. We went because of the positive reviews but our experience was terrible. Service was slow and most of the food was burnt. Our waitress knew the fries and tenders were way overcooked because she dropped our food off and ran. She only returned with the check, never for refills, to ask if we needed anything else or how the food was.

My daughter ate one french fry and threw up in her napkin it was so gross. We left an entire meal untouched. When we told the waitress we didn't want a box because the food was so disappointing, she said she would talk to the manager. She wasn't surprised or apologetic.

The manager looked annoyed when she talked to him, took a long time to come over, and was dismissive, combative, and wholly unprofessional. He said our food was cooked as expected. When I asked, "Then why don't our fries look anything like the ones at the table next to us?" He responded that he doesn't check every order before it leaves the kitchen. Sure, but you can see it now...

We paid in full for food that wasn't worth eating or taking home and, somehow, the manager was upset with US!

Slow, terrible service, not kid friendly, management is a joke, bathrooms were filthy (yet they just opened for lunch).

The only positive is I think the food would have been very good had it not been so overdone. The few things that weren't overcooked were good.

I had the salmon, it was cooked to perfection and melted in my mouth. Also tried the meatloaf, it was tender and juicy all the way through. Great place to eat with good food. Highly recommend if your in the area..

Great craft beer selection. I had their burger and it was excellent!

9/19 Update: still has great hand picked craft beer selection. Service was great. Burgers have definitely slipped in their quality. Charging for a $15 burger, it should be on point. Soggy burger, soggy fries, poorly constructed and missing toppings, not worth the money. A Burger King burger would beat my burger tonight... Disappointed... Not sure I'll come back.

Wide craft beer selection & good variety of food offeted.

Not impressed. Soggy fries, lack of flavor in entree. Waiter forgot to give us waters or give us anything to drink. It wasn t busy inside Th restaurant.

Fun environment. Food very well done by a chef. Little pricey but always leave Happy

Please EAT here!!! The food was very good. The fry s are fresh cut and the truffle burger is to die for. I ve also had the muscle here and they are very tasty. When I visit again, I will definitely be back

Nice vibe and atmosphere. Chicken philly was delicious, the garlic mayo really took it to the next level

Our meal was great, and the draft beer selection is also very good. I had a "build your own" bacon cheeseburger. The salmon BLT was super. The salmon wasn't over cooked (which is usually the case). Parking is a premium, but we used the valet.

Great place to sit and have a glass of wine or beer. Great food and a great atmosphere.

We have been here several times and have never really had an issue. Tonight was a different story. We ordered our cocktails, and they were great. We ordered a bottle of wine to accompany our dinner, it started out great. One of us ordered scallops and they were served over a bed of creamed corn. At the first bite my companion tasted ammonia, and I could smell it lingering around the table. We sent it back, and within minutes, the manager, Tim, came over and proceeded to basically tell us that we were wrong, that they served only the freshest seafood, and that he had the scallops last night and they were fine.

If your customer complains and says that the food doesn t taste good, an appropriate response is to apologize, offer to replace it, or offer to remove it from the bill, You dont just stand over your customer and tell them that they are wrong. We will never go back.

Fantastic Walleye. Baked in white wine, butter and garlic. Yum.

Very creative kitchen staff. Daily specials rarely disappoint. The bartenders are professional and really know their stuff. The furthest thing from a neighborhood "shot and a beer" joint.

Excellent food! Great staff and vibe inside. Not too formal and don't let the parking lot fool you, the place is huge inside!

Great atmosphere and friendly staff! The food is delicious! I finally tried the impossible burger and was surprised at how good it was! Now I know what all the fuss was about.

Cool place. A little pricey for my liking on the food.

So unbelievably good. Glad to have a place like this close to home.

Excellent food service was fantastic and the gin fizz is wonderful almost tastes like key lime pie

Great food, beer and service. True pros here at the Merchant

The food was OK. They were pretty busy when we went. The prices were OK as well. The bathroom was a bit gross. Our server was nice but not you attentive. I don't really feel the need to go back.

Wait was 1 hour on a Saturday, and took a little longer then average for our food to come out. That said, the food was superb. We got the chicken philly, and the beef stroganoff. I didn t know a chicken philly could be that good, and the stroganoff was outstanding, homemade dumplings and the steak was cooked perfect.

Personally, I think this is the best restaurant in Akron. Everything I've eaten there is delicious, the staff is super friendly, and they have a nice rotating craft beer selection. The friendly casual setting provides for a nice ambiance. The happy hour food deals are great. I highly recommend the Thai mussels, the goat mac & cheese, the salmon salad, and the bread pudding. (Getting hungry just thinking about them!)

