The service is slow And why do I need to ask for refills? The Panna cotta has too much honey and a icky layer of shortening on the bottom! Not a fan! I love the Gouda Mac when it has ample Gouda... read more

A wide ranging menu offering an abundance of choices. Fresh, flavorful, hearty portions. And great service from Alicia. A casual business dinner that in a great environment. read more

Lovely food. Beautiful presentation and really delightful burst of flavors. The night's special surf and turf appetizer was amazing and the kale salad life-changing (grin). A perfect date night meal and excellent service. read more

I was in Akron for the weekend, and Crave is around the corner from where I was going to be hanging out one night. It was recommended by some friends, and I stopped by. The menu is interesting and while I was unable to get what really looked good to me (it is vegan and i don't like vegan cheese or fake meat), I ordered something else and was delighted by the perfectly seared tuna. I was impressed by the cocktail menu. Ordered a Dirty Mediterranean - Tito's Vodka with Kalamata olive brine and a couple Kalamata olives stuffed with feta. It was the perfect bite before my night. Next time I'm in Akron I'm going there to taste other things! read more

I purposely reserved a table recently because I was meeting a friend for lunch and knew from past experience that it was convenient, had an interesting ambience and would offer delectable food for lunch (such as my fav: tomato/grilled cheese soup and assorted sandwiches/salads) served with imagination.....such as the unique tableware! As usual , it met all my expectations! I would definitely recommend it and look forward to returning soon. read more

I ate here recently and had a pretty nice experience. I'll say this to start, avoid the booths if you don't have a large party because they're huge. I had alligator tail, calamari, and their Patagonian salmon meal, plus cinnamon flan topped with apple pie ice cream for dessert. All was pretty good, especially the dessert. The prices may be a little high but nothing crazy. The service was good, nothing to really complain about. It was a very busy night so it obviously wasn't the fastest but I try to be reasonable when it comes to that kind of thing. As for the decor and atmosphere, the place has your standard trendy downtown restaurant look, complete with curved glasses. Nothing special there, really. read more

LED here by yelp for lunch with high expectations. Left disappointed. We tend to eat "clean" and don't like things too rich. We selected the Rueben and the kale beet salad. The Rueben arrived on buttered toast with bacon and Russian dressing. Too salty and rich imo. The kale salad arrived with large leaves of tough kale smothered in what tasted like sweet blueberry yogurt. Not a combination I enjoyed. The waitress was kind to take it off the bill. read more

This is our favorite place on Akron. You can relax and let the staff guide you through a great meal. The menu changes enough that there is always something new to try or a favorite still lingering in the menu. The decor, music and menu is a fusion that combines a modern feel with a local fingerprint. One can never go wrong with the appetizers and for me, the pork tenderloin dish. In the winter there is nothing better than sitting at the window seats enjoying a long, peaceful meal watching the snow descend in the city. This will always be our favorite date night. read more

Crave is such a fun place to go! Have many eclectic dishes and fun combinations! Menu is pretty extensive & food is delicious. Tends to be pretty noisy because of high ceilings and open spaces cause crappy acoustics. Gauzy drapes separate the main aisle from tables-lack of privacy can be distracting. Make a reservation and request a booth for optimal seating.. food is worth it! Parking a problem-valet best way to go read more

When it comes to sit down dinner options in Downtown Akron there aren't a lot of options. There are a lot of places that are pretty good only because of comparison. Crave is not one of those places. The decor is very cool. Crave has a great menu and they frequently tweak it to make it feel fresh. It is pricier than other restaurants downtown but it is worth it. The chicken and waffles are great. Sweet potato fries with the cinnamon dipping sauce are on point. The menu is filled with ingredients I have not had before but I have never had anything short of fantastic here. read more

I have been here twice and both times for lunch. The last time I was here I had the fish sandwich. It was hot when served. It came with fries. Everything was tasty, the server was excellent. I believe we went at 11:30 and it was not to busy yet for lunch. The place was clean. I did not give the 5th star because I felt nothing was amazing but it definitely was up there. I would go back again for sure. read more

