Follow the smell of BBQ to get to the new incarnation of a downtown State College mainstay

Clouds of aromatic smoke drift up from West Calder Way. Follow your nose and arrive at the outdoor deck in front of Bill Pickles Taproom. The smoker for Pickles sits in the adjacent alley and is going day and night, filled with racks of ribs, slabs of brisket, spice rubbed pork shoulder and chicken, halves and wings. There’s a new barbecue game right downtown and it’s smokin!

There are many changes to State College these days, some subterranean involving water lines and some that push skyward, the charmless high-rises. But in the very center of town, there beats a big white and blue heart that looks much the same as it has for the past 100 years.

The Hotel State College started as Jack’s Road House in 1855, opened by James Jack, an entrepreneur from Philly. Changes over the years created the iconic touchstone that we know today, with properties including Bill Pickles Taproom.

An evolving vision

When I first came to town in 1970 as a student, I worked as a waitress at the Corner Room and felt like I had joined a family. The staff at that time included Kenny Hall, on the sandwich station with the toaster that never stopped rotating, Mardella, the eagle-eyed dining room supervisor, and Emma, the grandmotherly senior server who knew how everyone wanted their eggs or oatmeal.

After I graduated but stayed in town, I moved up to the then Allen Room and worked with head waitresses Ruth and Peggy, chef Paul Besse, and bartender Dennis. I’m still friends with fellow waitresses Terry Walker (now Joy) and Deb Fasick (now Fitzpatrick). It was yet another portal in the Hotel State College mothership that nurtured and then launched successive generations of hospitality workers.

One of those workers was Mike Desmond, who started in 1970 when he was in 9th grade: “I was a dishwasher, prep cook, and assisted Kenny Hall during the lunch rush by running the toaster for the immensely popular club sandwiches.”

By 1986 Desmond was part owner of the property and converted the attached Bostonian clothing store into Bill Pickles in 2005 to add another venue to the Hotel State College complex. His vision 20 years ago has a new incarnation.

Bill Pickles closed at the end of the spring semester for renovations. The popular watering hole needed a facelift, said Hospitality Director Brendyn Dornich, as he led us through the tunnels of the subterranean kitchen to show off the new smoker out back.

“Pickles is the most successful of the brands, or stores, in the hotel complex,” explained Dornich, “so when the new owners wanted to update the property, they didn’t want to change it too much, but they wanted to elevate the experience.”

The renovation is sympathetic to the original. There’s a new mural, the rich paneling has been restored, and seating added. The big surprise is that the food is far beyond the former bar mainstays of burgers and mozzarella sticks.

The food menu is now a destination.

Raising the bar

Kitchen Manager Scott Shive and Culinary Director Karen Nicolas traveled across the country to the best barbecue restaurants for inspiration. Shive, a State College native, had been passionate about barbecue for years and experimented at home with recipes and techniques. Once they knew what they were after they took Austin Mosher on the R & D ‘cue mission as training for his role as Pitmaster. The menu that the team developed is worthy of respect.

The meats are primarily cured with dry rubs and smoke. There are four signature sauces developed in-house so that everyone can choose their favorite finish to the dish. Hogs Galore sausage is on the menu and you can order a la carte from the selection of smoked meats and choose from an array of complementary sides like collards and corn pudding.

Appetizers lean toward the southern tier with their Pimento Cheese Dip and Low-on-the Hawg Cracklins as well as Dumpster Nachos and other items. The two salads — the Smokehouse Wedge and the Down South Caesar — are perfect complements to the barbecue theme.

Sandwiches show a masterful balance of smoky, savory, tangy and spicy and are substantial. They are all served with pickles that are an homage to the namesake, Bill Pickle, a bootlegger who supplied the town and gown with alcohol during the days of Prohibition.

And these are no ordinary US Foods pickles. The pickles served at Pickles are produced for them by a local kitchen, Rosanna’s, in Nittany, PA. They are a cross between a dill pickle and a bread-and-butter pickle, an excellent match for the fare.

The food menu was not the only upgrade; the beverage menu also raised the bar, with Single Barrel offerings, craft cocktails, a wide variety of beers on draft or in bottles, house or canned wine, and zero alcohol spirits as well as soft drinks. For a deeper appreciation of the single-barrel offerings, you can try a flight or speak with Brittany Mele, the knowledgeable general manager at Pickles who enjoys educating folks about their more esoteric offerings.

One of the most popular and unusual beverages is the Frozen Kentucky Coffee, which is a lactose-free whiskey blizzard made with Rothrock coffee. It would pair nicely with the Mexican Chocolate Dirt Parfait or the Peach and Biscuit Cobbler, the two dessert offerings.

Feeling of community endures

The Hotel State College was purchased in 2019 by Pat Croce & Co, a hospitality management company based in Florida. Croce is a well-known and much-beloved Philly entrepreneur and former president of the Philadelphia 76ers who turned over the reins of the management company in 2014 to his son Mike, a 2004 PSU alum, and son-in-law Jeff Sorg, a 1999 PSU alum. Both were excited about a business opportunity that would bring them back to Happy Valley.

Mike Croce was on hand for questions when we toured in July and was one of the many people we were introduced to while going through the dining room and kitchen.

Respect for the team, the concept, and the customer is evident in every person that we met, from Jackie, a sous chef from Florida who was up to help with the relaunch of the barbecue concept to Fermin Almeaida, the marketing specialist from Mexico who Brendyn Dornich described as a “hospitality force.” Each person has a role to play in creating a welcoming atmosphere and providing food, beverages, and comfort to everyone who comes in. Just like at home, just like a family. The feeling of community in the workplace is stronger than ever there on the corner. Follow the smoke.

This story was originally published August 8, 2024 at 6:30 AM.