Good places to eat outside of park

I second Mekong, while not the best Pho, their broken rice dishes and bun are great. They also boast a large selection of beers.

Chet and Matts has really good pizza. I personally like the three brothers pizza. I tried the buffet and was not impressed myself.

Thirsty Pony had a really good fried bologna sandwich. I'm not sure if it's still on the menu.

Every weekend we visit we order Pizza House East. Very good pizza (for a take out anyways).

MaverickLaunch said:
We did try Chet and Matts for lunch buffet and left entirely unimpressed, but I'd give them a second chance after so many positive things said about them here.

Yeah, we've tried them several times against our better judgment, for exactly that reason: the accolades they receive here. We still don't get it. Their to-order pizza is decent at best, and our 3 buffet experiences have been really disappointing.

Either we have the worst luck, or our standards are entirely different than folks from Ohio. ;-)

At any rate, Thirsty Pony, Diana's, and especially Berardi's are all worth a visit.

If you think Diana's is worth checking out, then yes, your standards might be very different :)

I wonder why people haven't had good experiences at Chet and Matts. I think their buffet is such a good price with being able to try all of their pizzas styles. And those rice crispy treats are equally amazing.

For breakfast, I am a fan of East Side Cafe on First St. It is a classic Sandusky bar that opens early. You won't find anything fancy. But if you want eggs, potatoes, toast, and even a cold beer, it is a great place. It caters to many of the shops in the neighborhood, hence the 7am opening time. Third shifters need an after work beer, too, after all. They also have a nice collection of newspaper clippings, and historical photos, etc., hanging on the walls. Much of it Cedar Point related.

Sorry, but the East Side Cafe is closed and the building is for sale.

TwistedWicker77 said:

If you think Diana's is worth checking out, then yes, your standards might be very different :)

Is Diana's fine dining? Certainly not, but it's good diner food (at least for breakfast), priced right, and you can be in and out of there quickly.

I wonder why people haven't had good experiences at Chet and Matts. I think their buffet is such a good price with being able to try all of their pizzas styles. And those rice crispy treats are equally amazing.

I wonder the same thing, honestly. We've done the buffet three times, and while I expect dried out pizza in a buffet, I don't expect them to run completely out of pizza for 10-ish minutes. Every. Single. Time.

The to-order stuff was decent, especially the chicken alfredo pizza. But it's just that with the accolades they get here, we must have the worst luck imaginable for our experiences to be so vastly different.

After seeing praise from several different people here about Chet and Matt's we decided to give them a try last fall. The service was incredibly slow and I thought the pizza didn't really stand out to me. It was a nice place though and it is clearly a popular restaurant so I'd definitely recommend trying it out.

Well now, that really sucks. I always enjoyed going in that place. Thanks for the information.

Chet and Matt's is mediocre at best. Personally I like pizza house east. Also the taco fish has now been reduced to just tacos.

djDaemon said:

Is Diana's fine dining? Certainly not, but it's good diner food (at least for breakfast), priced right, and you can be in and out of there quickly.

I'm certainly not looking for fine dining when I'm looking for a quick in and out meal. However, I don't like weird smells inside a restaurant while I'm trying to eat. But it's really hard to eat with hardened food still on silverware from a previous customer.

There are only 3 things I ask of a restaurant: cleanliness, friendliness, and good food. Diana's fails 2 out of 3. Unless they have cleaned up their act, their friendliness is the ONLY thing that would get me to go back there.

I miss East of Chicago pizza. Chet & Matt's is amazing, but the wife and I make it a point to go to Thirsty Pony on our over night trips. Not a big drinker personally, but for whatever reason Blue Moon with their wings is a summer weakness of mine.

Damn, lurking on these sites the past few days is really making not having a Platinum Pass tough this year, lol.

Berardi's was definitely the food highlight of opening weekend for me. I loved that place, and they serve beer at 10:00 AM.

Breakfast beers are an automatic star on Yelp from me.

Weren't some folks talking about a place in Huron that had fantastic fries?

Probably the Berardi's in Huron: http://www.berardisrestauranthuron.com

The Sandusky Berardi's also has a website: http://www.sanduskyberardis.com

Thirsty Pony has a cool atmosphere, my kids love it. Plus, when you order a kids meal (which are huge, by the way), you request a free game of bowling at the alley that's attached and they'll give you a ticket to redeem anytime.

Last summer we were looking for a place to grab some food one evening and were actually kind of excited when we discovered that Sandusky has a Sonic. Yeah, I know, probably sounds strange to most people but we used to have one in our area and it closed. Same thing happened where my in-laws live. Stopping at a drive-in after spending a day at an amusement park brings back some fond childhood memories and I'm glad that my kids get to have similar experiences.

Sonic is great, there is one close to my home and it is one of my favorite fast food places. Mixes some nice nostalgia with pretty decent fast food.

Mostly they're just for milkshakes. Giant, fatty, milkshakes.

I miss the Margaritaville that used to be on 250; it was a Mexican joint that just so happened to have some of the best fresh perch close to Cedar Point served on a way-more-than-a-human-should-consume platter.

Where do some of you go (if you do) for Lake Erie perch close to the point?