Elk Creek Café + Aleworks: True Local Flavor
Written: Feb 25 '08 (Updated Feb 27 '08)
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Pros: Everything: pleasant atmosphere, healthy local fresh ingredients, good food, great prices, fresh beer, live music.
Cons: Out of the way location for many.
The Bottom Line: I'm so glad to have found a restaurant that gives me great food I can feel great about eating. Highly recommended for a true taste of local flavor.
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| lyagushka's Full Review: Elk Creek Cafe & Aleworks |
The Elk Creek Café + Aleworks is situated in the tiny hamlet of Millheim, Pennsylvania. This little town has one stoplight at the main intersection, and there sits this unlikely eatery: modern yet comfortable, sophisticated in its menu offerings and yet distinctly down-to-earth. At the Elk Creek Café, the menu is built around locally sourced produce, meats and other products. The menu changes frequently, reflecting the change of seasons as well as the availability of local products. Most local of all are their six ales brewed on the premises.
Two spacious rooms have been joined together to create the dining space at Elk Creek Café, with two large storefront windows facing the street. Diners can munch happily on a grilled burger while watching Amish buggies drive by. I was seated with my back to the windows though, so only my husband got to watch. The warm yellowish paint on walls gave the room a nice relaxing glow. Though we weren't lucky enough to catch any live music our first visit, the Café frequently hosts bands for live performances. The small stage held a few tables during our meal. We did enjoy the photography gracing the walls though. Apparently, the artwork changes regularly to feature new local artists.
The atmosphere during our Friday evening dinner was pitch perfect. The long wooden bar filled up pretty quickly with a convivial but not rowdy crowd. Every table eventually filled too, but no one was waiting for a table, so there was no pressure to hurry through our meal and leave. And the wide spacing of the tables meant that the full house led to a pleasant convivial buzz rather than the need to shout at your dinner companion. The wooden tables and chairs were comfortable, with simple silverware, paper napkins, and a pretty clamp-lid bottle of tap water for self-service.
I'm not a beer drinker, but my husband more than makes up for my lack of interest. He of course decided not to decide on his beer selection, by ordering the sampler, which turned out to be a good deal. For a mere $7, he got generous sample glasses (at least 5 oz. each) of all six house brews. Normally, the pints go for $3.50 or $3 during happy hour. He enjoyed trying them all and particularly liked the Elk Creek Copper Ale and the Poe Paddy Porter.
Given our history, we couldn't resist an order of the Belgian style fries. They were even served with mayonnaise and a Tabasco laced ketchup. (No tiny little plastic fork though. Close, but not exactly Belgian.) The roasted beet salad I ordered turned out to be a green salad topped with large chunks of roasted beets, dressed with an interesting caraway vinaigrette. I enjoyed it. The greens were exceptionally fresh and tasty. Awfully impressive for Pennsylvania in early February. My husband's burger was modestly sized by average American standards, but it was tasty and sufficient to fill him up.
There was a smallish chalkboard on one wall that mentioned a few dessert options. But our waitress rattled off a list of 9 or 10 different desserts including chocolate mousse, two cheesecakes, butterscotch pudding and lemon curd cake. She told us that the chef isn't too proprietary about what goes on the dessert menu, so any employee is free to come up with an idea and prepare it. We were full though, so we didn't help reduce their inventory.
My husband and I both felt like we might have been sitting in some modestly hip California eatery, except for the fact that the tables were so widely spaced. On reflection though I hesitated to include this impression in my review for fear that I might make it sound like Elk Creek Café + Aleworks is trying to imitate, or trying to appear to be something it's not. That is definitely not the case. There's nothing affected or insecure about this restaurant. In fact, it proudly declares that it serves Nouveau Dutchie cuisine. (That refers to Pennsylvania Dutch, for the rest of yous.) And if y'ain't Dutch, y'ain't much, as the saying goes in these parts.
The Café passes muster in other departments too. The bathrooms were clean. Service was informal but well above average. The owner was in the dining room for most of our meal, sometimes behind the bar, often seating patrons, and checking in with each table in a friendly way. He didn't schmooze in the manner of the few other restaurant owners I've had come to my table in other restaurants. He had a sincerity about him and seemed to really want to know if his customers were enjoying their meals.
In these days of ground beef recalls, 6,000+ mile food supply chains, feedlot horrors, an insane farm bill, and criminal big ag, it's delightful to walk into a restaurant, order a burger without hesitation or ethical misgivings and know that you're supporting sustainable small local farms all at the same time. I've become a notoriously frugal person recently, and dining out isn't part of our weekly schedule anymore. But we'll definitely be going back to the Elk Creek Café.
It helps that all told, our tab came in well under $30. I noticed that we'd been charged less for the burger than we should have been according to the price listed on the menu. When we pointed this out to our waitress, she informed the owner, who thanked us and offered us a free beer. We declined because we were full and himself had had enough to drink. Still, it was a nice gesture.
Millheim is out of the way for a lot of people. But if you should find yourself in central Pennsylvania, I would say it's well worth a detour to seek out Elk Creek Café + Aleworks. Having had a great meal based on local food in February, I look forward to tasting what the other seasons can offer. We'll be back often for great food in a great atmosphere and for a great price. Highly recommended.
Recommended:
Yes
Kid Friendliness: Yes
Vegetarian Friendly: Yes
Notes, Tips or Menu Recommendations Menu changes daily, and always reflects the seasons.
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