Small Town Summer: Lunch at Appalachian Brewing Company

While Harrisburg, PA isn't considered a "small town" the wooded suburbs 20 minutes away where I grew up is definitely Small Town America. While spending the next month in this small town, I spend my days communting to Harrisburg for my Summer internship. And while often if appears as if I only cook at home and never eat out, I do. The problem is I am too financially-challenged to do it as much as I might like.

For a rare weekday lunch out, my mother, my boyfriend Aaron, and I went to the Appalachian Brewing Company (ABC) in downtown Harrisburg on North Cameron Street.





And as any good Brewpub should, ABC puts their own beer in almost all of their recipes, ( I think even their fries, which is why they are so good.) Plus, they are make their own beer, so how can this place be bad?




Mom and me enjoying time outside the office. I know, we look nothing alike.



One of their best features: Housemade Root Beer made with honey. While I am not a Root Beer person I love ABC's. Along with their wide selection of housemade beers, they also sell White Birch and Ginger Beer. (If you are not from Pennsylvania, you probably have no idea what Birch Beer is.) Both Ginger and Birch beer are non-acholic sodas made with roots to produce and strong herby flavor. I prefer the Root Beer for a sweeter, but milder taste.




For my lunch I ordered The Clucker" chicken sandwich with Root Beer BBQ, mild Chedder cheese, and onion straws served on really good Ciabatta bread. Their pub fries are delicious and totally worth the extra $1.00 charge for them.

The Root Beer BBQ sauce was delicious but it overpowered the sandwich just a little. I would had put on half the amount as about half of the sauce dripped onto my plate.
Think I will attempt to replicate this sauce in an upcoming post. Watch out for that.




Mom ordered the Cesaer Salad with Grilled Portabella mushrooms on top. The lettuce is grilled and gives extra flavor to the salad without adding calories! The salad was so huge she could hardly finish it!

She also ordered a cup of New England Clam Chowder made with ABC Stout Beer, but she ate it too fast for me to take a picture.




Aaron ordered a burger served on Ciabatta bread. It looked fantastic but he ate it too fast to share. He was seemed to be quite impressed, and for a burger connoisseur like him, that's saying alot.

I love when restaurants serve burgers medium rare, that's how you know it is good (or at least you hope it it!)

Once again, Aaron also had a Root Beer float but ate it too fast for a picture, or too many shared bites.

Overall: Appalachian Brewing Company is a nice place for a decent lunch. (And they have four locations in Central PA.)