FIRE GRILL

Girard may not be the biggest town in Trumbull County, Ohio, but never let it be said there’s no place to eat. From the popular Jib Jab Hot Dog Shoppe at one end of State Street to Margherita’s on the other (not to mention several places on the side streets), this town’s got you covered breakfast, lunch and dinner.

A favorite haunt was Mikeee’s, somewhere around the middle of State Street; my husband Jack and I spent many a lazy summer afternoon on the upstairs outdoor deck and many more in the lower-level bar trying out everything we could on the extensive sandwich menu. When that ended, we were frequent visitors to the Big Family Restaurant; when that one closed, we almost cried.

But then, we got word that a new place was coming. And in early May 2014, the Fire Grill opened. Not too long afterward, we were there - hoping to find another great place – and we did. The inside is quite a change, although it remains fairly informal. It’s been redone in tones of gray, black and red with spacious booths, a fire grill at the back (hence the name) complete with a display case in front filled with tempting desserts and lots of really cool hanging lamps. It looks totally different, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

The full bar now includes a ton of specialty beers, and anyone interested in sampling can get flights on all the draughts. That’s really not our style, though, so we stuck with more traditional Yuengling at our first visit at lunchtime. Picking what we wanted to eat, though, took a bit of time. We weren’t looking for a huge meal, but we did want to sample a few things. The specialty here is barbecue - ribs, chicken, pork and beef - and on each table are bottles of special add-on sauces, mostly Carolina-style like East Carolina Vinegar, North Carolina Mustard and South Carolina Spicy Red (they’re sold by the bottle as well). As long-time vacationers at the North Carolina Outer Banks, we were happy to see those options - well, maybe not the vinegar sauce, definitely not a favorite of ours.

It took a while to decide what we wanted, even for lunch; I did consider the kielbasa-style Texas hot link sausage topped with sauteed red peppers, onions and tomato sauce on a toasted hoagie roll (plain or with jalapeno-cheddar sauce, $7.99). Finally - now on my second Yuengling - I settled on one of the daily specials, a half-order of Better-Than Maw-Maw’s Fried Green Tomatoes with soup or salad ($4.99 at the time of our visit). I chose chili as my soup, and then just for fun, I ordered an appetizer of smoked chipotle wings ($5.99). 

Jack, meanwhile, opted to try the Portabella Non-Burger, a fire-grilled whole portabella mushroom marinated in homemade balsamic vinegar and topped with charred romaine, grilled tomato and Asiago cheese ($6.99). With it he chose cole slaw, and got a surprise: our server asked whether he wanted mayonnaise or vinegar style (he picked the latter and said it was delicious).

The wings, the menu said, are put in the smoker first and then fried and tossed in Chipotle butter sauce. The flavor was excellent, and I enjoyed them despite not being a fan of getting thick red goo all over me. The chili, too, was outstanding and a bit different, with smoked beef brisket, ground beef, red kidney beans, plum tomatoes, onions and peppers. 

The tomatoes were coated with panko bread crumbs, topped with creamy bleu cheese sauce, sprinkled with scallions and finished with balsamic glaze reduction - definitely not like mother used to make. They were wonderful, although they were fried a bit too crispy for my liking - we old folks are always worried about breaking teeth. For the record, they’re also available as an appetizer.

Within a couple of weeks, we returned - this time with friends Jerry and Barb from Niles in tow. We arrived about 5:30 p.m. on a Friday and were seated immediately, but by the time we left, there had to be at least 20 people waiting for a table. We made a mental note to get here before 5 p.m. for dinner (though our usual plan when eating out is to have a late lunch somewhere between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m., typically a slower time for most restaurants).

