Iconic State College restaurant marks 100 years with throwback menu items and more

On Aug. 2, 1926, The Corner Room opened its doors for the first time within the newly renamed Hotel State College.

Yes, the structure lived several other past lives as a hotel and restaurant before this. In the mid-1800s, it was Jack’s Road House, where you could get lodging and meals for $1 a day, and where the first telephone in town was installed in 1885. In 1906, it was the Nittany Inn (not to be confused with today’s Nittany Lion Inn, which didn’t open until the 1930s), and, at that time, the building also boasted the State College post office, and a bowling alley, barber shop and printing and publishing company in the basement.

Those past lives aside, though, if considering The Corner Room as The Corner Room, this year marks the downtown State College institution’s 100th birthday — and today’s Hotel State College team is pulling out all the stops to celebrate.

The monumental milestone “speaks volumes for what The Corner Room is,” said Jake Nyman, the restaurant’s general manager.

“The Corner Room is just full of traditions, from way back in the day until now,” he said. “Everybody has a memory there, whether it’s a first date, a celebration, anniversary. They just keep continuing and allow us to stay in business to celebrate with them.”

The restaurant on the corner of South Allen Street and West College Avenue has always been a destination, kitchen manager Scott Shive said.

“A lot of people say that when you come to State College, The Corner Room is where you have to go, whether it was for a sticky or just nostalgia,” he said. “Everyone viewed us as ... something they wanted to see while they were in the State College area.”

Honoring that nostalgia and tradition that keeps customers coming back, time and again, while simultaneously adjusting for the modern challenges of running a local restaurant is a balancing act, but one The Corner Room has pulled off well. When Pat Croce & Company purchased Hotel State College & Company and its family of businesses in 2019, The Corner Room was one of the first to receive a carefully considered revamp.

“I think the one thing we do really well is recognizing what the past is and what the past has meant to everybody in the community, but then being able to put our own modern twist on that, to look forward,” Nyman said. “I think they did a great job with the renovations. When we did the renovations, that was really the model — to take it back to its original, but with modern flair. We do the same thing through our food.”

The celebration of The Corner Room’s longevity has already begun. Throughout the next year, the restaurant is bringing back some of its old-school favorite menu items for a limited time, each given a modern twist and available for two months. Through the end of February, the featured dish is the Ham a la Corner.

It was a staple item on many of the restaurant’s menus through across the decades, Shive said, and used to be a double-decker sandwich. The revamped version is on ciabatta, with tasso ham instead of regular deli ham and roasted garlic aioli instead of regular mayo.

“ We used our current thousand island dressing, which is a little bit more flavorful than our old Russian dressing from back in the day,” Shive said. “We added multiple types of lettuce instead of just the regular, boring iceberg lettuce. So, we upgraded a few things but still paid tribute to the original sandwich.”

In the months ahead, potential throwback specials include the baja salmon and some fan-favorite soups.

Of course, a century in business is a big deal, so the celebrations go beyond just some new menu items.

“It’s a hundred years, so we’re going to take a year-long celebration ... possibly some pop-ups with hopefully some collaborators in the restaurant, and then a bigger celebration in July, which we’re calling The Corner Fest,” said Fermin Almeida, marketing coordinator for Hotel State College.

Joyce Young, Hotel State College creative director, added that the restaurant will also be releasing some limited-edition 100th anniversary merchandise (likely available in March) and rolling out a special 100th anniversary coffee with Rothrock Coffee.

They’re also looking to collect community members’ memories and stories, with a story booth that will be in the entrance of the restaurant.

“We will have a landing page online for folks who are not local to do that as well, and that’ll give us an opportunity to connect with them and invite them for our big blowout celebration in the summer,” Young said.

Community members are also invited to submit photos and stories related to their Corner Room memories at stories@hotelstatecollege.com.

Plans for The Corner Fest are still being finalized.

Holly Riddle is a freelance food, travel and lifestyle writer. She can be reached at holly.ridd@gmail.com.