Monday Rant: Pennsylvania - West vs. East

I think that if I can conclude one thing after my trip to the eastern part of Pennsylvania it's that we know how to drink beer in the western part and they know how to eat in the eastern part of the state.

My post last Wednesday described how the town of Gettysburg, its roads and its location were all conducive to great beer and food being all over the town's establishments.

What I proposed is true. There's food ranging from seafood from Maryland, cheesesteaks from Philadelphia and recipes from the Pennsylvania Dutch. There are also numerous craft breweries that have their product around Gettysburg as well. Troegs is just to the north, Roy Pitz out of Chambersburg and Lancaster Brewing isn't too far off either.

The problem is that it looks as if that side of the state hasn't yet caught up with the craft beer revolution that we are currently experiencing here around Pittsburgh. Not to say that our friends out east have no idea what craft beer is, but in the rural areas outside of Philadelphia it looks as if they're not yet ready for it.

This was evident to me by the lack of taps in a few of the restaurants I dined in this past weekend. Yes, of course some of those companies have a presence there. It's just when I head to the Dobbin House Tavern I expect a bigger selection of Troegs other than just the Pale Ale. I honestly expected to find Sunshine Pils all over the place since it's an excellent summer beer and it usually gets hot as hell east of the Blue Ridge.

For the record, numerous beers from these companies are present in bottle. I'm just disappointed in the lack of tap presence.

Aside from that, another thing I've learned is that if they don't have a wide as selection of beer as we do here, they sure as hell know how to eat better than us. After having a cheesesteak made the right way out there, I'll be damned if I ever get one in Pittsburgh again. A cheesesteak with the cheese melted on the grill with the meat as it cooks will always overcome the overrated Primanti's Pittsburgher sandwich.

Where the hell else can you find Shepherd's Pie Potato Skins?

We can't forget about the Dutch cooking either. Where around here can you find anything that resembles the Game Pie or spoon bread at the Farnsworth House Inn? While eating breakfast at the local diner, I ordered pancakes with chocolate and peanut butter chips one morning and cheese danish the next. If you order a danish at Eat n' Park or another similar place around here, the odds are that you're getting an Entenmann's picked up at your local super market.