A Lion Has to Eat

Barranquero Café

At the beginning of the fall semester, I studied in the library almost every day. I would make the trek from Simmons all the way to West campus to get to the library, and got so much work done there. As the months went on, and the weather got colder and colder, I found myself avoiding the 15 minute walk to the library and just studying in my room instead. During finals week, I wanted to study in the library, but quickly found that there really was no place for me to sit, and it was incredibly crowded. So of course, back to my room I went to study there instead. This was habit was fine during the last few weeks of fall semester, but I was quickly realizing that this would not be practical in the long run. While studying in my room, I often found myself distracted or just flat out going to sleep, which turned out to be a huge problem as far as productivity goes. So, I started to study downtown or in the dining halls instead. Making my way through the coffee shops of State College one at a time, I eventually found a new favorite, Barranquero Café.

Unlike Saints or Webster’s, which are both a pretty decent walk from my dorm, Barranquero is a 5 minute walk, maximum. On cold days or early mornings, this is super nice. Speaking of early mornings, did I mention that this place opens at like 8? Super convenient if you are like me and like to be awake and moving before 7.

Upon entering the cafe, you are immediately welcomed with bright colors and a bubbling atmosphere. With a name like Barranquero, you have probably guessed that this café is South American themed. Throughout the café, there are paintings of colorful birds and other wildlife, as well as many handmade crafts and decorations from local artists in South America. The café has two levels, a ground level and a type of loft. Generally when I study here, I pick the table by the outlet (I am usually here for hours at a time, so laptop charge definitely becomes an issue), and get comfortable for the day. There are many comfortable seats in the loft like fluffy chairs, a booth/bench type of table, and just other tables. Below on the ground level, there is a bar near the counter, a bar near the window, booths, and other tables scattered.

Everyone that works in the café is always super sweet and very friendly, and are more than willing to explain what any of the Spanish dishes on the menu consist of. That brings me to the best part of this café, the delicious food, coffee, and tea! The food is mostly based on corn meal. So everything from the arepas to the empanadas are made from a corn meal. The coffee is some of the best. Be warned though: it is incredibly strong!! I drank it all day once, and came out with a screaming caffeine headache, so tread lightly. The fruit teas are my favorite, especially the blackberry. Outside of these things listed, I haven’t really tried anything else. However, I can confirm that these things are absolutely to die for, especially the spinach/mushroom pasteles, my absolute favorite! Combine it with a latte and you are in heaven, and even more so, set up for a day of productive studying!

Overall, I would absolutely recommend this place to anyone. However, it is a little on the pricier side of things. The food is great and the proximity to campus is also great, but if you are like me and do not have a ton of extra cash just floating around, this is probably not an every day or even every week type of place. It is super nice to go here for a treat though, or just to make studying feel a little less painful.

The menu for Barranquero Café can be found here.

Peace, Love, and Little Donuts

It was a Thursday morning. Thursday mornings are super special around 59 Simmons, because this is the day the neither my roommate nor I have classes until noon at the earliest. Usually we try to get some work done, grab brunch, or workout, but this morning was different. This would finally be the day that we ventured downtown to Peace, Love, and Little Donuts for none other than little donuts and coffee, of course. This was one of the few weird February mornings where it ??? finally felt like spring was in the air. So we dressed in the cutest summer clothes in our closets and headed out the door. The shop is actually fairly close to our dorm, pretty much directly behind Baby’s, so about at 5 minute walk or so. The shop itself is kind of hard to find, mostly because walking up to it feels like you are in an alley or just somewhere where you should not be in general, but fear not, if you feel like you are in the wrong place, you are probably in the right one. Upon entering the shop, we were greeted by a friendly staff member who quickly explained the process to us. After my roommate and I decided that it would be best to split a box of 6 donuts, each of us picking 3, the process was like this: you look through the displays of all the exotic flavors and flavor combinations of donuts (or make your own!) and tell her what you want. Then in front of you, the staff member grabs donuts hot off the conveyer belt, and makes them customized to what you have ordered. Super fun, and super fast at that. I chose to go with raspberry lemonade, lemon twist (or something like that) and something along the lines of chocolate and peanut butter. My roommate did almost the same, except she got the banana twist instead of the raspberry. A trip to a cute food place would not be complete without an Instagram post, as seen below: 

