TRAX RESTAURANT

Restaurant food in the Mahoning and Shenango valleys is as good (or better) than I've found anywhere else in the country, in my humble opinion -- with one exception: Seafood. For the most part, that's not because we're basically landlocked in these parts; rather, it's because it's inevitably overcooked to the point of being relatively tasteless and tough.

And for a seafood lover like me, that's a big disappointment; I'm always a bit leery of ordering it, knowing it's likely to be less than "perfect." So when I noticed lemon pepper swordfish on the daily specials menu at Trax Restaurant in Austintown, I hesitated -- but since swordfish is hard to find and is my favorite fish to eat -- I decided to reel it in. As a special, it came with one side and a salad for just $10.95, so I figured I wouldn't lose all that much if it wasn't all that great.

Ah, I'm delighted to report it was wonderful! I chose spaghetti as my side - as you'll find out in a minute, I'd tasted the sauce here before and liked it. This time I'd say it could have used a bit more sauce, but quite honestly I was too full to care after devouring every mouth-watering bite of the sizable chunk of swordfish steak. Not only was it juicy, the lemon flavor was subtle but noticeable and the cracked pepper added just the right touch of zest. Yum!

We arrived here this time for an early dinner, just before 4 p.m.; our server brought a list of lunch specials even at this late hour, which was nice because there were loads of great things from which to choose, including cavatelli-stuffed and chili cheese stuffed breadbowls ($8.50). I also considered the Italian sausage hero at $8.99 before spotting that swordfish.

Jack had a bit more trouble deciding, finally settling on the Yankee pot roast ($10.50), described as beef and carrots with au jus and one side. He opted for slaw instead of salad and picked mashed potatoes and gravy as his side, which seemed a natural fit for the pot roast. When he placed the order, our server assured him it was delicious - in fact, she'd had a big mound of it for her lunch earlier in the day.

Turns out she was right on the money; the pot roast was yummy with a large amount of fork-tender meat. And even though he made a point of reminding me he doesn't like carrots, he scarfed down all of these chunks (noting that he was doing so because they didn't taste much like carrots after simmering in all that juice for what must have been a long time). At his request, the server brought a container of extra gravy, which was rich, thick and delicious.

As I mentioned before, this stop for dinner wasn't the first time we've been to Trax; on one occasion, we sat on the separate bar side for a couple of quick sandwiches and beers. The interior, by the way, is a darkish red and gray and features lots of old photos, most related to the B&O Railroad -- especially interesting to us because Jack's late uncle, Robert M. Semple, for many years was the local yardmaster. There's also a large outdoor patio that's open in good weather, and we hear there's live music out there now and again.

A couple of weeks before my encounter with the swordfish, we stopped for lunch mostly because we had a coupon for $5 off a $25 purchase, including alcohol. Speaking of alcohol, there's an extensive wine and beer list plus a few on tap including our favorite Yuengling. Some of the menu items are things I haven't seen in a while, like city chicken ($9.50 for the dinner portion). I also noticed Cincinnati chili ($9.50) -- another favorite of mine. Most dinners come with a potato or salad plus bread and butter.

Any time stuffed cabbage or peppers is on the menu, it's hard for Jack to resist. This time it was cabbage, which usually comes with mashed potatoes. He asked for slaw instead, plus a salad with balsamic viniagrette dressing, all for $9.50.

I was in the mood for plain old spaghetti, and when I asked our server about the difference between the marinara and "regular" red sauce, she explained that the marinara at Trax "isn't like others" and is filled with lots of vegetables whereas the red sauce has two meatballs. I opted for the red sauce over spaghetti (ziti was my other choice), salad with bleu cheese dressing and a cup of wedding soup for $8.29.

Jack liked that the stuffed cabbage was topped with an abundance of sauce, which all too often isn't the case. There were a couple of slices of kielbasi in it as well, which he passed on to me and they were delicious. Our server also brought a basket of good-sized rolls and butter, but we had so much else to eat that we brought them home.

The salads were your garden-variety head lettuce with some sliced black olives, one tomato slice and one of those yummy small hot peppers (the latter of which Jack gave to me since he's not into anything spicy hot). Dressings are served on the side, and both of our choices were very good. As is his custom, Jack asked for "extra" and got two containers, which was plenty to make him happy.

My wedding soup was quite tasty, filled with lots of greens, carrots and one of those teeny meatballs. My only complaint was that it was almost lukewarm (but keep in mind I like soup almost at the boiling point). The red sauce was delicious as well, and the meatballs were outstanding. The bowl was ample, giving me about half to take home for another day.

When we finished up, we noticed several desserts listed on a chalkboard - among them cocoanut creme and lemon merangue pie at ($3.50 a slice). They sounded wonderful, but we had absolutely no room left. For the record, they were still on the list the next time we visited, but the same thing happened: Our stomachs were so full with the main courses that we couldn't have downed another bite. Oh well, guess we've got a couple more reasons to go back!

If you go:

Trax Restaurant
4250 New Road
Austintown, Ohio 44515
(330) 799-2245

Open for lunch and dinner Monday through Saturday at 11 a.m.; Sunday 3 p.m. to 9 p.m.