BACKGROUND
The Saxon Inn is very much a family affair.
Michelle McClain says her father, Fritz McClain, opened the Harrison bar and restaurant in 1976 and family members have been running it ever since.
“Mom (Kathy McClain) started cooking here — they've been a team ever since,” says Michelle McClain, who worked part-time at the restaurant through nursing school and more recently began to take a management role.
Her father still takes care of administrative work, and her mother can be found in the kitchen, making her signature soups and meatloaf.
“We try to keep a personal touch as much as we can,” she says.
McClain says she's working to modernize the Saxon Inn by opening for lunch, changing up the food and beer menus and offering promotions. In fact, our dining-review team learned about the restaurant through Groupon.
“We've been trying to reach out to the public,” McClain says.
She acknowledges the restaurant is off the beaten path on Saxonburg Road, not far from Freeport Road.
ATMOSPHERE
“Low-key and comfortable” is the apt description McClain offers for the Saxon Inn.
“If you come in here more than three times, you'll meet someone and have a friend,” she says.
We were charmed by the quaint dining room, which is well-separated from the bar.
The dark-wood paneling, flooring and furniture give the impression of a German hunting lodge. A new stone fireplace dominates one corner, and a mirror with Black Forest-style carvings of animals add to the lodge vibe.
About a dozen tables are surrounded by antique kitchenware, tools and other items hanging from the walls and ceiling. A former coal miner in our party identified several tools of the trade, many of which McClain says were used by her grandfather.
A muted flat-screen television near the door allowed us to keep track of a Pittsburgh Pirates game. McClain says the bar also features five flat-screen TVs, on which they like to show football games.
MENU
McCl ain says her mother's homemade chicken and dumpling soup ($2.50 for a cup, $4.75 for a bowl) is well-known. We sampled the chicken and noodle soup ($2.25 cup, $4.35 bowl), which was so full of the advertised chicken and noodles there was room for little else.
The potato skins ($7) appetizer wasn't served with the advertised sour cream, but we were too busy scarfing down the crispy skins topped with cheddar cheese sauce and bacon bits to notice. The eight generous potato pieces didn't last long.
The steak hoagie ($5.75) was loaded with shaved steak, provolone cheese, lettuce and tomato. For an extra $1.50, diners can added grilled onions and mushrooms; fries are another $1.95.
We were impressed with the Surf & Turf dinner ($19.95). The juicy 10-ounce New York strip steak came cooked medium to our preference, and the four butterflied shrimp were hand-breaded and served with cocktail sauce. The dinner was accompanied by fresh green beans and a pile of fries.
We also devoured the crab-cake dinner ($11.75 for one cake). We paid the extra $5.95 for a second crab cake. The cakes were made with plenty of lump crab and served with tangy coleslaw and fries.
We ordered dessert to go. A tasty brownie ($1.50) was gone in a flash; for the price, we should have ordered two ... or three.
The lemon meringue pie ($2.95) filling was mostly frozen, but we chipped away at it nonetheless.
Liz Hayes is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. She can be reached at 724-226-4680 or lhayes@tribweb.com.
