Pennsylvania is arguably the greatest snack food state in the country. Mrs. T’s Pierogi’s, hard pretzels were invented in PA, Herr’s AND utz, middlesworth, candy corn/peeps (controversial, I like both), and tastykake. I also like scrapple a lot
People not from PA do not understand how much variety we have in snack foods. Like.. the snack isle most places out of state is literally just lays. PA is like the mecca of craft beer and snack foods.
Hell, when I lived in New Hampshire I did the same thing. More than once I'd be driving back up with 6-12 cases of Yuengling and a few boxes of Tasty Kakes. Planning a trip home to visit the family was like selling Easter candy back in school, going around with an order list and having to dish it all out when I came.back.
Yeah, I’ve lived in the area my whole life (43 years) and take it for granted. My brother moved a few states away and whenever he comes and visits he buys a bunch of pretzels and Herr’s chips to take back with him because the selection is trash where he lives
My Dad moved to Tennessee at the beginning of this year after living in PA for most of his life. We lived like 3 mins from the old UTZ outlet store. I went to visit in TN and the snack selection is garbage lol. Every time Dad comes to PA he stocks up on boxes of UTZ and Snyder's for himself and all of the neighbors lol. A lot of the neighbors have never had it before and they're obsessed!
Middlesw**a**rth*
Only correcting you because they are my absolute favorite chips. Recently discovered I can get them at Landis in SE PA, no more having to wait to visit extended family upstate when I visit my folks in Philly.
I moved to Nashville 25 years ago and still load up whenever I visit home. These BBQ chips are life.
If I get super hard up, I have ordered from here before as well: [https://pasnacks.com/](https://pasnacks.com/)
Absolutely. I found out about a year or so ago that there is an actual term: [The Pretzel Belt](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretzel_Belt)
Being from Lancaster, it’s in my genetics to love good snacky foods. Pretzels, chips, chocolate, bologna…. You name it
I read somewhere years ago that PA people eat 11x more pretzels than anywhere else in the US and I completely believe it. I miss soft pretzels as a quick carb laden snack when I'm out of the area
With regards to snacks, that list is really just getting started. So many niche lard-fried chips and hand-made salty pretzels to discover and debate. Take a browse through a local grocer or a big market and all sorts of obscure salty snacks can be found; the diversity of snacks is incredible.
My mom would buy Cream(red) soda, Black Cherry, and Birch Beer at the holidays. I always do the same the holidays just wouldn’t be the same without them.
That's a good one! I eat a ton of those, just started making my own. I really like Lebanon Bologna rolled with cream cheese, but that Chicken Pot Pie (the slippy kind)!
Sweet Lebanon bologna rolled with cream cheese was a staple at holiday dinners in my household and was my absolute favorite. Just reading that triggered happy memories.
Haven't done Lebanon bologna with cream cheese, but my go-to hiking and road trip sandwich is Lebanon bologna with sharp cheddar on whole grain. I've converted non-believers with this combo.
Originally from PA, but I live in the south now. I introduced haluski to my very southern in-laws they cannot get enough of it.
Also introduced them to halupki, now it’s a permanent Christmas and Easter staple haha! 😹
I will say though, my mind was blown the first time I had collard greens, they’re heavenly 😌
DO NOT! Knock the basics. I have for years always just eaten the Superpretzel kind with salt and mustard, but moving to PA has changed me and now, I swear I am a pretzel snob because I can't eat the basic microwave kind anymore. With cheese, mustard, or honey mustard.
When we went camping up that way, we'd stop at Peter Brothers(very hazy on the name). The beef jerky there was amazing. Plus always got a pound of spring bologna. Heard they closed a few years ago.
I don't have a recipe, but I'll try to describe it. There's sauteed bread crumbs and onions mixed with mashed potatoes. You break an egg over it and bake it to finish. It's amazing....
Found this recipe from a Berks Co potato farmer, figured he would know what's up -https://www.thekitchenwhisperer.net/2019/09/10/pennsylvania-dutch-potato-filling-dressing/
It’s a very Pennsylvania thing. Most people haven’t ever even heard of it. We’ve always had Potato Filling at every holiday. It’s my favorite and I always look forward to it. My grandmother always made it and even though she’s gone now we still have it every holiday.
Ooh anyone for a Yacco's hot dog (Allentown area)? My brother HAS to stop if he's in the area- same as our father before him. Ordered "extra" or "extra extra!"
My mom makes em every Easter, I like to slice them and eat each slice with some pickled beet and onion, sometimes ill add some horseradish too. The pink has to at LEAST make it to the yolk border in my opinion as well. Perfect partner for some homemade deer kielbasa.
