Rip's Cafe - The Hunky Platter - Struthers

Oh my goodness. Find your Bubba, get some slivovitz ,and head on down to Rip’s Café in Struthers for a heaping plate of old fashioned eastern European cooking. Rip’s café has been in Struthers probably since Mr. Struthers founded Struthers, or at least since 1933. This is the quintessential family run neighborhood bar which specializes in food offerings your grandma used to make.

In fact, people wanted to sample all of the eastern European cooking, so the owners put together an assortment of stuffed cabbage, halushki, and pierogies, and called it the Hunky Platter…yours for $7.50…only in Youngstown.

And that is one of the reasons I love living in Youngstown. This place is a gem of a dying genre. Currently run by two sisters, one cooks and the other works the bar and front, you can get good food and lots of friendly discussion from the owners of this wonderfully simple, and simply wonderful establishment.

It doesn't look like much from the road. Park in the front, go in through the door. If it is hot and the air conditioning isn’t on, don’t be surprised to see the front door wide open. It is a narrow place. The very long bar with 1950’s orange/red modern bar stools is on the left, and a row of booths under a wall mural is on the right. The owners pride themselves in their seasonal decorations.  Go now, and you will find God Bless America decorations.

The menu is filled with sandwiches, and of course a wide selection of eastern European food. EVERYTHING but one or two items on the menu is homemade, and they will happily tell you what those items are. Don’t expect to order a hamburger. They only have hamburgers on Saturday for $3.75, which are handmade just like Mom’s, really!! No french fries, thank you very much. You get chips and a pickle and you can order yourself up some sweet cole slaw. One order will serve two easily.

But the highlight is the Hunky Platter. Now I am not a big fan of central and eastern European cuisine. But this isn’t cuisine, this is Bubba Repasky’s home cooking recipes. The pig in the blanket is huge…the pierogies are buttery with or without onions. The Halushki is something to die for. The Halushki I am used to is basically cabbage and noodles. This is different. Everything is all chopped and blended together. Outstanding!!

And they are so friendly. My wife and I loved swapping stories with the owner whose got a lot of them…and these stories cross all ethnic cultural backgrounds. I hope they are never lost.

They have a DVD made by Bubba Repasky showing you how to cook the Ukrainian way. My wife teaches Home Ec and she bought one ($20.00) for her classes. It is a hoot. Food Network has nothing on these folks.

I really like this place. You get simple food from friendly folks at reasonable prices with a few stories thrown in at no charge. What the hell else do you want out of life?

An easy four meatballs for being a neighborhood tavern winner.

Rip's Cafe

614 Youngstown Poland Rd

Struthers, OH 44471

330-755-0057