Battleground brings great food and vibes to Kent
At the Battleground, each dish tells the story of Mexico. Owner Rosi Peruyero-Noden is a native of Papantla, Mexico, and has been living in Kent for the past 15 years with her children and husband, Munroe Falls native Kirk Noden. She had been cooking Mexican family recipes at home since she couldn’t find the food she ate growing up. She set out to fill that gap when the spouses opened the Battleground in South Kent in January 2020.
“I wanted to bring traditional Mexican food to Northeast Ohio,” says Peruyero-Noden.
She teamed with award-winning chef Dudley Nieto, whom she worked with at a Chicago restaurant, to create a menu of chef-driven dishes that hail from Mexico and are made using authentic ingredients, including about 19 imported Mexican spices. Much of the food is crafted from scratch, including its chips, salsas and tortillas. For the latter, Nieto’s Mexican grandmother helped him learn a perfected recipe.
Nieto’s travels to Mexico influenced the carnitas ($24), which feature juicy pork marinated in orange juice and served with guacamole, black beans and salsa borracha, a classic thick chile-based salsa made with alcohol.
“He goes to very remote towns, very faraway places and explores the food of that region,” Peruyero-Noden says. “He takes time to talk to local people and learn the way they make it.”
Some dishes are twists, like the molcajetes ($25), the Mexican version of American fajitas that Nieto created, which are now common on menus nationwide. Get grilled skirt steak, shrimp or chicken in a scorching hot lava rock bowl filled with grilled scallions, grilled cactus, tomatillo salsa and Chihuahua cheese that you pile into tortillas.
“It finishes cooking the cheeses,” Peruyero-Noden says. “It’s fun to scrape the cheeses out of the side of a molcajete.”
The Battleground not only shares culture through food but also advocates through Drink Your Values — the only social justice beer project of its kind in the country — in which exclusive beers are brewed by Modern Methods Brewing Co. in Warren. A percentage from every beer sold benefits a different charity, with causes spanning from immigration reform to the revitalization of the working-class South Kent neighborhood.
“We’re very transparent about our values,” says Noden, who leads the project. “People appreciate that and want that authenticity.”
The community response has been strong, with over 30,000 customers its first year. Peruyero-Noden is excited to see locals come to love her Mexican entrees and specials, which they aren’t always familiar with.
“I want to serve those that appreciate a dish that has history and culture,” she says. “Those are the ones that are supporting me in making this place unique.” KP
425 Cherry St., Kent, battlegroundbar.com