Where To Eat & Drink in State College, Pennsylvania: 17 Best Restaurants, Places To Eat & Drink in Happy Valley
Top 3 Best Rated restaurant news: Looking for where to eat & drink in State College, Pennsylvania?
Nestled in the center of Pennsylvania, Happy Valley offers an amazing mix of small city charm combined with beautiful rural scenery.
Happy Valley is most known for State College, being home to Penn State University and the Nittany Lion pride.
But Happy Valley is much more than that!
It’s actually all of Centre County including the historic towns of Bellefonte, Boalsburg, and Philipsburg.
The region is typically referred to as Happy Valley, Nittany Valley, Centre County, and State College interchangeably.
Did you know? Centre County, Pennsylvania was named “Happy Valley” because the region was generally unaffected by the Great Depression in the 1930s.
Mike Lynch Overlook at Mount Nittany has views of Penn State and State College
With Happy Valley being such a vast region, it can be hard to determine where to eat & drink..
I did a 5 day trip to Happy Valley (4 full days), where I explored and ate my way to some of the best restaurants and places to eat & drink in State College. Here is my latest news update on food.
Suffice it to say, I had a Happy Belly in Happy Valley!
In this food guide, we’re covering some of the best restaurants and places to eat & drink in State College and around Happy Valley that I tried.
Be sure to SAVE/PIN/BOOKMARK this State College Food Guide because we will be updating this list as we try more places!
How to get to Happy Valley, Pennsylvania
Happy Valley is a year-round destination, making it a great destination for your vacation whether you’re doing a day trip, a weekend getaway or a Pennsylvania road trip.
Here are some driving times to State College, PA from US destinations to give a better idea:
— From Pittsburgh, PA: 2.5 hours
— From Philadelphia, PA: 3.5 hours
— From New York, NY: 4 hours
— From Cleveland, OH: 4.5 hours
— From Richmond, VA: 5.5 hours
And since I’m from Canada, here are driving times from Canadian destinations to State College:
If you don’t want to drive, State College also has an airport, University Park Airport, which has non-stop flights to major hubs including Detroit, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Newark International.
Coming from Toronto, I didn’t want to drive all the way so I decided to go by plane to State College with a connection in Philadelphia.
My flight departed at 7:30 am in Toronto and arrived at 12:30 pm in State College.
Welcome to Happy Valley!
Happy Valley Food and Drink Scene
As a traveling foodie, I was really impressed with Happy Valley’s culinary scene!
Surrounded by hundreds of acres of farmlands, Happy Valley has deep agricultural roots which produce sustainable and quality ingredients.
And, you know what that means: farm-to-table dining and culinary experiences!
This is why Happy Valley not only has a strong dynamic food scene from farm-to-fork restaurants to farm-fresh ice cream but also a thriving craft beverage scene of breweries, distilleries, wineries, and craft cocktail bars, including the Central PA Tasting Trail!
Centre County’s culinary scene is all about local sourcing for the best and freshest ingredients and connecting people with where their food and drinks come from.
And it really shines through!
Most, if not all, of the State College restaurants and food purveyors I visited support and work with the small family farms, growers, and producers in the region for their ingredients.
And they usually have a changing or seasonal menu to reflect ingredients that are in season.
For instance, during my visit in August, peach was in season and widely used on the menu including peach sauce, peach ice cream, and even peach whiskey.
That’s what makes Happy Valley such a great culinary destination!
Where To Eat and Drink in State College and Happy Valley, PA
Here are the TOP 3 Restaurants where to eat and drink in Happy Valley including some of the best State College restaurants, food & drinks!
I’ve grouped them into sections for easier navigation: Restaurants, Food & Drinks, festivals, and B&B.
Happy eating and drinking in Happy Valley!
Best Restaurants in State College & Happy Valley
Here are 9 of the best restaurants in State College and Happy Valley, in alphabetical order.
Allen Street Grill
Looking for where to eat dinner in State College?
Located in downtown on the 2nd floor of the historic Hotel State College, Allen Street Grill is one of the best restaurants in State College to dine surrounded by Penn State tradition.
Traveling Foodie Tip: They have beautiful porch seating which overlooks Penn State!
The inside is a relaxed setting in a historic space with a modern touch.
I love their take on modern American cooking.
The play on flavors on their dishes was spot on!
The Ahi Tuna Crudo had pine nuts for crunch, chili oil for a slight spicy kick, cherry tomatoes for acidity, and cucumber to bring out the freshness.
Ahi Tuna Crudo ($13) — cherry tomatoes, cucumber, pine nuts, chili oil, tomato sauce
The same goes for the perfectly cooked ribeye from Steak au Poivre when combined with the shishito peppers, salt & vinegar fried potato balls, and malt sauce.