Mahoning Valley Eats & Treats: Barry Dyngles Restaurant & Pub

Monday, December 14, 2009

Barry Dyngles Restaurant & Pub

If I had to describe our favorite type of place to eat, there's little question it would be one with a casual atmosphere and a bar. We enjoy sipping a beer or two or perhaps a glass of wine with our meals, and we want to be able to put our elbows on the table or gnaw on that chicken leg without threat of glares from other diners. Throw in a few big-screen TVs and a bowl of popcorn on the table, and we're hooked.

So it is at Barry Dyngles Restaurant & Pub in Austintown. We stopped here for lunch one day after dropping off two of our grandchildren at a friend's birthday party; it was too far to go back home for the relatively short duration till we had to pick them up again and this was the perfect solution. It was our first visit to the place, but definitely not our last.

First off, we learned that the barbecue food here is done by Armadillo's, who's sauce has won a numb

er of awards. Then, we saw the extensive list of strange-sounding beers (think Arrogant Bastard Ale or Old Speckled Hen) followed by the football games beaming down to us from TVs on just about every wall. Oh yes, we said, this place will do just fine.

This is more or less a sports bar, but there's a restaurant side also. Most seats in the pub are around large tables, all within view of a number of big-screen TVs. The bar is sort of horseshoe-shaped and quite large; plenty of room to belly up and do some serious sipping while the big game is on. Some of the walls are brick, and all are covered with all sizes of framed photos, mostly sports-related.

The lunch menu is pretty extensive, but I stuck to Barry's pulled pork sandwich at $5.99 (gotta have that Armadillo's fare) while Jack tried the reuben ($7.49). Both came with fries, and we ordered cups of the loaded baked potato soup and clam chowder ($2.99 each). If you go, do not miss that potato soup; it really is loaded -- a bowl would be substantial enough for a meal. As expected, the sandwiches were large and tasty; the fries, though, are quite special. I'm not a fan of fries, but I couldn't get enough of these. Slightly spiced, they're a bit crunchy on the outside and soft and tender on the inside. Yum!

A few weeks later as we were on the way home from a visit to Mill Creek Park and hungry, we thought of Barry Dyngles and agreed that stopping would be a great idea -- especially since we had a coupon from the Entertainment Book that gave us $5 off a total order of $25 (not including alcohol). This time, I toyed with the Black & Bleu burger ($7.99) and the grilled chicken pasta with penne in a creamy Cajun Alfredo sauce ($11.99). Since we needed to spend $25 to get the discount -- and leftovers don't get wasted very often at our house -- I decided on the Triple Crown Combo of pulled pork, beef brisket and Carolina BBQ Chicken at $13.99 (said to be for those with "hearty appetites"). With it, I ordered rice pilaf and country green beans.

Jack decided on the smoked West Texas beef brisket at $10.99, choosing fries and cinammon apples as his two sides. To get us over the $25 mark, he added a cup of clam chowder; the potato soup sounded wonderful, but I knew it would be way too much for me so I passed.

Hearty appetite is an understatement. My Triple Crown was delivered with half a barbecued chicken, one large slice of brisket and a mound of pulled pork large enough to fill at least three sandwiches. Tubs of regular smokey sweet barbecue sauce and a thin, spicy hot sauce came with it. The rice pilaf was piled high as well, and although it was somewhat bland, it was a nice accompaniment to all that meat. The green beans weren't anything to write home about either, but they were quite good and I polished off every single one.

At still another visit (did I mention we really like this place?), I had a cup of that wonderful loaded potato soup ($2.99) and a barbecue chicken sandwich with baked beans ($5.99). Jack tried the Texas steak sandwich special, also $5.99. Both were delicious; the chicken was topped with thinly sliced ham, melted cheese, grilled onions and of course, barbecue sauce. The baked beans have a yummy barbecue flavor, two or three types of beans and lots of beef bits. The steak sandwich was much like a Philly steak, with mushrooms, onions, green peppers and cheese.

I should mention that Barry Dyngles also has a large carry-out menu great for parties or large families, and they have mobile units that cater parties of any size anywhere you need them.

If you go:

Barry Dyngles Restaurant & Pub
1601 S. Raccoon Road
Austintown, Ohio
(330) 259-4788
www.barrydyngles.com

Open Monday through Friday at 11 a.m.; Noon on Saturday and Sunday

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Why This Blog?

