"Visited on an international road trip with my kid because -I am not making this up- they had grilled cheese on the menu. Seriously, sometimes when you 're nine and far away from home, all you want in this world is a nice grilled cheese, and the chain places don 't do 'em right, so we came here, and we were so pleasantly surprised! The beer-battered cod was a revelation, simply the finest this side of the good church 's fish fry during Lent (Southerners will know what I mean, their prime rib sub was fresh in every way, from the bun to the au jus to the onions, just perfectly how I like, and the fries? Golden and perfect, like I imagine McDonald 's used to be back in the late Eighties. It was like taking my husband and kid to my childhood memories of the Pennsylvania barn bar where my uncle used to work back during the Clinton administration for supper, except with such magnificent food. Even the grilled cheese we 'd come in hopes of was, to quote the Little One, "perfect! "And the owner looked after us like a dad who had stray nieces and nephews turning up for a big family holiday. I caught myself trying to place him and the regulars in the big, Irish-buncha-other-stuff-Steelers-fans tangle I call a family tree as he took care of them, too. It was just the Platonic idea of a pub -a public house, where the owner is everybody 's landlord for a while, the bar and the booths can be everyone 's living room for a little bit, and no matter how far away home may be, for the space of dinner or drinks you 're there.They even had a cozy wood stove and a fireplace for when winter comes. And pool tables, plus one of those nice jukeboxes that go online and do any song you want. For atmosphere, this is THE place. Any trip between Waldameer and Cedar Point, stop here. You 'll be half convinced you dreamed the experience. If I didn 't have half a prime rib sub left over (really, the portions are generous as an auntie at Thanksgiving, I wouldn 't believe the Elk Creek Inn was real.Dang. Why can 't we have stuff like this in Virginia?"