After the few quick, cute pictures, we dug in, and let me say, these donuts are delicious. For whatever reason, little donuts taste better, I don’t know why, but it is pretty much fact. These are arguably the best donuts I have ever had; warm, fresh, and exactly how you want them. We finished our donuts and coffee quicker than expected (probably because they are tiny!) and hung around for a bit to admire the place. It is definitely super vibe-y, and really has a hipster feel with all of the bright colors, peace signs, etc. Overall, the staff working that day were super friendly, and really patient with us, and even offered us free samples while explaining the process of ordering. I would definitely come here again and again (and have!). WARNING: do not come here expecting to leave completely full. If you have not eaten a full meal, or do not plan on eating a full meal, expect to pay lots and eat lots of donuts if you want to leave completely full. These were definitely on the pricier side of things, but I would definitely say worth it. 

Baby’s Burgers and Shakes

I honestly cannot believe that I have been at Penn State doing this blog for this long without formally posting about Baby’s. I’ve been here numerous times, but for whatever reason seem to have skipped over it. So when my roommate and I went here on Wednesday afternoon as I was searching for my next blog topic, I decided to check to see if I had ever done Baby’s. The answer was nope. So here we are. Enter Baby’s.

The original plan was to go to Yogurt Express for an Acai Bowl (because health) but that was a major flop after we made at least three circles around the block trying to find the place, only to find out that an Acai Bowl (essentially just a pretty bowl with some yogurt and fruit in it for those of you that do not know) is a pretty hefty nine dollars. Lol as a college student I think not. On to the next. As we rounded the corner of the street for the now fourth time, we spy Baby’s. “I’ve never been there before but it looks super cute”, says my roommate. Decision made.

Upon entering the restaurant we were greeted by what I can only describe the tallest man I have ever seen. Not exaggerating. He quickly showed us to our table and got our drink orders before we could even get our coats off and sit down. The menus were located under a super cute little juke box on the table quietly playing what seemed to be 50’s music. After making our entree selections, my roommate and I got to talking about how cool it would have been to be a teenager in the 50’s, and how growing up with that kind of music would have been so fun. I chose the Blue Moon Burger and my roommate ended up going with a classic mac and cheese, and while we were waiting, my roommate snapped this cute little candid of me. Always have to be on the lookout for good Instagram material, am I right?

Our food arrived fairly quickly, and looked delicious. My burger was great, and my roommates mac and cheese was even better. We ate, chatted, and the waiter checked in on us and refilled our drinks frequently.

Overall, this is definitely the spot to be if you are looking for anything from a casual lunch out, a fun dinner experience with friends, or just a change of scenery from the usual Penn State Dining Commons. The atmosphere is cute and bubbly, definitely super vintage feeling, and overall just has really great vibes. The waitstaff has usually been super friendly every time I have visited, and the food is priced extremely reasonably! I have ordered other things like cheesesteaks, salads, and other sandwiches from here as well, and have never been disappointed with my choice! They also apparently make really great milkshakes, I have never tried one, but I would definitely recommend giving them a try! Past Penn Stater’s, people that visit me at school, and friends also all agree! This is definitely a place I would come to again and again, and will probably be somewhere I always remember, even after graduation.

You can find the menu for Baby’s Burger and Shakes here.

Luna II

It was a Friday evening, and my roommate and I decided that we were definitely not eating dining hall food for the millionth time that day (not bashing PSU Dining, they are phenomenal and really do put out good food, but sometimes it gets old lol). So it was decided, we were going to eat dinner out, do some shopping, and then go out to see a movie after. Since I have my car, this was all super easy to do, and no navigating the bus system for us, thank god. I text my friend Mitchell to see if he wants to come along, and of course, with the offer of off-campus dining, he quickly says yes. About an hour later, we are headed out, but there is one dilemma: we never actually decided where we were going to eat. As we are driving, Mitchell exclaims, “turn there! That place is great!” I turn into the lot he pointed to, causing everyone in the car to shift slightly in there seat after the evasive maneuver. Upon arrival, the place looked small. But since it was not super busy, I assumed it would probably be fine. We walked into the restaurant, and let me just say it was so cute. The atmosphere looked fresh, besides for the really outdated looking benches on the booths. We were immediately seated and brought menus, and our waitress quickly attended to our drink orders while we pondered the menu. While all of this happened, Mitchell told us that family friends of his that had gone to Penn State really like the other Luna (Luna 1) on Atherton Street. This Luna was only a continuation of the first Luna. He also suggested the mac and cheese, only because it was apparently the best mac and cheese around in his friends’ opinion. Apparently, they are also really famous for their wood grilled pizza, which is also said to be the best around.