I downloaded yelp just to write this review. I travel weekly all over the United States and Canada for work and Crave is the best place I have ever gone. It perfectly combined atmosphere, value, and service. This along with the genius combination of menu options, created the best meal I have ever had. I enjoyed it so much I went back the next two days and got the exact same thing. I ordered the "3 for $30" special. It started off with crab cakes, then I got blackened chicken with macaroni and cheese, this finished off with the now legendary cookie dough stuffed French toast. Being a BBQ enthusiast I swapped the sirarcha rim of mac and cheese for BBQ sauce. This was the only change I made that took this dish from great to beyond extraordinary. Needless to say: 1) I downloaded this app to give this review and recommend it 2) if I'm ever in the state of Ohio, I'm headed to Crave read more

I came to the crave at 6:00pm and I sat at the bar and wasn't greeted for about 6mins. Finally I ask a bar maid can I order a drink . NOW IT WAS 3 bar maids available!! No one said hello I will be with you in a min or anything!! Then I ordered the red snapper and risotto and asparagus. the Red snapper was over cooked and the risotto had a burnt taste to it . I asked for it to be re made then the manager comes out to ask what the problem was and I explain the issue. The manager then stated well you ate half of the food witch I didn't and then he says well it's still in the back I can go get it .. My reaction was wow did you take the food sever course ....cross contamination at an all time HIGH why would you ask me did I want the food FROM THE back .. smh it's not about wanting anything FREE !! I just want my food done properly please!! I NEVER GOT THE FOOD I WAS CHARGED 15.00 for the risotto I really think COVID -19 pandemic has has thrown CUSTOMER SERVICE! Out the window anything to make a buck!! Sad situation but it has to be put out there. read more

Totally mediocre food and terrible service. The prices on food are outrageous for what you get. Our server checked on us twice throughout our whole meal - once after we finished our appetizer and another time after we were done trying to eat the meh food. Mind you she didn't deliver the food either. We are new to Akron and had high hopes for Crave but were sadly disappointed. We won't be back and we wouldn't recommend you to waste your time or money here either. read more

I've been here a few times and each time has been rather pleasant. I like the approach this place is going. A nice swanky urban decor is met by some infused dinning which is sure to make an eye brow raise. Example, their Lobster BLT. Served on fresh toasted bread with Lobster, Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato, and a nice sauce to moisten it all up. A side of mixed chips and a nice beer to wash it down and you are good to go. But again, the infusion of strange concepts seems to actually work well here. The service is good, I have not had any issues in that department. They also offer a full bar, never bad. However my only main complaint here is the way their menu is presented. Talk about a cluster fuck of non organized jumbled together items. Seriously, its not a huge issue but I hate looking at menus that look like a 3rd graders book report; I.E One continuous sentence with out any proper breaks and no paragraphs. Simply put, it is a pain to look at and navigate. read more

Very good innovative cuisine, in rather large portions. While at the table, was greeted by the manager who provide a free appetizer that was quite delicious. Also ordered the pumpkin pierogi, which were heavenly. The coffee rubbed brisket was good, but the meat was a bit dry. My companions had the chicken and waffles and the mac n' cheese, which they really liked. In each case, you could easily take half the entree home and be satisfied with the remaining portion. Overall a good choice in downtown Akron. read more

I liked this place, I wish there were more restaurants in Akron that were like this. Food, drink and service-all well done!

I really don't know how this place gets high reviews. Way overpriced for mediocre food. First time here- the menu online is slightly different than what they serve. We are vegetarians- highly recommend not going here if you are. We always order a few different things to try out the menu: off of appetizers - baked goat cheese. It was basically goat cheese swimming in tomato sauce. Nothing impressive at all. Fried green tomatoes- ok. Have had better elsewhere. Out of appetizer- the grilled apple salad: it had way too much dressing. Completely too sweet- no balance between dressing and rest of salad- no flavor just sweet. Lastly ordered the vegetarian black bean burger- way too dry. The service was great- but you are better off saving your money for a nicer restaurant. read more

I feel like I owe this place a review since we go here all of the time and it inevitably is the restaurant we compare many others to. We love, love, love Crave and feel so lucky to have it in Akron. The steak skewers on the appetizer menu are so freaking good. The goat cheese with tomato sauce is another great appetizer. The mac and cheese (get it with asparagus) is just as good as what you'd get at Lolita. We've also had and loved the muffaletta, steak wrap, pulled pork, and BLT. I really don't think we've ever left here disappointed and the prices are very fair. read more

