What is the best restaurant city in NEPA? (Scranton, Hazleton: theater, live)

[Clark Park]

Question: What is the best restaurant city in Northeastern Pennsylvania?

I know the region well, and I've had better luck in Wilkes Barre than in Scranton. I did have a great dining experience in Pittston ... but that is an exception I think. I have never had a good meal in Hazleton - and even a well known Italian restaurant in that town I found very mediocre. In Wilkes Barre near the Center Square there are some rather good choices - a decent Thai place, a fine upscale Italian place, and a much better than average brew pub. A well known seafood restaurant in Scranton - Cooper's - in my view has declined into mediocrity in recent years.

What is your opinion?

[theatergypsy]

Originally Posted by Clark Park

Question: What is the best restaurant city in Northeastern Pennsylvania?

I know the region well, and I've had better luck in Wilkes Barre than in Scranton. I did have a great dining experience in Pittston ... but that is an exception I think. I have never had a good meal in Hazleton - and even a well known Italian restaurant in that town I found very mediocre. In Wilkes Barre near the Center Square there are some rather good choices - a decent Thai place, a fine upscale Italian place, and a much better than average brew pub. A well known seafood restaurant in Scranton - Cooper's - in my view has declined into mediocrity in recent years.

What is your opinion?

Same as yours. As for Cooper's, yes, they have declined, but I lived in Scranton 40 years ago and didn't think much of Cooper's even then. They traded on their reputation as a place to see and be seen.

I've developed a definite ennui as far as food is concerned. I'd like to find something new and different but nothing is happening. I did have a pleasant meal at the Bear Creek Inn up Rte 315 past the Turnpike entrance. And a good meal at the Harbor View in Cape May this past Summer. I'm not a pizza fan and I refuse to fork over 20 bucks for a plate of pasta and a small salad.

Where was the Pittston meal? Surely not Cooper's south?

[mr.magoo]

Theatergypsy,
I think you might be referring to The Bear Creek Inn(e) on Rt.115 not 315...
anyway, we ate there 3 yrs. ago on a trip 'back home'...
loved the old place and the food was more than good...also, in comparison to prices around my way it was very reasonable for the quality of the food.

My father got his first job there right after the Inne opened in 1939... the original owners had a bootlegging business and my Dad was. 'rum runner'

He drove a modded Model A Ford with tanks strapped under the running boards filled with Whiskey which he would deliver on the weekends, sometimes during the week up and down the Mountain...

One night the 'Staties' got on him and started to chase him, he spilled over on a turn and went careening down the side of the hill...he was thrown from the Ford luckily as it crashed about 500 ft down...he hid in the woods for awhile...made his way back to the Inne and spent the rest o the night...

He sustained a sprained ankle, broken finger, and some cracked ribs...lotsa cuts and abrasions....no Hospital...patched up at the Inne and by my Grandma...
He had some great bragging stories after that.

[theatergypsy]

By Jove, magoo, you're right! It is 115. By me, the Bear Creek is an inn - I'm a minimalist.

I agree that the price point is very favorable. The price on the menu (excluding tax/tip/alcohol) is what you pay at the end. Soup. Salad Bar. Entrée and starch. Vegetable for the table. Dessert. Coffee. All inclusive. And it draws a regular crowd.

I was there almost 25 years ago and was not in the least impressed so when the family took me there for my birthday, I was tempted to decline. I'm so glad I didn't because it has done quite an about face since that first visit.

Liked your "rum runner" story. My mother drove a Model A Ford but the whiskey in the car was in her.

[wadejay26]

I am not going to say Moosic is the "Best restaurant city", because best is subjective and Moosic is not a city, but there are a few good places to eat there. Amadeo's, AV, Doc Macgrogan's, Nonno's, New Amber Indian and Marzoni's Brick Oven and Brewing Co. are all pretty decent. Plus, if chain restaurants are your thing, there are a few of them also. Although, now that I think about it, Macgrogan's might be considered a chain.

"Cooper's"? Really? Maybe if you want a bowl of soup. Is soup a meal?

[mr.magoo]

Originally Posted by theatergypsy

By Jove, magoo, you're right! It is 115. By me, the Bear Creek is an inn - I'm a minimalist.

I agree that the price point is very favorable. The price on the menu (excluding tax/tip/alcohol) is what you pay at the end. Soup. Salad Bar. Entrée and starch. Vegetable for the table. Dessert. Coffee. All inclusive. And it draws a regular crowd.

I was there almost 25 years ago and was not in the least impressed so when the family took me there for my birthday, I was tempted to decline. I'm so glad I didn't because it has done quite an about face since that first visit.

Liked your "rum runner" story. My mother drove a Model A Ford but the whiskey in the car was in her.

Love your story about Mom too..sounds like my kinda woman, but of course she belong to your Dad...

Miminalist...Gotta love it :-)

Bear Creek Inn(e)... yeah, most restaurants around my way are ala carte so the four of us were pleasantly suprised with all the extra swag that came with the meal....sometimes you get quanity but not quality...there is a happy medium here.
We noticed there was a 'regular' crowd there and they were catered to like family but they also treated us Auslanders quite nicely too...

I attribute that to my charm, rapier like wit and astonishing good looks :-)

[theatergypsy]

Originally Posted by mr.magoo

Love your story about Mom too..sounds like my kinda woman, but of course she belong to your Dad...

Miminalist...Gotta love it :-)

Bear Creek Inn(e)... yeah, most restaurants around my way are ala carte so the four of us were pleasantly suprised with all the extra swag that came with the meal....sometimes you get quanity but not quality...there is a happy medium here.
We noticed there was a 'regular' crowd there and they were catered to like family but they also treated us Auslanders quite nicely too...

I attribute that to my charm, rapier like wit and astonishing good looks :-)

And modest, too. I like that in a fellow.

[mr.magoo]

Originally Posted by wadejay26

"Cooper's"? Really? Maybe if you want a bowl of soup. Is soup a meal?

That was a big question and a bone of contention on a Seinfeld Episode.

[theatergypsy]

Originally Posted by wadejay26

I am not going to say Moosic is the "Best restaurant city", because best is subjective and Moosic is not a city, but there are a few good places to eat there. Amadeo's, AV, Doc Macgrogan's, Nonno's, New Amber Indian and Marzoni's Brick Oven and Brewing Co. are all pretty decent. Plus, if chain restaurants are your thing, there are a few of them also. Although, now that I think about it, Macgrogan's might be considered a chain.

"Cooper's"? Really? Maybe if you want a bowl of soup. Is soup a meal?

Not even for soup, wade. I can make my own soup. Many years ago, we went to The Nook in Pittston often and enjoyed every meal. Then, Cooper's bought it and while they were supposed to be a "seafood" restaurant, it didn't match The Nook for quality. I haven't eaten in the Scranton Cooper's in a long time and from reports from family who has, I'll pass.

Amadeo's is pasta-heavy. I was last there in May to celebrate my granddaughter's graduation from Da U. I'd much prefer an entrée with a small side of pasta. Not a bad place, just not very innovative. Of course, the cannoli is worth the rest of the meal.

I keep meaning to try the New Amber but by the time I remember it, we're already seated elsewhere!

When we lived in Scranton (40 years ago) we always enjoyed Billy's in Dunmore. That's gone, right?

[kimmie2016]

Roma Pizza Dickson City & Peking Chef Kingston or Dallas PA