Our waitress returned fairly quickly with our drinks, but because of our story telling we unfortunately had to send her away once more to actually make dinner selections. After hearing about the fantastic mac and cheese, of course that was my first instinct. But after further investigating their menu, I realized that the portobello burger was the choice for me, a grilled marinated portobello with different peppers and onions on a ciabatta roll (ciabatta rolls are the way to my heart and are absolutely the best type of bread, do not argue with me on this fact). My roommate ended up getting the same thing as me, since she is a vegetarian, and this was the perfect dish for her. Of course Mitchell got the mac and cheese. After the waitress returned for the second time, we placed our orders and she brought drink refills. Good conversation followed, and before we knew it our dinners were being served. My burger was delicious. The marination on the portobello made the burger as a whole fantastic, and it was even served with a type of pesto dipping sauce, making it even better. Even though Mitchell was bitter that no one else got the world renowned mac and cheese, but he did let us have bites, and let me tell you, he was definitely not kidding, the mac and cheese was super cheesy, and had a bread crumb topping, making the top layer extra crispy.

Overall, this is a great place to come for a night out. Although its casual, it is also a great place to come out with friends, family, a date, really whoever. The prices were pretty great; in fact I think my whole meal was only nine dollars or so. The service and atmosphere were also both very welcoming. This is definitely a place I would come back to again.

You can find the Luna II menu here.

Home D Pizzeria

As the semester begins yet again and I start this passion blog back up, I think it’s time to start venturing farther away from campus. Enter Home D Pizzeria. I came to this pizza place the Friday after the first week of classes with a friend from home. We ventured out into the pouring rain and walked all the way to Lot 83 to his car. (For those of you who do not know, Lot 83 is actually in the middle of no where, like go past the football building, across the street, and keep walking type of middle of no where). With umbrellas in hand we trudged across the street, eventually making it to his car. Upon pulling out, there was a huge splashing noise. I looked in the back seat and it appeared that there was a leak in the car roof, as water from the top of the vehicle had shifted into the hole upon moving, covering the back in water. Interesting. We continue on to Atherton Street, and eventually make it to our destination. We jumped out of the car and ran to the awning, completely drenched by the rain.

Upon entering the restaurant we were greeted by a friendly hostess and what looked like a crowded bar scene. What I had not realized was that this pizzeria was also an upbeat bar, with fun lights and what seemed like a thousand TV’s podcasting the Penn State vs. Nebraska basketball game. We were seated immediately (even though there was a wait for tables, maybe we were seated so soon because there were only two of us) and the hostess left us with our menus. After what felt like forever, and after we had long made our drink and food choices, our waiter finally arrived to take our order. After collecting our drink orders he left, not bothering to ask if we were ready to also place our order, which was fine but would have been nice. After taking another eternity to come back with our drinks, he finally took our food order, one medium (they are big) Italian Stromboli to split. We talked and enjoyed each other’s company while waiting, although the bar scene directly next to us was slightly obnoxious and loud. We watched the basketball game for a while, until it appeared that the storm going on outside might have knocked the cable out. After waiting, and waiting, and waiting our food finally arrived; but only with one fork. After requesting another, and again waiting and waiting for it, we finally began to eat. The Stromboli was fantastic. Lots of meat and cheese, with sauce not only on the inside, but on the side too. Overall, the food was fantastic.

