Pondi’s Restaurant & Bar – Lisbon, Ohio

After a long, 12 mile hike on the North Country Trail on a snowy February Saturday, my friend and I headed to a local century restaurant in Lisbon, Pondi’s Restaurant & Bar for sustenance. My friend lives in the area and mentioned that it was a good thing we’d be coming in the middle of the afternoon as we’d likely miss most of the lunch and dinner crowd. That rang true to what I’ve heard about this very popular local restaurant. Upon arrival to the parking lot, we knew we wouldn’t be dining alone. When we entered the restaurant, their were people waiting for tables, even at 3 pm in the afternoon. Luckily there were several seats open at the bar and we promptly grabbed a couple. I love sitting at the bar where ever I go as you definitely get more of the local feel of the place. This is certainly the case at Pondi’s. You could tell most of the patrons were regulars. This is a big Pittsburgh Steelers bar as Lisbon is only about an hour away from the ‘Burgh. They had several beers on tap, including the ‘Too Hip to Sip’ IPA from Birdfish Brewery in nearby Columbiana, OH, which was my beverage of choice. It was recommended to us to get one of the daily specials on the menu, so we got an appetizer of zucchini fries, which did not disappoint. For my late lunch, I got the full size Steak Foccacia sandwich, which has a steak and a portabella mushroom slice sandwiched between the Foccacia bread, among other things. Similar to the zucchini fries, it was incredible. Did I mention I got the full size? It was huge and took care of me needing to eat dinner that night. Needless to say, we didn’t explore the dessert menu. All and all a great experience, definitely a must do if you’re in Lisbon. As mentioned above, this is a VERY popular local spot, so plan accordingly. I don’t remember if they take reservations, but you can order ahead. I highly recommend doing one of the two if you’re going around lunch or dinner, especially on the weekend.