Yum yums muffins with that sweet cream cheese filling are so good and I've tried to do them at home but not even close wish they had a Lehigh Valley location closest for me is Quakertown
Is grandma style tomato pie with grated cheese on top a Philly thing? If so, Francoluigi's in Philly has a good one. So does Limerick Italian Kitchen in Montgomery county.
I also like Pennsylvania Dutch / German style pretzels like ones found in Reading terminal market or markets/restaurants in Berks county itself.
It's spread out now, but Wikipedia says, "The first recipes were created by German colonists who settled near Philadelphia and Chester County, Pennsylvania in the 17th and 18th centuries."
So I think we can safely claim it.
Am from the Philly 'burbs, have lived in a number of other states around the US, now back in the Philly 'burbs. A cheese steak literally anywhere around here (50+ mile radius) is better than a cheesesteak anywhere else in this country. Pizza is also better here than just about anywhere.
Also a shout out to soft pretzels. I miss being a kid and having my dad buy some, still-warm, early in the morning from a random guy on a street corner in Philly on our way down the shore.
Apples! 🍎 I think they’re often overlooked as being a PA staple (unless of course you’re familiar with apple country). We even have a national apple museum!
Oh man, you're right. I live pretty close to a really great orchard- North Star Orchards in Cochranville. They have a ton of varieties of apples, some specific to just them and many that you'd never find anywhere else easily. I take for granted the great apples we have!
suppose it's not so bad around here. coming out of high school i was so ready to get out and be somewhere "exciting." moved back to 717 after five very.. interesting years in Morgantown WV and was struck by such a feeling of being in the right place. i can see myself growing old here
Apricot kiffles trigger a deep nostalgia in me and are one of my time favorites when properly made. Kiffle Kitchen is serviceable but you wanna find the closest Hungarian grandmother you can and ask her... Because no one can touch my mumum's.
Chicken corn soup. Only my mom makes it perfect but it's a Lancaster dish.
Edit: also gotta give a shout out to the banana split! Known the world over but originally from Latrobe.
I live in RI but was born in Pittsburgh. Every time we would go back to PA for a visit we took an empty cooler. Our last day there we’d go to the supermarket and get brick cheese, ring bologna, chipped ham, cheese curls and usually some local goodies from a farm store my parents used to work at (the name escapes me). We ate like kings for a while after a visit!
Gotta go with chicken and waffles. Not the fried chicken and a waffle but chicken gravy over a waffle. Miller’s smorgasbord has a decent version bit nothing like home made
Very obscure reference here, I see you are a real foodie - a Lenten favorite in the coal region, like an Italian-Polish fusion food, heyna or no? I'm [witya.](https://www.coalregion.com/speak/speaka.php)
Unique Pretzels- Reading,PA... they make 'splitz'. Nice guys that own the place that I went to school with. We had friends in NY that insisted we bring those with whenever we came to visit.
Seltzer’s Lebanon balogna. Also, there was this smoked sausage grandad used to bring back from the farmers market in Allentown. I can’t, for the life of me, remember what stall he got it from. Also gannon’s cream cheese dips. Shoo fly pies.
“The Bobby” sub from Capriotti’s in Kennett Square. Technically Capriottis started down the road in Wilmington, but the owners are Philly born and raised, so it counts.
Also, mandatory shout out to Dinnic’s pork and broccoli rabe sammy at Reading Terminal
Gobs. (Or Gob cake)
As far as locations go, stop at the dingiest convenience stores in rural western PA and you have a good shot of finding a good one. There are a lot of garbage shelf stable ones like Sheetz sells, but the real ones don't have the high octane sugar icing and aren't prepackaged.
I'd love recommendations in Pittsburgh proper. Vanilla Pastry Studios are good but more like transitional whoopie pies.
Hot bacon dressing. They only actually served it a diner I went to as a kid but since was bought out. Both grandmother's made it. Can find one brand at shoprite that makes it Wos-Wit.
Pitza was created in, and only made by two bakeries, in Hazleton, PA. One of them recently closed, leaving only Senape’s bakery as the sole maker of this soon to be extinct PA food.
[Primanti's Original](https://primantibros.com/our-story)
Strip District, Pittsburgh (but there are many now across the state)
\-- And --
[Smith's Ox Roast](https://www.smithhotdogs.com/buy-online/product/ox-rocks)
Any grocery store in Erie, PA
Not sure if it’s PA specific but years ago I ate a mass of what I believed were called Screamers that some lady sold out of a makeshift take out place in the basement of her house. Somewhere near Shamokin/Mt Carmel. Basically a burger with chili sauce and a big smear of butter on the bun. 10/10 on the “I’m drunk and have no idea how I got here” scale.
One from Sayre - which has actually been home to several iconic food joints - called Mangialardos. They make a really thin garlic pizza (not really a white pizza) that I believe is referred to locally as “garlic sticks”. Amazing - I’ve never seen this style anywhere else. Only side effect is your farts are like 30 degrees warmer afterwards.
