Pennsylvania Food Experiences

Pennsylvania is well known for its wealth of culinary offerings, from fried delights to iconic snack foods and farm-fresh eats. While you’re traversing around the Keystone State, consider these one-of-a-kind food experiences, and view our listings of beer, wine, and food in Pennsylvania for more.

Fun Fair Food

There’s deep-fried everything and then there’s…

• Pretzel sandwiches and haluski (cabbage and noodles): Wyoming County Fair in Meshoppen
• Ice-cream-topped monkey bread loaded with cinnamon and brown sugar: Huntingdon County Fair
• All-you-can-eat chicken pot pie: Kutztown Fair
• Red-velvet funnel cake, venison jerky, and Cajun fried chicken on a stick: Centre County Grange Fair Encampment in Centre Hall
• Ox roast and maple milkshakes: Crawford County Fair in Meadville
• Fireball sandwich, bologna sticks, and sweet-corn nuggets: Bloomsburg Fair

Iconic Foods

The recipe for a unique culinary experience should always include a bite of something iconic.

• Lancaster’s Dutch Cuisine whoopie pie, shoofly pie, chow-chow (a sweet-and-sour relish made from cabbage), scrapple (loaf-pressed pork scraps, cornmeal, and flour), and Fasnacht (a type of donut).
• Drown a plate of pancakes with maple syrup (“the nectar of the gods”) tapped right in Northwestern PA.
• Savor farm-raised elk burgers at Medix and Benezette hotels in the PA Wilds.
• Crunch the maple popcorn and other maple-infused treats at Loch’s in Springville.
• Sample anything and everything apple from Adams County, where 20,000 of its acres are dedicated to fruit production, or attend the annual National Apple Harvest Festival in October.
• Taste Pittsburgh perfection: Squirt some Heinz Ketchup on a Big Mac, which was invented in nearby Uniontown in the 1960s, and eat a sandwich at Primanti Bros., with fries right inside. Follow that up with a plate of potato-and-cheese pierogi.
• Pop a few pepperoni balls from Stanganelli’s and save room for sponge candy (honeycomb, sea foam, or sponge toffee) from Stefanelli’s in Erie.
• Yocco’s, the Hot Dog King of Emmaus, dishes up a well-done dog in a steamed roll with chopped onions, tangy mustard, and Yocco’s chili sauce.
• Pennsylvania invented a better way to eat a sticky bun: grilled, so the glaze gets all ooey and gooey. Try ’em at Millers in Lancaster County.
• The City of Brotherly Love is home to the friendliest food fight - try Pat's King of Steaks and Geno's Cheesesteaks to settle the great debate of who claims the best cheesesteak in the city.