Royal Oaks Bar & Grill

I'm going five star, because I like bars that serve ribs that taste this great on a Saturday when I'm zipping out Youngstown on Oak st. and just remembered I really want a rack of ribs. It was 3pm when I walked in, and 30 minutes later after two beers walked out with a full rack, extra sauce. Best thing about the ribs? They have that light char taste that goes right through the meat down to the bone. The girl tending bar was great, took good care of my order, and that order was ready just as the beer went empty, so great service. The Oaks has been right here for many many years, pretty eclectic crowd, but mainly just a joint to enjoy the food, have a drink or a beer, and talk to folks. The inside is a nice mish mash of old photos, art that is more thoughtful than you'd expect, and a long wall length bar, that hits the far wall and becomes a row of booths coming back up the other wall. Plenty of good parking, and through the warm months they got outdoor bands, so, something for everyone. Oh, and it's a good place to just be. If you're alone, or killing time, perfect spot. Seriously. The pic is what I do once I get the ribs all the way back to New Castle, toss in a casserole put in the oven wrapped in foil at @240 degrees for 30-40 minutes, gets them right at perfect.

Excellent wings, fresh cut fries, cool atmosphere sort of a mix of 1930's architecture meets 1980's punk rock. Fun place to party or just get some good wings & split.

The food was delicious. The atmosphere was right as far as bar scene goes. I'm not sure what hours they're open though.

Came down to the area to check out a dodge ram that was extremely misrepresented. No need to go home with an empty stomach, right? Royal oaks happened to be right up the street from Angelo's autos so we decided to stop in here. Even at noon on a Wednesday, the place looked sketchy. However the pictures of the food justified the stop. The walk through the parking lot seemed doubtful the closer we got to the door. The inside backed up the presentation that the outside already made. We sat at the bar and to our surprise, they served high noon. The bartender told us that the Wing Wednesday special was 10 wings and fries for $6!!!! Extremely heard of, especially in the tail end of 2022. We ordered one lemon pepper combo, one raspberry bbq combo, and one half slab of ribs since "they're to die for." After our second round, the bartender asked what brought us down and we filled her in on our Dodge Ram Dilemma. She replied that she assumed that it was due to their Bar Rescue episode. This is the part where if this were a raunchy comedy, the needle would scratch on a vinyl record. As a huge John Taffer/ Bar Rescue fan, I'm surprised and baffled at the same time. She tells us that Season 4, episode 31, Blowing Royal Smoke features the establishment. So at this point, I'm invested and began to watch the episode at the bar on my phone. One of the first things I noticed is that the staff of the bar out lasted the mayor of Youngstown. The food came and when I say these wings were some of the juiciest wings I've had in quite a while. The raspberry bbq was definitely a surprise to the taste buds. The ribs were smoked to perfection. The only issue is that the particular cut of meat was fatty. Even though, I enjoyed every bit of this trip and will return. I enjoy a good dive bar and I loved every bit of this deep dive.

Just a great place to relax and be with friends. Listen to good music especially once a month with live DJ spinning vinyl. Best part is the food and the owners.

In between recent rounds of golf (two in the same day!) in the greater Youngstown area, we went to seek out some 'que. In a nondescript area on the Eastern outskirts of town lies a free standing building in operation in the mid-1930's. Although it very much leans on the "dive bar" side of the spectrum, make no mistake that these cats know their way around a smoker.My buddy and I decided to order a mess o' stuff and sample it all. We started off with a dozen wings, then dug into a brisket sandwich and a rib and chicken platter.Honestly, we should have just stopped at the wings and ordered a dozen more. The wings covered in their signature raspberry BBQ sauce were outstanding...tangy and slightly sweet on top of the smoked and grilled meat. I don't know what it was about this sauce, but you simply cannot stop eating these things!!!I did not try the chicken on the platter, but the ribs were tender, meaty and tasted great with the same sauce. The brisket sandwich, on the other hand. was overly salty with their traditional BBQ sauce. Not sure if maybe that was a byproduct of the rub or the sauce itself. The sandwich came with fries and the platter also came with fries but also potato salad (our choice) and a fried garlic roll. There were enough total french fries to feed a small army, which was a bit of a shame as we had no place to store them during our second round of golf and a drive back to Cleveland.Would I return for the barbecue? Probably. Would I come back for the wings? Hells yeah! Hope I get that chance!

