Mike’s Place

In 1987 Mike Kostensky started a restaurant at the intersection of SR-261 and SR-43 just south of the Kent State campus. Since that day, he has continued to add to the menu and the restaurant in some unconventional ways. Today, the menu has well over two hundred items to choose from. Mike also added a Castle to serve as a banquet hall, drove a bus to the site and built around it and in 1997, he built his own X-wing fighter which is now parked in the front lot.

The same creativity Mike uses in the decor is applied to the dining choices. The names and combinations lean towards the unconventional. Here are a few examples: Lutz Lavishous Lust translates to a grilled boneless chicken breast, bacon, Thousand Island dressing, tomato, and pineapple covered in mozzarella cheese. If you are ordering the Big Big Slop Bucket of Gold, you’ll receive a combination of curly fries, tator tots, onion rings, fried ravioli, and mozzarella sticks. It can take you hours to read through the menu and a lifetime to try everything, so take friends to help with the exploration. The food is as good as the names and descriptions that go with each item.

Fan favorites include the Tuesday night burger bar where $2.99 gets you a half-pound burger and access to a dozen plus items to top it with, to your stomach’s content. The Belly Buster is a breakfast-of-champions legend which includes three eggs, a ham steak, three sausage links, home fries, two buttermilk pancakes, biscuits, sausage gravy, and toast.

In between bites, you can read the Rules of Dining at Mike’s place on the back of your menu, guaranteed to scare any retail food consultant. Mike’s has a bar with 100-plus beers to choose from, bands on some nights and, usually, a special or two every day.