Dannyboys Restaurant in Rocky River, Ohio
Hello all of you wonderful people in reader-land. I know that was a bit over the top, but what the hell.. So, off we go on yet another adventure. This time we decided to take a trip somewhat outside of the normal review zone. We had a plan to go to the IX Center to walk around the RV show. That, my friends, is another ball of wax, but suffice it to say, watch closely when going. The show cost something like $11.50 but when pulling up, with only three hours left of the entire thing, we saw a sign denoting an $8.00 parking charge. It only costs $10.00 to park at the fucking airport for 24 hours AND they have other options. We turned around and left.
Since we were already on the west side of town, AND some show or another was talking about various types of pizza, we decided to go to Dannyboys Italian Restaurant. I had accidentally found out about this place through an inspection I had done in Avon Lake about four years ago. I was hungry and noticed a sign for inexpensive slices of pizza. I went in and was rewarded with the hands down best slice of cheese pizza I had ever eaten. The store in Avon Lake has since closed and I have been planning to go to the original in Rocky River for sometime. Sunday, 11 January 2009 was that day.
It was not easy to find our destination, though admittedly it might have helped if we had an address and knew where we were going, but we called for directions, thanks Katie, and were led in street-by-street, turn-by-turn. The restaurant is in a non-descript strip mall with two other stores. Upon walking in, one notices a somewhat cluttered entryway that feels very homey and not at all off-putting. There are menus right there available for take out.
The place is not very wide but is deep. I have to say that I loved the atmosphere and the overall feel of the place. On the wall when you first walk in there are tall bar type tables with chess boards set up. What a wonderful idea for those waiting to pick up a pie. You walk up two small steps and you are in the main dining area. If I am not mistaken there were only about ten tables but, truthfully, that is all that could fit. Not that they were stuffed in there or anything, but none more would have been possible. The way it is set up is perfect for what it is from the glass block around the top of the wall to the green, black and red color scheme.
We were immediately greeted by a very friendly young woman who told us to sit where ever we would like and that our server would be with us shortly, which was absolutely true. We ordered drinks while perusing the menu. We decided upon some appetizers as well as a plain double cheese pizza. I ordered the Buffalo Chicken Toes while my companion ordered the Garlic Cheese Bread. There were even cards on the table to take up our time should we have needed a diversion, again, what a nice touch.
I know what you all must be thinking by now, when is the bottom going to fall out? Nothing ever really goes this well. Well, in part you would be right, but, in actuality, there was nothing glaringly wrong at Dannyboys. I did not like the fact that the bathroom door did not latch and it seemed as though it needed to be cleaned, which should have been no problem considering there were about four or five females working the floor (way too many servers for the size of the place). Two should have been more than enough, but that is how I see it and it is not my restaurant.
The chicken toes were nothing more than breaded planks with a medium Buffalo sauce, too hot for me as I am into the wimpy “mild,” but it did have a great flavor AND unlike many places these days the toes actually came with blue cheese dressing and celery at no
extra charge, though at $8.95 that is the way it should be. There were five or six planks served over multi-colored tortilla chips with a large piece of folded “bread” (their dough), four celery sticks and a small plastic soufflé cup of dressing. More food that we could hope to eat. On top of that came the garlic bread. This was the size of a pizza. Although it
was good, there was very little garlic. I would not order again unless I wanted a pizza without sauce and/or topping, which is what it tasted like. Again, it was good just not
garlicky enough. The pizza was nice and sloppy, as I had hoped; in fact we had to eat it with fork and knife, very un-pizza-like. The flavor was not quite what I had remembered though. The sauce was a superb very tomatoey tasting mixture with just the right spice, but it seems as though the cheese mixture has changed since that first piece I had those
years ago. It could have also been that I burned some of my taste buds off with the Buffalo sauce, who knows?
I would love to get a Dannyboys out here in our neck of the woods, not that we really need another pizza joint. The menu is large and diverse and, I think they would be a welcome addition to our neighborhood, maybe in the old bank across from Osborne Park? Short of that, take a little jaunt and go if you get the chance. It is worth the drive.
