Here’s where to find your fall coffee, seasonal menu offerings in Centre County
The leaves are finally changing, and that means menus are too.
Across Centre County, chefs are trading summer tomatoes and corn for autumn’s butternut squash and apples. Perhaps you already picked up a corporate pumpkin spice coffee concoction on your way to work, but local restaurants and cafes are offering much more this season.
Whether it’s a maple-infused cocktail or a daring fall bacon creation, these are some of Centre County’s fall menu items worth trying. We’ve organized this list from breakfast through dinner and dessert to help you taste the season one meal at a time.
Morning coffee run
You can’t escape a fall coffee drink, and Bonfatto’s Italian Market & Corner Cafe in Bellefonte delivers some unique options. On the menu are safer bets like brown sugar or maple lattes, but if you live on the dangerous side, you can get a Nutella hazelnut affogato. After all, morning ice cream doesn’t count if it’s actually coffee. A beverage will run you between $5 and $6.
Coco’s Coffehouse, an in-store outfit of Brown Dog Catering in Philipsburg, has a frozen apple chai drink, along with an maximalist brown sugar apple cinnamon cold brew. The fancier beverages also cost $5 to $6.
If you’re going for the full fall breakfast, try The Junction 144 in Boggs Township. With your standard pumpkin spice coffee, you can get pumpkin spice bacon.
Where to find them
- Bonfatto’s Italian Market & Corner Cafe: 401 W. High St., Bellefonte, PA 16823
- Coco’s Coffehouse/Brown Dog Catering: 112 E. Pine St., Philipsburg, PA 16866
- The Junction 144: 850 S. Eagle Valley Road, Bellefonte, PA 16823
Lunch and dinner
Those looking for a simple midday pickup meal can head to Four Ways Pub & Eatery in Spring Township for homemade soups and garlic toast. Recent features include pork and vegetable, and ham and white bean. Otto’s Pub & Brewery in Patton Township has biweekly features, with cheese curds and barbecue beef pizza available for the next two weeks at $12 and $16, respectively. They replace the Oktoberfest Pizza: beer-infused dough topped with mashed potatoes, bratwurst and cheddar cheese. Otto’s also has a selection of fall beers to choose from.
There are many options for a fancier fall meal. Flour & Stone in Pine Grove Mills recently rolled out its fall menu, featuring a beet hummus, autumn ravioli, rabbit mandilli and squash roulade, among others. RE Farm Cafe in Patton Township offers venison kielbasa and kebabs, in addition to potato gnocchi served with a sherried pumpkin cream, lentils and squash. Expect to pay $30 or more per person at these restaurants.
Where to find them
- Four Ways Pub & Eatery: 685 Pleasant View Blvd., Bellefonte, PA 16823
- Otto’s Pub & Brewery: 2235 N. Atherton St., State College, PA 16823
- Flour & Stone: 125 E. Pine Grove Road, Pine Grove Mills, PA 16868
- RE Farm Cafe: 1000 S. Fillmore Road, State College, PA 16803
Evening drinks
If your pumpkin spice latte didn’t fill your fall fluid fix, stop by one of Centre County’s pubs or breweries for an autumnal cocktail.
Philipsburg’s The Dead Canary has a stacked fall drink menu, with everything from cranberry-apple margarita to a pumpkin espresso martini, served with a spiced wafer on top. The brewery even offers cheaper-than-the-real-deal mocktails, with its two fall features being a cranberry apple cider and a pear ginger smash with optional jalapeños. All of The Dead Canary’s fall cocktails are $11 or less.
Up the price ladder, The Republic at Bellefonte’s Gamble Mill has a butternut maple whiskey and a toasted almond bourbon on the menu, while Barrel 21 Distillery in Patton Township is serving spiced butter beer, pumpkin espresso martinis and a peach cobbler cocktail.
Where to find them
- The Dead Canary: 5 N. Front St., Philipsburg, PA 16866
- The Republic: 160 Dunlop St., Bellefonte, PA 16823
- Barrel 21 Distillery: 2255 N. Atherton St., State College, PA 16803
Dessert
Robin Hood Brewing Co. has fall cocktails too, but you can soak them up with a fall dessert. The Spring Township brewery has a pumpkin cheesecake, peach cobbler tart served with ice cream and the uncommon bread pudding.
Those looking for a standalone dessert can head to one of Bellefonte’s newest additions, The Parlor, for caramel apple pie ice cream or a caramel cake bomb (or both at the same time). Down the road at The Meadows, there is a full calendar of daily fall ice cream specials.
Where to find them
- Robin Hood Brewing Co.: 1796 Zion Road, Bellefonte, PA 16823
- The Parlor: 167 S. Potter St., Bellefonte, PA 16823
- The Meadows: 2934 Benner Pike, Bellefonte, PA 16823