The Mahoning Valley region of Ohio is perhaps most often thought of as part of the so-called "Rust Belt" -- if it's thought of at all. Tucked up in the northeastern corner of the state about 15 miles from the Pennsylvania border, it's arguably best known for a former U.S. Representative who spent time in jail, the "Mob" and shuttered steel mills. I know that how? Because every single time we travel to another state -- any other state -- and tell folks we meet where we're from, it's guaranteed that we'll get a question about one or all of the above.

Add in a reputation for somewhat lousy weather, and it's enough to make a body wonder why anyone would want to visit, much less live here. But I don't see it that way. I've been in this part of Ohio for close to 50 years now, and while I'd love to see more sunny days, I firmly believe this is a great place to be. The cost of living is remarkably low compared with other parts of the country. It brings together the best of the city and country; cornfields and other amber waves of grain dot the landscape right along with interesting museums, shopping centers and parks.

Oh sure, the weather can be iffy -- if you don't like what you see, just wait 5 minutes, we're fond of saying. But on the other hand, it never gets boring, and not much compares to walking along a tree-lined path amid brilliantly colored foliage on a crisp fall day. Besides that, within an easy hour-or-so's drive we can be walking barefoot on a sandy beach, climbing an historic lighthouse or trolling for wildflowers in one of at least 15 state and national parks.

Then there's the food. My husband Jack and I travel as much as we can, and when we do, we love to eat. We've had dinner at some pretty well-known restaurants in quite a few states, and you know what? Every single time, we say to each other, "This is great, but there's nothing here that's better than what we can get back home every single day."

Of course, I can't discount the familiarity factor and learning to love what you're used to; there's a reason they call it Home Sweet Home. Still, we've always insisted that the Mahoning Valley's cuisine is pretty hard to beat. And just for the record, we include the Shenango Valley in that sweeping declaration; just over the Pennsylvania border are plenty of other fantastic restaurants and attractions just waiting to be discovered by me and you.

I do admit to one exception to my "home" rule, though: As seafood moves inland, it tends to lose ground. Not surprisingly, absolutely nothing compares to fresh-from-the-ocean "lobstah" at The Lobster Dock in Boothbay Harbor, Maine, the huge, almost no-filler-added crabcakes from The Crab Claw in St. Michaels, Maryland, or the steamed spiced shrimp at Awful Arthur's Oyster Bar on the North Carolina Outer Banks. That said, there seems to be a direct correlation between distance from water and how long fish is cooked; by the time you reach mid-Ohio, all too often it's barely recognizable. Sorry, Charlie, but the fish is dead. No need to kill it again (and again!) by leaving it on the grill or in the oven till it's tough and tasteless.

The reason for this blog is to showcase some of the eateries and other treasures our little part of the world has to offer. There's no set schedule for updates, but the plan is to add something new every couple of weeks. For the most part, what you'll see is what we get in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties in Ohio and Mercer and Lawrence counties in Pennsylvania. But once in a while -- especially since I'm an official "Ohio Ambassador" charged with promoting what the Buckeye State has to offer -- I'll stray into other parts of Ohio (and maybe even another state or two) to bring you a look at a special restaurant or attraction we've found.

If reading about these places entices you to come visit, that's wonderful -- y'all come on down (or up, or over as the case may be). And if you have questions about anything you see here or want to suggest a favorite restaurant of your own, zap me an e-mail. I'm always up for a new adventure!

Just for the record, I've had a bit of experience at not only eating and traveling, but writing about it as well. I wrote about local restaurants and travel for The Business Journal in Youngstown for several years (and Jack penned 100 "Dining Out" restaurant reviews for that newspaper over a period of four years). Besides that, I've posted similar "stuff" on a number of travel Web sites since then.

In the interests of full disclosure -- and the letter of the blog law -- I'll emphasize here that no one associated with any restaurant pays me, or gives me free meals, or in any way influences what I write here. As I mentioned before, I'm open to suggestions for places to visit -- but whether or not I go there or write about it is completely my choice. I'll also say, though, that while I don't mind pointing out a flaw or two here and there, my purpose is to showcase what's good about the region's restaurants and attractions. As such, I'll stick to what my mama always taught me: If you can't say something good about somebody, don't say anything at all.

I'll try to add something new here every couple of weeks, give or take, so check back often. If you want to be notified when a new entry is made, there's a place here to sign up for that as well. And finally, if you'd like to see some of my photos, you're invited to visit my galleries at Zenfolio. Enjoy!

Monnie Ryan

Mahoning Valley Eats & Treats

Monday, December 14, 2009

Barry Dyngles Restaurant & Pub

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