Rider’s Inn, a restaurant, bed & breakfast, and tavern located at 792 Mentor Ave. in Painesville, sticks true to its Western Reserve heritage. Guests will find colonial fare in the dining room and traditionally decorated rooms in the inn. Authentic game and fish entrees prepared from original 19th century recipes, as well as traditional beef, chicken, veal and duck are on the menu. Finish up with a delicious dessert prepared tableside.Joseph Rider opened Rider’s Inn in 1812. Once a popular stop for those traveling the stagecoach route between Buffalo and Cleveland, Rider’s Inn still is a popular spot for lunch and dinner.

The reasonably priced menu, with all entrees less than $20, features out-of-the-ordinary appetizers and house specialties like the Inn’s potato-leek soup. Be sure to have a bowl of the thick and creamy, hearty and filling soup infused with the flavor of sweet onions. Salads and sandwiches include a pecan-crusted chicken salad and a roasted eggplant sandwich. A house favorite, the eggplant sandwich boasts marinated eggplant, roasted red peppers and onions served on French bread with a basil-pesto sauce. Rider’s talented chef, Corrine Myer, is French pastry-trained and a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America. She is assisted by Kaiya Warren, Ken Dowd and Ray Reese.

Current owner Elaine Crane has instituted many new traditions at the historic inn, including the annual Parade of the Turkey at Thanksgiving, candlelight Christmas Eve dinners and traditional New Year’s Day “lucky” dinners complete with pork and sauerkraut. Sunday brunch is served from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Rider’s has plenty of space for almost any special event. Three private dining rooms for parties from four to 40 are available. If you’re looking for an overnight stay, the inn has 10 rooms, including a bridal suite. Rider’s offers many amenities, not least of which are cooking to order for different dietary needs, and cleaning and serving a visiting fisherman’s fresh catch. “You can give your overnight business people a unique experience,” Crane said. “Staying here is more like staying in a private home than a sterile motel.”

For dinner or room reservations, call 440-354-8200.