Ended up in downtown Akron Friday night for a couple drinks. Popped into Crave as it was near 3 Points. Sat at the bar, just had drinks no food. Had a nice feel to it, good colors and ambiance. However, it was obvious that the bartenders either had friends from other restaurants or bars come in, as they were still in their clothes and had just gotten off work, and they were getting all the attention. Even though there were maybe only 5 regular patrons we had a tough time getting attention of any kind. We ordered our initial drink and got service sitting down, the second one the only reason we got it is because a regular flagged the bartender over. Then we wanted a third and by the time got someone to come to us, about 10 minutes and she was not apologetic, i decided to skip the drink and just cash out as she already looked annoyed. So then it became an event to just cash out, get the bill, then have her take my credit card sitting in the bill thing, etc. We would've stayed as it had been a week, so needed to decompress. We had all the signs of a person who needed attention, obvious empty glasses, both of us were trying to make the eye contact thing and lean forward, but nothing. There was one bartender some times and then two other times. I get it, it's great to have visitors when you work, but this was a friday night, with pricey drinks. Frankly when they would walk by it was to get their friends a drink and would do the walk by thing as if they don't see you there, no look over. i'm sorry but this place is too expensive for this service. i bartended for years, you checkup on your people, even just a "how ya doin" at some point. not have people stalk you for any kind of service, even cashing out, so that was disappointing. All in all, I craved another drink, i craved cheaper drinks based on the service, I craved the bill, i craved a better experience. So this coud be how they came up with the name? Not sure. read more

VERY PLEASED! My boyfriend and I ordered the steak skewers as an appetizer and they were cooked PERFECTLY! My boyfriend never eats steak with sauce but he and I were both happily indulging in the Gouda fondue that came with it. The drinks were great--they even had his favorite root beer (Frost top) from home that we haven't been able to find or order anywhere without paying an arm and a leg for. He was obviously very thrilled. For dinner I got the root beer braised pulled pork sandwich with those yummmmmmy sweet potato fries. Very tender, not chewy and I don't even like coleslaw but the kind provided was good. He got the Reuben with the grilled cheese and tomato soup. Were big soup people so the half grilled cheese and half tomato soup appearance of the bowl was very appealing. We both enjoyed. Then came dessert. We were in over our heads but very VERY happily walked away with eating the delicious bread pudding and taking a cheesecake slice home (we were celebrating). The other desserts and dessert drinks sounded fabulous and we have made a mental list of what we want to try next time we come! read more

Awesome food and atmosphere!!! Service was great! Loving the new location in Cuyahoga Falls!

Crave is a staple spot, consistently good food for a reasonable price. I really love the Reuben and they used to have this cor flake chicken that is really good too. The Mac and Cheese is also a winner and I've had some great cocktails there on an occasion. Good atmosphere although sometimes really loud. Overall one of our favorite spots in Akron. read more

This is probably in the top three for best Akron Restaurants. It's the right mixture of normal and weird.. the prices are not too high and they are more reasonable.. and that's fair considering the high quality food they serve. Adventurous eaters can eat here and picky eaters could probably join them. read more

I've never had a bad experience and would consider myself a regular. The diversity being produced from that kitchen is hard to compare to any other local establishment. Want a good drink, look no further as they are definitely poured generously. Plenty of options to include often changed specials. Great atmosphere for any type of situation you are looking to accommodate. Well worth ever dollar spent! read more

We were in Akron for one night and this is where we chose to eat! I got the vegan chorizo & sweet potato burger! It was really good and came on a ciabatta bun, which I really liked! Our server was really nice and was quick to fill our waters, but also wasn't breathing over our shoulders the whole time we were eating. We ended with a dessert that our waiter recommended (cookie dough stuffed French toast with snickerdoodle sauce). It was so good! We got a half order and it was perfect for 2 people to share! read more

Crave - New American Near Me - Akron, Ohio

See all

My wife and I have embarked on a tour of the top Akron restaurants over the last couple of months. Crave is our favorite so far. I travel a lot on business and this restaurant compares favorably to the best I have visited while on the road. I ordered the tenderloin. My daughter ordered the pulled pork and my wife had a Vietnamese sandwich. We also had sweet potato pirogies as an appetizer and spiced apple cake for desert. Literally all were great. We will be coming back! read more

ambitious menu, executed perfectly every time," Alice in wonderland" in it's hallucinogenic "what do chefs talk about at 3 in the morning" type vibe. Akron is a better place for it, bar/service/food is amazing, as is the staff. incredible ability to utilize flavors, techniques and balls out incongruous flavors that would make Bourdain in the early 80's blush. Been at least 3 dozen times and it's awesome. An Akron gem to be sure.not to be missed. read more

