The Chop House
 Youngstown, Ohio        Date of Visit  04/06/15            http://warrenchophouse.com

Our adventure started at Café 422 in Warren, locked, empty except for the other woman waiting to meet the rest of her party, already destined for disappointment. Steph told her we were looking for somewhere else to celebrate. Mom mentioned a couple including The Chop House. That’s where we headed. We should have told the lady in the lot, it would have ameliorated their disappointment.
 

Tucked into the edge of the Avalon Country Club (the richy-rich side of the road) and due to the awesome day, we found ourselves sitting on the patio with the fountains from the practice putting green and whatever hole is next to it topping off our ambiance.

Our server was nice, and appeared excited and fun. We ordered appetizers and then ended up ordering from the “3-for” menu. Gracious. To make up for what was sure to be entirely too much food (we left with quite a stack of containers) we did a little day drinking. They had two specials, I tried the gin based cuke cooler with lime, mint and a splash of sweet. I’m not a big gin drinker, never really looked at a Christmas Tree and thought to myself…that would be a delicious drink. But the mix with the veg, herb and citrus made a very summery and drinkable beverage. Mom’s tea studded with mango vodka and something else...was even tastier. We were delivered bread with a particularly good garlic oil topped with cheese and the food started coming and didn’t stop for a while.
 

Upfront, I have to say the Chop House did an extraordinary job…everything was good and all of the goodness was punctuated by some really excellent dishes. The shrimp cocktail was fine with four large critters, and a couple of sauces. They couldn’t possibly compete with the zucchini strips, which were served with a little cup of lemon aioli. More of a fry shape than a strip, these are by far the best fried zuchs I have ever had. Superbly crispy tempura batter, steaming hot vegetable that is still a mile from mushy, simple but sterling seasoning, incredible top to bottom.

Our first courses were two “cups” of soup du jour and a Caesar. The salad was simple and straight-forward, as it should be, but the bright signature dressing and the quality. sharp, salty, cheese made it delicious. The soup was a rich and beautiful cream of mushroom. Frighteningly thin slices of earthy shroom crowded a thick cream base loaded with herbs. I kept getting shots of oregano which I might not associate with mushroom soup but it was stupendous.
 

Premium Cheese & Dressing Ingredients Make A Difference
 

The “cup” of soup was clearly a bowl and highlighted a consistent portion problem at the Chop House. The problem is in the customers' favor. If you have been aggravated by a fancy dancy restaurant because it seems they sprinkled teeny nuggets of food on the plate, you won’t be upset here. Everything was piled in and on. To find that and consistently excellent execution is a rare treat.

Steph ordered the chicken francaise, which was my least favorite dish, it was good, I’ve just had much better. The coating on the chicken was noticeably eggy and the lemon/butter/sherry sauce didn’t have the punch of others places or what they had conjured up in the Caesar dressing. Mom had the almond crusted chicken. It arrived covered with a cranberry glaze. Hmmmmm, cranberry chicken huh? It was great. Juicy chicken, lightly bitter nuttiness, tart but nicely sweetened cranberry, I was surprised how much I enjoyed it. I had a perfectly good strip steak loaded with delicious mushrooms. Check and check.
 

Three sides were also much better than I had expected, a loaded baker, mac n cheese and some other taters. The loaded tater was loaded and well done. The penne pasta had a nice tooth and was thick with a sharp white cheddar which really stood out in the dish as cheesy. Tossed with spinach and sundried tomatoes the cheese kept the top spot on the flavor chart. We asked about the “cherry’ fries and mom was right, it’s a 50 year old recipe from a long gone Y-town restaurant. A variant of Pommes Anna, cherry fries are wispy thin slices of tater layered into cast iron where the edges get brown crunchy-crispy and the interior steams to a luscious, buttery goodness. Imagine great potato chips and great mashed potatoes all in the same disc. Top with a little sour cream studded with horseradish and you have scrumptious.
 

Oh lord, dessert is still coming. We had a tasty banana cream pie and a sundae topped with bits and pieces of baklava which was also pretty good. The third was a crème brûlée, baked vanilla custard just sweet enough to keep you from feeling like you were eating sweetened scrambled eggs, a crispy burnt sugar lid and a couple of blueberries capped an excellent start to a celebration of over 70 years. Three cheers for The Chop House.

And many more for mother-dear.

Hope it was a good beginning for celebration.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!