But once we were seated, it seemed we sat there forever until one of us caught a server’s eye and she came fairly quickly. Because of the long wait, we’d had plenty of time to peruse the menu and make our choices, so we placed our drink and food orders at the same time. Shortly thereafter, we got a visit from the owner, who was checking up on us (I know at least one of our group had a scowl on her face at that point - me - which probably signaled that the natives at our table were a bit restless. He was very nice, and among other things told us that the outdoor balcony upstairs should be open soon. At this point, it’s winter, so we’ll check back when the weather improves.

Jack’s choice for dinner was the Caprese flatbread ($6.99) with a side of macaroni and cheese ($3.99). Jerry picked the Southern Pulled Pork sandwich, which comes with fries, for $7.99. Barb and I both went for the Braggin’ Rights Brisket sandwich -mine with fries and hers with the vinegar-based coleslaw (both $9.99).

Jack was delighted with the flatbread - six rather large squares topped with Roma tomatoes, red onions and roasted garlic topped with fresh basil, melted mozzarella cheese and drizzled with a sweet balsamic reduction. The mac and cheese is a bit different, with a crumb coating, and he deemed it outstanding.

Jerry was happy with his pulled pork sandwich, and Barb and I absolutely loved the brisket, which is shredded to make the sandwich. It comes with some kind of mayonnaise-based sauce, but there wasn’t much of it and the flavor isn’t the least bit overwhelming. I opted to add a bit more flavor from the bottles of sauces on the table - this time choosing the delicious Kansas City Sweet.

My only beef? Nowhere - not on the website, the Facebook page, the menu or even the restaurant’s front door - have I been able to find when the place is open for the entire week. Finally, the hours I’ve added below turned up on an obscure restaurant review site, but I advise anyone wanting to make advance plans to visit to call to be sure they’re accurate.

If you go:

Fire Grill

30 N. State St.

Girard, Ohio 44420

(330) 545-4755

http://www.firegrillbbq.com

Open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Wednesday; 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday; closed Sunday.

BARRY DYNGLES RESTAURANT & PUB

If I had to describe my favorite type of place to eat, there's little question it would be one with a casual atmosphere and a bar. My husband Jack and I 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.

Barry Dyngles Restaurant & Pub in Austintown is that kind of place, and apparently other folks agree; according to a post on its Facebook page, the first two months of this year are the best in the restaurant's history. 

There are plenty of on-tap beers, from standards to more trendy IPAs and crafts. The bar is sort of horseshoe-shaped and quite large; there's plenty of room to belly up and do some serious sipping while games on the larg-screen TVs. Some of the walls are brick, and all are covered with all sizes of framed photos, mostly sports-related. 

Our most recent visit happened after we'd made a quick trip through part of Mill Creek Park just to get out of the house - the awful winter weather has had us snowed and suffering from cabin fever. We decided to treat ourselves to lunch to stretch our away time, and since this place is not out of our way to get home, it filled the bill perfectly. As is our custom, we sat on the bar side rather than the main dining area.

Barry Dyngles has racked up numerous awards for barbecue sauce, BTW (with good reason - it's absolutely delicious), and I absolutely love the loaded baked potato soup. So when I learned that one of the day's specials was a half rack of ribs with two sides for $10.99, it was a no-brainer. My sides were baked beans and that fabulous soup.

Meanwhile, Jack ordered the beef brisket sandwich, also a daily special with one side for $7.99. He picked macaroni and cheese for his side and then paid a couple of bucks extra to get a cup of French onion soup. Bottles of domestic beer were on special at $1.50 each, so we indulged ourselves with a couple - one while we waited and another with our meals - without breaking the bank.

That soup, which is thick, creamy and topped with cheese, bacon bits and chives, is close to the No. 1 spot on my Top 5 list of favorite soups from any restaurant, and the baked beans, with a barbecue-flavor sauce and shredded beef, are quite different from the usual doctored-up Campbell's variety. If I had to quibble, I'd say the half rack of ribs seemed a bit on the small side so I had nothing left to take home, but this was lunch and the price was more than reasonable.

