What does it actually cost to eat well in Akron without driving to the suburbs?
Highland Square has been answering that question quietly for years, and the block anchored by West Market Street between Hawkins and exchanges near Cordova Avenue is as good a place as any to start. But if you want one specific answer, walk into Roo Bar on West Market Street in Highland Square and give it twenty minutes before you decide anything.
Roo Bar has been a neighborhood fixture since the mid-2000s, the kind of bar-restaurant hybrid that Akron does well when it isn’t trying too hard. The room is long and low-lit, with mismatched bar stools, local art cycling through the walls, and a chalkboard beer list that doesn’t overwhelm you with options but doesn’t insult you either. On any given weeknight you’ll find regulars eating at the bar alongside people who wandered over from the Civic or just got off a shift somewhere nearby. It doesn’t feel curated. That’s the point.
The food is the reason to come back after the first visit. The menu reads like bar food thought through by someone who actually cooks: burgers built with care, a rotating selection of flatbreads, solid appetizers, and specials that change often enough to reward repeat visits. The Roo Burger — ground beef, sharp cheddar, caramelized onions, housemade sauce — runs around $12 and is one of the better pub burgers in the city. The sweet potato fries hold up. The nachos are loaded without being sloppy. Most entrees land between $10 and $16, which keeps it approachable for the neighborhood crowd it serves.
The beer list leans local without being evangelical about it. You’ll see Thirsty Dog, Hoppin’ Frog, and a few other Ohio standbys alongside whatever seasonal they’ve brought in. Drafts run around $5 to $7. The cocktail list is short but functional, and the staff doesn’t make you feel rushed whether you’re there for one drink or two hours.
What makes Roo Bar worth flagging specifically is the patio situation in warmer months. The back patio is small, fenced, dog-friendly, and reliably packed on weekend afternoons from May through October. It faces away from the street noise, gets afternoon shade, and fills up with a genuinely mixed crowd — twentysomethings, parents with kids who are old enough to sit still, older regulars who’ve been coming since the place opened. Arrive by 6 p.m. on a Friday if you want a patio table without waiting.
Parking in Highland Square can be annoying, especially on event nights when the Civic Theatre is running a show. Street parking on the side streets — Cordova, Hawkins, and the blocks just south — usually has spots if you’re willing to walk two or three minutes. The No. 1 METRO bus runs along West Market Street if you’re coming from downtown or the university area.
Highland Square itself is worth a lap before or after. Within a few blocks you have Record Den, the West Side Bowl, a handful of coffee shops, and enough bars to make a full evening of it if the mood takes you. Roo Bar fits into that ecosystem without trying to be the main event — it’s the kind of place that works precisely because it’s not performing.
If you’ve never been to this part of Akron, West Market Street between the University of Akron edge and the Highland Square core is about a ten-minute drive from downtown and feels like a different city. Roo Bar is a reasonable place to anchor your first visit.