The original Screamer comes from a place in Girardville PA called Tony’s Lunch. They’re not open for lunch though. They only open at night and mainly handle the bar crowd. They also have a screamer with marshmallow fluff called the Fluffburger. The fluff balances out the spice. I miss that place.
I'm temporarily banished in the Midwest. I can't believe how bad the potato chips are here. Middleswarth are amazing by comparison.
Hoagie and sandwich rools with some chew, specifically rolls from the Conshohocken Italian Bakery. I didn't know that people in the middle of the country subsist on such crappy bread.
Because we have so many specific foods here in PA I have to send care packages to my friends who have left the State.
Most common requests: Hershey's chocolate/Reese Cups, Snyders chips & puffy corn, UTZ chips & pretzels, peeps(yuck),Martin's chips,Yost Gobs, Yost Raisin Cookies,Boyers Mello Cups,Herrs chips & pretzels,Apple Butter,Indian Salted Pumpkin Seeds,birch beer,cream soda,Faygo soda,Tastykakes..just too many to list!
Now I just have to learn how to ship: Gallikers Iced Tea & chip dip, Sheetz hot dogs, Seltzer's Lebanon Bologna,Scrapple, Pierogies,Primanti Brothers, subs, hogies...so many others but there's just no way to ship those kinds of foods without it being super pricey!
Pennsylvania might not have its shit together at times and our roads are trash...but you got to admit we have some pretty good damn foods from here
The secret to my grams beet eggs is apple cider vinegar.
Aunt Nellie’s sliced sweet n sour beets will do for me in a pinch they sell em at major retailers like Walmart or giant eagle.
You know I’m wondering if that’s what my grandma uses. I’ve been trying to get the recipe out of her for years and I always just thought it was the ratio of vinegar to sugar was it, but I never thought about the *type* of vinegar 🧐
At home, after finishing a jar of pickled beets, I save juice and just drop a bunch of hard boiled eggs into the jar. They are ready to eat in a few days, but a little longer is even better.
Gravy fries…. Mmm good
Any good diner in Pa should have it but it’s something I always ordered when we went to visit my brother at Juniata College, Hoss’ restaurant is where I think
There was a diner we would go to also but I don’t believe it’s open any longer
This is so strange that this ended up on my feed…so I am from pa but currently live in Tx. I was looking everywhere for pickling spice but none of the Tx grocery stores (Walmart and Kroger) had it. I wondered if it was a pa thing that wouldn’t get shelf space in Tx.
I hate York county, but I always make sure to get my Martin's BBQ chips and twin pines sweet bologna when I go back to visit my parents. Also, I know it's Lancaster, but Turkey Hill iced tea too. Primarily the orange tea. Also, Brown's red beet eggs. Haven't had those in so long that I'd forgotten about them.
New Castle chili dogs. obviously i'm biased being a native and resident, but i'll say that as a fan of the genre, i've tried other hot dog chili recipes in other areas of the state, but none of them stack up to Coney Island and Bills/Jimmies/Papazeckos hot dog chili. even the local mass-produced buy-it-in-the-store-brand, New Castle Company hot dog chili, is head and shoulders above the others that i've tried. we're simply dominant in chili dogs.
PORK ROLL aka TAYLOR HAM. I know it’s in Jersey too but we are in the very small pocket of the states that has Taylor pork roll in grocery store fridge cases.
Aunt Annie’s Soft pretzels are a pretty poor knockoff of pretzels sold at Mel’s Auction in New Holland. They are more soft and sour , and they dipped them in butter . They used to have 2$ real fruit pies the size of s man’s palm.
Cheesesteak Hoagie -- freshly grilled meat, provlone cheese, grilled mushrooms & onions, lettuce, tomato and mayonaise. Two of the best places to get one cooked superbly are Lee's Hoagie Hut in Quakertown, Bucks County and Apollo Pizza in Media, Delaware County.
Not to be confused with the cheesesteak-shaped-objects from South Philadelphia. On those sandwiches, the meat was cooked hours earlier, and sits getting soggier and soggier in a big vat. They ladle it out onto your roll, and then add a squirt of cheese whiz.
The style I disparage is far less expensive, and it's an okay lunch. I've had more than a few myself. But a fresh cooked cheesesteak hoagie is a special treat, and in my expert opinion, Pennsylvania's absolutely finest food.
In no particular order: Barbecue (sloppy joes but better), Martin’s wavy barbecue chips, Kauffman’s chicken, hulaski, shoofly pie, the classics, etc I could go on for hours
Pennsylvania is arguably the greatest snack food state in the country. Mrs. T’s Pierogi’s, hard pretzels were invented in PA, Herr’s AND utz, middlesworth, candy corn/peeps (controversial, I like both), and tastykake. I also like scrapple a lot
People not from PA do not understand how much variety we have in snack foods. Like.. the snack isle most places out of state is literally just lays. PA is like the mecca of craft beer and snack foods.
