Restaurants in Stow

Founded in the 1950s as a single carry-out shop, Your Pizza Shop quickly expanded into a multi-state franchise, with locations popping up like pepperoni toppings all over Ohio and Florida. Today, stores range from carryout-and-delivery joints to full-service restaurants with buffets, booze, and sports entertainment. After noshing on a piece of pressure-fried chicken, guests can two-hand a hot sub, or scrawl a love letter to their stromboli in marinara sauce.

Inside Panini's Bar and Grill's palace of brick and stone in Twinsburg, pennants, jerseys, and famed sports photos bathe in the glow of 31 high-definition televisions. Outdoors, a bank of four televisions hangs over a covered bar, the centerpiece of the full-service outdoor patio. To round out the pairing of sports and overstuffed sandwiches, Saturday nights bring in live entertainment. Panini's has hosted such acts as the Rocket Men Dueling Pianos, in which two astronauts drop grand pianos on one another to demonstrate the principles of gravity.

Chef Chuck Crawford channels his 20 years of culinary experience when crafting his seasonal steak-house cuisine, casting a new spin on classic favorites with his native East Coast flair and southwestern influence. Within the landmark eatery—The Rusty Nail has been serving up juicy steaks since 1967—he tops tender filet mignon with tangy blue-cheese butter, sears flaky seafood fillets, and whips up daily soups.

As guests sidle up to a rustic, octagonal wood bar and dip bread into house-infused oil and butter, bartenders shake up gin martinis and pour global wines and seasonal draft beers. Wait staff bring dishes to tables on the outdoor patio or serves them inside, where a wood-burning fireplace offers a convenient way to thaw cold bodies during Ohio winters. On select nights, The Rusty Nail hosts live entertainment, car and bike cruises, and karaoke.

Thanks in large part to its "great food," The Beer Haus landed a first-place spot on Akron Life’s 2012 Best of the City list in the New Restaurant category. Diners sidle up to the bar for a gander at more than 100 regional and international microbrews or cozy up in the casual dining room for German-inspired food, custom burgers, and spirited rounds of Wagner’s entire Ring Cycle. With 21 high-definition TVs, pool tables, and dartboards, The Beer Haus maintains a steady buzz fueled by sports, brats, and the occasional barfly.

In an effort to find a healthy alternative to fast food without sacrificing speediness, the creators of Pita Pit began assembling their signature sandwiches for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and late-night snacks. At each location, thin, Lebanese-style pitas encircle lean, grilled meats and fresh veggies. Sandwich selections span the spectrum from gyro meat and falafel to turkey and prime rib. The staff empowers customers to make healthy choices by displaying nutrition information for each bread, meat, and post-meal toothpick and corralling a selection of healthy sandwiches, which dining companions can wash down with fruit smoothies.