A great place for casual dining! Classy, fantastic food - drink selection. Knowledgeable staff that is always friendly and takes great pride in excellent service.

Great place for a date night. Options for dining room or bar seating are great no matter what your feeling. Highly recommend the lettuce wraps. Even though they are an appetizer, I order them as my meal and it is definitely enough food (plus they are one of the best things on the menu). They also have a specials menu that changes to offer a large variety of meals throughout the year. A large beer selection and knowledgeable wait staff will help you find a new beer or drink to try if you're feeling adventurous. 5/5 for sure!

The menu is pretty big. I have not had a bad meal here. Everything is delicious from the tacos to the burgers. Stop in for pizza night on Wed and Thurs.
Ask about the peanut butter and jelly dipping and wing sauce.
Cocktails are phenomenal.
The staff is friendly.
It is not uncommon for the owner to stop by and have a chat with you.

Really good drinks and beer selection. Merchant nachos and burgers spot on. Hot tip, get the short ribs if they have them.

One of the best burgers Ive ever had in Akron, the HellFire. They also have hand cut chips with Blu cheese and a balsamic drizzle.

We finally have a great place to eat and enjoy friends and family. The food is very good and I've eaten there on several occasions......It's not loud....... service and workers are very friendly......owner is there to meet and greet.....I would highly +++++ recommend.

Don't let the outside fool you! Friendly staff and great food. 1st time visitor, but won't be my last.

Kitchen closes waaaayyy before the bar, so even though it says they close at 10 on Sunday, the kitchen was closing at 9. The team was gracious enough to let us quickly put in our order at 8:55 and for that- I am super grateful. Had the most delicious pork tenderloin salad ever!! Wish I took a pic to share. Poutine is also great here. Loved the outdoor seating. Went back a second time and fell in LOVE with the Thai Mussels delicious!

Upscale drinks, upscale bar food, comfortable, casual atmosphere.

Food and drinks are good. But the manager here not so much....we had reservations weeks in advance and our final count ended up with 4 extra people and the manger was not happy about it. He separated our group into two different tables across the Reatraunt.you could tell he was very irritated about accommodating 4 more people he said that we would shut down the kitchen. Idk customer service just wasn t great

Good burgers, and fries. They have a full menu, beer, cocktails.

The owner "Anthony" is most unfriendly and quite rude. I will never be going back and neither will any of my friends / family members.

a little on the pricey side but you pay for what you get, and let me tell you well worth it. The staff is knowledgeable of the menu and the menu seems to change reasonably. Large array of drinks and the food is incredible. I love getting Bavarian Pretzels and the beer cheese dip is hands down the best I've ever had. If you want to dine with a date or kick it with the boys THIS is the spot

Amazing food and drink selection. Very good craft beer list!

The steak salad was great....beer selection on tap excellent

Third time here and it never disappoints! The food is always good and the service is excellent. The place is cozy and they have great beer selections! And.. they have the Impossible Burger which is the best damn vegan burger ever among many other real burgers of course!!

Good draft selection. However, the loaded potato chips we're not fully fried and we're somewhat raw. Unusual for them as every other meal I've had has been great.

Amazing restaurant! Such great tasting food and very nice staff. Be sure to get a specialty soda (Norka sodas)! They're made locally in Akron. It's great to see local businesses supporting other local businesses

Tuesday night burger night is outstanding. The food is great, and the service is good.

Best place in town.I Have eaten at about every restaurant in Akron and this one i tried for the 1st time and they have the best burgers I have ever had in Akron .I had the brie Burger with onion rings and my wife had the muscles The burgers had the best buns the nice hard kind that don't fall apart and the muscles were delicious .We had the cheese curds as an appetizer which were awesome .We sat at the bar and the 2 bartenders were the nicest people .The owner Anthony also introduced himself and was very nice And kept a close eye on everything And talk to multiple people To make sure everything was good .The food portions Were crazy large .I looked at a lot of the food coming out of the kitchen being so close to the bar and everything looked awesome .My wife had been there before and she is the one who recommended this place and she was right. this will not be the last time that we Eat here .They have a large menu selection And I want to try 99% of what's on it .I have been dreaming of the Burger ever since I ate it 2 days ago .

Excellent food. Great service. Quaint location in the valley. Try the pizza!

Nice restaurant, friendly staff, the menu has a large variety and it's decently priced

Server wasn't very friendly, seemed to be having a bad day

Food was not great, service not great, parking terrible