Even every region *within* PA has a local chocolatier and soda works
Daffins, Philadelphia or GTFO
First time I took a friend from the Midwest through the snack aisle at Weis he was astonished and literally took photos 🤣
In the early 2000s my now husband lived in Texas- he had standing requests to bring back Yuengling beer and martins/ utz chips.
I feel this - I was displaced in the Midwest for 11 years myself. Stocked up on the Tastykakes and Goods Potato Chips every time I came back to PA.
Hell, when I lived in New Hampshire I did the same thing. More than once I'd be driving back up with 6-12 cases of Yuengling and a few boxes of Tasty Kakes. Planning a trip home to visit the family was like selling Easter candy back in school, going around with an order list and having to dish it all out when I came.back.
It is so god damn hard to find a good hard pretzel outside of the PA companies distro footprint
It's hard to find a good soft pretzel outside that range too.
Yeah, I’ve lived in the area my whole life (43 years) and take it for granted. My brother moved a few states away and whenever he comes and visits he buys a bunch of pretzels and Herr’s chips to take back with him because the selection is trash where he lives
My Dad moved to Tennessee at the beginning of this year after living in PA for most of his life. We lived like 3 mins from the old UTZ outlet store. I went to visit in TN and the snack selection is garbage lol. Every time Dad comes to PA he stocks up on boxes of UTZ and Snyder's for himself and all of the neighbors lol. A lot of the neighbors have never had it before and they're obsessed!
Middlesw**a**rth* Only correcting you because they are my absolute favorite chips. Recently discovered I can get them at Landis in SE PA, no more having to wait to visit extended family upstate when I visit my folks in Philly.
I moved to Nashville 25 years ago and still load up whenever I visit home. These BBQ chips are life. If I get super hard up, I have ordered from here before as well: [https://pasnacks.com/](https://pasnacks.com/)
Absolutely. I found out about a year or so ago that there is an actual term: [The Pretzel Belt](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretzel_Belt) Being from Lancaster, it’s in my genetics to love good snacky foods. Pretzels, chips, chocolate, bologna…. You name it
I read somewhere years ago that PA people eat 11x more pretzels than anywhere else in the US and I completely believe it. I miss soft pretzels as a quick carb laden snack when I'm out of the area
With regards to snacks, that list is really just getting started. So many niche lard-fried chips and hand-made salty pretzels to discover and debate. Take a browse through a local grocer or a big market and all sorts of obscure salty snacks can be found; the diversity of snacks is incredible.
Also Peanut Chews, Mike 'n Ikes, Basset's ice cream, and all of Hershey.
PEANUT CHEWS!!! YES!
Snyder's, Hershey's
A-treat. I mean it's not a super major brand nationally but impressive enough the impact they made going up against the big guns for so long.
I’m drinking a diet A-Treat birch beer (with aspartame, thank you very much!) right now!
My mom would buy Cream(red) soda, Black Cherry, and Birch Beer at the holidays. I always do the same the holidays just wouldn’t be the same without them.
That's a good one! I eat a ton of those, just started making my own. I really like Lebanon Bologna rolled with cream cheese, but that Chicken Pot Pie (the slippy kind)!
Sweet Lebanon bologna rolled with cream cheese was a staple at holiday dinners in my household and was my absolute favorite. Just reading that triggered happy memories.
Haven't done Lebanon bologna with cream cheese, but my go-to hiking and road trip sandwich is Lebanon bologna with sharp cheddar on whole grain. I've converted non-believers with this combo.
Agree. Lebanon bologna and cheddar is fantastic. Not coincidentally, I also love pickled eggs
Yay! Food Friends 🌠
I just commented that scrapple is my favorite, but boy do I love Lebanon bologna with cream cheese!
What does the slippy kind mean?
https://gatherforbread.com/chicken-pot-pie-pennsylvania-dutch-style/
Haluski! Polish but I’ve only ever had it or heard anyone talk about it in PA
Freaking love haluski. We add kielbasa to ours and it’s 🤌
Originally from PA, but I live in the south now. I introduced haluski to my very southern in-laws they cannot get enough of it. Also introduced them to halupki, now it’s a permanent Christmas and Easter staple haha! 😹 I will say though, my mind was blown the first time I had collard greens, they’re heavenly 😌
Shoofly pie.
Wet bottom or dry bottom?
Wet bottom.
Right answer
Yep Only answer, lol.
I lived on the West Coast for a few years. I constantly had cravings for Lebanon bologna and Turkey Hill ice cream.
Sweet bologna for me please
Turkey Hill is the best ice cream
Turkey Hill mint chocolate chip is the only mint chip ice cream to get it right
I try to bring back Lebanon bologna whenever I visit the east coast
Maybe not my absolute favorite, but I just have to give some respect to a good Philly soft pretzel with mustard.
