I was reminded of this because I ate recently at one of the Italian restaurant chains. Actually, the food was decent, pretty good red sauce, cheeses, and pasta.
But it was nothing like what we could find at dozens of places around Youngstown when I was growing up. Where was the best Italian food in Youngstown? The smell of that sauce simmering just about drove me nuts! But the wait was worth it.
Of course, there were many good places to go for Italian. In fact, any self-respecting cook in a neighborhood bar probably made better Italian food than you can find in many big cities in this country. In downtown Youngstown, there was the Ringside and the Italian Restaurant. On the North side, there was Avalon Gardens and you could get good spaghetti at the 20th Century. Of course there were many other great places like the Elmton, that served pizza, but also a full menu of good Italian.
There was also Antones, that opened up several other restaurants in the area eventually. And there was the favorite hangout of many in the Uptown area, the Pizza Oven. Recently we had a speaker at Ohio State who ate at the Royal Oaks while researching an article on Youngstown. I was glad to hear the Royal Oaks was still going strong.
He loved it! Perhaps you know of some of these places. Just leave a comment here or even a recipe! Many great memories going there growing up!! Fantastic food! Took our four kids there all the time.