SO AMAZING! Came here with my boyfriend, his sister, and her boyfriend!! Food came out super fast less than 10 minutes and it was packed! The food was amazing I got the steak wrap for $10 and the quality good for the price is amazing! Will be back! read more

The fruitful result of meticulous searches on food blogs and forums and other restaurants, Crave serves as the go-to expense-the-client dinner my team and I partake on during late nights. With a wildly untamed menu, binary execution, and a sports bar attached to a classy restaurant, it serves its singular purpose of providing bearable food in an unbearable town (sometimes). read more

I want to preface this review by stating that it has been some time since my friend and I were there for dinner, so the power of the immediate impact is gone, but as I was looking through my bookmarks on Yelp and realized that I still had Crave bookmarked, I wanted to write the review I had initially planned to write. As an adjunct professor, I make very little money. In fact, I live well below the poverty level, and if you do a little bit of research, you will learn that adjunct professors have been categorized as America's new class of working poor. I say this because I want you to realize that spending money on a place like Crave is indeed, for me, a luxury. It is not one I can afford ever, and it's not one I can repeat often without having to move into my car. I had read some reviews of the new place and I had some friends who recommended it, so my friend and I made reservations for a Friday night and set off, very excited to have a new culinary experience. We began the evening by splurging on an appetizer, the charcuterie board. While it was fun to try, the 5 or 6 little slices of cheese next to the 7 or 8 little slices of meat and the 3 or 4 pickles and olives simply did not justify the price. For the entree, I ordered the hanger steak, and while it had a good flavor and was properly cooked, there was nothing spectacular about it. My friend ordered the half roasted chicken, but it was just a roasted chicken. Maybe we made a mistake by not being more adventurous, but my philosophy is that if a restaurant can't do the basics well, why am I, as a paying customer, going to believe that they do the complex well. We each enjoyed a glass of wine, and at the end of the meal, we each had a cup of coffee and split the creme brulee that was the dessert special. That creme brulee was the best thing we had that evening. So the food was not spectacular, but many times the experience of dining in a place can be elevated through superior service. If only that had been the case here. Although we had reservations, and although, from what I could see, the place was only about half full when we arrived, we waited nearly 20 minutes for a seat. We were initially seated at a table, but immediately after she had seated us, the hostess came in with an elderly couple, whom she attempted to seat at the window bar. We noticed their discomfort and hesitancy and offered to trade places with them, so we were now sitting at the window bar. While it was fun to sit there and look out the window, see the people passing, enjoy the lights of the city, it was as if we had entered a no man's land or had suddenly become invisible. We waited an inordinate amount of time for a server to come and take our order. A runner delivered our appetizers and our meals, and we didn't see our server again until we were finished eating. She finally came and removed our plates and boxed our leftovers, took our dessert and coffee order, and delivered those shortly thereafter, but we sat for quite a long time before she came to pick up our check. As a former server myself, I almost always tip at least 20%, but on this night, the server did well to get 15% from me. All in all, we spent over $100 on a meal I have not once since 'Craved.' read more

I had a rib eye steak that wasn't good. It wasn't seasoned well and was a little tough. It was a little pricey and I was disappointed because that was my first and last visit. read more

I have heard of this restaurant and I finally got a chance to taste the food! Let's start with the atmosphere.. The restaurant is trendy but very casual... It's nice but seems like something is missing, almost like it should have a warmer feeling when you walk in. The bar: the bar is towards the back of the restaurant which is kind of a nice location because it's away from the dining area. They do have some booths and tables in the bar area. I'm not sure If they have a bar menu. First impression of the bar is nothing special, just your average bar. Until you get to the martini menu! They have tons of martinis! And they are delicious! The mojito-tini is delicious! The ruby red martini is also delicious. They also have plenty of beers on tap and a nice wine list that is not ridiculously over priced . The dining room. The dining room had tables and booths. The tables are nothing special but I really liked the booths. The menu: they have something for everyone. Bites, small plates, soups, salads and entrees. What I tasted: we ordered plenty of appetizers . The appetizers: we tried the calamari , it was cooked perfectly. We had the beef skewers they were cooked medium and were seasoned well and nice and tender. We also had the spare ribs which were delicious. All the appetizers were nice portions. Each appetizer was enough to share with four people. The starters: I had a miso seafood soup that was very good and would definitely order again. Dinner: for dinner I had the seared ahi with a miso sauce and wasabi mashed potatoes it was all delicious. The portions were very large , not the typical portions you get at a gourmet restaurant. My husband had the pork tenderloin with potato puree and it was cooked perfectly. My friend had the chicken And smoked Gouda Mac n cheese and it was delicious. Dessert: for dessert we all shared a peanut butter brownie with vanilla ice cream it was amazing and huge! Four of us shared the dessert and we couldn't finish it. The service was fantastic. I would definitely eat there again and would recommend this place. The price point was very fair based on the amount of food you get. It would be great if they had some live music ! read more