Overall, this restaurant was a win. Our server was less than attentive, but the bar and restaurant were both packed (probably having to do with the fact that it was a Friday night) probably causing the delays. We waited on drink refills, orders, and even the fork for far longer than I would have liked, but that was okay. The layout of the restaurant was strange in that it was directly next to the bar, and also the seats overall. There was one long bench along the wall that multiple people from multiple different groups all shared; for example I was next to a young boy to my right and an older gentleman to my left. This made talking to the person directly in front of you hard, as you were somewhat listening to others’ conversations and they were definitely listening to yours. The good food and somewhat reasonable pricing definitely makes up for all these aspects however. In the end, I would definitely recommend this place, whether you are looking for a night out or just some good pizza.

The link to Home D Pizzeria can be found here.

Tadashi Japanese Restaurant

It was a Friday night, and my roommate and I had decided it was time to get something good for dinner that was not dining hall food for once. We were not really sure on where to go, so we invited our friends Glenn and Rohit along too. Glenn said he wanted ramen. In my head, I definitely thought that ramen was only something you could get from the microwave. You know, get the cup out, pour some hot water over it? No, apparently ramen was not just a microwaveable food. This surprised me, but I was definitely up for trying something new. It was freezing cold, so we hopped on the blue loop and headed downtown. We got off in front of the Japanese restaurant Tadashi, something I had definitely never heard of before. The line was out the door, but Glenn assured us that not only was the wait worth it, but that the wait would be fairly short. We headed into the tiny restaurant to get our names on the waiting list, then headed back out into the cold to get into line. They post the menus for the different types of sushi, ramen, and other Japanese food that they sell on the windows, making me think that it is definitely a pretty popular place to go, so it must be good. Most of the menu is in Japanese however, so I really did not understand any of it. My friend Glenn gave me a recommendation on what ramen to get, so I went with that. After about 10 minutes of waiting, we finally got the phone call saying our table was ready. The restaurant was definitely small, that was my first impression. There was not a lot of spacing for sitting, and it was definitely packed and loud. We were seated at a small bench-like table, and the chairs were stools. I was told that this was more authentic to what a restaurant in Japan would actually look like. Water was complimentary, and was served out of glass bottles on the tables into metal cups. After briefly looking at the menu one more time, I was confident in my order, R3 (I was not even going to attempt to say the Japanese name). The waitress came and took our orders in a pretty timely fashion, and we waited. It took longer than I expected for our food to come, but when it finally did, I saw why it took a while. The ramen we were served looked like art. My ramen had seaweed, pork, bean sprouts, onion, noodles, and a soft boiled egg. The meal is eaten with a big wooden ladle and chopsticks. The portion sizes were huge. I did not even come close to finishing my plate! Overall, the meal was delicious and pretty cheap, as I only paid $9 for my entire meal. If you ever consider coming here, however, just be aware that there will probably be a wait, and it will be crowded, but the food is definitely worth it! 

The menu for Tadashi can be found here.

Saints Cafe

It was a Friday afternoon. That night, I had a Humphrey Fellows event for the GLOBE, an event where distinguished people from various questions meet with us to discuss cultural differences, global issues, etc. It was definitely fixing to be a long night. After class, I crashed in the dorm room, only to be awoken by my roommate coming into the room about half an hour later. We had about an hour and a half before the event started. In the moment, we decided to do the one thing we had been wanting to do since arriving in State College in August: go to Saints Cafe; because if we did not do it then, when would we ever do it? We grabbed our jackets, purses, and all the fancy clothes we would soon have to change into for the event, and headed out the door. The walk from our dorm in South to Saints was quite the hike. After walking for what seemed like forever, we finally reached our destination. Upon entering the coffee shop, my first impression was that it was very small. With only a few tables and even fewer chairs, it was definitely packed. However, upon closer examination, Saints was definitely adorable. Colorful paintings covered the wall, plants were sitting on shelves next to pottery, and classy music playing in the background. There were many cases full of different pastries, and another case full of various egg croissants, tarts, and quiche. As I stepped up to the counter, there were many drink choices, ranging from just plain coffee to macchiatos. I ordered my classic hot caramel latte, and my roommate ordered an iced caramel latte. We stood around near the area where the drink orders were supposed to come out, and enjoyed the complimentary cucumber water they had in pitchers to drink while you wait (or maybe with the food or coffee, I don’t know). There were magazines and books to read stacked all around as well. Our drinks soon came out, and we eventually found an empty table. The coffee was nothing short of great. My roommate and I chatted about our day and the evening ahead, and all around really enjoyed ourselves. As cute and as great as this little coffee shop was, the only complaint I have is that it was relatively loud. It was definitely crowded, full of people working on laptops, people chatting, and even families. It was a football weekend, so that definitely could have contributed to the issue, but it was definitely standing room only at some points. My roommate and I have definitely discussed going back in the future, however, for breakfast. In the future, I definitely hope we can catch it at a less busy time. I really want to try one of the fruit tarts! Overall, I would recommend this as a cute place to go to just hang out and relax, but just be aware that it is sometimes hard to get seating, and is often pretty loud if you’re actually trying to get any work done.

