Port Clinton Plaza: The city's hidden-in-plain-sight gem - The Beacon - The Beacon

BY SHERI TRUSTY

Far excessively often, shoppers inadvertently thrust close by 1 of Port Clinton’s hidden-in-plain-sight gems, the Port Clinton Plaza. Among the galore businesses successful the buying portion connected Port Clinton’s East Side are places to bargain groceries, a spot to play, and a spot to eat.

Bassett’s Hardware and City Market, Visions VR and Slater’s Food & Spirits connection unsocial buying and amusement experiences successful the mediate of the city.

Charlie Bassett, who serves arsenic president of the Bassett’s stores, said Bassett’s Hardware and City Market was opened down the roadworthy from the archetypal and still-operating Bassett’s Market successful an effort to amended conscionable the needs of customers successful that conception of town.

“It was a nutrient desert. There was thing with caller food. Although it is lone 4 miles away, it was a wholly antithetic market,” Bassett said. “The 2 stores don’t cannibalize each other, is what we’ve found.”

Bassett’s Hardware and City Market offers a ample assortment of hardware needs, caller produce, a afloat enactment of market items, and deli and bakery items, including Bassett’s celebrated doughnuts.

“We person a bully brew and vino selection, and we bring down sushi made caller each day,” Bassett’s said.

The store is, essentially, the large Bassett’s successful a smaller, much easy accessible package.

“People emotion it due to the fact that they tin parkland adjacent and bash each of their buying with a minimal magnitude of walking,” Bassett said. “And radical emotion that we assistance with a smile.”

When Visions VR opened successful the Port Clinton Plaza successful 2020, it brought to the metropolis a wholly unsocial amusement experience. Since then, proprietor Kassie Anderson has added much amusive and much food.

Visions VR is simply a virtual world halfway that offers hundreds of azygous and multiplayer games. Players tin vie successful a virtual hoops free-throw contest, combat zombies successful a post-apocalyptic world, oregon overgarment immoderate their imaginativeness creates.

“People perfectly emotion it,” Anderson said. “All ages travel to play, and each ages travel for parties. We’ve had firm parties and day parties and everything successful between.”

Visions VR offers flight country games, squad gathering experiences and acquisition content. Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts tin gain badges by gathering badge requirements virtually.

The concern present carries committee games for customers who privation to besides bask a tangible activity, and a fireplace adds a cozy ambiance to the shop.

Anderson precocious expanded the business’s Refreshments Bar to see wine, liquor and beer. Food options present see walking tacos, sub sandwiches, blistery dogs, nutrient and food boards, milkshakes and basal brew floats. All of the changes make a distinctive acquisition for customers.

“We’ve been trying to grow,” Anderson said.

When Slater’s Food & Spirits moved to its caller determination astatine the Port Clinton Plaza, its customers discovered that entering the edifice became a overmuch much comfy experience.

“It was a bully move. What I emotion astir being present is that my customers tin get successful and retired precise easily. The parking is good, and determination are nary steps and nary curbs to travel over,” said proprietor Aimee Slater. “Our landlord is amazing. The parking batch is ever cleanable successful each weather.”

Not that curbs and steps would support customers from Slater’s food. Since opening successful 2007, the edifice has gained a huge, loyal pursuing that comes for the perch, hand-cut steaks, pastas with homemade condiment and a burger truthful bully it won The Beacon’s Best of the Best Burger 7 times.

“Our burgers are fresh, manus packed and made-to-order each day,” Slater said. “Our spinach-artichoke dip is homemade, and our mac and food is made from scratch. All of our signature dishes are homemade.”

The barroom offers Guinness and different beers connected draught and “plenty of bourbon and scotch,” Slater said.

Slater, who besides owns a massage therapy business, is blessed to beryllium portion of specified a dynamic buying plaza with a extent of options.

“We present person a small metropolis close here,” she said. “There are tons of spaces successful the backmost open, if you privation to articulation us. In Port Clinton, much is more. The much we have, the much radical volition come.”