Jack loved the brisket - it's his usual choice here - which he took out of the bun and ate with a fork, dunking it in the container of barbecue sauce that came with it. The mac and cheese seemed a little dry to me, but Jack certainly wasn't complaining. He said the onion soup, too, was a standout.

An earlier visit came at the dinner hour on a Friday night when we and our friends Jerry and Barb decided on a whim to have dinner, and they suggested Barry Dyngles. Of course, we readily agreed, and off we went. This time, we opted for a table in the main dining area, looking first at the special two for $25 menu that offers an appetizer to share and two entrees from a list of about a dozen. That option went by the boards rather quickly, though, when (believe it or not) we couldn't agree on two entrees from that list. 

Turning to the regular menu, Jack went for healthy over hearty with broiled haddock ($12.99), choosing a salad with thousand island dressing and mac and cheese - well, so much for the healthy part. I had no such allusions, going straight for the ribs and wings platter for $13.99, as did Barb; Jerry chose the ribs and pulled pork platter. My sides, potato soup and baked beans, come as no surprise. Jerry picked a regular baked potato and clam chowder, while Barb upgraded to a loaded baked potato and a salad with bleu cheese dressing.

For sauces, Barb stuck with the "regular" BBQ sauce on both ribs (there were about five ribs and six wings). Jerry ordered the regular sauce on the wings and the Carolina style for what turned out to be a mound of pulled pork (the sauce comes as a side for dipping or pouring). I chose the regular sauce on my ribs and butter garlic on my wings. Everything absolutely delicious; in fact, we were so stuffed we could barely waddle out.

Speaking of wings (we were, weren't we?), they're exceptionally good here, and there are plenty of sauces from which to choose. My personal favorite is butter garlic, but I've tried several others and liked them quite well. If you like your wings to stay crispy, you can order the sauce on the side.

Sandwiches are excellent too - we love the pulled pork, Reuben and Y-Town burger, the latter of which is a half-pound patty topped with Italian greens, hot peppers and provolone on ciabatta bread ($8.99 each). Sandwiches come with fries, and while I'm not a big fry fan, I love these. Slightly spiced, they're a bit crunchy on the outside and soft and tender on the inside. Yum! 

Last but hardly least, 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
http://www.barrydyngles.com

Kitchen open Monday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Saturday, noon to 11 p.m. and noon to 9 p.m. on Sunday.

GUY'S AWARD-WINNING BBQ

Updated 12/21/13: Just got word from Art Byrd that this place has closed. Too bad - best sauce I've had in a long time!

When someone offers a tip on a great place to eat, I pay attention. When it comes from Art Byrd - producer of the Byrd's Eye View entertainment enewsletter who named Guy's Award-Winning BBQ as his favorite place for barbecue - I get there as fast as I can. So in short order after learning that, that my husband Jack and I, accompanied by a couple of hungry friends, got in the car and headed to the place.


At the outset, I'll point out that Guy's primarily is a take-out place. There are a couple of tables - it's located in a shopping plaza - but hardly anyone actually eats there. We didn't, either; like most folks, we placed our orders and hung around one of the tables while we waited (which wasn't for very long). Then, armed with boxes, we hurried back to our house to chow down. Luckily, we don't live very far away - the wonderful smells emanating from those boxes were extremely difficult to resist.

Even though we'd checked out the menu online, it took us a while to decide on what we wanted - mostly because we wanted to try everything. Having four of us made that a bit easier, since we could get different things and share. The ribs and chicken meals are done in the sweet BBQ sauce, and wings can be purchased (12 for $7.80) in any of the sauce flavors, like Hot BBQ and sugarless Smokey Garlic - the two we picked.

Although the emphasis here is on ribs, chicken dinners are available as well (and fish dinners like catfish and talapia are sold on Fridays). We thought about chicken dinners, but only for a second; we were here for those ribs (and anyway, we'd decided to try the chicken in the form of appendages).

