Tom and I are back in Ohio for a few weeks. Visiting the Twisted Olive in North Canton to celebrate my sister’s birthday was one of the first things we did. We drove up to Mom and Dad’s, piled into their car, then picked up my sister in Canton. She gave us three choices of restaurant, and we picked the closest, which happened to be Twisted Olive.
Twisted Olive is an Italian American restaurant in the middle of Southgate Park, a metro park in Green. The geography gets a little confusing, because the park is a City of Green park but the mailing address is North Canton. Also, the website says that the park is accessed from inside Boettler Park. So the restaurant is inside a park which is inside another park in either Green or North Canton. On the map, Southgate Park is a larger park south of Boettler Park.
Fortunately Julia knew how to access the park and the restaurant. Twisted Olive is located in the renovated Belden Lodge, which makes it feel like a state park lodge. The restaurant is owned by the Gervasi Vineyard and opened in 2014. It was not busy for lunch on a Wednesday and we had very good, attentive service. We also got to sit directly in front of the huge fireplace with its welcome warmth on a cold day.
Julia warned us that the restaurant was expensive, but all of the entrees were less than $20. Compared to similar quality restaurants in Columbus or on St. Simons Island, Twisted Olive was not expensive. Tom and I decided to split a pizza and ordered the Americano. Julia got a Caesar salad. Mom and Dad each ordered a Chicken BLT. Although they both ate most of their sandwiches, they agreed that they would have enjoyed it more if they had shared a sandwich.
The food was good. The best item was the fresh baked rolls that came before the rest of the food. The pizza was greasy with a crisp, thin crust. Mom and Dad both enjoyed the fresh-cut french fries. Because we were there for Julia’s birthday, our waiter brought Julia a dish of vanilla gelato which she shared with all of us.
My favorite thing about Twisted Olive was the ambiance. It had a very nice décor, especially if you like the color olive. I love lodges and this one was set in the middle of a beautiful park. Of course, we were there the first week of February, so it wasn’t as beautiful as it would be at another time of year. Still, the large windows opened up to views of a pond and the woods around it. There was a large outdoor seating area that was closed. Too cold!
We enjoyed our meal at Twisted Olive very much. I especially enjoyed catching up with the family after being away for a month. Thanks to Julia for suggesting this nice place to eat. And thanks to my dad for paying for our lunch.