Bear Appetit - Jim Thorpe, PA

We were in Jim Thorpe to see the Tartan Terrors play a New Years Eve show. The Tartan Terrors are a Celtic music comedy group that I first encountered at the Pennsyvania Renaisance Faire. They mix serious and funny songs along with pieces of comedy and dance. They put on an incredible show. The doors for the show opened at 8:30 and we got into town about 7:30. Many of the shops were closed but window shopping revealed a lot of fun, funky stores. We stopped in Bear Appetit for a late supper. I had the reuben and sweet potato fries.

Look at that! Real corned beef! It was a little dry and crunchy but the flavor was incredible. It was so deliciously salty. It was an explosion of flavor. 

The corned beef while awesome overpowered the rest of the sandwich and the bread could have been grilled a little longer. 

I had gone in only intending to get a snack. I ordered a reuben only intending to eat half. I ate the whole thing and didn't regret a bite. 

4 out of 5

The Arena -State College, PA

I came to the Arena tonight to watch friends sing in a competition "State College Idol". I ordered a Yurngling and looked through the menu. The I saw the Reuben. I realized that I haven't had one since my adventure this summer. It turns out I picked a great place to have one. 

I admit it. I love the bread. That is one of the most important things to me in any sandwich. This one had a nice seeded rye and was grilled marvelously. It tasted of butter and was nice and crisp. The pastrami was flavorful and well cooked. The sauerkraut had a good flavor and texture and there was a reasonable amount of dressing on it. I have absolutely nothing to complain about with it. 5/5

Governors' Pub - Bellefonte PA

The Governors' Pub had been recommended to me before and when I saw this sign out front I knew I had to try it.  It got it's name from all of the Governors of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania who came from Bellefonte(Five! plus two for other states).

Two words.  Homemade Sauerkraut.  They slice and brine it themselves which gives a firm feel and gives them control over the flavor.  My personal preference is for a stronger flavor but I was thrilled to have fresh kraut.

The bread was a thick cut marble rye which lightly grilled and had slightly doughy taste.  The swiss was well melted and very tasty.  There was a bit less pastrami than I was used to but it seemed an adequate amount.

The fries were truly outstanding and they came with vinegar and ketchup, they were indeed fresh cut and seasoned.  There was a good beer menu and some top notch desserts.  I had the bread pudding which was excellent.

Reuben was 4 out of 5.