Where do I begin with Elk Creek Café? What a great place that is part restaurant, part brewing / pub, part music venue. They partner with local farmers and purveyors, brew some great beer and make really great food.
Not more than a 25 minute drive from State College, we came on a dreary rainy Saturday evening, specifically to try the local summer menu. It was beyond well worth it. A Great atmosphere, friendly staff, great beer, and overall great vibe. The best part of driving out there was when a horse and buggy pulled out in front of us. This meant nothing to me, I’m a Central PA native but, my husband, Not from PA, not from a small town, not from farmland. He had such a great look on his face. I could see his wheels turning, trying to digest the situation and what to do. “See”, I said, “I told you moving here would be an adventure!.”
Anyway, back to the food. Here it is, our review of Elk Creek Café & Aleworks
Elk Creek Café & Aleworks
This place was great ! We will be back time and time again. We brought a Growler along and they filled it even though we didn’t buy the Growler there. *Biggest pet peeve with Growlers is when a place will only fill it if the Growler was purchased there. Hence why we now own 5 Growlers.
Menu Selection
All of their menus, brunch, lunch and dinner looked good. A variety of foods from Local Grilled Cheese and Burger to Fish and Chips. We came however, for the seasonal summer menu which included: Pickled Beet Salad, Fried Chicken, Grilled Pork Chop…..so many options.
Our Order: Hubs got Grilled Pork Chop with peppercorn bourbon cream, mashed potatoes and braised greens. The pork was cooked perfectly, the braised greens – were vinegar based and I could of eaten a vat of them. The sauce, two words: Bourbon. Peppercorn. mic drop. great. I got the Hanger Steak with avocado lime compound, fries and summer succotash. All excellent, with a special shout out for the succotash. I could taste every green bean, every carrot, like it was just picked an hour ago.
Our Ranking: #1 for Dinner!
This is a great place to go if you want to make a night of it, A nice drive, nice scenery, great not-your-typical menu. And come on folks, is a 25 min drive really that far?
I’m excited to come back, and see some music !
*apologies for not taking photos. Next time.
Centre County Eats 