Didn't see a thread on this area (or Central PA) so apologize if I overlooked it.... I'll be making a trip to State College in a few weeks. How's the breweries up there? I see Happy Valley Brewing, Otto's Pub & Brewery as well as Robin Hood a little farther out. Any others or good bars/ restaurants with a good PA selection? Also, I'll be traveling up 70 - 99 and see Olde Bedford, Marzoni's and Railroad City are conveniently on route. how are these or are there others I should seek out? Thanks in advance!
Happy Valley is my favorite in the State College area. The food is tremendous and they have a coffee stout (Joe) that's up there with the best of them. Are you taking 322 West to State College? If so, you may be better off stopping about 35 minutes East of State College in Lewistown. There is a fantastic and somewhat newer brewery there called Shy Bear. The food and beer are both great. They do a bunch of different styles - some that are quite unique. They also have 4 packs to go.
No. I'll be on 522 until I get on 70 around Warfordsburg then hopping on 30 or 76 around Breezewood before taking 99 the rest of the way into State College. I could alter the trip to take 522 through Lewistown and it only adds 20 minutes but it looks like Shy Bear opens at 4pm on Thursdays which is the day I'm coming through. I have to be in State College no later than 5 so that would not work. If they distribute are are available I would definitely look for cans/bottles.
When I stayed out there for work last year I hit up both Happy Valley (for dinner and beer) an Otto's (for beer). Happy Valley was definitely a nicer vibe, in a restored old barn. The beers I had were decent and the food was pretty good. Otto's said they were founded in the early 00's, and the beer menu pretty much seemed right out of that era - a wide array of very straight forward traditional beer styles.
IMHO the best brewery in town is Robin Hood, which has a State College location. They're the only ones in town putting out all the beer nerdy stuff like NEIPAs, dessert stouts, super ruity sours, etc. Their food and ambiance is definitely third in quality though to both Otto's and Happy Valley. For non-brewery beer spots in town, I'd recommend Federal Taphouse, Champs Downtown, Champs North Atherton, Liberty Craft House, Voodoo State College, and Local Whiskey in that order. The food is great at Federal Taphouse, both Champs', and Local Whiskey. My vote for best bottle shop is Pletcher's (also very affordable), with Beer Belly's a distant second.
Not sure if you are more interested in going to a brewery over a bar/restaurant, but I would go to the non-brewery places mentioned here over Otto's, at least. Federal Taphouse has 100 taps, with a bunch of PA beers on.
The Voodoo location in State College is really cool. More or less right next to Happy Valley Brewing (just don't keep your car at Happy Valley and walk over), and their back porch is great. If it’s nice out sitting along the creek for a beer is awesome. They usually have some good stuff on tap and at times hood cans available.
Only if you like a selection of 4 different beers from Otto’s, maybe a Troegs (if you’re lucky) and an overpriced selection from Hoppin’ Frog. This place was great when I was a student there. They unfortunately have not stayed current and there are many other places in town with a better selection. Still hard to beat their atmosphere and I’ll go just to bathe in it for a bit with a Straub’s.
Thanks for the run down! I'll have a few hours when I get into town so maybe hit up Robin Hood first since they are farther out then make my way back to Happy Valley for lunch then end up at Otto's since my hotel is pretty close to them. @OGShotzy I prefer brewery's over bars/restaurants but will be meeting someone for dinner the one night I'm in town so will check out Federal Taphouse or Champs North Atherton most likely.
I've found that The Deli/Z-Bar has a very good bottle list and usually a couple of nice things on tap, and the Hop Shop is a good bottle shop that is right next door. I did not find Champs to have a great selection, they're more of a (very loud) sports bar than craft beer joint, though I haven't been there in a couple of years. Federal Taphouse is the best game in town for having a large and diverse taplist, although their list isn't always updated when beers run out.
Every time we go up to see our son, we go to Happy Valley Brewing. For the mix of quality beer, quality food and atmosphere, HVB is hard to beat. We like it a lot better than Ottos.
Thanks, it has been almost 6 years since I have been downtown and remember it used to be great. A shame they haven’t kept up with what the other places.
