Harry & Jean's Opens at Ironwood Commons
Brothers Ralph and David Meranto used to reminisce about carefree summers and home cooking they enjoyed at their grandparents' farmhouse near Lake Milton.
Ralph Meranto turned those memories into a restaurant concept, named Harry & Jean's after their maternal grandparents, Harry and Jean Russell, and kicked it off with eating establishments in North and South Carolina.
Today the siblings, who grew up in Poland, are bringing their memories home.
Harry & Jean's opened its first restaurant in Ohio April 18 in Ironwood Commons, a commercial and retail development on Boardman-Canfield Road in Canfield. David Meranto, who still lives in the area, is managing partner.
Michal Naffah, president of Naffah Hospitality Group and owner of Ironwood Commons, says the Merantos' restaurant is one of four planned for the complex. Bob Evans and Ruby Tuesday are already operating, and an Inner Circle Pizza will open this fall.
Harry & Jean's features what the owners call "American-style cuisine in an upscale casual atmosphere" and offers lunch, dinner and brunch on Sundays. It will also provide room service for the new Hampton Inn & Suites next door in Ironwood Commons.
Ironwood planners have worked to offer consumers a wide variety of places to dine, Naffah says, and they're taking similar care in choosing occupants for the rest of the 11,000-square-foot retail plaza that will be anchored by Inner Circle.
Harry & Jean's newest location features a Victorian design with a wide front porch and spindle-trimmed railings. Estimated cost was $2.3 million when contractors broke ground last September with Farmer's National Bank financing the project. The building occupies 7,100 square feet and seats just over 200 guests.
"Our grandparents' house wasn't quite as big as this," Ralph Meranto jokes. Inside is a lounge area with oversized upholstered furniture and a bar, and the restaurant is furnished with high-walled upholstered booths, mirrors, sconces and draperies.
Live jazz will be a regular feature during Sunday brunch, a tribute to the Meranto brothers' father, who played jazz piano in the Special Services overseas after World War II.
Harry and Jean Russell's 1914 sepia-toned wedding photo is prominently displayed at the restaurant's entry, along with replicas of their dining room table and china cupboard, as they are in the chain's restaurants in Charlotte, N.C., and Rock Hill, S.C. Other old photos of the family are also on display on the walls and decorate the menu.
"Passionate American Food" is the restaurant's tagline. Ralph Meranto says his kitchen staff strives to make every dish "so delicious that customers will keep coming back again and again for that same dish."
Harry and Jean's lacks a signature dish intentionally so but the Merantos say their restaurants are known for their butter sauces and desserts, all made from scratch on the premises. Sandwich prices range from $7 to $10, dinner entrees from $12 to $29 and include steak, seafood and home-style dishes.
Ralph Meranto, born in Youngstown and reared in Poland, heads Carolina Restaurant Concepts, a restaurant development firm that seeks partners and owner-managers for Harry & Jean's and Bentley's Gin Mill, a 1920s-style bar concept. He was formerly a managing partner with Outback Steakhouse.
Copyright 2007 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.