We Are Inn is soon expanding to State College. Here’s what Centre County diners can expect
A beloved Centre County restaurant is expanding to State College with a new flagship location just down the road from Beaver Stadium.
The We Are Inn will soon open at 1031 E. College Ave. in the longtime home of Damon’s Bar & Grill, which closed about 10 years ago before changing hands. Owner Pat Romano, who opened the Penn State-themed venture’s Philipsburg restaurant and inn in 2022, said the expansion will help his business more easily cater to diners and Nittany Lions fans alike.
“I’m excited to bring more to the community, especially in Centre County,” Romano said Monday. “We have the one edge covered [in Philipsburg] where there really wasn’t anything over there, and we showed what we could do there. With so many people traveling along [U.S. Route] 322, that side gets jammed up. Expanding here should take some pressure off of that and still get more of the people traveling from the east. It’s going to be a great place for bringing people in.”
Just like in Philipsburg, the We Are Inn’s State College location — which includes just the restaurant — will serve a wide-ranging menu stuffed with tailgate favorite appetizers, burgers and sandwiches, seafood and Italian dinners supported by longtime family recipes and Romano’s upbringing in the Philadelphia area. The restaurant will honor Damon’s longtime legacy in the space by serving ribs, which were once Romano’s go-to order.
The new space along East College Avenue will give the We Are Inn ample room to serve guests and expand its entertainment offerings, Romano said. With an official indoor capacity of 583 people and room for about 60 more on the outdoor patio, the State College restaurant will more than double the size of Philipsburg’s We Are Inn.
Romano plans to offer varying spaces in his State College restaurant, including a large family dining room, a large bar room, VIP suites, private rooms and a basement primed for nightlife and live entertainment.
“I love fun. I think a bar or restaurant has a lot to do with the personality of the person running it,” said Romano, who’s already crafting plans to host comedy nights, line-dancing events and mechanical bull rides in the State College restaurant’s basement. The lower level could also be used for banquet events, reunions and other ceremonies.
Romano expects the restaurant to begin serving guests as soon as March or early spring, but a long to-do list of site work and upgrades in the space may lengthen that timeline. So far, workers have already replaced the carpeting in the basement with polished concrete and are moving forward with cleaning, salvaging furniture and site maintenance efforts. Romano plans to renovate the restaurant’s bar and install a merchandise counter near the front where customers can purchase signature sauces and other merchandise.
Replacing outdated kitchen equipment and changing the kitchen layout is also a key focus, Romano said. Those upgrades would make work easier for the restaurant’s staff of between roughly 60 and 80 people.
“When I first walked in here and saw the kitchen and heard people say the restaurants recently in here failed, the first thing I said was, ‘Well, they didn’t upgrade their equipment.’ You can’t succeed with bad equipment,” Romano said. “If guys are out using screw guns and putting screws in, doing drywall, and I’m still using a hammer, I can’t keep up with those guys. When you’re in [the kitchen], you need efficiency. There’s stuff that runs so much cleaner and takes up less space, and that’s important.”
Prices will be a bit higher in State College due to market variations and different costs, including a more expensive lease, Romano said. He anticipates business might slow down a bit in Philipsburg once the State College restaurant opens, but he expects both to perform well once the spectacle of opening a new location wears off.
The We Are Inn’s team has been in talks with the State College building’s owners since at least October 2022. Romano said ownership has worked hard to address ongoing issues at the site and get it ready for a new life.
“People are always saying, ‘That place is cursed. It gets water.’ Well, the owners are very good, and they’ve done about everything they could to fix these issues, which is why it’s taken so long,” Romano said. “A lot of people thought it just fell apart, but myself and the ownership group have been on a course since we first spoke, really, to make sure we succeed.”
Anyone who’s visited the We Are Inn knows its walls are lined and filled to the brim with Penn State memorabilia, including game-worn jerseys, signed posters and framed photographs of Beaver Stadium and other sites around campus. That will be no different in State College, especially after Romano just had nearly three dozen signed and framed Penn State football jerseys delivered.
Romano will dip into his ever-growing collection to decorate the restaurant interior in State College and even borrow a few beloved pieces from the Philipsburg restaurant, including a donated painting of the Nittany Lion Shrine and a game-worn shirt of Tom Bradley’s when he served as Penn State’s interim football coach.
“I have so much stuff in storage that I don’t even know what I have,” Romano joked. “There’s constantly people dropping things off, saying, ‘Hey, my dad had this and he passed away. Maybe you could use it.’ I love displaying those, because when people come in and see it, they feel even more a part of our community.”
Romano and his team signed a 10-year lease for the State College restaurant that includes two additional five-year options. Moving forward, he plans to make the We Are Inn an impactful part of the area’s dining and entertainment scene for years to come.
“We’re putting a lot into this,” Romano said. “It’s a family place. My children work here and my wife, Jennifer, works with me. I’m doing something I love, and nothing is better than sharing that with the community.”
%202.JPG)