Akron lost a 100-plus-year-old piece of food history when the Western Fruit Basket in the city’s downtown closed a couple of weeks ago.

"It’s really sad. It’s not something we wanted to do," said Melissa "Meela" Megois, who owned the small Greek restaurant and gift basket business with her father, Gregory. "We really tried to make a go of it."

For years, the place operated at 115 E. Market St. and has long been known for its buttery spanakopita — phyllo dough stuffed with spinach and feta cheese — and other Greek savory, as well as sweet, treats.

The Megoises were the latest folks of Greek heritage in the local gem’s long history. Meela Megois said she and her father were the fourth owners, purchasing the place in 2014 from longtime owners Evangelos and Koula Detorakis.

Meela Megois said the place was no longer generating enough to pay the rent in the the Neoclassical Revival building — which dates to 1928 — at the corner of Summit and Market streets downtown.

The catering side of the business — which made up a big portion of revenues — declined, she said, with some organizations no longer having events. Some organizations changed venues and were no longer permitted off-site catering.

Additionally, the number of lunchtime customers declined as some nearby employers moved.

While the shop is no more, Meela Megois plans to continue to cater and put together gift baskets. For more information, send a direct message to her via the Western Fruit Basket Facebook page.

She did a lot of the shop’s cooking, bringing some youthful energy to the business, tweaking some of the traditional recipes.

Specialty gyro sandwiches were featured, including Crunchy Gyro, with ranch dressing cheese and Doritos and a Parmesan Gyro, with homemade marinara sauce, mozzarella sticks and chicken or lamb.

Much of the business was takeout, but there were a few tables in front of the counter.

She continued the fruit basket tradition, purchasing fresh fruit from Krieger’s in Cuyahoga Falls and making items that were available in freezer cases.

Lucky for me, I got introduced to Meela Megois’ culinary talent not quite three years ago when I was recovering from surgery and a friend brought me some of her amazingly light pastitsio — tubular pasta topped with seasoned ground beef (some versions include lamb) and fluffy bechamel sauce.

Riverfront Irish Festival returns

The luck of the Irish is coming back to Cuyahoga Falls, with the Riverfront Irish Festival returning after a year’s absence.

The festival is scheduled for June 12-14 at the Falls’ Riverfront, along the Cuyahoga River.

Last year, the festival was scrapped about a month before it was to begin because vendors who pay to sell food were reluctant to commit to the event, which had seen diminishing attendance. Festival organizers — the St. Brendan Division of the Ancient Order of Hibernian — blamed a string of rainy weather in the prior five years.

The St. Brendan Division began the event in 1994.

Get your Irish eats

Irish eats will be available this Saturday, as the Akron area’s two Hibernian clubs — the St. Brendan Division and Mark Heffernan Division— will host events after the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Akron.

The parade will begin at noon Saturday, and this year will run through the University of Akron.

The St. Brendan’s Division will have its party — open to the public — at the Polish American Citizens Club at 472 E. Glenwood Ave. as the club has sold its building on North Main Street in Akron’s North Hill neighborhood.

The party — featuring live music and food and beverages available for purchase — is slated to begin at 1 p.m.

The Mark Heffernan Division of the Ancient Order of Hibernians will have an after-party at its club at 2000 Brown St. Cover is $5. The event will feature live music, Irish dancers and food and beverage available for purchase.

The parade is running through UA this year because of the reconstruction of Main Street downtown.

It will begin at the corner of Spicer and Carroll streets and will turn left on Buchtel and continue to E.J. Thomas Hall, 198 Hill St. on the UA campus. Awards for the parade will be given out at E.J. Thomas. Parking will be free in UA lots.

Square Scullery expands

The Square Scullery in Akron’s Highland Square neighborhood is going all in on the sit-down restaurant business model.

A year ago, Square Scullery, which began as a food truck, opened a "ghost kitchen" at the American Legion Post in Highland Square at 783 W. Market St. Initially, the food was used to prepare food for pickup and delivery only.

Then late last year, Square Scullery opened a tiny restaurant inside the post, offering dine-in seating for 13 people and serving such eats as its signature deep-fried Brussels sprouts and poutine.

Now, the plan is to open a 45-seat eatery on the other side of Market in Highland Square.

Square Scullery will move into the space, at 812 W. Market St., sometime this spring, according to Matt Ulichney, who owns Square Scullery with his wife, Heather.

