The streaming show "America’s Best Restaurants" pulled into the Erie area Friday as its food tour hit northwestern Pennsylvania to sample from some local restaurants and find out what makes area restaurants stand out.
"America’s Best Restaurants" travels the nation in two separate vans, one heading to the East Coast and the other heading to the West Coast, while highlighting local restaurants. Episodes are on their YouTube channel at youtube.com/@americasbestrestaurants.
“We highlight independently owned restaurants because they are the backbone of this country,” said Theo Williams, host of the show.
The show has featured more than 1,500 restaurants across the nation and their first stop Friday was at Odis 12 Bar & Grille at 3702 W. 12th St.
Odis 12 owner Michael Miodus said he felt honored that the show picked his restaurant to feature. Miodus said that just being nominated was proof of his hard work for half of his life.
“Just to get recognized on what we do and how hard we work, how this place looks and how we treat people (is an honor)," Miodis said. "We want people to come here and have good memories and a good time."
Making a stop at The Rambler in Cambridge Springs
During the same tour that brought "America's Best Restaurants" to Erie, the van on Thursday also made a stop in Cambridge Springs at The Rambler at 24527 U.S. Highway 6 and 19.
"We had an amazing time," said Jeremy Ball, owner of The Rambler. "The host (Williams) was full of energy and it was really cool having them come in to see our menu and what we are up to here in Cambridge Springs. It helped us get the word out.
Ball was thankful for the opportunity to show America that The Rambler exists within a historic area of Cambridge Springs as the restaurant is part of the Riverside Golf Course which has been around for 111 years.
"We rebranded the restaurant as 'The Rambler' because we wanted to highlight some history of a famous hobo named Leon Ray Livingston that traveled through the area and wrote a series of books on Cambridge Springs," Ball said. "So we no affiliation with Cathedral Prep at all."
What was featured at Odis 12 and The Rambler?
Williams spoke highly of the food Odis 12, including the specialty burgers. He was also a fan of the peanut butter pie at The Rambler.
"I tried the Angry Odis burger and that was just amazing,” Williams said. “He’s really smart about how he makes his burgers. He has a special piece of equipment in the kitchen that he uses to smash the burgers that I’ve never seen before. It’s a well thought-out process how he makes his smash burgers and it’s a half-pound burger with a lot of meat.”
Williams also said that during the primary interview for the show he was, "going to try the wings and a pulled pork wrap with macaroni and cheese in it.”
The burgers were a focal part on the visit, but Miodis also served up his well-known wings.
“We featured four different wing flavors: ‘the bombers,’ ‘the smokes’, ‘Haleyberry’ and ‘bacon ranch,” Miodis said. “His comments were off the chart. He was fanning them out everywhere. Just how amazing they were and describing the flavors how they were.”
At the Rambler, the sirloin, crab cakes and pie were served up for the show guests.
"We highlight our Cajun sirloin and we highlighted our peanut butter pie, which is made in house by one of my partners, Sarah," Ball said. "We also featured one of our ride the rail items. They also sampled our crab cakes."
Ball said that Williams complimented the quality and freshness of the food and told him that their peanut butter pie was probably the best that he has ever had.
When can you catch the episodes?
Fans can expect the Odis 12 and The Rambler episodes to air in the fall.
Where else has 'America’s Best Restaurants' traveled in Erie?
"America’s Best Restaurants" has made previous appearances at Rosco’s Sports Bar and Grill , 4646 Buffalo Road, in 2022.
The episode at Rosco's aired in December 2022 .
"It was a good overall experience that gave us some good graphics and marketing tools," Kris Hess, owner of Rosco's said. "We highlighted the bruschetta balsamic chips, the good morning burger which is a fan favorite and the basil pesto chicken."
More: How to know when your summer garden is ready to harvest
You can follow "America’s Best Restaurants" on YouTube, TikTok, Facebook or Instagram.
Contact Nicholas Sorensen at nsorensen@gannett.com .
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: 'America's Best Restaurants' to feature Odis 12, The Rambler after northwestern Pa. stops
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