The Blonde Bistro is coming back to the Bellefonte area. What’s new and what’s returning

Update: After a soft opening, Blonde Bistro Brew Works announced its official opening on Facebook. The eatery will be open 5-9 p.m. Nov. 23, closed Thanksgiving Day, and open 5-9 p.m. Nov. 25 and 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Nov. 26.

The Blonde Bistro has long been a staple on the Bellefonte dining scene, but the restaurant has undergone its fair share of changes over the last two years.

In 2020, Blonde Bistro moved from downtown Bellefonte’s South Allegheny Street to Titan Park, serving diners from a kitchen within Axemann Brewery. Earlier this year, the restaurant vacated that space and it was taken over by The Smokey Axe Grille. Now, Blonde Bistro is getting ready to open another new location, returning to its own stand-alone restaurant at 226 Nittany Valley Drive in Zion. The change is also a return to some of the menu items and events that Blonde Bistro became known for over the years, while also offering new and exciting updates.

“A lot of our customers missed our old space,” Blonde Bistro owner Ciara Semack said. “When we moved down to Axemann, it was a much larger space and there was a lot more people to serve. We went from a 50-person restaurant to a 500-seat establishment. You couldn’t have the same one-on-one interaction and menu like we used to.”

Semack closed up shop at Titan Park in May 2022. The new location on Nittany Valley Drive is expected to open in mid-November.

“With the new location … we’re going to go back to having live music. We’re going to go back to having our Ugly Sweater Christmas Party. We’re going to have a more intimate setting, where we can interact with our customers like we used to. We’re going to have things we used to have on our old menu, like the southern sweet risotto and seafood crostini — all the upscale fine dining dishes that we had,” Semack said.

And with all the returns to the fan-favorite elements of the original Blonde Bistro, there will also be one big change: the addition of an on-site brewery and a new name to fit it, Blonde Bistro Brew Works. In addition to brewing beer on-site, the restaurant will also offer Pennsylvania-made wines and spirits, as well as other Pennsylvania beers.

The decision to add a brewery to the bistro concept wasn’t necessarily planned, Semack said, but was a natural choice once she found the bistro’s new home — the former Michael’s Triangle Tavern.

“I grew up literally a half-mile up the road,” Semack said. “It’s so neat to come full circle. I used to come here and be a patron … The only reason we’re going to be a brewery is, because, when we looked at the space and sales agreement, there was brewery equipment already here. It was kind of like, let’s throw our hat into the ring and instead of us being BYOB, it was another place for us to expand our wings.”

Planned brews are designed to pair well with the restaurant’s existing menu and, of course, a blonde ale will be available.

While the restaurant’s menu will hearken back to the original Blonde Bistro, Semack promises new additions, too. She said, “We’re changing it up a bit. We’re going back to our old-school ways, but there will be a lot of new and interesting things on the menu as well.” The large menu includes an array of appetizers, pastas, pizzas and handhelds.

The restaurant will also resume catering as a Penn State-approved caterer and the new space offers an upstairs lounge area available for rent. The restaurant, which seats up to 100, will additionally be available to rent for events in its entirety.

“When I was at Axemann, I was just back in the kitchen. I wasn’t able to interact with the customers like I used to. I wasn’t able to spread my wings on the weekends with really intricate or unique specials, but now, I’m excited to see familiar faces and I’m excited for things to prosper the way that they were when we were at 135 (South Allegheny Street),” Semack said. “It was time for me to make a change. Now I have my own brick-and-mortar … and we’re able to go back to doing things ‘the blonde way.’ ”

Stay up to date on all things Blonde Bistro Brew Works on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TheBlondeBistro.

This story was originally published November 4, 2022 at 9:00 AM.