‘We bleed blue and white.’ This is who you voted the best game day restaurant in Centre County
It’s felicitous that one of the restaurants that most closely aligns itself with Penn State took the top spot for best game day restaurant in Centre County.
The We Are Inn, 1535 Port Matilda Highway, ran away with its victory, claiming 58% of the nearly 5,000 votes cast in the just-for-fun, unscientific poll between Friday and Tuesday. HiWay Pizza Pub placed second at 27%.
“We bleed blue and white over here and everybody knows it,” owner Pat Romano Jr. said. “People come from everywhere.”
The Penn State alumnus and his wife, Jennifer, bought the building in September 2019. It was previously the Mallard Hotel, but sat unused for decades. The restaurant opened in August 2020.
One of Romano’s first steps was to paint the red brick building gray, largely because a half-dozen Big Ten schools have red as their dominant color.
“We couldn’t have that,” Romano said with a laugh.
The restaurant’s walls are lined with Penn State memorabilia, including signed jerseys from some of the university’s most historic players. Romano said in jest that his restaurant has more Penn State football collectibles than anywhere except the Lasch Building.
This story was originally published March 9, 2022 at 9:12 AM.