FIRST: Mike’s Place

Mike’s Place is an American restaurant that is one of Kent’s more noticeable landmarks. The restaurant is so eye-catching due to all the extensions to the building. Among them are an X-wing from Star Wars, a castle and several buses that patrons can sit in. 

Tobin Rogers, manager at Mike’s Place, said that the restaurant started as a standard diner, then ballooned as the years went on. 

“It started out as kind of a diner feel and it just kind of evolved from there,” Rogers said. 

Rogers said that the striking features draw a lot of people to eat at Mike’s Place. 

“The X-wing and a bus you can sit in. We have the boat now that you can sit in as well, and then we have just multiple small areas that are cool,” he said. 

Mike’s Place also features a huge menu with over forty options on their breakfast menu alone. They offer all manner of breakfasts and a large selection of omelettes. 

Rogers said he thinks having large portions is a factor in why college students pick Mike’s Place when hungover. 

“We have pretty good Bloody Marys and large breakfast portions,” Rogers said. “You wake up and you want a big breakfast and that kind of stuff after drinking all night.”

Mike’s Place, located at 1700 S Water St., has won “Best place to cure a hangover” in the past. Rogers said he wasn’t surprised by the nomination. 

“[Mike’s Place] has a lot of different aspects to it and different things, and we try to keep things changing a little bit. So there’s always something new to see,” Rogers said.

The restaurant can be contacted at 330-673-6501.

SECOND: Over Easy at the Depot

Over Easy At The Depot is a breakfast/lunch restaurant located in downtown Kent in one of the historic buildings by the railroad tracks. 

In contrast to the historic building, Shannon Zemba, the owner of Over Easy at the Depot, said that they try to keep things fresh for customers. 

“We serve breakfast, brunch and lunch. We are open every day and we take a little bit of [an] imaginative take on some of the classics,” she said.

Over Easy makes a variety of their menu items in-house. Items like their maple syrup or smoked pork are made all authentically. 

“I think for us, it’s the freshness of the food that we put out. We try to have an imaginative take on some of the classic breakfast items,” Zemba said. “We add some freshness, flavor and a little flair to the menu.”

“I think we serve a lot of good food with a lot of big portions. So maybe after a hangover, everyone wants to come in for pancakes and waffles, we kind of hit that mark on that,” Zemba said. 

Over Easy, located at 152 Franklin Ave., also serves alcohol as part of their brunch menus. Zemba said she thinks their selections of alcohol contribute to their numbers of college students. 

“We serve really good Bloody Marys with our house mix and we do a lot of mimosas,” she said. 

Zemba said they want to keep coming up with creative ideas to serve the community. 

“We’ll just keep on trying to put out some fresh ingredients to our menu and keep it fun,” she said. “We’ll be here as long as you guys keep supporting us.”

Over Easy at the Depot can be contacted at 330-678-8800.

THIRD: Wild Goats: Fresh & Funky Fine Dining

Wild Goats: Fresh & Funky Fine Dining is a modern style diner across the river in downtown Kent. They serve a variety of diner-style foods like breakfast platters. 

Brody Krantz, a sophomore environmental studies major, said he enjoys classic diner food when looking to cure a hangover. 

“I tend to enjoy the greasy foods. The ones that taste like your mom just made them,” Krantz said. “Some good potatoes and ketchup are always good too.” 

Wild Goats’ offerings include some imaginative additions to traditional diner options, like big portions of avocado toast and Mexican-style breakfast. 

Krantz said that Wild Goats’ menu was something he thought was appealing to hungover students. 

“In the mornings, getting served some coffee and some eggs with a smile and bacon and some good old toast on the side,” he said. “There are many places on campus, like the dining halls, but off campus, you might want to look at Wild Goats, they have really good breakfast foods, pancakes and stuff.” 

Wild Goats, at 319 W Main St., serves Bent Tree coffee alongside their breakfast offerings. Krantz said he likes drinking good coffee with good food. 

“Whenever I’m hungover, good coffee sounds nice. A place with all that stuff is for me for sure,” he said.

Wild Goats: Fresh & Funky Fine Dining can be contacted at 330-677-2326.

Andrew Bowie is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected].