Pine Grove Hall — Restaurant in Ferguson Township

Short version - It's not really worth the price. There are better places in State College for both fine and casual dining.

Ambience - I really feel like this is what you're paying for. The downstairs is beautiful and they had live music.

Food:

The clams were okay, but the the grilled sourdough that came with it was so salty I couldn't really eat it. If they would have even toasted a baguette, it would have been a better pairing. I tried dipping it in the clam beer sauce, but it was still way too salty. $20.

Elk osso buco was cooked perfectly tender, but the dish was really confused in my opinion. I'm not really sure what flavor profile they were going for. I know traditional Italian ossobuco has gremolata in it. However between that, the elk, the pumpkin, broccoli, the seeds they threw in there, and all the other flavors I felt like their dish was trying to be more complex than it should be. It wasn't bad but it was just really uninspiring. Not worth $40.

When I asked about the desserts, they all seemed really underwhelming for what they were charging. I didn't get any.

Service - Seemed hit or miss. I'm not sorry to say I've worked in hospitality long enough to know when I'm not wanted. Some of the wait staff clearly acted like they didn't want to put up with our table and were making faces the whole time while our hostess was asking questions. That's just rude. This isn't kindergarten. Our party easily spent over $700 on meals and drinks that night alone.

Conclusion : If you want to paying $60 + tip for an appetizer too salty to eat and a bland dish while wait staff makes faces at you, you could just get better food at better value somewhere else in State College. There are multiple fine dining options if you wanted epicurean ambience. If you can settle for something a little more relaxed, I can easily name 5 restaurants in State College off the top of my head that will give you better food for the price.

If you look at my reviews I'm really not a tough customer. I like giving places 2 or 3 chances before I leave critical feedback, but I just won't be...

An outstanding meal -- one of the best I've had in a couple of years. We came late to Pine Grove Hall on a night without scheduled entertainment. In lieu of a musical group, they'd set a drinking bird onstage. It was the first hint of the creativity to come.

The cocktail list was a mix of classics, an original and a number of adapted, curated cocktails from other bars around the country. It had style. Service was good -- very nice waitress and bartender, helpful and friendly and grounded.

We ordered the roasted onion soup, the grilled sea scallops, the pumpkin pastina, the quail escabeche and the roasted eggplant. Nearly all were excellent, and all were creative and new to me, with preparations that are unusual to SF or Seattle, where I typically eat. The pastina was warm and pumpkin-y, but the addition of roasted pepitas and a small amount of smoked ricotta just put it over the top without overpowering. Very well controlled. The roasted eggplant was equally great -- smoky eggplant mash with some cherry tomatoes and a bit of feta (and I guess some molasses -- I didn't realize until now). Heavenly. The grilled sea scallops may have been the most innovative dish of the night.I've never had scallops with coconut milk, banana and pickled chilies (I thought they were jalapenos). It sounds like it might have Thai flavors, but it didn't. Nor did it taste like anything I've had in a Caribbean restaurant, though that's closer. Maybe Caribbean mixed with French. It was something else, and just fantastic.

The quail was excellent. This was a more traditional dish, but it was done very well, roasted very well, and delicious.

The onion soup was, I'd say, the one miss. The idea was good -- roasted bone marrow, shavings of Gruyere cheese -- but it was just a little too salty.

I don't know, maybe we got lucky. But the chef seems to be operating on a whole 'nother level that I haven't seen in State College. The waitress told us he'd been in SF before coming back, but this is better than pretty much anything I've had there...

A year ago, I posted a very positive review. Unfortunately, I have to revise it based on our most recent (9/13/25) experience.

Our group of seven family members and friends were having a fun, relaxing dinner. The food was very good, and our server was excellent. One member of our party had carried in with her a travel mug, and it was sitting on our table. Just as we were finishing our dinners, the bartender walked up to our table, pointed to the travel mug, and said, "Please hide that. You're not allowed to bring outside beverages into the restaurant. If I had seen that earlier, I would've asked you to take it back to your car. You're old enough to know that you never bring outside beverages into a bar."

Later, as we were signing the check, we stated to our server that the food was excellent but the man identified as the beverage manager was out of line and handled the situation poorly. He overheard us, came back to our table, and said, "I did nothing wrong. You people should know better than to bring an outside drink (it was herbal tea) into a bar."

We live locally and, up to last night, were frequent diners at PGH and Flour & Stone. It's too bad one rude and unprofessional employee has cost them our business. We had noted earlier that the restaurant was surprisingly empty for a home football game weekend. Perhaps now we know why.

A note for the bartender: Calmly and professionally approaching our table, introducing yourself, and explaining the no outside beverages policy so we knew not to do it next time would have been so much better. You would've retained frequent diners who have, on numerous occasions, recommended your restaurant....