Three of us ordered the five-rib dinners ($12.99 each), which come with two sides and Texas toast, while Jack opted for a boneless rib sandwich with one side ($6.99). Since our ribs are all alike (ribs and chicken meals are done in a very tasty sweet BBQ sauce), we made sure to try various sides: Mac and cheese (Jack), greens and potato salad (our friends Jerry and Barb) and potato salad and baked beans (me). Everything is neatly packaged in take-out containers with lids, so there's no fuss, no muss.

That is, until you start to eat. I dare anyone, in fact, to dig into either ribs or wings here without ending up with reddish spots all over your face and fingers. Somehow, to everyone else's delight, I even managed to get one on the end of my nose (and a couple on my sweatshirt - a word to the wise to use plenty of napkins).

Once we'd spread out all our goodies on the table, rounded up those requisite napkins and poured the equally requisite beers, we took a deep breath and got started. After a single bite, all three of us ribsters said - almost in unison - that these are the best we've ever had, bar none. They're not only among the biggest and most tender (the meat almost falls off the bones), but the thick, sweet sauce is absolutely delectable. We groaned - in a good way - and licked our fingers all the way to done.

Jack, meanwhile, loved the sauce, but his sandwich bun was so overflowing with meat that it was impossible to pick up. As for the sides, the mac and cheese was singularly unimpressive, but we all liked the potato salad and baked beans. Barb really liked the greens - Southern-style turnip greens, the cook back at the restaurant told us - with a touch of sauce that added a bit of a zing. The Texas toast made a perfect accompaniment.

We had so much else to eat that we couldn't come close to finishing the wings, but they, too, are large and meaty. The Hot BBQ sauce isn't - not a single complaint from any of the other three folks who don't like it hot. I expected (and would have preferred) something with more of a kick, but I agree this is delicious. So, too, is the sugarless smokey garlic; the smokey flavor comes through loud and clear, and you'd never, ever suspect it's sugarless.

If You Go:

Guy's Award-Winning BBQ
2545 Belmont Ave.
Youngstown, Ohio 44505
(330) 743-4897

http://www.guysbbq.com

Open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday; noon to 10 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

MOJO'S PUB & GRILL

As my husband Jack was driving me and Niles friends Jerry and Barb on one of the rare occasions that we didn't know ahead of time where we wanted to have dinner, Barb and I started digging through our purses and flipping through the extra Entertainment Book I keep in the car for discount coupons, figuring that would help us decide. We started to laugh, but then reality hit as Barb asked, "When was the last time you ate out without using a coupon?"

Fact is, it's hard to remember. And to underscore the importance of coupons to the restaurant industry these days, I'll say that without this kind of incentive -- this time in the form of a gift card our "kids" Chris and Jerry gave us for Christmas -- we might never have tried a place that's since become a favorite: Mojo's Pub & Grill.

I mention this because I'm pretty sure most restaurants view coupons as a necessary evil -- emphasis on the evil part. On occasion, I suppose they are; I admit we've visited a few eateries only because they were offering some kind of discount; and when we were less than impressed with the quality of food and/or service, we never entered their doors again. But others -- and Mojo's is a great example -- we like so much that it's on our short list of places to stop any time we're in the area (as well as worth going a little bit out of the way for). If there's a moral here, it's that if you've got a great product or service and want to increase your customer base, coupons can be a great incentive and a great way to generate repeat business.

In this case, even with our gift certificate we almost missed the place. For whatever reason, we put off using the card till late March; and when we pulled up at the location behind Marino's Restaurant in Austintown, the lights were off and the doors were locked tighter than a drum. Uh, oh, we said -- we've waited too long.

But since we knew that Mojo's is owned by the same folks who own Marino's, we figured we'd pop in there and ask. If Mojo's were closed, after all, we could eat here -- we love the place. In fact, Marino's was one of the first restaurants I added to my blog.

