This State College restaurant was highlighted by ESPN’s College GameDay. What to know
Every weekend during the fall, ESPN’s College GameDay films a pregame show on a college campus and highlights some local cuisine — and Happy Valley’s recently opened “Penn Steaks” made its national TV debut on Saturday morning.
College GameDay, which is in State College ahead of Saturday night’s game between No. 3 Penn State and No. 6 Oregon, had its hosts sample the cheesesteak shop’s offerings during the three-hour show on ESPN.
“I’ll tell you what,” GameDay analyst Pat McAfee said after a mouthful, “this is the best cheesesteak I’ve ever had.”
The co-owners of the business trotted out a 37-inch cheesesteak — normally, the restaurant’s largest is 18 inches — and the ESPN crew dug in before a commercial break. Fellow analyst Rece Davis took a bite, remarking the food might not have been the best match since the analysts were wearing all-white suits for Saturday night’s White Out.
The others mostly stuck to the shoestring fries, either to prevent a mess or other reasons. (Earlier in the show, Nittany Lions coach James Franklin prodded analyst Desmond Howard about taking a bite of Creamery ice cream, even if he was on a diet.)
Here’s what you should know about Penn Steaks, if you’re interested in stopping by the same place as GameDay hosts Nick Saban, Kirk Herbstreit, Davis, McAfee and Howard.
Where’s it at?: Penn Steaks is located at 119 S. Pugh St. in downtown State College, essentially across the street from the Penn State campus. It’s about 1.5 miles from Beaver Stadium. Hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday-Wednesday; 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday; 11 a.m. to 2:30 a.m. Friday-Saturday and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday.
What’s on the menu?: The focus is most definitely on cheesesteaks, although shoestring fries and some fried appetizers (e.g. cheesesteak egg rolls, mozzarella sticks, onion rings) are also available. The cheesesteaks are made on house-baked Italian rolls, made fresh every day, and the beef cheesesteaks are made with ribeye. (Chicken cheesesteaks are also an option.)
How much is it?: A “regular” (6-inch) cheesesteak is $13, a large (9-inch) is $16 and an XXL (18-inch) is $29. Make it a combo, with fries and a drink, for another $5.50. If you really want a challenge, Penn Steaks offers a contest where the food is free and comes with a cash jackpot and T-shirt — if you can finish its largest cheesesteak, a tray of fries and a large soft drink within 30 minutes. If you can’t? That’ll be $60.
Wait ... is this a new restaurant?: Mostly. Let us explain. This location was previously known as Campus Steaks, which opened in August 2023. However, owner Joseph Ford was sentenced to prison for fraud and the business closed this past summer. A new ownership group took over the space while rebranding, upgrading offerings and reopening last month. So the new cheesesteak shop used to be ... the old cheesesteak shop. But it has different recipes, ingredients and management.
This story was originally published September 27, 2025 at 11:43 AM.