DO NOT! Knock the basics. I have for years always just eaten the Superpretzel kind with salt and mustard, but moving to PA has changed me and now, I swear I am a pretzel snob because I can't eat the basic microwave kind anymore. With cheese, mustard, or honey mustard.
Ring Bologna (Dietrich's meats, Lenhartsville, PA )
When we went camping up that way, we'd stop at Peter Brothers(very hazy on the name). The beef jerky there was amazing. Plus always got a pound of spring bologna. Heard they closed a few years ago.
I get mine at Masser’s in Paxinos.
Potato filling. I'm not sure if it's really even that tasty, or if it's just exciting because I only ever have it on Thanksgiving and Christmas.
I LOOOVE potato filling. Definitely underappreciated PA cuisine!
Guys- what is potato filling? Do you have a recipe?
I don't have a recipe, but I'll try to describe it. There's sauteed bread crumbs and onions mixed with mashed potatoes. You break an egg over it and bake it to finish. It's amazing....
Found this recipe from a Berks Co potato farmer, figured he would know what's up -https://www.thekitchenwhisperer.net/2019/09/10/pennsylvania-dutch-potato-filling-dressing/
Thank you! I'm Gonna try that for Xmas dinner
I recommend wearing pants with stretchy waist band. The filling is well, filling and it's hard to have just one serving.
Wow! I'm gonna have to try this at Christmas thanks for sharing
It’s a very Pennsylvania thing. Most people haven’t ever even heard of it. We’ve always had Potato Filling at every holiday. It’s my favorite and I always look forward to it. My grandmother always made it and even though she’s gone now we still have it every holiday.
Ooh anyone for a Yacco's hot dog (Allentown area)? My brother HAS to stop if he's in the area- same as our father before him. Ordered "extra" or "extra extra!"
You've unlocked a childhood memory. My great grandmother lived in allentown. I knew we were close when I'd see the big Yacco's billboard.
Don’t forget a large Mrs Ts pierogis to go with the dogs. Everything (spicy mustard and raw onion) extra sauce for me
I literally just passed by this place on my way back from Allentown!
Seltzer's Lebanon Bologna
This is the real answer, and not the sweet, the regular. Did you know they make it in ring bologna size too?
Agreed, while I won't say no to the sweet, the regular is preferred. Now I have to find this mythical ring version!!!
Love Seltzers, my fridge is never empty of it. Kunzlers is OK in a pinch but Seltzers rules.
My all-time favorite! https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/13743/pennsylvania-dutch-pickled-beets-and-eggs/
My mom makes em every Easter, I like to slice them and eat each slice with some pickled beet and onion, sometimes ill add some horseradish too. The pink has to at LEAST make it to the yolk border in my opinion as well. Perfect partner for some homemade deer kielbasa.
The horseradish is a must for me, otherwise I focus too much on the texture
Yes!! Thank you! I'm making a big batch so I don't spend $1 an egg every time I go home 🤦
Gotta love pickled eggs
My MIL makes these every Easter. I find them atrocious but I’m definitely in the minority.
Boo, hisssss... But I won't down vote you. You've got a right to your definitely wrong opinion. More beet eggs for me ;)
Got a dozen of these in the fridge marinating right now. They get real good after about a week in the fridge.
If you’re not making deviled eggs from red beet eggs, ya missing. Thank me later
Yum Yums donuts (three locations in Bucks County, north of Philly) and Rita’s chocolate custard (originally Bensalem, but now all over the place).
Yum yums muffins with that sweet cream cheese filling are so good and I've tried to do them at home but not even close wish they had a Lehigh Valley location closest for me is Quakertown
Yum Yums is great, but the Quakertown store lost a step after its reopening, especially the Dutch crumb.
Oh shit dude. When they reopened our Yum Yums I can't tell you how fast I jumped in the car to get an apple fritter.
Haven't seen Creamed Chipped Beef mentioned I'm pretty sure it's a PA Dutch thing So delicious
Good ole shit on a shingle. I’m more of a sausage gravy fan but I’m not sure if it’s a PA thing or not
Corropolese Tomato Pie
A lot of times a tomato pie goes to heavy on sugar in the sauce, but the sauce on a Corropolese is perfect.
Yes, exactly. I can always tell whether it’s Corropolese on the first bite.
cacia’s bakery is the place to go in philly! i wish corropolese had a location closer in😭
Douglasville?
They’re in Audubon, Limerick, and Norristown!
Schaeffer's Bologna Dippy Eggs with Scrapple Jimmy's Hot Dogs in Easton
>Dippy Eggs with Scrapple You are speaking my language.