Surprise! What we learned was that Mojo's had relocated a couple of weeks earlier further west on Mahoning Avenue not far from the Austintown Plaza. So, offering our apologies for not staying at Marino's and promising to return, we made our way there.

As it turns out, that was the first of many visits. For openers, we love the roomy black-and-gray main dining area that offers easy access to a semi-enclosed bar; upstairs, we were told, is a rock-and-roll bar, while the lower level is a sports bar.

Mostly, though, we love the food. For newbies, lunch is a good time to give the place a try, although it's really hard to choose from all the sandwich offerings, which come with a substantial portion of hand-cut fries. The Bleu hamburger with bleu cheese ($7.59) and Reuben ($7.29) sounded wonderful on our initial lunch outing, but in the end Jack settled on the Swiss and Mushroom burger ($7.29) and, since I wanted to try the pulled pork, I decided the Double-Decker, with the barbecue-sauced pork on top of a hamburger, would be a good way to see if I wanted a larger portion of the pork.

The fries are similar to those at the old Idora Park, though perhaps a bit thicker, and very good. Those who don't want fries may substitute onion rings for an extra $1.19; cole slaw can be added for 99 cents.

Everything was delicious, including the pulled pork, which is very tender with a wonderful barbecue flavor; I made a mental note to try a whole sandwich on one of our return trips. The sandwiches aren't small, I should add; we both brought half home for later. As we were finishing up, our server tried to tempt us with Mojo's new dessert cart -- something like four kinds of cheesecake (locally made), a yummy-looking chocolate cake and a brownie sundae. Already stuffed to the gills, we declined, but then she convinced us to take a piece of cheesecake home -- we chose raspberry topping -- and it sure was scrumptious.

Interestingly, Mojo's is a great place for seafood, even crab legs on occasion, and barbecue. The menu is loaded with fish entrees as well as barbecue ribs, chicken and the aforementioned pulled pork. Several varieties of wings are available as well. Largely because of the seafood choices, I'm particularly fond of eating here, and we've come here several times for dinner. The first time, I tried the haddock (broiled, not lightly breaded and fried) for $11.49; it comes with cole slaw and one side, and I chose a baked potato with butter and sour cream. Meanwhile, Jack ordered the Mojo Melt ($12.99), a charbroiled chicken breast topped with barbecue sauce, bacon and American and provolone cheese. For sides, he picked fries and slaw.

A bit of a surprise came in the form of a basket of "Mama" Marino's homemade bread (her huge fresh-baked dinner rolls at Marino's restaurant are known far and wide), and the bread was fabulous as well. As for the fish, it was perhaps boiled a bit longer than necessary, but it wasn't overdone and was nicely flavored. Jack loved his chicken, too, and the slaw, with two kinds of cabbage and carrots in a mayonnaise-based dressing, is exceptional.

On still another late-afternoon visit, I tried the haddock dinner, slightly different than the earlier version because it comes with a salad and one side ($12.99). I stuck with a baked potato and ranch dressing; and for the record, there's a nearly $2 upcharge if you want to substitute soup for the salad, which I decided against. Jack, tried something a bit different - Portabella Chicken, grilled and topped with portabella mushrooms, red peppers and provolone ($13.49).

Once again, the fish had a wonderful flavor but tasted as if it had been baked for a while and then put under the broiler; it was cooked too long to say I absolutely loved it, but I ate every bite just the same.

One other word of caution: If you want to get a seat here, come for lunch or before 6 p.m. We've driven past several times wanting to stop for dinner and found that the parking lot is spilling-over full. Mojo's has live entertainment in the evenings as well as a party-down crowd from after work till late in the evening, so it's best to get here early.

If you go: Mojo's Pub & Grill
6292 Mahoning Ave.
Austintown, Ohio 44515
(330) 773-6656
www.mojospubngrill.com (Note: the site was still in development at the time of this posting, so check back).

Opens at 11 a.m. daily.