By KAREN MUNDY

The Press-News

MAGNOLIA -- Taggarts in Magnolia may serve some of the best ice cream treats in the area, but the restaurant is definitely more than an ice cream parlor. Stop in and try their salads, sandwiches, soups or a new menu item-- wings!

The restaurant, which was established in 1926 on Fulton Street in Canton, opened at a second location at 107 South Main St., Magnolia, a few years ago. The historic Stark County business fits right into the Magnolia area, as it is located in the Magnolia Area Historical Society's restored Isaac Miller Inn. The place is a great place to stop for lunch, dinner, dessert and to see some of the rich history of the village. However, with all the history involved with Taggarts and Magnolia, owners Ernie and Pat Schott and Magnolia restaurant manager Mike Sedmock are not afraid to move forward with new ideas and foods in the 21st century.

Taggarts menu includes their "Authentic Chicago Hot Dog, which is an all-beef hot dog, with mustard, relish, onion, tomato, cucumber, celery salt and pepperoncini, served on a grilled bun. The restaurant also serves "Taggarts Salad Sandwich, which has lettuce, Swiss cheese, slices of chicken, crisp bacon, tomato slices, egg slices and ripe olives, served open face on toasted rye bread, with a side of Russian dressing. The restaurant is also known for its "Original Olive Nut Sandwich," which is a recipe that originated with the restaurant and actually found years later. The spread is made of chopped green olives, pecans in a cream cheese dressing. The dressing is thickly spread on slices of rye bread with lettuce. The sandwiches are numerous but to name a few-- sloppy joe, old-fashioned reuben, roast beef and cheddar, grilled cheese, portabella mushroom, fish, chicken, steak, angus burger, patty melt, veggie burger and much more.

Fish, shrimp and chicken strip baskets are also served with fries.

Salads include "The Chef," "The Mini-Chef," tossed salad, garden, antipasto and steak lovers. Using their own recipes, a sample of the dressings available are Italian, French, poppy seed, creamy Russian, honey mustard and several fat-free ones.

Homemade chili, vegetable and French onion soups are served daily. Other soups specials may include clam chowder, cheesy chicken and more.

Side items and appetizers consist of cole slaw; mozzarella sticks; jalapena poppers; breaded zucchini, mushrooms, cauliflower or broccoli; beer battered onion rings, Italian breaded green pepper rings, toasted onion battered green beans and a vegetable combo basket.

Mike, along with his "right-hand" waitress at the restaurant, Nikki DeFord of Magnolia, are now serving daily specials. They are as follows: Mondays - a pair of chili cheese dogs, Tuesdays - Italian sausage sandwiches, Wednesdays - wings (hot or barbecue), Thursday - meatloaf and Friday - fish. On Fridays, a fish sandwich basket is served during the day and all-you-can-eat fish is served in the evening. The fish is flounder, served with Taggarts' homemade tartar sauce.

Along with the new wings, new daily specials, Mike and his friendly staff of servers and cooks are planning other fun activities. One of those will be a Taggarts Trivia Contest. Questions will be put up on the board for customers to answer. All the correct answers will be put in a box to for a drawing for prizes.

Of course, Taggarts continues to serve out of this world ice cream delights such as "The Bittner," which is three-fourths pound of vanilla ice cream with homemade chocolate syrup blended throughout and generously sprinkled with roasted pecans. For those not brave enough for that much ice cream, a mini-Bittner is also served. For those who want to throw caution to the wind-- "The Kitchen Sink" may be your thing. This creation includes two scoops each of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream, hot fudge, marshmallow, strawberry and caramel toppings, covered with pecans, whipped cream, ground nuts and a cherry. Of course, this can also be served with one or more spoons.

Just a few of the other treats are shakes, malts, coolers, floats, sodas, ice cream pies, sundaes, drumsticks and chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches. Homemade apple dumplings are now also on the menu, and for you Ohio State fans, Buckeye ice cream is being served, which has homemade Buckeyes whipped into the ice cream.

The full service restaurant has comfortable seating for eating in, but carryouts are available as well. Taggarts also delivers orders to businesses and residents, and will host ice cream parties at your location.

Taggarts is open seven days a week, and is a great place to stop in after a game, after church, for lunch or dinner. The hours are Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Mike and his family have been thrilled to become a part of The Press-News area over the last couple years. They have reached out to the schools and communities, helping in many ways and hiring from within the area. Stop in and see what is "traditional" and what is "new" at Taggarts!