I really want to like this place, because I've been coming here through the years when I come home to visit Youngstown. But I can't in old conscience give it more than two stars. 1. Inconsistent serving hours. I've actually never eaten here, even though I've wanted to in numerous occasions. I drive by during times when their posted hours indicate they should be open, and they're closed. I've heard the ribs are pretty good. The chef brought in to consult during "Bar Rescue" said they were good despite the kitchen issues they uncovered. I wouldn't know. A recent Friday night I was there for a show at 8 PM. They were open, the kitchen was not. I'm not sure if they don't serve during shows, but consistent posted hours would help.2. Lack of draft beer options. When I drink beer, I prefer to drink draft. It doesn't have to be fancy or a craft beer, but it shouldn't be hard to keep 8 beers on tap, since they have 8 handles. Hell, put a few local options like Penguin City or Noble Creature on like other places around town do. This day they had a mere two, Blue Moon and Bell's Two Hearted Ale. The rest of the taps were covered by Crown Royal bags, as if they were ashamed to be there. Not a good look, especially when the draft system was revamped when the Oaks appeared on an episode of the TV show "Bar Rescue." 3. Inconsistent service and inventory. I already mentioned the lack of drafts, so you think they'd have enough bottles and cans stocked up. Especially on a Friday night with practically a full house to see Cleveland's own The Whiskey Daredevils. You'd be wrong. I started out drinking Labatt Blue bottles. I was told they were out, so I switched to Rolling Rock. Not that big a deal. However, when I went to buy my friends their next drink, the following happened. I took my empty Rolling Rock bottle, along with a Bud Platinum and Labatt. One bartender informed me they were out of Platinum. I paid for my Rock and went back to my friend to get his backup choice. When I got back to the bar, there were three bottles with caps on sitting on the bar. A Labatt, Rolling Rock, and Bud Platinum, placed by the other bartender. After explaining the situation, I paid for the Bud and said I just brought the Labatt bottle back for disposal since I switched to Rock and had been misinformed that the Labatt was gone.4. Benign neglect. Previous time I was there, when I did manage to get something I liked on draft, it was served in a pint glass made of actual glass. This trip I noticed all drafts and mixed drinks were served in plastic cups. I don't know if it's not wanting to clean glassware, but even the diviest of dive bars I've been to use glassware. My plastic cup drinking days have been relegated to tailgates and events where it's prohibitive to use glassware. There is no heat in the men's room. Granted, I'm in there for a brief few minutes, and see a radiator, but that seems to have been the case for a while. Sucks in the wintertime. Lastly is the former iconic neon sign that shined as a beacon beckoning people to visit. It was refurbished by "Bar Rescue". Apparently it was knocked down some time ago by a windstorm and never fixed or replaced. I'm a sucker for neon signs, especially one as well known as theirs, and it pains me to see it absent.Will I continue to go there when I visit Youngstown? Maybe. Probably. Maybe I'll actually get to eat there sometime. But there are plenty of eating and drinking options around town that don't have these issues. I only have one stomach and one liver, so I'm limited in how much I can consume. If Jon Taffer were to visit or this place appear on "Bar Rescue" for an update, I imagine they would fail the test. But stop in and you be the judge.

Fun old-time Youngstown bar with delicious burgers and wings! Great place to see a Youngstown tradition!

Great place great food fun staff just an all-around good time. Top it all off. It's the oldest barn Youngstown.

I've been coming to this place my whole life so it's hard not to recommend it. The food is far superior to any bar in town