Oldies and Goodies Diner, Boardman, Ohio

     My first restaurant feature is the new, "Oldies and Goodies Diner," at 1035 Boardman-Poland Road in Boardman, Ohio.  The diner takes the place of the old "Park Diner," that was brought to the Valley by the Eat N' Park restaurant chain, which closed on November 1st in 2009, and has sat vacant ever since.  Restauranteur's Tommy and Lucy, (Lucianne,) are the Owner and General Manager, and they found the location through a business broker that they had been working with.  They liked the property and location so much they moved from New Jersey to bring Tommy's love of diners to the Mahoning Valley.   Having owned and operated previously two diners in New York, and two in New Jersey, Tommy knew he could replicate his successes here in Northeast Ohio.

     The dining area was in pristine condition from the old owners, so virtually nothing needed to be changed or updated.  The kitchen was redone to Tommy's liking, and is still being renovated with equipment needed to bring Tommy's favorite baker from New Jersey to Ohio very soon.  "Oldies and Goodies Diner," officially opened on October 24, 2013.  Tommy oversees the kitchen and the menu and brought one of his best cooks with him to Ohio to open the diner.  Lucy is the General Manager greets the customers along with waiting tables as needed and brought the help of a trusted old employee to help her in the front of the house.  The rest of the staff is made up of people from and around the Mahoning Valley.

     The diner has a separate breakfast menu with several specials that include bottomless, hot coffee, and is served Monday thru Friday from 5:30am to 11:00am.  The 'All-Day' breakfast's are featured on their lunch/dinner menu, served 11:00am to close Monday thru Friday, and all day on the weekends.  On the weekday breakfast menu  I usually gravitate to the three egg breakfast special that includes a choice of breakfast meat, real fried potatoes, toast, and coffee for just 6.97 including tax!!  I have tried the Eggs Benedict that has perfectly poached eggs, and a very rich and creamy hollandais sauce.  the pancakes are light and fluffy and are served with a warm whipped butter that spreads easily over the cakes.  (Personal Pet Peeve:  I dislike restaurants that serve cold butter pats or margarine mini-tubs that are kept refrigerated until serving and tear your food all to heck as you try to spread it, rant over.)  The coffee is good, hot, and rarely makes it to the bottom of the mug, thanks to Lucy and her staff's attentiveness.

     From the All-Day breakfast's on the lunch/dinner menu, I am a sucker for a good country fried steak breakfast and this plate is a winner here.  Two perfectly breaded cutlets of steak are topped with a good gravy, (I asked for the sausage, but they make a good white gravy too,) and they are served with three eggs cooked to order, real pan fried potatoes, and toast.  I have also ordered the omelet made of five eggs and choice of over 17 toppings to add in as you like, and is served with the potatoes and toast.  I asked Tommy for his favorite or specialty and was torn between a greek omelet with spinach and feta, or the french toast napoleon that is stuffed with berries, banana's, whipped cream, and wet walnuts.  One of the best things I can say about "Oldies and Goodies Diner," si that they listen to their customers.  In the brief time it has been open, I have seen them change their sausage to a plumper, better tasting Dirusso sausage links, and their toast from thinly sliced to a hearty, thick sliced and better tasting bread, (especially the wheat.) 

     All in all, you will enjoy a great breakfast, with a clean and modern diner interior, served by an attentive staff and a warm welcome from Tommy and Lucy.  With "Oldies and Goodies Diner" being just a few blocks from my workplace, I know I will be here often.  Again they are located right on the corner of 224 and South Avenue, (hint:  it's easiest to get to the restaurant going in the Long John Silver's entrance on 224 and driving around to the back and in to the diner's parking lot,) and they are open 7 days a week.  They do have a Facebook page that Lucy says there is just no time to update at the moment.  They currently have no wifi at the diner.  I am definitely looking forward to their baker moving here soon for some fresh and homemade Cinnamon Rolls.  Do yourself a favor and check out "Oldies and Goodies Diner," in Boardman.

     Happy Birthday to Me!  Now sure I could go just about anywhere for my birthday breakfast, but being the frugal guy I am, (and the fact that I am getting taken out to a FANTASTIC dinner this evening,) I have decided to take advantage of Perkins Restaurant's "My Perkins," reward program, and go in for the free Magnificent Seven Breakfast.

     Although I usually would prefer to go to non-chain restaurants when possible, I enjoy Perkins for pancakes especially, (see my year end review of breakfast foods being posted tomorrow,) so I am looking forward to starting out my birthday with a free meal that looks a little something like this..............

     If you haven't signed up for "My Perkins" rewards, you can online or at your nearest restaurant.  You may get more information than you ever wanted to know about the restaurant, but you will also receive 20% off your next purchase and a free meal on your birthday.  So use that fake email account that you know we all have for all of your junk email purposes and get rewards today.................Scott

Welcome to the Breakfast Club

     Welcome to the Mahoning Valley Breakfast Club Blog!  This is really a club with a membership of one, me, Scott Fullerton, lover of breakfast foods, dining out, and enjoying a decent cup o' joe.  I will be blogging about some of my favorite breakfast and coffee destinations, along with some reviews of new restaurant discoveries here in the Valley.  Occasionally, I will be inviting some friends and stranger friends, to talk about things that are happening around the Mahoning Valley here in Northeast Ohio and Western PA, and sometimes even beyond.  I hope you will subscribe for my updates over there on the left, and you can expect a post or two a week, along with a few random thoughts and 'pulse of the valley' questions.  I will be posting to Twitter and YouTube, sometimes along the way as well.  

  
     Why a breakfast blog you say?  Well, my inspiration came from a blog I ran across in Columbus, Ohio, called "Breakfast with Nick."  He writes about some of the best places to eat breakfast and a lot more in our Capital City here of Ohio.  Nick even wrote a book about it, and if you go to Columbus often, or just for a treat, I suggest you pick it up.  You can find Nick's book HERE, and his blog HERE.  My reason for writing about breakfast here in the Mahoning Valley is simple, I love to eat breakfast, I had a big birthday come up recently and wanted to start writing more, and I am truly interested in finding out new things about the place I now call home.    Whether you like to eat breakfast alone and read the paper, hang out with friends to catch up with each others lives, or just like a good pancake or omelet, I can hopefully provide you some insight on some of the best places around, or ones you may not have thought of recently.  Along the way, I will be inviting some interesting people to take me to their favorite place for breakfast and talking about things that concern our Valley and more.  I hope you will come along for the ride and tell your friends.  If you see me out and about enjoying some coffee or breakfast, say hi, tell me about your favorite place to go, and join my club, if only for a minute or two.  Any questions, drop me an email at my gmail address, or hit me up with a tweet.  Blogging will commence around the New Years, enjoy ....................Scott