Smokey Bones Bar & Fire Grill

No bones about it: Smokey Bones has a new owner, but the food and atmosphere remain top-notch -- at least for now. Quite honestly, I was almost heartbroken back in 2007 when the former owner of Smokey Bones Barbecue & Grill, Darden Restaurants, sold the franchise. Darden, you may know, also owns the popular Olive Garden and Red Lobster restaurants, which are favorites of mine among the chain gang. Perhaps a year earlier, my husband and I discovered the Smokey Bones on South Avenue in Boardman, taking great pleasure in having a late lunch there when we made the trip from Niles to the Southern Park Mall or The Shops at Boardman Park (or both). The ribs here were absolutely the best anywhere -- even beating out our old favorite, Damon's -- and we were afraid that if the new owner of Smokey Bones, an affiliate of Sun Capital Partners, didn't shut the whole thing down, everything would change for the worse.

So far, so good. Oh, I admit there are a few changes I wish hadn't been made, most notably that wonderful hot sauce that packed a real kick when added to ribs or the delicious pulled pork seems to have gone by the boards. As for what could happen next, the jury's still out: We're waiting to see if the Boardman restaurant -- one of 68 locations in 17 states -- gets revamped as several others have been. The redesign, company officials say, replaces the "log cabin" decor with a "More contemporary restaurant setting, high-definition flat-screen TVs, new employee uniforms" and more.

I'm okay with the latter two, but quite honestly, I love the mountain lodge-like atmosphere. "Contemporary" I can find anywhere -- just go to any Applebee's, Chili's, Ruby Tuesday or TGI Friday's, all of which are practically interchangeable as far as I'm concerned. If that kind of change comes to Boardman -- and I sure hope it doesn't -- I'll clue you in. Meantime, I'll still recommend the place for both the relaxed, friendly atmosphere and the great food.

My husband Jack and I are fairly regular visitors to Mill Creek Park -- one of the Mahoning Valley's greatest treasures, in my opinion -- but we don't always drive all the way through to the U.S. Route 224 side in Boardman. Recently, we did -- and since it was past lunchtime, our thoughts turned to Smokey Bones. So, we headed in that direction, looking forward to some of that wonderful pulled pork (me) and smoked beef brisket (Jack). Looking at the menu for the first time in a few months, we encountered another change, this time something called "value-priced" meals. Immediately, my shackles went up: Certainly not a concept new in the industry -- everybody from McDonald's to hoity-toity restaurants are advertising these so-called deals -- but I'm definitely not a fan, so I'm going to digress for a minute.

This concept is a good deal for the restaurants, which are scrambling to stay afloat in a terrible economy, but for customers, not so much. What seems to be happening is that restaurants are serving up entrees that cost less than their "regular" fare in the hope that price-conscious customers will continue to eat out. Here's an example: A restaurant sells a dinner entree of meat loaf, potatoes and a side for $10.95. Now, there's a "value-priced" option -- same entree -- for $8.50. And now comes the problem. First, they typically raise the price of the "old" entree by a buck or two; what used to cost $10.95 now is $11.95 or $12.95.

The value-priced option is smaller portions -- understandably. But at almost every restaurant where we've encountered these new "deals," the portions have been cut by close to half. The price, however, certainly isn't cut by half -- making the so-called value pricing actually cost more on a per-bite basis than the higher-priced version. That's particularly upsetting for customers like us, who expect that any entree we buy that costs more than $5 will render enough leftovers to take home for another meal. Now, if we want leftovers, it will cost us a couple of bucks more than usual; and if we spring for the "value-price" meal that's half the size but more than half the price, we'll have nothing left at all.

Instead of encouraging us to visit more often, it's a real turn-off. Here's an example from Smokey Bones: My hubby's favorite smoked beef brisket. If he wants what I assume is the same size he used to get, he'll pay $11.49 (which includes two sides), more costly than it used to be, but he had more than enough left so we could enjoy a couple of sandwiches back home the next day. At our most recent visit, he chose the same entree from the "more bones for your buck" section -- at a cost of $8.79. Needless to say, he was able to polish off every single bite with some room left over -- and nary a crumb to take home for later. I experienced the same thing with my choice of that wonderful hand-pulled pork; with two sides, the "value-priced" portion is $8.29 compared with $10.29 for the larger size. I, too, scarfed down every bite and went home empty-handed. Next time we're here, we'll go for the bigger enchilada, which is by far the better deal.

