Here is my review of Charlie Staples barbecue in downtown Youngstown, Ohio: when you know how to cook, as Mike and I both do, eating out can often be a challenge. We like to visit places where we can order food that somebody else can make better than what we can make at home. Neither of us had been to Charlie Staples before, although we have seen and heard about it for years. According to the commercials, it is supposed to be the place for barbecue with a New Orleans ambience. We waited nearly an hour for our dining experience. The restaurant does have a bit of a New Orleans feel to it. I will give the owner, Charlie Staples, credit for taking what appeared to be a once dilapidated building in a bad neighborhood of Youngstown, and turning it into A gold mine. The restaurant has been going strong for 35 years and has hosted both our President of the United States and Vice President of the United States. We decided to try several different menu items. The menu does not offer a very large selection. For example, I would think that a restaurant like this would offer both baby back, and the less expensive, St. Louis style ribs. Only St. Louis style ribs are offered, and the menu only refers to them as ribs. They arent cheap, however. So they are less expensive than what you would pay for baby back ribs. I would also think that they would offer such fare as sweet potato fries, sweet potatoes, sweet potato casserole, and other similar southern style fare. The meals are served with french fries, coleslaw (made with Marzettis slaw dressing), and saucy bread (2 slices of White bread beneath the ribs). Do not ask for a baked potato, because they are five dollars extra. We Ordered a side of macaroni and cheese as well as baked beans. The macaroni and cheese is not on the menu; however, there is a sign in the front of the restaurant that tells you it is available. We also sampled the barbecue chicken. The service is extremely slow. When I asked for a drink menu, the server offered to have a manager come and tell me what was available. There is no drink menu available. One might expect that a restaurant like this would offer some type of drink that would be popular in the south or in New Orleans. This is not The case. They dont even offer, gasp, sweet tea! Their iced tea is either Bottled or from a fountain. Mr. Staples has lots and lots of articles from the newspaper gracing the walls of his lobby. All of the articles talk about the sauce recipe that has been around for many, many years, and the longevity of the restaurant, which has been around for 35 years. None of them talk about the delicious food. These articles are accurate in their reporting. The sauce is very good. The macaroni and cheese was very good. Those are the only nice things that I can say about the restaurant. The ribs were tough. The chicken was deep fried then smothered in barbecue sauce. There was nothing outstanding in any way about the meal. If you like your ribs falling off the bone tender, do not go there. I certainly dont think they were wood fired or Grilled in any way. If you like barbecue chicken, go to the Methodist Church in Lisbons chicken barbecue, and take a bottle of Sweet baby Rays. That will be more satisfying. Better yet, go to the grocery store and buy a nice quality of baby back ribs. Cook them in a water bath for about 12 hours, then grill them on the grill, then smother them in Sweet baby Rays barbecue sauce. You will have much better barbecue then anything that you could find at Charlie Staples. Cross that one off our list.
Posted on: Sun, 06 Apr 2014 01:09:31 +0000
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