My wife and I are coming to Youngstown from Pittsburgh this Friday night to see Straight, No Chaser at Covelli Centre. Additional family will be meeting us from the Canton area. I am looking for dining options downtown and haven't found a lot so I thought I would check here. I was looking at V2, and liked the look, but the menu is still pretty light.
I'm looking $$$ or $$ in/close to downtown. preferably with an upscale feel - we will all be dressed up.
I prefer local dining to chains.
Any recommendations for "not to be missed" dining?
You could try The Youngstown Club, they are in the Commerce Bldg 2-3 blocks from the Covelli Centre. They are usually open to non-members for special events at the Covelli Centre. Call 330-744-2177. Check out their website www.theyoungstownclub.com
Cafe Cimento is closer but they are usually packed because they are so close.
If you're interested in local flavor, you might also want to try Cassese's MVR (it stands for "Mahoning Valley Restaurant") a few minutes away from the Covelli. It's not a terribly formal restaurant, but you won't be out of place there because they serve a broad clientele, and the food is EXCELLENT.
Menu and info: http://www.morronewebdesign.com/mvr/
Thanks all for your suggestions; I got reservations at the Youngstown Club. I'm actually pretty excited to see Youngstown. I read a number of articles recently on the city in terms of their responses to the issues that all rustbelt towns are facing. I did a lot of traveling around Ohio as a kid, but our focus tended to be central, or southeastern ohio, so I haven't been to Ytown. Anyways, thanks again!
On another trip to Youngstown you might want to see a show at DeYor. It was in another life the Warner Theater and is home to the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra. The theater was built by the Warner Brothers who were originally from Youngstown. It is a splendid theater and its schedule can be found on the web.
The Youngstown Symphony recently went on tour with Barry Manalow.
http://www.youngstownsymphony.com/
Thanks TownTalk, we will definitely be back, it was a great city and that theater looks amazing.
Speaking of theaters, if you ever get the chance, catch a movie at the Palace Theater in downtown Canton. The walls are done like an agora and the ceiling is done like a faux night sky. If the movie isn't great you can watch the stars come out and they have some type of projector system that scrolls clouds across the "sky".
Towntalk, did Youngstown have any atmospheric theaters? (that's what you call a theater like the Canton Palace, ouseidel)
No westsider, we didn't, but I've seen many photos of the Canton Palace at CinemaTreasures and the folks in Canton are blessed that this beautiful theater was preserved. If you have never seen the Canton Palace there are a number of photos of it at CinemaTreasures. Here's the link.
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/354
ouseidel I thank you for the gracious comments you made about Youngstown, and am glad you enjoyed yourself while here. I would love to get to Canton to hear your city's own symphony orchestra, but I don't get out much any more, but did see them on channel 45 and enjoyed it.
In looking over the Palace Theater in Canton calander, it is chock full of events throughout the year both live and movies. DeYor could do many of these things, but for some strange reason that is beyond me, they don't, and we are not getting full advantage of it, and that's a shame.
http://www.cantonpalacetheatre.org/index.cfm?section=events
Thanks for the info Westsider and the link Towntalk. I think I might have to find something to see in Akron. I didn't realize that the Akron Civic is also an Atmospheric. Being younger (35), I saw mainly movies at the Palace, though I did see a live production of Jesus Christ Superstar there as well. I think the movies helped fund the renovations on the Palace and helped sustain community interest in the project.
In the early 90's we would catch second run double features. They did a good turn to raise minor funds, but the staffing was all-volunteer, so the costs were only the films, electric, etc...