The new spot previously was occupied by Cheese & Chongs, the mac and cheese place that closed earlier this year.

Square Scullery foods will be available at the next-door Matinee bar.

For now, it’s business as usual at Square Scullery at the Legion post. Reservations are recommended if you want to eat in. Call 330-983-9387.

Hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and 3 to 11 p.m. Saturday.

You can order Square Scullery delivery through DoorDash and Uber Eats. Call 330-983-9387 or use the Square Scullery website for pick-up orders. The website is https://akronfoodtruck.com.

The Square Scullery food truck remains in operation.

More fish fry options

Here are two Lenten fish fry options that didn’t make our list published in the newspaper. I’m including them in this week’s column because organizers did send in information before the deadline. (We update the online list as we learn about dinners that were not in the original list. The online list is https://bit.ly/2vSdgRk.

• German Family Society: 5:30-8 p.m., March 13, 3781 Ranfield Road, Brimfield Township, 330-678-8229. Fried cod dinner, $10 adult (three sides), $6 child (two sides). Macaroni and cheese with two sides, $8 adult, $5 child. Side dishes include house potatoes, green beans and applesauce. Potato soup, $3. Extra fish, $3 a piece. Homemade pastries, $3. Beer, wine, cocktails and soft drinks available. Cash only.

• Queen of Heaven Church Parish Life Center: 4:30-7 p.m. Fridays through April 3, 1800 Steese Road, Green, 330-896-2345. Fried or baked cod, fried shrimp and combo dinners, $10-$12; grouper tacos, $10. Macaroni and cheese, pierogi or pizza dinners, $6. Children’s dinners, $5. Dinners include sides and coffee or tea. One piece baked or two pieces fried fish, $4. One slice cheese pizza and other sides, $2. Other beverages, sundae bar and desserts available. Carryout available (not by phone).

Reminders

• The annual Maple Sugar Festival at Hale Farm & Village, 2686 Oak Hill Road, Bath, runs Saturday and Sunday and March 21-22.

The event includes a pancake breakfast at the 19th century village/museum and demonstrations.

Admission for breakfast — which will be served from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. — and all activities is $17 for adults, $12 for children ages 3 to 12, and $7 for breakfast only. Hale Farm closes at 4 p.m. Museum-only rates also will be available.

Reservations are not necessary, but tickets can be purchased in advance at www.halefarm.org. For more information, call 330-666-3711 or visit the website.

• The Lock of the Irish Celebration, featuring Irish food, music, kids activities and more, will run from 1 to 6 p.m. March 15 at the Trailhead at Cascade Loft at 21 W. North St., just north of downtown Akron.

Lock 15 Brewing Co., adjacent to the Trailhead, will prepare the food. Attendance is free. You pay for food and beverages. The event is being presented by the Mustill Store Museum, operated by the Cascade Locks Park Association, near the canal’s Lock 15.

• Master sommelier Larry O’Brien and Greg Brewer, founder and winemaker at Brewer-Clinton Winery in California, will be on hand for a four-course dinner March 18 at Alexander Pierce Restaurant at 797 E. Market St. in Akron.

The evening begins at 6:30 p.m. Cost is $125. To reserve, go to https://alexanderpiercerestaurant.com. The restaurant’s phone number is 330-529-2003.

• Fred Dame, known as the "godfather of sommeliers," will be on hand at a wine dinner at 6:30 p.m. March 24 at Papa Joe’s.

Cost is $95. Call 330-923-7999. Papa Joe’s is at 1561 Akron-Peninsula Road in Akron’s Merriman Valley.

• Mustard Seed Café and Market in the Montrose shopping area will host Cabs & Red Blends, a wine tasting featuring 20 wines from the U.S. West Coast, 7-9 p.m. March 27.

Light appetizers, gourmet cheeses and "something sweet" will be served. Cost is $25 in advance and $30 at the door. Call 330-666-7333 or go to Eventbrite for tickets.

Stocking up for coronavirus

This was going to be a COVID-19-free column. But then a friend who lives outside Boston texted me a picture of a note posted in a grocery store not far from her house.

The note let customer know they were limited to buying five of various products, including bleach, toilet paper, plastic utensils, canned bean and tuna, pasta, cereal and water, in single bottles or multipacks.

Yikes.

Send local food news to Katie Byard at kbyard@ thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3781. You can follow her @ KatieByardABJ on Twitter or Facebook.