CLEVELAND -- Combine butter, potato, bacon, onions, cheese, sour cream and dough. Sound good? Then you might be a fan of pierogis, honored today as part of National Pierogi Day on Oct. 8.
Cleveland has plenty of pierogi staples, but there's one that has stood the test of time: Sokolowski's University Inn.
They opened in 1923, specializing in Polish and Eastern European cuisine. You can get all your favorites there, like salisbury steak, chicken paprikash or stuffed peppers. But the item that had folks lined Monday was Sokolowski's own pierogies.
"We use a nice dough. A dough that was passed on from my grandmother. It's kind of like a French dough, with a little bit of sour cream in it," owner Bernard Sokolowski said.
And though the longstanding restaurant has tried different pierogi themes, they like to stick with what works.
"The American public basically likes potato pierogies, and that's what we sell the most, and we keep it with just one way of doing it, "Sokolowski said.
The recipe, and the success, can be attributed to keeping it simple and remaining loyal to the city.
"We've always given the customer a good product. Don't gouge the customer. We love Cleveland. When everybody was moving out, we stayed through thick and thin," Sokolowski said.
For more on Sokolowski's, click HERE.