Horseshoe Diner offers folksy charm in Ravenna | Local Flavor

Wind-whipped snow pelted our faces as we exited the car in downtown Ravenna on a 10-degree day.

Inside the Horseshoe Diner, it was warm and friendly.

Woodie and Susan Goodnight welcomed us to their new restaurant in the Buckeye Mall at 250 W. Main St.

The Goodnights have revived the name of a classic restaurant that older residents of Portage County might remember. The original Horseshoe Diner operated from the 1940s to 1960s next to the Hotel Ravenna, where Etna House stands today. In fact, Woodie’s mother used to work at the little diner.

The new restaurant, on the opposite side of the street and a block away from the original location, has its share of history, too. The mini mall opened in 1983 at the former Skorman’s Miracle Mart, the flagship of a discount chain that once boasted a dozen stores in Northeast Ohio.

Horseshoe Diner is open daily for breakfast and lunch. My wife, Susie, and I arrived at 11 a.m. on a cold, blustery Sunday.

Customers can enter the mall from Main Street or Locust Lane. Woodie greeted us in the corridor and Susan waited on us. The comfy diner, which seats 51, has a small counter with four stools and a larger room with red, white and blue vinyl booths and tables wrapped in red-and-white vinyl.

The place is bright and clean and inviting.

Fluorescent lights glow from a drop ceiling with black tiles. The gray walls are decorated with historic photos of Ravenna, including images of the Balloon A-Fair, Oak Rubber, Skorman’s and, of course, the original Horseshoe Diner. A television set plays cable news in the background.

Menu at Horseshoe Diner

The menu features traditional diner fare. For breakfast, there are platters, bowls, omelets, sandwiches, waffles, hash browns, biscuits and gravy, and sides of bacon, sausage and toast.

Lunch specialties feature a Sunrise Burger (a cheeseburger topped with a fried egg), a Pork Burger (a cheeseburger topped with pulled pork) and a Monster Burger (a double bacon cheeseburger topped with pulled pork).

Other sandwiches include pulled pork, pulled chicken, barbecue brisket, Philly cheesesteak and a grilled chicken Philly. There are all-beef hot dogs, pulled pork nachos, mozzarella sticks, chicken fingers, mac and cheese, coleslaw and potato salad.

Patrons can order regular fries or more exotic varieties, like cheese fries, chicken cheese fries, pulled pork cheese fries and brisket cheese fries.

There’s even a tossed salad with the option of adding — you guessed it — pulled pork, chicken or brisket.

The Slop Truck

So what’s with all the pulled pork? The Goodnights also own The Slop Truck, which operates from April through November. The food truck, which the couple lovingly refer to as “she” and “her,” is hibernating for the winter.

Susan explained that she and her husband entered the mobile food business in 2018 after owning Angelo’s Pizzeria for eight years at Route 44 and Tallmadge Road in Rootstown. The state demolished the pizza shop to widen Route 44, so the couple bought a food truck.

Sporting the slogans “Put Some Pork on Your Fork” and “Pig Out,” the truck has served hungry customers at festivals and fairs, but it’s most often found at Dragway 42 in West Salem where customers line up to order.

The Goodnights opened the Ravenna diner in October, promising “some good old-fashioned, home-cooked goodness.”

Here’s what we ate

This was our first visit. I couldn’t decide on breakfast or lunch, so I had both. For starters, I ordered a bowl of oatmeal ($5), served with side containers of milk, brown sugar and raisins. Tasty and warm, it was just the comfort food I needed after battling the winter weather.

Next I ordered the Slop Bowl ($11), the signature dish of the food truck. In the summer, people line up 30 deep for this mixture of pulled pork, rotini mac and cheese, hash browns and corn kernels with barbecue sauce drizzled on top. It’s a strange combination, at least to me, but it was surprisingly good. I enjoyed the tender meat and savory flavors.

My wife ordered a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich ($6) with two hash browns ($4). The Texas toast was buttery, the bacon was crispy, the cheese was gooey and the eggs were fluffy — and folded over just as she requested. The hash browns, similar to the oval cakes served at a certain restaurant with golden arches, were piping hot and “greasy in a good way,” Susie said.

As she noted, the meal checked all the boxes for her: “I love bacon. I love toast. I love eggs. I love greasy food. It’s everything I like to eat.”

She also was thankful that Susan returned often to refill the bottomless cup of coffee on the table.

“On a cold day, that hot coffee hits the spot,” my wife said.

Busy schedule for 2024

When the weather heats up, things will get considerably busier for the Goodnights. They plan to operate the food truck and the diner at the same time. Plus, they’ve won the contract to operate the dining hall at the Portage County Randolph Fair in August.

Horseshoe Diner has a folksy, laid-back charm. We enjoyed our conversation with the friendly owners, and we weren’t in any particular hurry to go outside.

Eventually, though, we had to brave the elements.

With beverages and tax, our total bill came to $32, not including tip.

We think Horseshoe Diner is a welcome addition to the breakfast and lunch scene in Portage County. We wish it luck.

“I’m definitely full,” Susie said as we ventured back into the cold. “I couldn’t eat anything else.”

Mark J. Price can be reached at mprice@thebeaconjournal.com 

Details

What: Horseshoe Diner

Address: 250 W. Main St., Suite 204, Ravenna

Hours: 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily

Services: Dine in, carryout, catering, food truck

More info: 330-325-8100, Horseshoe Diner on Facebook, HorseshoeDinerRavenna@gmail.com and TheSlopTruck@gmail.com

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This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Horseshoe Diner in Ravenna offers traditional fare in comfy atmosphere