One thing you might want to keep in mind is that this venue is not very good for those with mobility issues as there are a couple of steps. They may be small, but so is the dining area and the entranceway, thereby making for some issues.
Since we were already on the west side of town, AND some show or another was talking about various types of pizza, we decided to go to Dannyboys Italian Restaurant. I had accidentally found out about this place through an inspection I had done in Avon Lake about four years ago. I was hungry and noticed a sign for inexpensive slices of pizza. I went in and was rewarded with the hands down best slice of cheese pizza I had ever eaten. The store in Avon Lake has since closed and I have been planning to go to the original in Rocky River for sometime. Sunday, 11 January 2009 was that day.
It was not easy to find our destination, though admittedly it might have helped if we had an address and knew where we were going, but we called for directions, thanks Katie, and were led in street-by-street, turn-by-turn. The restaurant is in a non-descript strip mall with two other stores. Upon walking in, one notices a somewhat cluttered entryway that feels very homey and not at all off-putting. There are menus right there available for take out.
The place is not very wide but is deep. I have to say that I loved the atmosphere and the overall feel of the place. On the wall when you first walk in there are tall bar type tables with chess boards set up. What a wonderful idea for those waiting to pick up a pie. You walk up two small steps and you are in the main dining area. If I am not mistaken there were only about ten tables but, truthfully, that is all that could fit. Not that they were stuffed in there or anything, but none more would have been possible. The way it is set up is perfect for what it is from the glass block around the top of the wall to the green, black and red color scheme.
We were immediately greeted by a very friendly young woman who told us to sit where ever we would like and that our server would be with us shortly, which was absolutely true. We ordered drinks while perusing the menu. We decided upon some appetizers as well as a plain double cheese pizza. I ordered the Buffalo Chicken Toes while my companion ordered the Garlic Cheese Bread. There were even cards on the table to take up our time should we have needed a diversion, again, what a nice touch.
I know what you all must be thinking by now, when is the bottom going to fall out? Nothing ever really goes this well. Well, in part you would be right, but, in actuality, there was nothing glaringly wrong at Dannyboys. I did not like the fact that the bathroom door did not latch and it seemed as though it needed to be cleaned, which should have been no problem considering there were about four or five females working the floor (way too many servers for the size of the place). Two should have been more than enough, but that is how I see it and it is not my restaurant.
The chicken toes were nothing more than breaded planks with a medium Buffalo sauce, too hot for me as I am into the wimpy “mild,” but it did have a great flavor AND unlike many places these days the toes actually came with blue cheese dressing and celery at no
extra charge, though at $8.95 that is the way it should be. There were five or six planks served over multi-colored tortilla chips with a large piece of folded “bread” (their dough), four celery sticks and a small plastic soufflé cup of dressing. More food that we could hope to eat. On top of that came the garlic bread. This was the size of a pizza. Although it
was good, there was very little garlic. I would not order again unless I wanted a pizza without sauce and/or topping, which is what it tasted like. Again, it was good just not
garlicky enough. The pizza was nice and sloppy, as I had hoped; in fact we had to eat it with fork and knife, very un-pizza-like. The flavor was not quite what I had remembered though. The sauce was a superb very tomatoey tasting mixture with just the right spice, but it seems as though the cheese mixture has changed since that first piece I had those
years ago. It could have also been that I burned some of my taste buds off with the Buffalo sauce, who knows?
I would love to get a Dannyboys out here in our neck of the woods, not that we really need another pizza joint. The menu is large and diverse and, I think they would be a welcome addition to our neighborhood, maybe in the old bank across from Osborne Park? Short of that, take a little jaunt and go if you get the chance. It is worth the drive.
One thing you might want to keep in mind is that this venue is not very good for those with mobility issues as there are a couple of steps. They may be small, but so is the dining area and the entranceway, thereby making for some issues.
posted by johnathan e at 2:33 PM
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