You can find Saints’ website here.

Momotaro

During the first week of my time here at Penn State, I attended a sort of orientation for the Schreyer Honors College called “Sho Time”. Sho Time is great for those that have a hard time transitioning from home to college, and a great place to make friends fast. I however, did not exactly have a great experience. My Sho Time mentors were great and actually super helpful, and I loved everyone in my group; however when it came to enjoying the actual event – eh, not so much. More than anything in the world I really just wanted some time to myself to readjust, get my room in order, hang out with my new roommate, and just plain relax. Instead, I was thrusted into a million ice breakers, seminars, and discussions, none of which I was enjoying all that much. I really wanted to see some form of a familiar face after spending the last 3 days being forced to constantly meet new people. Luckily for me, my cousin (who is also in the Honors College) lives in Atherton, right across the road from me. She moved in on the day Sho Time ended, and it was decided that once the finale of Sho Time was over, we were going to do something fun. After the finale, I met my cousin outside my building and she suggested we head downtown to a new ice cream place called Momotaro that she had heard of online and always wanted to try.

Momotaro was a little bit of a walk from my dorm, Simmons in South Halls, about a mile. It looks like a little hole in the wall type place located in a small plaza along the side of the road. The outside of the store is modern looking, but still sort of dingy just because of the location. Upon entering however, the exact opposite was true. The whole store was modern, clean, and bright. The store originates in Japan, and the stores definitely reflects that. All of the employees in the store appeared to be of Japanese decent, and were all incredibly friendly. My cousin and I grabbed menus, and read them over while waiting for her roommate to join us. After quickly becoming sick of waiting for her, we ended up ordering anyways. I stepped up to the counter and ordered. I chose an original base (plain ice cream), mango flavoring, and the fruits topping. They make the ice cream rolls in sort of a Cold Stone fashion in that they pour essentially whipping cream onto a cold rock and use a scraper to push it into rolls. The rolls are then neatly stacked into a little bowl. After that, the employee artistically arranges whatever toppings you chose onto the rolls, making what looks like a masterpiece out of ice cream. Although the ice cream was great, it was on the pricier side. I think if I remember correctly I paid about $8 for a cup of ice cream, which was not really ideal, especially on a college budget; however it makes a great treat for a night out.

Overall, this is definitely a great place to relax, hang out with friends, and get some great desserts. Did I mention they sell pastries alongside the ice cream? Besides the fact that it is a little expensive, the experience is worth it if you have never been. I mean, who could pass up pretty ice cream?

You can find their website here.

Allen Street Grill

While studying sometime during midterm week last week, I was interrupted by a text from a family friend, Darin, (who is truthfully more like a dad to me) from home. He is a Penn State alumni himself, and his son (and good friend of mine) alsogoes here. In the text, he had said that he would be in town recruiting Penn State graduates for his company, and wondered that if I would like to join his son, his son’s roommates, another friend of his son’s from home who also goes here, and himself for dinner. I of course said I would love to (if you ever get any chance for off campus dining, you of course take it) and the plan was set for all of us to meet at the Corner Room for dinner. I was slightly disappointed about the CornerRoom, not because I don’t love the food there, but because I knew I had a passion blog coming up! Whatever, like I said, when you get the chance for off campus dining, you jump at it!