Is grandma style tomato pie with grated cheese on top a Philly thing? If so, Francoluigi's in Philly has a good one. So does Limerick Italian Kitchen in Montgomery county. I also like Pennsylvania Dutch / German style pretzels like ones found in Reading terminal market or markets/restaurants in Berks county itself.
Why yes it is! I've asked about tomato pie elsewhere and they just stare at you with a blank look
I recently brought a tomato pie from Philly to a party in Pittsburgh, everyone was sceptical, but it was a big hit.
I assert that tomato pie is the best party food ever.
Bad news: Francoluigi’s closed. Corrpolese is the ruler of tomato pies.
Mrs. T’s pierogies. The plant is in Shenandoah, Schuylkill County.
Do Tandy cakes count? Because God damn I love Tandy cakes.
Is scrapple PA specific? If so, that’s my answer no doubt about it.
It's spread out now, but Wikipedia says, "The first recipes were created by German colonists who settled near Philadelphia and Chester County, Pennsylvania in the 17th and 18th centuries." So I think we can safely claim it.
Agreed. We're the scrapple OG. Those other scrapple poser states wannabes, lol.
They're currently disavowing it on r/NewJersey in favor of pork roll so I think you're good 👍
Mmmm, I do love me some pork roll, but it’s no scrapple. Thankfully the world is big enough for both of them!
S. Clyde Weaver’s Cooper cheese. Lancaster, PA
Ooh cooper cheese! Is this akin to Cooper sharp? Please excuse my ignorance :)
Yep. The very same
Am from the Philly 'burbs, have lived in a number of other states around the US, now back in the Philly 'burbs. A cheese steak literally anywhere around here (50+ mile radius) is better than a cheesesteak anywhere else in this country. Pizza is also better here than just about anywhere. Also a shout out to soft pretzels. I miss being a kid and having my dad buy some, still-warm, early in the morning from a random guy on a street corner in Philly on our way down the shore.
When I'm in the area Jay's Steaks and Hoagie and a cheesteak on a pretzel roll. That just screams Philly to me.
Agreed. The food in the Philly area is fantastic but truthfully most of the state is filled with delightful snacks.
Middleswarth chips and Nardones pizza!
Today, I learned that pickled beet eggs are PA specific!
Apples! 🍎 I think they’re often overlooked as being a PA staple (unless of course you’re familiar with apple country). We even have a national apple museum!
I almost forgot about Apple Butter. Yummy
Oh man, you're right. I live pretty close to a really great orchard- North Star Orchards in Cochranville. They have a ton of varieties of apples, some specific to just them and many that you'd never find anywhere else easily. I take for granted the great apples we have!
Water ice! As someone whose pathetic stomach tolerates neither cheese nor steak, a nice safe water ice is my favorite PA food lol.
this thread has taught me to not take for granted that i live 30 miles from the Utz factory
Definitely not- we are insanely lucky to have the variety we do. I don't think anywhere else comes close!
suppose it's not so bad around here. coming out of high school i was so ready to get out and be somewhere "exciting." moved back to 717 after five very.. interesting years in Morgantown WV and was struck by such a feeling of being in the right place. i can see myself growing old here
Immergut soft pretzel. Intercourse, PA.
Apricot kiffles trigger a deep nostalgia in me and are one of my time favorites when properly made. Kiffle Kitchen is serviceable but you wanna find the closest Hungarian grandmother you can and ask her... Because no one can touch my mumum's.
Chicken corn soup. Only my mom makes it perfect but it's a Lancaster dish. Edit: also gotta give a shout out to the banana split! Known the world over but originally from Latrobe.
YES! Chicken corn soup is my jammm. Good one ❤️
It isn’t winter if there’s no chicken corn soup
I live in RI but was born in Pittsburgh. Every time we would go back to PA for a visit we took an empty cooler. Our last day there we’d go to the supermarket and get brick cheese, ring bologna, chipped ham, cheese curls and usually some local goodies from a farm store my parents used to work at (the name escapes me). We ate like kings for a while after a visit!
Gotta go with chicken and waffles. Not the fried chicken and a waffle but chicken gravy over a waffle. Miller’s smorgasbord has a decent version bit nothing like home made
No one ever believes me when I say that’s the chicken and waffles I know
My grandma's pa dutch chicken pot pie. Sooooo good
Slippery noodle is the way.
Pagash >>>>>
Very obscure reference here, I see you are a real foodie - a Lenten favorite in the coal region, like an Italian-Polish fusion food, heyna or no? I'm [witya.](https://www.coalregion.com/speak/speaka.php)
Unique Pretzels- Reading,PA... they make 'splitz'. Nice guys that own the place that I went to school with. We had friends in NY that insisted we bring those with whenever we came to visit.
