Restaurants in Portage

Ambrosia Bella is a cozy escape for those who crave fresh-made desserts, café fare, and rich espresso hidden beneath a cap of foam. Co-owners Miranda Hartwell and Ben Lamson, a former Marine who doubles as Ambrosia's executive chef, take care to keep their restaurant relaxed and slightly whimsical. Drawing on a catering background with the Food Network and charitable catering events for Rosie O'Donnell and FEMA, Miranda and Ben prepare a rustic-hewn menu for breakfast, lunch, and snacks, with refined accents such as champagne vinaigrette and garlic-truffle cream cheese.

After sinking teeth into a few crab-cake sliders, guests can thank Ambrosia Bella for its contributions to the Steuben County Animal Shelter, or solicit Ben to craft a bone-shaped danish to feed the dogs, cats, and tiny humans within all of our hearts.

Beneath the baked bread and vegetable du jour of Restaurant Toulouse's signature cassoulet, pork sausage and duck confit stew with great northern beans, bacon, carrots, onions, and tomatoes into one simmering pot of flavor. A staple of the French countryside, the dish is one of Chef Adam Smith's renditions of dishes from classic French cuisine. His other creations include onion soup and a medley of pan-seared scallops and mushrooms smothered in gruyère cream sauce.

The flavors of each dish are complemented by selections from a revamped wine list curated by staff from East Village Wine Shoppe. Bartenders also mix up an extensive assortment of cocktails, including Kahlua- and tequila-spiked coffee or the French Connection, a slowly stirred blend of cognac and amaretto over ice. Wait staff serve these feasts in a refurbished turn-of-the-century building replete with art deco–style posters and a wood- and screenplay-burning hearth, as well as a heated, enclosed patio.

When Todd, Pam, and Nina Meyer opened Nina’s Cafe in 1998, they created a space that captured exactly what they wanted in a restaurant—a smoke-free room filled with the scents of all-day breakfast feasts and tasty soups and chili made from their own family recipes. Bottomless cups of fresh coffee accompany plates of eggs florentine or pancakes and waffles topped with rivers of warm syrup. For lunch, expect feasts of burgers, chicken salad wraps, and quesadillas. Since Nina’s 45-seat diner is cozy, guests are advised to call ahead to avoid the long lines of eager patrons and sprawling tent cities that spring up in front of the restaurant each morning.

At Timbers Steakhouse and Seafood, chefs craft dinners from a menu of surf-and-turf classics paired with all-American eats. Appetizers include traditional pub fare such as cheese fries, garlic mushrooms, and chicken wings in flavors such as buffalo, garlic, and mango habanero. Classic caesar, chef's, and spinach salads pave the way for burgers made from 100% ground sirloin. Pounds of snow-crab legs arrive with a coverlet of melted butter, whereas sautéed tilapia comes encrusted in a combination of panko and pecans.

Steak is, of course, the main event. Hand-cut rib eyes, filets mignons wrapped in bacon, and thick, unyielding portions of porterhouse that clock in at 20 ounces are dusted in the restaurant’s secret spice blend and charbroiled to order. Chefs also slice off portions of slow-cooked, tender prime rib served with horseradish sauce upon request.

In addition to the regular menu, Wednesday evenings boast a selection of Mexican food such as tacos, enchiladas, and fajitas, and Thursday shows off pasta prowess with Italian favorites. Although most dinners unfold in the spacious lower-story dining room, Timbers also makes the most of its attic. The restaurant's upper-story A-frame loft houses a banquet facility equipped with seating for up to 120, with custom menus, full bar service, DJs, and photographers available.

The cherry-red Diners, Drive-ins and Dives convertible idles beside a giant rooster statue in the Gizzard City parking lot. Inside the diner, Food Network's Guy Fieri stands over a deep fryer, a full burger battered in his gloved hand. With a sizzle and a grin, Guy drops the entire creation into scalding oil, yielding Joe's Gizzard City's newest creation, the Triple D burger. After spending years battering chicken in his grandmother's secret blend of ingredients, co-owner Joe Bristol Jr. decided to experiment with the hot oil, and now deep fries hot dogs, Oreos, and even whole burgers. But the eatery isn’t called Gizzard City for nothing. Pressure cooked in garlic and celery powder until tender, Joe's namesake chicken gizzards arrive to tables cloaked in Cajun spices or crowded into the cheese-filled confines of an omelet.

Hesitant diners begin to sample gizzards, cautiously at first, but then letting forth happy sighs that reverberate off neon beer signs, a projection TV, and a weathered wooden bar. The staff operates on the same irreverent attitude that led them to deep-fry a Twinkie, joking with one another and playfully asking guests to help with the dishes. Booths the deep red hue of a lobster with lost cue cards cradle lingering patrons who chat with Joe Jr. about his numerous Tennessee Country Music Association awards.

Named for the British prime minister’s official country residence, Chequers of Saugatuck pays homage to British culinary traditions with a focused menu of popular Scottish, Welsh, and English pub dishes, along with a few Irish staples for good measure. Shepherd's pie, Guinness stew, and fish ‘n’ chips all make appearances, as do some of Chef Adam Smith's American favorites, including crab-cake sandwiches topped with roasted red-pepper sauce. The bar harbors similarly Anglophile predilections. Taps release pours of Bass ale and Guinness, backed by a generous number of bottled brews from Yorkshire's Samuel Smith and Michigan's Saugatuck Brewing as well as Strongbow cider. Beer and bites pair off in Chequers’ two dining rooms, one modeled after classic pub decor, the other an elegant English tearoom but without the traditional potato guns stuffed with crumpets.