Station 101 Pub & Kitchen — Restaurant in Sandy Township

Station 101 is the kind of gastropub that would need to be imagined in a Hollywood screenplay if, in fact, it did not already exist. My wife and I have enjoyed its excellent service, food, and ambiance for six or so years (discounting part of the pandemic) as part of our drive across Pennsylvania from Ohio to New Jersey, while visiting my aging mother-in-law in Akron, OH. Our discovery of Station 101, owing to its adjacence to the Fairfield Inn & Suites off exit 101 East on Route 80, was a relevation. The renovated old filling station is done to perfection, as a way-station/watering hole on a major highway. We mostly eat at the bar, where one of the best bartenders east of the Mississippi, Dave, makes perfect drinks and is the ultimate cosmopolitan conversationalist. He makes you feel at home, because - you are. The food is superb. Scottie, the chief cook, maintains a menu that would make lower Manhattan blush and with a dynamic difference. Tenderloin fillets are made with a unique style, for example, and a barbecue/grill style is applied to dishes that make for taste sensations. The design seems like a road-stop filling station - with a massive take-away beer cooler array upon entry - and a sizeable table number that can accommodate the family Sunday meal. It is one of the more welcoming and desirable restaurants on a major thoroughfare in the eastern U.S. - bar none. Station 101 serves more bottled and draft local and brand-name beer and also affords some of the best cocktails in its region to deliver a place that any experienced road warrior would return to - for whatever reason. Kudos to the owners and the staff for their dedication to a vision that is sorely needed on American highways. The menu is not static; it evolves on a regular basis, and begs for longer visits than most roadside cafes. If there is a Hall of Fame for highway restaurants of a certain caliber, Station 101 is the first - and...

Found it while on a road trip, heading up Route 80 (a nice piece of interstate...). SO glad we stopped there, a real gem. Burgers were great, and the beers were delicious (don't worry the driver had iced tea with lemon!). The lobster bacon Mac 'n' cheese was divine even though it could have been a little warmer.

The buns... An Everything Brioche roll, I mean... What? Phenomenal. The French fries were perfectly cooked and delightful. I skipped the bacon on my burger because our appetizer had bacon, but my friend said, "hey, I'm 25 and in great shape, put bacon on that burger!" I was jealous.

My other friend got the pulled pork sandwich, he's telling me right now (because we're on our way back from Toronto, where we played in a hockey tournament, finished second...) it was a perfect 10.

The bathrooms were very clean, and since the beer selection was so good I had to hit it twice before getting back on the road. I'm not gonna be the one to make us pull over!

Our waitress was so nice, and a real cutie too. Both traits we appreciated.

Can I spend a minute on Toronto? What a city, so much to see and do. Seems like everyone there is gorgeous. They were hosting a triathlon this weekend, the problem with that is you have to be in good shape. We play hockey because you can go out to the bars til 3am, even later, and still make a 9am game, drink beer in the locker room and off you go. That's how we prepare. We came in second at the tourney, but we won all off ice activities (it wasn't even close, my teammates are animals).

If we ever make this road trip again we'll be sure to hit Station 101 on the way up and back. We didn't have time for a sit down dinner on the way home so we stopped at the KFC/Taco Bell combo at the gas station, I can speak for everyone in the car when I say that...

Finally, a reason to want to be on I-80, and not just to get somewhere.

Such a delightful, yet unpretentious restaurant, with well appointed, both direction, dedicated I-80 exits named after it, hiding in plain sight.

It's on the same road, that changes names thrice at least, and numbers twice, as the 5heetz that is right by the next Dubwa exit to the west

So you could either zip across on I-80 or make a Bee Line for it

This was the first time I'd stopped for a sit down meal, in countless trips across PA, and I'm afraid I'm spoilt for good

Insist on Reese, who gently tells you exactly what you should have, so listen to her read your mind palette

And if she is not there, just make a beeline for the exit .. no, just kidding 😂

The Dynamite Tuna Roll, introduced recently, is a meal by itself, erotically listed as an appetizer

It has a glorious zing that does not overwhelm, but instead, augments the spectrum of flavours that take their own time to individually hit multiple definitive spots, like an augmented blues chord

And the piéce de rèsistance, the Blackberry Bliss salad. Mmmm. What can I say. With the most generous portion of perfectly prepared salmon that I have seen, more than even as a main course offering by itself at any other restaurant It is to live for. And I am not even a salad person. It is that good. The secret is to tease the salad bed apart to let the salmon lower itself into an entree level position. But then it would move to a totally different page of the menu at a higher price. Don't tell them I said that. 😏. But who reads reviews till the end anyway.

There was hardly any wait, so in less time than it takes for an 5heetz MTO, you can pamper yourself with something Reese will figure out for you. Or you can just pick what I got....