Elephant Ear Restaurant – Revisited (Fair Type Food)

Elephant Ear Restaurant Closed

As promised, I stopped back at the Elephant Ear restaurant in Boardman, Ohio to give Shannon and her restaurant another chance at redemption. If you recall, my first experience there left me with cold, wet, uncooked fries, very slow service, no take out menu, and average food at best.

Last week, I pulled into the parking lot and saw the restaurant was closed. In fact, it was empty. The tables, chairs, and equipment were all gone. A note taped to the door indicated the restaurant was closed and all the equipment was being sold at auction in the near future.

Elephant Ear Boardman Ohio

And look, you can see my reflection in the window. Handsome devil ain't I....

 Since the restaurant was closed preventing me from critiquing Elephant Ear on their progress, The Grassy Knoll Diner has no other recourse other than to score 0 out of 5 shots and does not recommend Elephant Ear Restaurant of Youngstown, Ohio for lunch or dinner.

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Elephant Ear Restaurant - Cheeseburger - Fries

Elephant Ear Restaurant 

It's the end of September and the local and state fairs are now just a recent memory. Some wishing they would have bought that giant Elephant Ear or hot sausage sandwich smothered in peppers and onions.

As if my prayers had a direct hot line to the big guy, a new restaurant popped up in my old town called the Elephant Ear. The menu was simple and ingenious. All your fair food favorites.

We pulled in and the place was packed. There was one parking spot left out of about 25 in the lot. It must be good if the place is packed right?

Elephant Ear Corn Dog

The layout was simple. A small sit down area with a few booths and tables, maybe seating for 25-30 people. An order and pickup counter on the left side. We waited in line for our turn. We waited about 5 minutes to place our order. After we placed our order, it took almost 20 minutes for our order to come up. That is why the place was packed. The food preparation was very slow. We noticed that everyone sitting at the tables and booths were waiting for orders.

Finally, our number was called and I retrieved our order. Of course I had to order a corn dog. It was standard fare, (Fair) and standard size. It was cooked well and tasted good. I have to say, it tasted just like the Canfield Fair corn dogs. And at $2.75 it better.

Elephant Ear Cheeseburger And Fries

The second part of my artery clogging dinner was a cheeseburger and original "Fair" french fries. The cheeseburger was nothing special, no outstanding qualities. The bun was a little beat up, and it looked like it was just tossed in the container. It was well cooked, the cheese melted, the beef adequate quality.

The fries, on the other hand, were not "Fair" quality. In fact, they were pretty horrendous. Perhaps if they were cooked properly, they would have tasted better. They had the texture of fat spaghetti strings. They were soggy, wet, greasy, and well, terrible. The cost was $6 dollars for the combo which was reasonable if the fries were edible.

So, the service was terrible, the food below average, and the price adequate. However, I have to commend the owners for the unique idea of Fair food without all the stinky animals and smelly pumpkins and rotting hay. Since the restaurant was still new, I have decided to give them one more chance to redeem themselves. With that.....

The Grassy Knoll Diner scores 2.5 out of 5 shots and is on the fence about recommending Elephant Ear Restaurant for dinner.

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