That aside, the food at Smokey Bones is delicious -- although I do wish they'd put the bottles of barbecue sauce back on the tables as they used to be. Both the brisket and pulled pork arrived scantily basted with sauce and we needed more; fortunately, just as we were about to trip our server, she stopped to ask if we wanted some extra sauce. How fast can you get it here? was our reply. I'm also fond of the so-called St. Louis sauce, which remains available on the ribs but wasn't among the sauces our server delivered.

What did come, though, was something I overheard another server call "new Carolina Gold" sauce -- so I poured a little on my plate to sample. In fact, it's quite good (although I wouldn't want it on ribs or pulled pork). Golden yellow and a little on the sweet side with a kick, it's great for dipping French fries. Speaking of the sides, the fries are quite good -- and I'm not a big fan of fries. Jack got those and the tasty cinnamon apples, which he saves for "dessert," as his two sides.

I'm also happy to report that my favorite steamed broccoli is still perfectly cooked to my liking -- still bright green but tender yet well short of mushy. My second side was baked beans, which are cooked in a wonderful smokey barbecue sauce with bits of pork and absolutely yummy.

As I said before, I like the atmosphere here; there's a large bar plopped in the middle of everything, with a circle of TV sets tuned to various sports events right in the center in full view of everyone who bellies up and quite a few of those who prefer tables or booths. Tall beers were going for $2.50 the day of our last visit -- a good deal that convinced us to go for it instead of settling for soda or plain water. We sat at one of the booths that offers a personal TV tuner -- nice to be able to get sound with whichever event we want.

Smokey Bones also has a Happy Hour from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. to closing on weekdays, when appetizers are half price and Mini Porkies -- three pulled pork sliders in a choice of hickory smoked, sweet BBQ or mustard BBQ sauce (or any combination or even one of each) are just 99 cents (they're regularly three for $6.99). Barbecue is perhaps the main attraction, but the salads sound wonderful too. A special favorite is the Nutty Chicken Salad ($9.49), with chicken fingers warm over field greens with goat cheese, candied pecans, dried cranberries, red onions and fresh strawberries with honey Dijon dressing and more pecans.

For the record, Smokey Bones emphasizes take-out as well; party packs and barbecue by the pound can be called in and picked up on the fly to feed four or 400 (or more). Side dishes, like my favorite baked beans, can be purchased in pints and quarts; a dozen of the restaurant's signature Hot Bag O' Donuts, with chocolate and strawberry dipping sauces, go out the door with you for $7.49.

At our recent visit, we also learned about a new feature we like a lot: the Smokey Bones loyalty card, which our server pitched to us as we were paying the bill. To be honest, now that retailers on every corner hand these out like candy, trying to keep track of them (much less find room for all of them in a wallet or purse) is getting to be quite a hassle. But this one offers some dandy rewards that put it a cut above most of the others; one point for every $1 you spend, and once you rack up 200 points, you get $20 to spend any way you want. When you register the card online, you get 100 points and the promise of a free appetizer. When I registered ours, the 100 points -- plus just under 23 more to account for what we spent for lunch the day the card was issued -- were dutifully posted as promised.

A day later, though, I'd heard nothing about the free appetizer. Because joining these programs is guaranteed to bring an almost-instant "Welcome" e-mail from the issuing company -- and because half of the links at Smokey Bones' Web site don't work well, at least with the Firefox browser -- I was a bit concerned when I didn't hear a thing about the free appetizer by the end of the following day. I needn't have worried; the next morning, the welcome e-mail arrived, together with a coupon for that free appetizer. Granted, the expiration date was less than a month away, but there were no other strings attached except a limit of $9.

So, as long as we can find time to head back to Boardman before the end of February, we'll cash it in, perhaps pitching in the extra 29 cents to get the great-sounding Blazin' Shrimp -- fried saltwater shrimp tossed in a "fiery" sauce, served on a bed of crispy onions and drizzled with sweet rib glaze. My mouth is watering already!

It's also worth mentioning that when you sign up for a Smokey Bones loyalty card (as is the case at most restaurant Web sites), you'll get occasional e-mails with special offers and other news of interest. I always advise folks to get a "throw-away" e-mail address -- perhaps from AOL, Hotmail or Yahoo! -- to use when you buy online and register at various sites so you won't clog up your regular e-mailbox. That only works, though, if you remember to check your inbox regularly!

If you go: Smokey Bones Bar & Fire Grill
6651 South Ave.
Boardman OH 44512
(330) 965-1554
www.smokeybones.com