RCAs: Best of Food & Drink

Pizza, perch and burgers are standard fare anywhere, but we know you're serious about the best. Here they are.

Best Perch New Sandusky Fish Company  •HOURS: 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Sun.-Thur., 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Fri.-Sat.; open now through end of summer season •WHERE: 235 East Shoreline Dr., Sandusky •INFO: 419-621-8263 or facebook.com/pages/New-Sandusky-Fish-Company/284506720839 For the past six years the Sandusky Fish Company has been an RCA winner with its topnotch menu featuring (naturally) perch, as well as walleye, catfish and more. There are also hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken wings, french fries and onion rings. Owners say the secret to the good taste of the New Sandusky Fish Company is the fact its frying oil is changed regularly. Invariably, the brick building carryout joint has become an area must.   

Best Pizza

Cameo Pizza •HOURS: 4-9 or 10 p.m. on weekdays, 4-11 p.m. or 12 a.m. on weekends •WHERE: 702 W. Monroe St., Sandusky •INFO: 419-626-0187 or cameopizza.com Perhaps the best way to describe the Best Pizza comes from the venue itself, with its motto reading, “We don’t want to be the biggest or the fastest pizza maker in the business...Just the best!” Mission accomplished (again!) for Cameo Pizza, which has been a Sandusky staple for over half a century. The Northwest Ohio pizza chain continually old schools its competitors in the pizza-making game. Selections include the obvious (pepperoni, sausage, etc.) to the unique (roast beef, sauerkraut) and healthy (wheat crust).  

Best Wings

Brass Pelican Varsity Club •HOURS: 12-4 p.m. & 8-10 p.m. Mon.; 11 a.m.-12 p.m. & 6-10 p.m. Tue.; 12-10 p.m. Wed., 4-10 p.m. Thu., 12-11 p.m. Fri.-Sun. •WHERE: 414 W. Perkins Ave., Sandusky •INFO: 419-624-0769 or facebook.com/pages/Brass-Pelican-Varsity-Club/117123384973503  When local folks head out to watch a game or catch up with friends for casual evening, the lure of the Brass Pelican Varsity Club wing selection is often too good to pass up. This explains the Sandusky venue’s Best Wings RCA. If the dozens upon dozens of wing flavors aren’t bedazzling, then the cheap yet large food portions, great bar offerings and friendly service is sure to do the rest. The Brass takes the ring — er, wing.  

Best Restaurant Overall

(Also won: Best Place to Get a Home-Cooked Meal/Best French Fries/Best Place for Breakfast / Best Place for Lunch/ Best Dessert) Berardi’s Family Kitchen •HOURS: 6 a.m.-8 p.m. Mon.-Sat., 7:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Sun. •WHERE: 1019 Perkins Ave., Sandusky •INFO: 419-626-4592 or sanduskyberardis.com  Taking home RCA’s Best Restaurant Overall and Best French Fries (and scooping up first-place wins in four other categories, as well), Berardi’s Family Kitchen is our area’s home for memorable American cuisine in a family-friendly environment. Great homemade meals at affordable prices bring in hungry folk for both breakfast (shredded beef hash and sausage gravy over biscuits) and lunch-dinner (Italian dishes, salads, burgers). Then there are the glorious fresh-cut french fries, which, well,
transcend whatever notion one already has of the tasty, salty dish. 
  Best Hamburger The Old Dutch Tavern •HOURS: 11 a.m.-2 a.m. Mon.-Sat. •WHERE: 2219 E. Perkins Ave., Sandusky •INFO: 419-627-0877  For over 20 years, the Old Dutch Tavern has become synonymous with advancing burger technology, which explains why RCA voters picked this Sandusky venue for its Best Burger. A favorite with the on-the-go crowd, the Old Dutch Tavern’s Thursday burger nights are renowned, not to mention the restaurant’s huge topping selection menu that is bound to boggle one’s mind. The old school joint doesn’t bother keeping up with the burger chains as it quietly makes its own legend.   For the full list of RCA winners, click here.