Royal Oaks Bar & Grill

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

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

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.

Ive been coming here for about 5 years from time to time. The ribs are pretty good. Cheap beer and shots. John is hilarious!!

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.

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.

JFK (the owner) took care of us well.

A big highlight are the old-school digs and amazing hospitality - not to mention the throwaway prices for tally-boy PBR and coors beers if that's your thing. No fancy stuff here - simple, straightforward and good.

The raspberry bbq sauce was incredible. Not the kind of sauce where you mix raspberry vinaigrette with bbq sauce but something made from scratch. The tart of the raspberries complemented the molasses of the bbq sauce.

We also got wings with the Santa Fe sauce- kind of a blend of medium wings and parm-garlic. Absolutely delicious- expertly done and finger licking good. I mean we were dipping our fries in the leftover sauce.

The ribs were moist, tender and had the right amount of bark on them - we got them with the raspberry bbq sauce and they were phenomenal.

Make this a destination in Youngstown, If not a stop on your travels. Also - they grill their wings after frying them for a bit if smokiness (pure magic I tell you)

Outstanding wings and BBQ second to none! Special sauce hot or regular that is not only unique but will keep you going back for more! Support local!