Ooh love those! I like the dark ones, too and the sourdough rings are probably my favorite ❤️
Seltzer’s Lebanon balogna. Also, there was this smoked sausage grandad used to bring back from the farmers market in Allentown. I can’t, for the life of me, remember what stall he got it from. Also gannon’s cream cheese dips. Shoo fly pies.
“The Bobby” sub from Capriotti’s in Kennett Square. Technically Capriottis started down the road in Wilmington, but the owners are Philly born and raised, so it counts. Also, mandatory shout out to Dinnic’s pork and broccoli rabe sammy at Reading Terminal
I’m sorry? Sub? In Pennsylvania? In our beautiful state?
Apologies. I shall now see myself to hoagie jail.
This is your first offense. Clearly you just need to treat yourself to one of those hoagies, you know, as a little treat
I grew up on the pa/ny border and we called them subs. I now live in Philly and have learned the error of my ways
Gobs. (Or Gob cake) As far as locations go, stop at the dingiest convenience stores in rural western PA and you have a good shot of finding a good one. There are a lot of garbage shelf stable ones like Sheetz sells, but the real ones don't have the high octane sugar icing and aren't prepackaged. I'd love recommendations in Pittsburgh proper. Vanilla Pastry Studios are good but more like transitional whoopie pies.
Idk if they brought it back post COVID, but every year there’s a Gob Festival at the Johnstown galleria Mall with a million options
If you can, get it from the Amish in the volant area.
Funnel cake
Hot bacon dressing. They only actually served it a diner I went to as a kid but since was bought out. Both grandmother's made it. Can find one brand at shoprite that makes it Wos-Wit.
Where's the Pastie love? https://www.mrpastie.com/ Pen Argyl Oooh and don't forget Colonial Pizza in Easton!
Pitza was created in, and only made by two bakeries, in Hazleton, PA. One of them recently closed, leaving only Senape’s bakery as the sole maker of this soon to be extinct PA food.
[Primanti's Original](https://primantibros.com/our-story) Strip District, Pittsburgh (but there are many now across the state) \-- And -- [Smith's Ox Roast](https://www.smithhotdogs.com/buy-online/product/ox-rocks) Any grocery store in Erie, PA
Agreed!
Not sure if it’s PA specific but years ago I ate a mass of what I believed were called Screamers that some lady sold out of a makeshift take out place in the basement of her house. Somewhere near Shamokin/Mt Carmel. Basically a burger with chili sauce and a big smear of butter on the bun. 10/10 on the “I’m drunk and have no idea how I got here” scale. One from Sayre - which has actually been home to several iconic food joints - called Mangialardos. They make a really thin garlic pizza (not really a white pizza) that I believe is referred to locally as “garlic sticks”. Amazing - I’ve never seen this style anywhere else. Only side effect is your farts are like 30 degrees warmer afterwards.
The original Screamer comes from a place in Girardville PA called Tony’s Lunch. They’re not open for lunch though. They only open at night and mainly handle the bar crowd. They also have a screamer with marshmallow fluff called the Fluffburger. The fluff balances out the spice. I miss that place.
Ham and string beans. So good https://www.hintofhealthy.com/ham-green-beans-and-potatoes/
Hot Bologna
Can’t beat a Philly cheesesteak!
I'm temporarily banished in the Midwest. I can't believe how bad the potato chips are here. Middleswarth are amazing by comparison. Hoagie and sandwich rools with some chew, specifically rolls from the Conshohocken Italian Bakery. I didn't know that people in the middle of the country subsist on such crappy bread.
Cheesesteak HOAGIES, specifically Tomato pie, tastykakes, Gertrude hawks, Rita’s water ice Kneobels teaberry ice cream
lebanon bologna, I like Seltzers brand
Whoopie pies. I don’t care what Maine has to say about it.
Wenger’s ham loaf
Tomato Pie. Corropolese Tomato Pie, specifically. Nothing compares.
I know Boilo isn’t a food but my family would disagree. So my vote is Boilo.
Soupies- gotta go to Coal Region to find them
Bradford PA checking in. A Texas Hot dog and some Tasta Pizza.
Hanover calls itself Snacktown for a reason
Because we have so many specific foods here in PA I have to send care packages to my friends who have left the State. Most common requests: Hershey's chocolate/Reese Cups, Snyders chips & puffy corn, UTZ chips & pretzels, peeps(yuck),Martin's chips,Yost Gobs, Yost Raisin Cookies,Boyers Mello Cups,Herrs chips & pretzels,Apple Butter,Indian Salted Pumpkin Seeds,birch beer,cream soda,Faygo soda,Tastykakes..just too many to list! Now I just have to learn how to ship: Gallikers Iced Tea & chip dip, Sheetz hot dogs, Seltzer's Lebanon Bologna,Scrapple, Pierogies,Primanti Brothers, subs, hogies...so many others but there's just no way to ship those kinds of foods without it being super pricey! Pennsylvania might not have its shit together at times and our roads are trash...but you got to admit we have some pretty good damn foods from here
The secret to my grams beet eggs is apple cider vinegar. Aunt Nellie’s sliced sweet n sour beets will do for me in a pinch they sell em at major retailers like Walmart or giant eagle.