As I walked downtown with the large group of boys that I was eating dinner with, I couldn’t help but feel excited to finally get a break from studying and from campus in general. We saw Darin sitting on a bench in front of the Corner Room in the distance. He immediately jumped up and gave me a hug and shook everyone else’s hand, and started leading us to the door. However, it wasn’t the door for the Corner Room, it was the door for the upstairs part of what I thought was the Corner Room. “Upstairs?!” All the guys said. “Upstairs!” Said Darin. I was more than confused at this point. 

What I didn’t realize was that the whole Corner Room building is not just the Corner Room, but yet another restaurant, the Allen Street Grill. Who knew? We hiked up the red carpeted stairs and entered what seemed like a whole new world. The Allen Street Grill is pretty formal in comparison to the Corner Room downstairs or really anywhere else downtown. Still casual, but definitely a more formal and fancy vibe (absolutely a put-your-napkin-on-your-lap kind of place). We were immediately seated and immediately asked for drink orders. While we waited on drinks, I scanned the menu. I knew I didn’t want something heavy that would make me tired, so I figured a salad would be perfect. Everything was reasonably priced, and they had a pretty wide variety of entrees, soups, salads, and even naan pizzas to choose from. When the waitress quickly returned with our drinks, she took our orders. I ended up going with the grilled chicken Caesar salad, while the boys and Darin ended up choosing things like different cuts of steak and pastas. We were offered bread for the table, and obviously did not decline. Our food was served in a timely fashion, and was delicious. I always think you can judge a good restaurant by whether or not they chill their salad plates, and this salad plate was ice cold. Even though it was just a salad, the grilled chicken really made the meal. Off campus dining had never tasted so good. Everyone else also enjoyed their meals, and we all enjoyed each other’s good company. At the end of the night, Darin picked up the check , and we all headed back across the street for a full night of studying ahead of us. Overall, I would definitely recommend the Allen Street Grill as somewhere that sets an elegant tone, but is also affordable. 

You can find their menu here

The Tavern

It was Friday, finally. My roommate, part of the THON organization Apollo, had told me earlier in the day about a “Food Truck Fiesta” going on behind the Dorito church (the Grace Lutheran Church), hosted by Apollo, and we had decided that after classes we would definitely go and grab dinner. When she returned back to our dorm, we grabbed some cash, a jacket, and headed out. The walk from Simmons Hall in south to the Dorito church is not really that far, but it is still pretty substantial. As soon as we got there, we quickly realized this was a bad decision. While all the food trucks there seemed to be serving good food, there were only about six of them, and an absolute ton of people. Lines snaked all throughout the parking lot, and seeing as though we were already starving, we weren’t about to wait in any of those lines. Time to move to Plan B. I called my friend Mitch (who I had planned to study with later in the evening anyways) to see if he wanted to grab something to eat with us now that we were looking for more of a sit down, nice meal kind of atmosphere. He said sure, and suggested The Tavern on a little side street near East College Avenue. We met him there, and headed inside. First of all, before even going in you could tell this place was going to be adorable. It was located on a cute little alley that had brick sidewalks, and was surrounded by other cute shops. Upon entering we were greeted by a friendly hostess, who then led us to our table. I will say our table was a maze to get through, but that really is not a point of concern. The restaurant definitely had an antique kind of vibe, and everything looked original. After being seated our waitress quickly arrived and brought out complimentary water before asking if we wanted other drinks. We all decided to stick with the water, and she left us alone to spend some time with the menu. I will say, this is not the cheapest place on the block. However, something definitely worth mentioning is the fact that all appetizers are UNLIMITED. Meaning you could order any and as many appetizers as you would like, and they all just come with your meal. So although most items on the menu are $20+, you are still sort of getting a deal. Our waitress then returned and asked for our orders. I ended up going with Chicken Romano, while my friends ended up going with a steak and the other spaghetti. Our waitress left bread for the table, and went to put our orders in. The food arrived fairly quickly, and was absolutely delicious. My meal was lemon flavored chicken served over risotto, and I couldn’t get enough. I ordered French fries and applesauce as my sides, and let me tell you what, although I’m not always an applesauce kind of gal, I was that day. It was smooth, full of cinnamon, and incredible. Overall, the waitstaff was friendly, prices were reasonable considering what you were given, and the atmosphere was great. I would definitely recommend going here with friends or family.

You can find a menu for The Tavern here.