Here at Wendi’s Weekend Trips & Whatnot, we (my husband, Bobby, and I) get the opportunity to visit many restaurants we have never tried. I am glad for the variety and really enjoy trying new places. However, there are some restaurants that we visit that we think we would like to try again. Maybe because they have so many options on their menus or maybe just because the atmosphere is fun, but it is mostly because the food was just that good. One place we had the chance to visit again was Fast Eddie’s in Bellville, Ohio.
Our first occasion was by chance. If you remember, we had taken our dog Owney to Malabar Farm to walk. (You can listen to why we went on our podcast or read Owney’s blog here.) After we had walked around a bit, we — or maybe I — was hungry. Bobby took out his phone and looked for places close on his Yelp app. While there were some places closer, Bobby had done a little bit of searching before we left home and thought Fast Eddie’s would be a good place to try.
Bobby said what drew him to Fast Eddie’s were the reviews about their food. They serve mostly Italian food (pizza and spaghetti), the reviews also indicated that their broasted chicken was really good, too. Turns out that Fast Eddie’s was not to far from Malabar Farm, so off we went. Our biggest concern was leaving Owney in the car. However, we reasoned it wasn’t too hot and we wouldn’t be too long. (As an aside, our other dog, Madison, would have not caused us any concern. She was much more laid back than Owney.)
Fast Eddie’s in on a corner lot as you are entering Bellville. There is some parking in front, but on a Saturday night, the place was pretty crowded. We ended up parking on the street, but not far from the door. We walked in and the parking lot was right, it was crowded! There may have been one or two tables available, but that was it. I thought it would take us forever to be seated. I was wrong. It turns out that many people there were waiting for their take-out orders. I was thinking, we were smart to come. If this many locals enjoy it, then it has to be good. (One woman even brought a blanket with her to wrap her pizza up. I would guess she has been quite the regular at Fast Eddie’s.)
We ordered our regular, pepperoni and bacon pizza and four piece all white chicken dinner. While we waited, they brought out an order of complementary cheesey garlic bread. The bread was awesome! It melted in my mouth.
When our food came out we both had a couple of pieces of pizza and shared a chicken breast. The dinner also came with Jo-Jo’s, so we each had some of them. Let me tell you, the food was great. The pizza was how we like it. (Reminded us a little of Gionino’s.) The broasted chicken was just the right amount of crispy and juicy. The jo-jo’s added a nice comfort food dimension to the dinner. We saved enough of the food that we were able to eat it for lunch the next day. It heated up well.
As you can see, we really enjoyed our visit there. I didn’t honestly think we would go back, because really, how often have I gone to Bellville before? Well, I guess there is a reason they say “never say never.” Because in just two weeks we found ourselves at Malabar Farm needing a place to eat. What is funny is that I didn’t even think of Fast Eddie’s, I just told Bobby that I wanted to go somewhere to get spaghetti. So off to Fast Eddie’s we went!
This time Bobby got a meatball sub. I got the chicken parmigiana, which was served on a bed of angel hair pasta. Again, we got our complimentary bread, which was just as good. I think it came fresh from the oven. Bobby’s sub was really good. The meatballs were made in house.
I liked the chicken parmigiana, although there was a little pool of water at the bottom of the plate. I assume from taking the spaghetti out of the boiling water. Still the chicken was good and moist. (I always worry about getting chicken in a restaurant. I don’t like chicken that is dry.)
One of the best surprises was the side salad served with my meal. It was not your usual salad. It had lettuce, cucumber and tomato of course, but then there was broccoli and cauliflower on it, too. I love cauliflower!
So our second trip was as good as our first. I don’t know if we’ll make it back to Fast Eddie’s a third time, because, well, how often do we get to Bellville, anyhow. However, if we do find ourselves near there, at least we know of a good place to get great food.
