Mahaffey
A walk-up window built in the early 1950s still serves soft-serve ice cream at this little roadside spot. Inside, the menu lists cheese fries, chili cheese fries, and fries with gravy for dipping. That’s the kind of detail that makes me hit the brakes. The building first went up in...
Free chocolate milk refills are still a thing at one Old West-themed steakhouse. That detail alone made me grin. The chain behind it once had more than 700 restaurants across America. Now only about a dozen remain nationwide. Just one still stands in Pennsylvania, and people drive hours to reach...
The state inspected the following food establishments in Centre County. To find more restaurant safety information, view full inspection reports, and sign up for real-time text or email alerts for specific restaurants or locations, visit Spotlight PA’s Restaurant Safety Tracker. The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture produces retail food inspection...
Snapper soup is the dish people keep bringing up at one old colonial house in the Pennsylvania countryside. Yes, that snapper. The turtle-based classic that sounds like a dare and somehow tastes like comfort. The soup is only the start. The same kitchen turns out crab cakes, French onion soup,...
Goat, rabbit, and lamb sit right alongside chicken wings at one old butcher counter. Some shoppers drive hours just for the small turkey wings. The shop opened in 1929. That means it has fed families through nearly a century of changing neighborhoods, prices, and supermarket trends. I like how the...
In Western Pennsylvania, Friday during Lent means one thing for a lot of families: a trip to the fire hall or church basement for fried fish. These dinners are run by volunteers, priced for real neighborhoods, and packed with people who have been coming for years. The best ones rarely...
A Pennsylvania tavern has a taxidermy skunk on display, an old bank vault used for private dining, and an appetizer called Goat Balls. The Skunk and Goat Tavern sits on Main Street in North East, a small Erie County town near Lake Erie. Its unusual name is only part of the story.
For more than 70 years, a small-town grocery store has served generations of Pennsylvania families. Today, its owners are working to keep that tradition alive as thinning shelves and fierce competition threaten a familiar neighborhood landmark. The market still offers something larger chains cannot easily recreate: a butcher counter where...
A plate of crispy haddock and fries at one Pennsylvania seafood house can stretch into two full meals. That is a lot of fish for a place hundreds of miles from the nearest lobster boat. The whole idea started on a Massachusetts harbor, years before the doors ever opened. Today...
Craving middle-of-nowhere restaurants in Pennsylvania that are totally worth packing your bags for?. These 7 remarkable spots serve up outstanding food and experiences you’ll never stop talking about!. 1. Big Mike’s Steaks & Hoagies (Forksville) Forksville is a tiny borough tucked deep into Sullivan County, the kind of...
Imagine watching an entire stainless steel diner lifted onto trucks and transported across town. That is exactly what happened to a historic Pennsylvania restaurant when a highway expansion project threatened its longtime home. Rather than abandon the building, its owners moved the vintage structure approximately 12 miles to a new...
The bacon at this butcher shop is dry-cured and heavily smoked right on the premises. Even better, the sausages, cold cuts, and smoked meats are made by hand in-house, the old-world German way. The man who started it all began his butcher apprenticeship in Germany at just 13. He earned...
A bakery in Pennsylvania sells fresh pasta right next to its bread and cannoli, and it closes on Thursdays and Fridays. That schedule alone made me curious. Who skips Friday?. Another stop on this list serves its pasta in flights, so you can sample several dishes at once. A third has been cooking Southern Italian food since 1946.
Primanti Bros.’ first customers were the workers unloading produce in Pittsburgh’s Strip District. Pennsylvanians know the story. Out-of-staters still go looking for a side of fries. Here’s what Pennsylvanians know about Primanti Bros. that out-of-staters get wrong. 1. Cart Before Storefront. Primanti Bros. started out as a...
(WHTM)– Coca-Cola is celebrating the holidays in Pennsylvania this year with its iconic traveling Holiday Caravan. According to Coca-Cola, the Holiday Caravan is a traveling celebration that visits communities across North America to spread holiday magic and festive joy. This season, the caravan is stopping at several locations across the Commonwealth. Coca-Cola provided a list […]
Say “Giant” to a grocery shopper in Philadelphia and to one in Pittsburgh, and they’ll picture two different stores. The names sound related, and that’s where a lot of the confusion starts. Here’s why eastern Pennsylvanians shop at Giant and western Pennsylvanians swear by Giant Eagle....
One of these Thanksgiving tables sits inside an old railroad station, and trains still roll past the windows. I did not expect that when I started digging. Turkey with a side of passing freight cars? Yes, please. Another stop on this list is an inn that dates back to around...
Ready to find the best bakeries in Pennsylvania that could make even a French chef jealous?. These 8 bakeries serve up fresh-baked goods and sweet treats that’ll have you jumping out of bed!. 1. Stock’s Bakery (Philadelphia) Some bakeries just feel like home the moment you walk in.
Pizzelles get their licorice taste from anise, and they show up on a lot of Pennsylvania cookie trays. If you’re from out of state, you might not have tried one, and it’s not the only cookie on the tray you’ll be guessing about. Here are the cookies...
NewsWorks Lab is an independent nonprofit newsroom. Sign up for our free newsletters. For Bill Jackson, owner of Wexford Beer, an independent beer distributor north of Pittsburgh, ordering ready-to-drink cocktails from the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board can turn a routine delivery into a half-day’s work. Orders must be loaded one case at a time.
