Mr. Hero: A Cleveland Legend

When I was up in Cleveland over Memorial Day weekend, my brother and I visited our local Mr. Hero. Cleveland has its bizarre heroes from Bernie Kosar to Michael Stanley, so it's not a surprise that its true hero for fast food is a place called Mr. Hero.

If you grew up in Cleveland, you grew up on Mr. Hero. You may not have ever eaten Mr. Hero, but you did interact with it. Just as Cleveland has its bizarre heroes, it has its odd, catchy commercials like any other city. Sure, there was Garfield 1-2323, Discount Drug Mart saves you the run-around or later the Norton Furniture guy. But, for me, somehow Mr. Hero's “When Your Taste Takes Over” jingle will be stuck in my head for the rest of my life.

Mr. Hero is known for its two major sandwiches: the Romanburger and the Hot Buttered Cheesesteak. Please be aware that it is not merely a cheesesteak, but rather a Hot Buttered Cheesesteak, and it's full name should be acknowledged. The restaurant's side of waffle fries is also a classic.

Of course, Mr. Hero can't survive purely off its trademark items. I usually found myself getting the Grilled Chicken Philly, another classic but perhaps not frequently purchased item by the general public. Mr. Hero also provided cheaper sandwich items such as a Fish Round, Chicken Round, and Italian Round, which now are put under the label of “Taste Buddies.” It had its weird choices that probably no one purchased such as spaghetti and a dessert of New York Cheesecake. For something that is such a Cleveland institution, they really pushed out items created in other cities.

When my brother and I went there last weekend, we stuck to our classics. It was a very nostalgic experience considering I hadn't stepped foot in a Mr. Hero in years. My brother ordered the Romanburger and I got the Grilled Chicken Philly. Even if over the years the price changed and the size likely decreased, the sandwich is still great. The combination of chicken, green peppers, mushroom, onions, and cheese is something only that is unique and specific to Mr. Hero. Now that I got a reminder of the taste, my pursuit is to desperately attempt to recreate this in my home kitchen with a Grilled Chicken Philly Night.

To add to the nostalgia and the feel of Cleveland, Mr. Hero has stuck to its style for as long as I've been alive. While my hometown Mr. Hero may have gone through a bit of store re-modeling in the 1990s, nothing has really changed. It still has the visual element that it always and I have every expectation that each Mr. Hero in the Cleveland area is the same way. It is something that is specific to Cleveland. Cleveland is a city of loyalty, and it's almost as if Mr. Hero considers that it should remain loyal to the way that it has always been. Why change? In fact, Mr. Hero's current catchphrase according to the bag of food that I got is, “Things That Make You Go Mmm...” All right, it's always nice to do a play on a phrase from 1991 by a now fairly irrelevant musical group.

Mr. Hero drew some level of national prominence when it was revealed that “The Real World” cast member Mike Mizanin used to work there. Mizanin is now better known as “The Miz” in the WWE, and this Plain Dealer article makes enough Mr.Hero references to make every Clevelander excited. My local Mr. Hero was owned for a brief period of time by the mother of “The Miz,” and I managed to venture in when he was appearing on “The Real World.” She had posted a bunch of pictures of him on the wall and acknowledged him as her hero. Once again, Cleveland had found another hero.

While I mentioned that Mr. Hero seemed to be no different than when I was a child, it's not as if it hasn't switched gears and evolved with society. Mr. Hero is on Twitter and Facebook and their website reveals many changes. Unlike when I was kid, Mr. Hero now has a spokesperson named Nicole, who could be best described as “Cleveland hot.” I'm not complaining. This is making Mr. Hero even better for the young man who likes a good sandwich. You can also check out their new TV ads, which clearly pale in comparison to “When Your Taste Takes Over.” While I appreciate how freshly prepared my sandwich is, I'm way more concerned with my taste and its ability to take over like Michael Jordan in crunch time. (Oops, maybe I shouldn't have made a Michael Jordan reference in a Cleveland loving post like this one).

All in all, Mr. Hero holds a special spot in any Clevelander's heart. If you ever visit Cleveland, you've got to grab its freshness. And now, to close on something else classic that represents a part of Cleveland as well: