The Ohio Jail Steakhouse Where You Don't Have To Do A Crime To Dine

While societies have been locking up those who violate its laws for the past few millennia, prisons do shut down from time to time and some communities find creative ways to repurpose the buildings. In New York state, one ex-prison now serves as a TV and movie studio, while another in Tennessee today serves as a whiskey distillery and campground. In Wooster, Ohio, however, a long-closed lockup has served as a restaurant since the 1980s.

The Olde Jaol Tavern, as its name makes (sort of) clear, is all about capitalizing on the building's history, although a previous restaurant occupying the same premises downplayed it with the name Mr. Bill Restaurant. (We don't know if this was a reference to the claymation character that SNL was constantly trying to kill off back in the day.) Before its 20th-century incarnation as an eatery, however, The Olde Jaol was an actual jail built in 1865, which also served as the Wayne County criminal justice center until 1977. While the original plan was to knock down the building, preservationists lobbied to have it declared a landmark and it was eventually granted this status in 1980.

While the restaurant pays homage to its grim past with iron bars around its patio, the exposed brick walls give it more of a trendy-cozy vibe, while the leather chairs and stemmed water goblets remind you this is an upscale dining experience. The menu prices, too, may have you feeling as if you've been on the wrong end of a robbery, although these days, you might say that of McDonald's, as well.

We don't know what former inmates chowed down on in the Wayne County jail, but it seems safe to assume it wasn't the gourmet grub you'll find there today. In the 1970s, a typical inmate meal might consist of pasta, boiled eggs and bread, while some unfortunate incarcerates faced Disco Decade horrors such as ham and bananas hollandaise. The Olde Jaol, however, offers a standard steakhouse menu with a few hipstery touches like an artisan mixed green salad with strawberries and goat cheese. The cheapest entrees, at $28 each, are caprese and parmesan-crusted chicken dishes, while the most expensive item is a 16-ounce ribeye for $60. Who says crime doesn't pay?

Unlike an actual prison, The Olde Jaol features a tavern serving up craft cocktails and microbrews. The tavern room has its own menu, too, offering relatively affordable bar snacks, salads, and sandwiches. Here's where you'll finally find a few jail-themed menu items — these are notably absent in the main dining room, perhaps because they'd detract from the elegant ambiance. 

Among the most wanted (or so we speculate, for the sake of the pun) are "Arraignment Appetizers" such as Great Escape Nachos, "Bailiff's Burgers" including one called the Mugshot, and "Sandwich Sentencing" featuring a Big House Club and Executioner's Chicken. There's also a "The Last Meal" dinner menu that lists a Sticky Finger Platter (the fingers are chicken) as well as a 10-ounce sirloin steak that's a steal at just $16.99.