A Galaxy Of Choices
People wiser than I often counsel against trying to be all things to all people. I have found this holds particularly true most of the time in the restaurant business. That’s why we have “French” and “Italian” restaurants. Nevertheless, it is sometimes possible to be many things food wise, and in the greater Akron area we are blessed with several eateries that manage to pull it off.
The Galaxy in Wadsworth is probably the key example. This is a place that manages to serve barbecue with style on an outdoor patio, complement the great outdoors with an indoor sports bar, and yet offer haute cuisine in a formal dining room, and an even more gourmet experience in a small wine room. Just that they can do it all is about one of the highest compliments I can express!
If you go to the Galaxy and can’t find anything you’d like to eat, they may as well drag you out onto the Interstate 76 it overlooks, and let you get run over. Executive Chef John Schulze and his staff planned the large menu around the incorporation of the same ingredients in many dishes. Being a server might be a little more demanding, and being a customer can require browsing through more than one menu, however.
The patio and sports bar menus are pretty much the same, but with a lot more appetizer plates than you will normally find al fresco. Sure, there’s bar food…wings, onion rings, tenders, poppers. But there are also creations of a higher order like Tempura Shrimp with Thai chili caramel sauce or Chef’s Award Winning Crab Cakes with herb salad and tomato vinaigrette.
Just about every form of burger you ever heard of is dished up, and Galaxy is a “Certified Angus Beef House”. Same with chicken such as Tarragon Chicken Salad on mini croissants (all breads are made and baked on the premises). There’s fish, subs, corned beef, turkey. There are buns, paninis, bread, rolls and croissants. There are plenty of offerings to go with a wide range of beer and cocktails, but the pride of the Galaxy is the Wine Spectator award-winning wine cellar. I see a LOT of wine cellars. This one is outstanding not just because it has a lot of bottles, but because the selections range from all over the world and there are prices to suit any budget. Many wines are available by the glass; you can get sippers for the patio just as readily as rare vintage choices in the wine room.
Did I mention there are bars? Several bars! There’s the sports bar, the patio bar and the wine bar, just to mention three.
Another feature of Galaxy’s patio dining is that you can get the more intricate dining room dishes served outside. This goes way beyond the Angus steaks in many shapes and sizes, and the chicken, lamb and pork presentations. The Galaxy probably has one of the more imaginative seafood menus in the area with salmon, sea bass, scallops, scampi, tuna and mussels all making at least one or two appearances. There is also a nice selection of vegetarian offerings; we tried the Vegetable Napoleon (colorful!) and there is Vegetable Penne and Spring Vegetable Ravioli to name two more.
There are about four entrances, so if you plan to meet someone, try to be specific. However, the building itself is very classy, and the service is friendly, knowledgeable (with this menu, it has to be), and smooth. The small selection of desserts is mostly made in the Galaxy kitchen, but is predictable. Still, as with all other menu categories, you’ll find something you want, and you won’t leave hungry.
The Galaxy is located at 201 Park Center Drive, and you can see it from the freeway tucked between the Holday Inn Express and the Ramada Inn. Call 330-334-3663 for reservations, a must in the Wine Room.