High Pointe Restaurant & Tavern

By Anthony M. Fuda

      The Mahoning Valley Burger Review Board (MVBRB) guys were craving a good home-cooked meal this month, and found just that at High Pointe Restaurant & Tavern (Niles).
    There are actually two sides to High Pointe.  The tavern, where you can grab a drink and sit back and relax; and the restaurant, which is next door and ready to accommodate your dining desires.  The menu offers everything from salads, wings and salmon to steak, pork chops, pizza and pasta.  High Pointe also has daily specials, but we were there for the burgers.
    Walking in the eatery you feel the cozy atmosphere - being pleasantly greeted at the door by our waitress, Kayla Spagnoletta.  And then having the owner, Tom Crater, checking each customer to make sure everything was made to their liking.

    Kayla guided us to our table, but our burger evening was almost halted because the menu  was filled with a wide array of delicious looking items.
    As the waitresses walked by with the other patrons aromatic and eye-pleasing foods, we had to avoid the temptation of wanting to order any of those delicious meals.  The plates were overflowing and the aroma made us eager for our burgers.
    We searched the menu for the burger section and were pleased with the seven half pound burgers High Pointe offers:  Classic (lettuce, tomato, onion and a pickle),  Rodeo (bacon, onion rings, American cheese with a side of BBQ),  Mushroom Swiss (grilled onions, Swiss cheese), Black’n Bleu (burger is rubbed in Cajun seasonings, bleu cheese crumbles),  Bacon Cheddar (bacon, melted cheddar), Dragon (roasted red peppers, crumbled bleu cheese and a sweet heat sauce), and their signature High Pointe burger (two half pound patties, hot peppers, pepper jack cheese and their own chain smoker sauce).  All burgers can add lettuce, tomato and onion at your request.

    Everyone ordered a different burger and were marveled when Kayla brought our platters out and we could not see the plates beneath the huge burger and the mountain of home-cut fries.
    The homemade buns were toasted to perfection and held up very well with the huge portions of juicy beef combined with all the different toppings.
    JT had the Mushroom Swiss Burger and said, “It was a huge burger with great fries.”  The home-cut crispy fries always add to a meal, especially when there is a mountain of them.
    The High Pointe Burger will satisfy any appetite with its two half pound patties and adds that extra kick with home made hot peppers covering the burgers.
    Tom says High Pointe makes as much food as they can from scratch.  They make  their own crusts for pizza;  they cut the fries fresh and hand make the half-pound burgers -- and if don’t see something on the menu, just ask and they will try and make it for you.
    High Pointe has an excellent burger to go along with a very friendly, family-style atmosphere with enormous portions of food.  You will not be disappointed and will not go away hungry.  This is a place you can go back to again and again and always be satisfied.

High Pointe Restaurant & Tavern
754 Youngstown-Warren Rd.
Niles, OH 44446