If you like a $26 cold steak, reheated, then brought back out to you on a side plate. This is your place! I don't know what happened, but this place has really gone downhill. Upon arriving, we stood at the hostess stand for about 4 minutes, while the girl tried to find menus. She didn't look up, greet us, ect... I made a reservation on OpenTable, but they didn't bother to look at the notes and see that I requested a booth table in the bar. The special request was in my confirmation email. We ordered a couple apps, that were just OK - Entree ordered Sous Vide Prime Sirloin, when delivered to the table it was ice cold. The bone marrow accompaniment to the steak was delicious, that was about it. My friends chicken was hot when delivered. I'm sure the kitchen let my steak die in the window while his was cooking. My steak was taken on a side plate from the table, reheated in the kitchen and brought back out to me on the plate. The manager told me he they were "tweaking" the menu. I don't know why you would serve something in a "test phase", if it wasn't up to par. I ended up taking 2 more bites and then having the waitress take it away. I was still charged for something I didn't eat! The waitress smirked at me and said and "sorry" The manager came to the table, pointing out the overcooked steak and asked if there was anything he could do?!?! Why would you ask that question, put your customers on the spot like and not offer to remake it and correct the situation?! As a restaurant manager myself, I never would I recommend this place if asked! I would not recommend this to a friend. Food Service Ambience Do Not RecallNoise Level read more

Our server was great very friendly, and the food was great! We had the chicken and waffle, I loved the cinnamon sage waffle. The server suggested the coffee braised beef with was delish. read more

I love this place. The chicken and waffles is my go to. The cinnamon sage waffle and the fried chicken are such a tasty combo. Order the hot sauce on the side though!!! It's pretty wicked stuff. They get busy on the weekend so make a reservation. They have a decent selection of beer including some local brews. read more

The salmon was fantastic and the bartender was great at making recommendations on wine. A+ spot.

Nice place...very artsy-fartsy...however I have to stop at McDonald's on the way home. Tiny cute little portions that are almost like a kids meal. Rather $$$ too. read more

Crave makes some of the best food I've ever tasted, and the prices are a bargain (at least compared to similar restaurants in Chicago -- I'm always happy to go back to Ohio if it means I can go here). The steaks are delicious, the burgers are fantastic, and even the vegetables are edible (I hate vegetables). They have a pretty varied and unique beer selection to top it all off. They only get four stars, however, because the tables feel tiny and cramped. I need room on the table for my plate, my drink, and my silverware, on top of the salt and pepper and other things that are already there. It's just a minor complaint, but it's enough to keep Crave from getting five stars. Give me a table two inches longer and I'll be happy to change the rating. read more

My husband and I are from Cleveland, but recently dined at Crave as we were going to the Akron Civic (beautiful building by the way) and wanted to have a nice dinner out. Crave was recommended by a colleague. Overall our experience was good. Our server was very friendly and knowledgeable about the menu. We don't eat meat, so our options are limited to vegetarian and seafood dishes, which was not a problem with the exception of the appetizers. The two seafood dishes that we wanted to try (the calamari and the shrimp) both had meat in them. In many restaurants, it can be removed, but here, the mixture was pre-made and therefore we couldn't try them. It was unfortunate on two accounts, one we ended up getting the fried green tomatoes, which were good, but nothing special and the infused goat cheese cake which was disappointing. The second reason it was unfortunate was that a restaurant at this price point shouldn't be using a pre-mixed ingrediants, especially ones with meat as many people don't include it in their diet. However, their menu rotates so this isn't always the case. That being said, the rest of our meal was great. We shared the Ceasar salad, which they gladly split for us at no extra cost. We then had the seared tuna and the pretzel encrusted walleye-which were wonderful and substantial. We finished off the meal with the white chocolate bread pudding, an espresso and a regular coffee. Our total bill w/tip and tax was about $100 (a little higher than we planned)-but worth it. read more