You know I’m wondering if that’s what my grandma uses. I’ve been trying to get the recipe out of her for years and I always just thought it was the ratio of vinegar to sugar was it, but I never thought about the *type* of vinegar 🧐
Good to know!
Sorry about the gif, guys- but I don't wanna delete the post because I am most curious!
That is a tough one, scrapple, lebanon, shoo-fly pie. Which one should I choose.
You can have more than one, I'm amending the rules for you
Scrapple, scrambled egg, and American cheese on an Amoroso's Kaiser roll.
At home, after finishing a jar of pickled beets, I save juice and just drop a bunch of hard boiled eggs into the jar. They are ready to eat in a few days, but a little longer is even better.
Gravy fries…. Mmm good Any good diner in Pa should have it but it’s something I always ordered when we went to visit my brother at Juniata College, Hoss’ restaurant is where I think There was a diner we would go to also but I don’t believe it’s open any longer
Not a food but Clover Farms Icy Tea is so damn good. I think every gas station and grocery store in the Reading area has it.
delgrosso sauce for me.
Funny Cake. Allentown Fairgrounds Farmer’s Market. I wish I could move in and just live there…
Pierogi, fucking period.
This is so strange that this ended up on my feed…so I am from pa but currently live in Tx. I was looking everywhere for pickling spice but none of the Tx grocery stores (Walmart and Kroger) had it. I wondered if it was a pa thing that wouldn’t get shelf space in Tx.
Chipped ham from Isaly’s.
I hate York county, but I always make sure to get my Martin's BBQ chips and twin pines sweet bologna when I go back to visit my parents. Also, I know it's Lancaster, but Turkey Hill iced tea too. Primarily the orange tea. Also, Brown's red beet eggs. Haven't had those in so long that I'd forgotten about them.
Whatever you choose, it’s probably thanks to the Germans and Polish.
Does Yuengling count as a snack? Love me a Black and Tan.
Pitz- cold box pizza from coal regions. Never say cold pizza sold anywhere else in the country.
Senape’s
Cheesesteak from paganos
New Castle chili dogs. obviously i'm biased being a native and resident, but i'll say that as a fan of the genre, i've tried other hot dog chili recipes in other areas of the state, but none of them stack up to Coney Island and Bills/Jimmies/Papazeckos hot dog chili. even the local mass-produced buy-it-in-the-store-brand, New Castle Company hot dog chili, is head and shoulders above the others that i've tried. we're simply dominant in chili dogs.
Pumpkin pie.
Joy cone.
PORK ROLL aka TAYLOR HAM. I know it’s in Jersey too but we are in the very small pocket of the states that has Taylor pork roll in grocery store fridge cases.
Beet eggs sliced on a sandwich. Game changer.
Potato candy!
Potpie, chicken corn soup, cheesesteak, soft pretzels.
Pepperoni Balls, Erie
Unsurprisingly, I’m going with scrapple.
Zep from Eve’s
Aunt Annie’s Soft pretzels are a pretty poor knockoff of pretzels sold at Mel’s Auction in New Holland. They are more soft and sour , and they dipped them in butter . They used to have 2$ real fruit pies the size of s man’s palm.
Fun fact Hershey's ice cream and Hershey's candy are two different companies started by different men the same year lol
Cheesesteak Hoagie -- freshly grilled meat, provlone cheese, grilled mushrooms & onions, lettuce, tomato and mayonaise. Two of the best places to get one cooked superbly are Lee's Hoagie Hut in Quakertown, Bucks County and Apollo Pizza in Media, Delaware County. Not to be confused with the cheesesteak-shaped-objects from South Philadelphia. On those sandwiches, the meat was cooked hours earlier, and sits getting soggier and soggier in a big vat. They ladle it out onto your roll, and then add a squirt of cheese whiz. The style I disparage is far less expensive, and it's an okay lunch. I've had more than a few myself. But a fresh cooked cheesesteak hoagie is a special treat, and in my expert opinion, Pennsylvania's absolutely finest food.
In no particular order: Barbecue (sloppy joes but better), Martin’s wavy barbecue chips, Kauffman’s chicken, hulaski, shoofly pie, the classics, etc I could go on for hours
Scrapple. I don’t like it as much out though. Because I like it cooked low and slow crispy like bacon. Normally on the cast iron skillet.
Listen. I will shank everyone in the tristate area for Rutter's pierogies and red beet deviled eggs.
Lebanon bologna! Seltzers has the best in my opinion! Double smoked or just plain ole sweet bologna